REVISITING THE
BELIEVER'S POSITIONAL RICHES IN CHRIST
Part IX: Applying
The Truth That Believers Are Placed As Adult Sons In God's Family
I.
Introduction
A.
When one
first trusts in Christ, he enters a fellowship of those who are
spiritually more mature than he is.
B.
Coming
to realize this fact can cause a new Christian to wonder if he is less significant to God and is thus less accountable to live and function
productively for God than are more mature believers.
C.
One of
the 33 positional truths that every Christian possesses the instant he
trusts in Christ is the fact that he is immediately
forwarded into ADULT sonship in God's family. (Lewis Sperry Chafer, Systematic
Theology, vol. III, "Soteriology," p. 242-243) Applying this truth in life gives the
believer full spiritual freedom as well as a sense of great accountability to
live for the Lord and to serve Him even as a new Christian (as follows):
II.
Applying The Truth That Believers Are Placed As
Adult Sons In God's Family.
A.
Galatians
4:5-6 claims that we believers have "received the adoption as sons."
B.
Unlike the
regular definition of "adoption," the placing of a child into a
family in which he was not born, "adoption" in Galatians 4:5-6 (huiothesian in the Greek text, cf. U.
B. S. Grk. N. T., 1966, p. 656) pictures the placing of an immature
child into adult status by way of a bar mitzvah in accord with Paul's
Hebrew culture:
1.
Paul
contrasted the post-bar mitzvah Galatians 4:5 huiothesian status of "adoption" with the pre-bar
mitzvah status of an immature child who was kept under tutors and governors
until the time appointed by the child's father that the child might attain
adult status in his bar mitzvah as an adult son, Galatians 4:1-3.
2.
However,
when one trusts in Christ for salvation, he receives the Holy Spirit (Rom.
8:9b), indicating he is then
positionally forwarded by God
into adult status in a spiritual bar mitzvah complete with all of its
privileges and responsibilities, Galatians 4:4-6.
C.
Various
New Testament passages reveal these privileges and responsibilities of spiritually
adult sons:
1.
The
instant one trusts in Christ, he is made an "adult" son of God with
the following privileges:
a.
He is
instantly positioned as an heir of God and a joint-heir with Jesus Christ,
individually possessing all that Jesus Christ Himself individually possesses,
Galatians 4:6-7 with Romans 8:17.
b.
He is
instantly positioned to be free from the jurisdiction of the Mosaic Law to
serve in the fullness of the Holy Spirit's power, Galatians 4:3-6; Romans
8:3-4.
c.
He is
instantly positioned to be destined to be physically glorified and taken to
heaven to dwell in God's heavenly presence, Ephesians 1:4-5; Romans 8:23.
2.
Accordingly,
this placement of even the newest believer as an "adult" son of God
with these privileges means the new believer carries the following
responsibilities and accountabilities before God:
a.
Having
been forwarded into "adult" sonship with God, even a new believer
possesses the Holy Spirit, so God expects
him to live by the Spirit's power and thus not sin, Romans 8:3-4; Galatians 5:16-23 with 1 John 2:1. [1 Corinthians 10:13 reveals that God will
not allow a believer to face a temptation that is greater than he at his
personal level of spiritual maturity cannot handle by God's provision, so even
a brand new believer is accountable to God to avoid committing sins from the
point of salvation onward!]
b.
Having
been forwarded into "adulthood" sonship with God, even a new believer
is expected of God to pray
for results in his Christian
walk as Jesus did in His earthly life, John 14:12-14.
c.
Having
been forwarded into "adulthood" sonship with God, even a new believer
is expected of God to use
his spiritual gift given him
at salvation for supernatural service
and responsibly serve God like any mature believer should do, Romans
12:3-8; Ephesians 4:11-16; 1 Corinthians 12:11-13; 1 Peter 4:10-11.
Lesson: The
instant anyone trusts in Christ for salvation and is justified by God, he is
positionally forwarded by God in His spiritual family into an "adult"
sonship status with all the rights, enabling powers and privileges pertaining
to every other more experientially mature believer. God thus expects even brand new believers to
function spiritually to the fullest with their rights, powers and
responsibilities as "adult" sons!
Application:
(1) May we believers never feel inadequate to please God simply because we may
be new to the faith, for God expects EVERY believer to make USE of the
indwelling Holy Spirit of God and spiritual gifting God has given him to live
for and to serve the Lord, and God furthermore insures that we face no
temptation to sin that we with our maturity level together with His supernatural
enabling might not be able to overcome!
(2) Accordingly, may ALL of us believers in Christ OCCUPY ourselves with
living for and serving the Lord, knowing God EXPECTS NO LESS REGARDLESS of our
experiential spiritual maturity level!