The Spirit Of AdoptionExemplo

Now, here's what happened at the time of adoption under the Roman Law. This is important. Four very important things took place. One, the adopted person lost all rights in his former family. Had no rights, had no existence in that former family, and he gained all the rights of his new family. Couldn't go back and try to get something from his former family. All was completely cut off from the past, and he had all the rights of a fully legitimate son in his new family. 

Secondly, he became heir to his new father's estate. That's why this was done. And when he became an heir to his new father's estate, even afterward, if other sons were born, they could make no claim against it because they were natural-born sons. It didn't affect the adopted son's rights.

Thirdly, the old life of the adopted person—listen to this—was completely obliterated.  It was as if he never lived. All his debts were cancelled on the spot. All his records were obliterated. It was as if he was born the day he was adopted. Everything else went out of existence. He was like a new person who just started his life.

And fourthly, in the eyes of the law, the adopted person was permanently and absolutely the son of his new father. Does that sound like salvation to you? That's exactly what it is depicting—this concept of adoption. All our rights to our former family and our former father, the devil, are cancelled. We gain all the rights, fully legitimate sons in our new family, heirs of Christ, joint heirs with Christ of all that the Father possesses. We are the inheritors of His estate. Everything from our old life is wiped out, right? Isn't the debt that was against us cancelled at the cross? And aren't we the true sons, everlastingly the true sons of our new Father?

This is amazingly beautiful. And if you're still bothered a little bit by the fact that this seems still to be somewhat superficial, let me help you with that. You can adopt a child, but you have to realize that when you adopt a child, you can't change their nature, that child's nature. And we see that kind of problem all the time. “Well, we adopted this child thinking the best and this kid is incorrigible, this kid is rebellious, this kid is angry, this kid is”— you make up the letters, bipolar, psychotic— whatever. And, you know, you went through all the deal to figure out the legal aspect of this thing, but you couldn't change the heart. 

That's where the biblical work of the Spirit of God is so different from natural adoption. Listen, we become sons by adoption but we also become sons by regeneration. Adoption gives us the name and the title and the rights; regeneration gives us the nature of our new family, the spiritual genetics of our new family. 

The emphasis on adoption is to show that we were chosen. And it's the analogy that all the past is cancelled. It's as if we were born again and just started to live. That's why adoption is such an important thing because it speaks of selection, election, choice. 

And then it speaks of cancelling everything in the past and a new family but not to the exclusion of regeneration. Adoption confers the name and the title; regeneration confers the nature. In other words, we now have become not just adoptive children but partakers of the divine nature. It's a staggering thing. And the Holy Spirit is doing all of this—all of this.

Remember: BY ADOPTION INTO THE FAMILY OF GOD YOU NOT ONLY HAVE THE NAME AND TITLE AND THE RIGHTS TO SONSHIP BUT HAVE BEEN REGENERATED TO INHERIT THE SPIRITUAL GENETICS OF YOUR HEAVENLY FATHER!