ADOPTION

Adoption is the bestowing of rights, privileges and inheritance upon a person that were not existent at birth because they belonged to the family into which the person, who is not a direct descendant, is now being adopted.

Adoption occurs when a person, who is not naturally a member of a family, is given all the rights of natural birth. In ancient times, it was common for a king's son to be given a signet ring that had the royal insignia. This being the case, one would assume that an adopted son would be given this as proof of being a member of the royal family.

In order to truly grasp what adoption means for salvation, we need to understand the social setting wherein the term was used. Adoption in the salvific context is different to modern ideas of adoption. The Roman view of adoption provides the context we need to understand.

Adoption was commonplace in the days of the Roman Empire, but was only possible by Roman Law for citizens, not slaves or freedmen. For anyone to adopt a slave, first he had to be set free. As a freedman, the slave had to obtain citizenship. Then he could be adopted. The adoption process of a freedman who became a citizen was different to that of adopting sons of noble birth. Adoption of males, who were their own master, was known as adrogation. 

The distinction between adrogation and adoption has to do with who has the rights to adopt.

Adrogation occurs when a person who is of age willingly decides to lawfully become a legal member entitled to the inheritance of another family other than his natural family by birth. This involves a legal disowning of his natural family and conferring all the rights and responsibilities of the new family.

Adoption, as people know it today, involves a child (who has no say in the matter) being taken from its parent(s), or one that has no parent (because it has been forsaken or the parents are dead) and raised by another person or couple, with a change of family name. 

Among the Romans, adoption was afforded to males, and very rarely a female, if at all. One of the reasons for adoption had to do with wealthy patriarchal families maintaining their elite status, as part of the nobility, by having a male heir. No male heir meant that the family name would cease and the wealth would be distributed to any females in the family.

Once a woman was married, she took on the family name of her husband. This custom prevented women from carrying the family name of birth. This also meant that she could not be an heir. Sons carried the family name. Sons, being male, carried the seed of the future generations; females can only get pregnant via the male seed.  

Another reason that adoption was common had to do with preventing a demotion in social status; for this meant a loss of privileges. Even though Rome was a republic, it was actually a plutocracy. 

Evidently, there were wealth minimums that had to be maintained for a family to remain within various levels of the nobility.  The upper echelon of the plutocracy needed to maintain a minimum level of wealth that was two-and-a-half times that required of the lower level of nobility. If a family had too many sons, and this threatened to dilute the family wealth so the members would have to lower their social status, by adrogating a son to a man who had no son for a substantial amount of money, this resolved issues of dilution and kept a family name alive. 

The adrogated son would gain more than what he lost. He would be the sole heir of a larger sum of wealth than if he were to remain a member of the original family. His natural father would have more wealth to share among his brothers, not only because they divided his share, but an additional sum of wealth would have been transferred to the father by the adopter for the loss of his son. Once the son was adopted by the new father, he could no longer carry his original family name, nor could he consider himself a member of his birth family. This also applied if a son was adopted when a man died and in his will provision was made for an adopted son, to carry on dead man's family name.

For the Caesar's there must have been some afterlife significance in having an adopted son sitting on the throne. Clearly, the direct bloodline wasn't being continued. However, Caesars appear to be related to each other through extended bloodlines, for they came from the nobility and not from the lower classes. 

Adoption appears to be the preferred means for transferring reign to Roman Emperors from Augustus to Marcus Aurelius. The emperor Julius Caesar adopted Augustus (emperor 27BC-AD14), who adopted Tiberius (14-37). Caligula (37-41) may have been adopted by Tiberius (?). Claudius (41-54) adopted Nero (54-68). Nerva (96-98) adopted Trajan (98–117), who adopted Hadrian (117–138), who adopted Antoninus Pius (138–161), who adopted Marcus Aurelius (161–180). 

Machiavelli called Nerva and the four adopted citizens into the imperial family, the five good emperors of the Roman Empire. Evidently, as did Nerva before being appointed emperor, the four proved that they had merit as rulers prior to being adopted. The reigns of Augustus and Tiberius were also well received and stabilized the Roman Empire for the era known as Pax Romana.

When the Apostle Paul penned his letters to the Jewish converts living at Galatia (Galatians) and Rome (Romans) where he mentioned "adoption as sons", the idea of what this meant would have been well-known due to the Roman practice of adult adoption, where debts were cancelled and the person adopted now received an inheritance from his new father. This is what occurred among the Roman emperors.  Importantly, once a person had been adopted, that person wasn't available for further adoption. The adoption process appears to have been a means of keeping wealth among the nobility, and no other reason, except possibly for the Caesars being adopted for perceived ability.

