Adoption
See adoption as the gracious act by which the justified are received into God's family and granted the standing, name, and privileges of his sons.
Justification answers the question of our legal standing; adoption answers the question of our relationship. The Standards turn from the courtroom to the household, where the pardoned sinner is not merely acquitted but welcomed home as a child.
Received into the family of God
Adoption is an act of God's free grace, in and for his only Son Jesus Christ, whereby all who are justified are received into the number of his children. The Standards stress that this is bound up with our union with Christ: because we are joined to the natural Son, we are taken into the family of the Father. God puts his name upon us, gives the Spirit of his Son to dwell in us, and brings us under his fatherly care.
The brevity of the treatment in the Standards should not obscure its weight. Adoption gathers up the whole new relationship the gospel creates, turning servants into sons and strangers into heirs.
The liberties and privileges of sons
With the relationship come its privileges. The adopted are given access to God as a Father, the seal of the Spirit, protection and provision under his care, and finally an inheritance kept for them in glory. They are also subject to his fatherly chastisement, never as a wrath that condemns but as a discipline that proves their sonship.
Adoption thus crowns justification with tenderness. The same God who declares us righteous calls us his children, so that our obedience flows not from the fear of a slave but from the love and confidence of those who know themselves to be sons.
Study the full text, Scripture proofs, and commentary on each:
- Read WCF Ch. 12 and WLC 74 together and list every privilege of adoption they name.
- Trace the Scripture proofs on adoption and note how often they appear alongside texts on the Spirit's witness.
- Consider how adoption depends upon union with Christ and what that implies for assurance.
See how this doctrine is stated across the Reformed confessions side by side.
Adoption →