It is not enough to say that God merely adopts us as a matter of legal paperwork. Scripture does not present our relationship to God as a cold transaction or a mere change of status. No, the gospel declares something far more profound and irreversible: we are born into God’s family. Through regeneration, we receive the resurrected life of Christ Himself. This is not a metaphor or a sentimental notion—this is the new birth, the planting of God’s own life within us.
“And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.”
—Romans 8:17
Sonship: Not Just a Status, but a Living Reality
Our sonship is not a mere title or a badge we wear. It is the living reality of God’s life growing in us. When we believed, God planted His own life in us as a seed. This is not a temporary arrangement or a legal fiction. It is the beginning of a transformation that will culminate in our full manifestation as sons of God—either at the resurrection or, if we are alive, at the rapture. God’s promise is not, “I will treat you as if you were My child,” but, “I will be His Father, and He will be My Son.” This is the foundation of our hope and the guarantee of our inheritance.
The Substitutionary Work That Secures Our Place
This reality was secured for us by Christ’s substitutionary atonement. He bore our punishment, though He Himself was without sin. He became sin for us, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. He tasted the death that was rightfully ours, not His own. This is not a theological detail to be glossed over—it is the very heart of the gospel. If you undermine this exchange, you do not merely lose a doctrine; you lose the entire basis of justification, sonship, and inheritance. Without Christ’s substitution, there is no righteousness for us, no family relationship, and no future glory.
Heirs and Joint-Heirs: Our Guaranteed Inheritance
Because we are born of God’s life, we are not only children but heirs—heirs of God and joint-heirs with Christ. This is not a passive inheritance. God’s intention is not that we drift aimlessly in heaven, but that we are glorified with Christ and reign with Him. As His glorified brethren, we will return with Him to the earth and reign for a thousand years. This is not wishful thinking or religious fantasy; it is the explicit promise of Scripture and the logical consequence of our union with Christ.
What Is Lost If This Is Denied?
If you reduce sonship to mere adoption—a legal fiction without regeneration—you sever the living connection to Christ’s life. If you deny substitutionary atonement, you forfeit the righteousness of God and the guarantee of inheritance. If you treat our future as a vague spiritual existence, you rob the gospel of its concrete hope: reigning with Christ as glorified sons. These are not secondary matters. To compromise here is to undermine the very foundation of the Christian faith.
The Finished Work and Our Rest
The book of Hebrews makes it clear: God is bringing many sons to glory, not by their striving, but by the finished work of Christ. Our confidence is not in our performance, but in the life, righteousness, and inheritance secured for us by Christ alone. Anything less is not the gospel.
If you want to see these truths unfolded in depth, read Hebrews: Shepherded Into Rest. There you will see how God, by His own promise and power, brings His sons into their inheritance and rest.