From the Bible we learn that Moses was adopted by Pharaoh's daughter (7:21) and Esther was adopted by her cousin Mordecai (Esther 2:5). Other than those two references to a new born baby being adopted by a foreigner and a teenager being adopted by her much older cousin when in Persia, it appears adoption (wherein the rights of inheritance are afforded the adoptee) was non-existent within the Old Testament; especially, when it comes to Israelites doing adoptions.

According to the Law, given to the Israelites, if a man died and was childless, his brother was to marry his wife so that he might have a son to continue his legacy. Adopting children was not a consideration.

If brothers dwell together, and one of them dies and has no son, the wife of the dead shall not be married outside the family to a stranger; her husband’s brother shall go in to her, and take her as his wife, and perform the duty of a husband’s brother to her. And the first son whom she bears shall succeed to the name of his brother who is dead, that his name may not be blotted out of Israel. (Deuteronomy 25:5-6)

The only time we find the concept of adoption mentioned in the Bible is when the Apostle Paul is writing to the Galatians and the church at Rome. When writing to the Galatians, Paul makes the case that while everyone who is in Christ is an heir of the promise given to Abraham, this comes about through adoption. If it is through adoption, then this is not a natural birth.  One may be a descendant of Abraham according to the flesh, but not necessarily according to the inheritance that comes with the promise. This inheritance comes through faith in Christ Jesus.

But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a custodian;  for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.  There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.  And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise. I mean that the heir, as long as he is a child, is no better than a slave, though he is the owner of all the estate;  but he is under guardians and trustees until the date set by the father.  So with us; when we were children, we were slaves to the elemental spirits of the universe. But when the time had fully come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law,  to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.  And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” So through God you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son then an heir. (Galatians 3:23-4:7)

Paul argues that anyone born under the Law, as an Israelite, had no rights of inheritance until he came of age or his father died. Everyone was born without access to His inheritance. He may as well have been a slave if others (such as guardians and trustees) controlled his inheritance until the day he came of age; the day that he could do whatever he desired with his family's wealth. This would have been like a slave gaining his freedom; except freedmen under Roman Law had other restrictions imposed upon them, so they did not quite have the freedom a son experienced when gaining his inheritance.

Within the  framework of the Old Testament, adoption doesn't have any legal standing, even if non-Jews became converts to the religion, they weren't considered adopted, just devout, as in the case of Cornelius (Acts 10:1-2; ) who was well respected among the Jewish community (Acts 10:22) even though he appears to have been uncircumcised (Acts 11:3). Circumcision, being a requisite for inclusion within the Israelite community, still did not confer any other benefit other than acceptance into the community and to be treated as a natural born member.

And the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “This is the ordinance of the Passover: no foreigner shall eat of it;  but every slave that is bought for money may eat of it after you have circumcised him. No sojourner or hired servant may eat of it. In one house shall it be eaten; you shall not carry forth any of the flesh outside the house; and you shall not break a bone of it.  All the congregation of Israel shall keep it. And when a stranger shall sojourn with you and would keep the Passover to the Lord, let all his males be circumcised, then he may come near and keep it; he shall be as a native of the land. But no uncircumcised person shall eat of it. There shall be one law for the native and for the stranger who sojourns among you. (Exodus 12:43-49)

There is no indication of any inheritance to be received by those strangers who are circumcised. The inheritance from an Earthly perspective given to the tribes of Israel was the Land of Promise, Canaan. This was not to pass out of the possession of the tribe. Every inheritance was to remain within each tribe as originally designated. No land was permitted to be transferred to another tribe, let along a convert who identified as an Israelite.

No inheritance shall be transferred from one tribe to another; for each of the tribes of the people of Israel shall cleave to its own inheritance. (Numbers 36:9)           

By the time of Paul the Apostle, whatever land that was allotted the tribes of Israel no longer was known. If there had been any ownership titles made out, they were lost. Any other markers or historical documents identifying ownership do not appear to have any significance. The records none. We can only assume that land ownership was under a new system of registration. Empires, like all governments, need tax. We can expect tax to have been levied on land, produce and belongings. The Judahites, Benjaminites and Levites, being the three tribes still known to exist, paid the temple tax, if they were going to identify as Israelites. 

The significance of adoption only begins to make sense in the light of the Roman custom. This is especially so when we consider that associated with adoption is an inheritance.  However there is a distinction that needs to be made in respect to being under the Law as an Israelite and slaves to the elemental spirits of the Universe as a non-Israelite. This is because the Law is said to be a tutor, a guardian, until the Messiah (Christ) came. The Law provided a knowledge of God's plan and purpose, and those who kept it, did so by faith that, in doing so, they were living in accordance to the will of God.  

