Page 116 - TH200 Abundant Life A4 Final

Abundant Life in the Son: A Study of Salvation

We see that the idea of adoption was not foreign to the people of God
in Old Testament times. However, the Old Testament practices of
adoption don’t seem to have direct bearing on the New Testament
teaching. Instead, it is the Graeco-
Roman custom of adoption that
appears to have formed the
The Graeco-Roman background for the apostle Paul’s use

custom of adoption of the term, for it contrasted the
freedom of an heir in the household
contrasted the with the bondage of a slave.

freedom of an heir
Adoption was a very common
in the household practice in the Graeco-Roman world.

with the bondage If a husband and wife had no children,
the husband could adopt a son who
of a slave. would become his heir. The adopted
one might have living parents, but
this did not interfere with adoption.
Often families were willing to give up their children in order to give
them better opportunities in life. Once a child was adopted, however,
the natural parents had no further control over him, while the adopted
father had complete authority over his adopted son. He regulated his
son’s relationships, controlled whatever the son might own or earn, and
had the right to discipline him. However, he was also liable for anything
his son might do, and he was required to provide for the needs of his son.

Being a part of an extended family gave an adopted child the training
he needed to be successful in his future life. He learned to respect
elders and to assume responsibility. Through loving correction, he
learned valuable lessons in discipline that prepared him for the tests
and demands of life. As he matured, he also acquired the social graces
that prepared him for adulthood. All in all, the new family relationship
gave great advantages to the adopted son or daughter.

Paul’s teaching on regeneration, justification, and adoption reflects
this idea of adoption. He describes the process by which God takes a
person out of his former state, introduces him into His family by the
new birth, forgives him for the actions of his former life, and places him
in His family as an adult heir. The adopted heir is thus made a part of

::: 108 :::