The Participants In Adoption

Ephesians 1:5

“…having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will,…” 

Two parties participate in spiritual Adoption. It is not a one-sided affair. While the work is done by one party; the Father God, but He is not the sole participant. Man participates as well. You've heard the old saying: "it takes two to tango". Well, that is true here; but only from a participation point of view. There are two parties involved,  but they are not involved equally.

The Father is the chief participant, or central participant as it is He who does all of the “work”. He initiates and facilitates the relationship. It is He who draws and enables the recipients of salvation to respond to His overtures. It was He, in the person of the Son, Who secured the Salvation of His people by His obedience and by His cross work. He, and no other, is the Architect of Salvation.

We, believers, are the second participant in spiritual adoption. Man does not participate in the salvific aspects of the transaction, but he is an essential part of the actual transaction. It cannot and does not happen apart from his active participation. He is not passive, merely being acted upon; but is active in response to God's prevenient grace of regeneration.

This also speaks to who it is who actually benefits from the offer of the Gospel. It is "us". That is, it is the Redeemed. Adoption is the blessing only of those who believe. Those who fail to believe have no part in it! It is exclusively for believers and unbelievers are excluded from any of its benefits!

The Gospel is commanded to be preached to all men everywhere. We do not know who these future adoptees are and so God commands us to sow the seeds of the Gospel indiscriminately and without thought or regard as to the nature or status of the bearers. It is God Who determines who responds and that must be left to Him.

However, not all men everywhere, gain the same benefit from the Gospel.  It is only those who believe as a result of regeneration that are Adopted by God.  To the others, who hear and reject, the result is not adoption, but rather, more condemnation and guilt that will ultimately result in penalty suffered and retribution exacted by God. 

The us, then, is exclusive, isn't it?  Why?  The simplest explanation is that it rests upon the finished work of Christ applied to the believing sinner.  That work was done exclusively for, or on the behalf of the believer, not for those who, ultimately, will not believe.  Adoption is exclusive, intended only for the believer, and never for the unbeliever.  One must believe that God was aware of Who would believe and who would not believe when He was laying out the plan of salvation, since that was a part, ultimately, of His eternal decree.  Therefore, His intention must have been that this blessing benefit only the believer, and that that intention was absent from His intention for the unbeliever.

Only those whose sins were paid for by the death of Christ, and who have had Christ's righteousness imputed to them by grace through faith are adopted.  This is a function of the truth that God cannot tolerate sin in His presence.  That sin must be removed before anyone can safely, that is, without falling to into judgment and being consumed, enter the presence of God.  Only the death of Christ could pay for sin, and only His active obedience imputed by grace through faith can secure the standing adequate to commend the sinner to God safely and completely.

This is both wonderful and terrible.  It is wonderful, because it points to the marvelous acceptance that we have in Christ.  As Paul says later in Ephesians One – We are accepted in the beloved!  That acceptance is complete and full; and it is irrevocable.  There will never be a time or can come a circumstance that could change our status of being accepted by the Father – because the work of Christ remains forever satisfactory to Him.  It is terrible because it speaks also of the complete rejection of those who are not found in Christ at the time of judgment.  For them there is no acceptance, no safe harbor ion the storm of God’s judgment, and no escape from the ravages of His awesome and fearsome wrath.  They must face that themselves, and must render payment for their own sins – they are not sons and thus are not held vouchsafe from condemnation.

We ought to be motivated all the more seriously to pursue after men and preach to them the Gospel of grace because of this truth.  Sonship is a function of the gospel applied to the life of the believing sinner.  It is available to all men, but it is effective only for those for whom it was intended and secured, the elect of God.