Even though the Law existed, the keeping of the requirements under the Levitical Code had to be done by faith, if they were to be of any value to the practitioner adhering to the covenant between God and Israel. Anyone who kept the Levitical Code (aka Mosaic Code) from a righteous attitude alone, unfortunately, fell into the trap of becoming self-righteous, whereby, instead of expressing faith towards God and in His Salvation, self-justification before God from having performed the required tasks and comparison with others would result. When speaking of the Pharisee and the tax collector (Luke 18:9-14), Lord Jesus illustrated how the sinner came seeking mercy, whereas the Pharisee justified himself as better than others.

In real life, both classes of people Pharisees and tax collectors were children of God. Both were given a spirit, created by God, so that they could think for themselves and exercise their own volition. This is why Isaiah bringing the message from the our Heavenly Father says that we are to come and reason with Him. Anyone reading the Torah (i.e. the Law), if thinking about it in a devotional manner, that one meditating upon what is written therein, would be inclined to look to our Heavenly Father and make inquiry as to what it meant. For unless, God gives the revelation, nothing is understood.  Instead, what is learned leads to misinterpretation. This leads to the imagination creating philosophies and doctrines that have nothing to do with the truth, but much to do with the elemental spirits of the Universe. 

Every culture has different customs when it comes to:

• being settled or nomadic
• crops and animals
• how food is prepared, 
• what styles of clothing are to be worn (if at all), 
• types of shelter or housing
• how males are distinguished from females, 
• when a child is recognized as an adult, 
• beliefs of what is required of both sexes when it comes to marriage, 
• what type of marriages are acceptable and under what circumstances, 
• what happens at death,
• how dead bodies are to be disposed,
• whether to be hostile or friendly to outsiders,
• creation of the Universe,
• worship of the Divine,
• understanding the spirit realm. 

Yet God treats every person on planet Earth (whether Eskimo, Japanese, Indian, Polynesian, Pygmy, Ethiopian, Bedouin, Swede, Swiss, Mongolia, Aborigine, etc. & etc.) the same. The Israelites were called out from the nations, so God could bring about His plan and purpose as promised to Abraham. The promise given to Abraham was to be fulfilled in Lord Jesus Christ, who delivers all from not only from being under the Law as given to the Israelites, but also the Universal Law of Righteousness that condemns all who fail to uphold it. The Universal Law of Righteousness is what is known as the Ten Commandments, which outline the requirements for relationships between humans and God and His offspring (cf. Acts 17:28).

So with us; when we were children, we were slaves to the elemental spirits of the universe. But when the time had fully come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law,  to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.  And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” So through God you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son then an heir. (Galatians 4:3-7)

 Even if we were not raised under the Old Testament covenant where we religiously kept all the requirements, not just of the Ten Commandments but also the ceremonial law with its rites, regulations and conditions, the elemental spirits of the Universe are to be found in the culture in which we have been raised. These elemental spirits enslave us to the desires of the flesh, which include the tendencies to lust after the flesh, the eyes and exult in the pride of life by being selfish, egotistical, conceited, arrogant, opinionated, overbearing and domineering. 

Instead of being sons of the Devil (John 8:44), once we have gone through the necessary phases of being cleansed, having striven to enter God's rest (Hebrews 4:8-13), we are ready to be adopted into the Kingdom of God as sons. This is when we have the right to walk in the ways of Lord Jesus Christ unhindered by the Devil, having forsaken his name as "sinner" to take upon the name "Christian" (1 Peter 4:15; cf. Acts 11:26 & 26:28) as a "saint".  As for being a saint, this refers to any person who is righteous in God's sight, and of whom, others ought to identify by his or her behavior as a Christian who confesses Jesus Christ as Lord, or a righteous person in the Old Testament times who revered the Lord God Almighty. There are 21 references in the Old Testament and 62 references in the New Testament to saints.  These are not people who are canonized or magically turned into saints by a head prelate of any organization, claiming to be God's representative here on Earth. Saints today are true Christians who humbly walk with, and abide in Lord Jesus Christ (1 John 2:3-6).

When we are born into this world we receive the spirit from God Himself, but this spirit is not alive in the sense that it has eternal life, which is life -- for life that is not eternal is not life, but death. Nevertheless, we receive this spirit at birth and this makes God our father. When Jesus was speaking of how to pray to God in Heaven, He said that we were to address Him as "Our Father in Heaven" (Matthew 6:9).  What is known as the Lord's Prayer also informs us that if we are to be forgiven of our iniquities, we have to first of all, forgive others who have offended us in some way.  Jesus reinforced that this is the true reality, for those seeking to be saved, by saying:

 For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father also will forgive you; but if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses. (Matthew 6:14-15)

Anyone not forgiven by God is not going to be saved, even though His salvation extends to all. To receive this salvation, we have to first forgive others of the trespasses committed against us, in any way, shape or form, whether wrongly perceived or imagined, even if not actual. We have a part to play in securing our salvation, and it is not by justifying our works, rather it is by learning how to exercise obedience of faith (Romans 1:5; 16:26). This is not "obedience to the faith" (which could be church dogma or some body of doctrines and beliefs pertaining to an organization wrongly referred to as "the faith"). This is the "obedience of faith" towards God; an outward expression of an internal "substance that is the assurance of things hoped for and evidence that provides the conviction of things unseen" (Hebrews 11:1).

The adoption that were are speaking off requires us to leave behind our previous identity and take on a new identity in Christ Jesus. When we read that we are to hate our mother, father, brothers, sisters, wife, children and even our own life, or we are not worthy to be a disciple of Lord Jesus (Luke 14:25), we are not so much being told to literally murder them or commit suicide, which is what we would do if we literally hated them and ourselves; rather, we are being told to consider them as dead to ourselves, in similar fashion to how a son of Roman nobility would shed all family ties when adrogating to his new family heritage. 

For anyone to be a disciple of Lord Jesus Christ, it is the same as being adopted into a new family and leaving the other family for dead, by cutting off all ties with them. For the old family is not of the new family. In the new family, that is, the family of Christ, a difference ethos is required. Responsibilities are different. Our Heavenly Father has a different purpose for us. One that is not a vision of the flesh or continuing carnal family customs.  The new purpose concerns our bringing glory to His name rather than the old family name. 

Under the Roman system, adoption was a deal with the son adrogating himself and the family being willing to relinquish any claims. The family couldn't adrogate a son to another family without consent; this was the prerogative of the son. The son couldn't adrogate himself to another family without the approval of his birth family. Each son being adopted into a new family did so willingly with the old family's approval, based upon the monetary incentive. Once he had adrogated himself, the son no longer had any lawful obligations to his natural family, but took on the responsibilities assigned to him as a member of his new family.

For us to be adopted into the family of God, this is a recognition of what is required of us. Many Christians may believe they are adopted into the family of God, but they are overlooking what is required to be a member. Living a life of sin and relying upon God's grace is testament that a person has not been adopted into the family of God.

When Jesus was speaking of people having claimed they had called Him, "Lord," therefore they were entitled to be accepted into the eternal Kingdom (Matthew 7:21-23), He was referring to all who live in iniquity and think that they are saved by grace alone. Unless a person has been adopted into the Kingdom of God, they have not entered into a position where they will inherit life. This inheritance comes with an obligation. The Apostle Paul writes:

But God’s firm foundation stands, bearing this seal: “The Lord knows those who are his,” and, “Let every one who names the name of the Lord depart from iniquity.” (2 Timothy 2:19)

All who walk by the Spirit of God are the sons of God (Romans 8:14). However, while the Apostle informs us that those who walk by God's Spirit are God's sons, adoption has not been completed until our bodies have been redeemed (Romans 8:23).

When we are born, God puts a spirit into our being (Numbers 16:22) and joins it to our soul that is attached to our body. While this spirit has the capacity to think and make decisions, so that we are distinguished from "irrational animals, creatures of instinct, born to be caught and killed" (2 Peter 2:12), unlike the Spirit that was placed in the body delivered by the Virgin Mary (Hebrews 10:5), our spirits do not have the power of an indestructible life (cf. Hebrews 7:16). Therefore, we all need to be receive the Word of Life from above and allow the process of regeneration to take place (Titus 3:5), until we arrive at the place where we are adopted into sonship as children of God (Romans 8:15-17). All who are adopted receive the seal of the Holy Spirit as a guarantee of their adoption into the family of God (Ephesians 1:13: 4:30; Romans 5:5).

So far in this process of how salvation is effected in the individual we have considered the following:

1. God places a spirit in the body of a child that is born into a world governed by depravity. 
2. God then imputes righteousness to the child
3. God extends grace to the child
4. God provides a propitiating offering (a ransom) in exchange for the child, and all children.
5. God makes atonement possible and opens up a means of relationship between Him and the children through the Cross of Calvary
6. God then reconciles us to Himself through His Son Lord Jesus Christ
7. God calls everyone to come to the table 
8. God places the seed of life in all who acknowledge Him
9. God unites us to Himself via the seed of life
10. God looks to us to repent from the dead works of the world
11. God awaits our expression of faith and confidence in Him
12. God declares us justified when we acknowledge that He can raise the dead
13. God adopts us as children, and puts his seal upon us that we may demonstrate we belong to His family

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