Celebrating Our Adoption – Part 2

Yesterday, I started a post series on adoption. More specifically, spiritual adoption.

The content of these posts is from a sermon I preached this past Sunday titled, “Celebrating Our Adoption” based out of Romans 8:15-17. You can check out the first post HERE.

Just like earthly adoption separates a child’s life into two segments, so too does our spiritual adoption separate our lives into two segments. These two lives also look very different, and have very different end-results.

Spiritually, every one of us has been orphaned.

Spiritually, we have no security, no hope and no legacy. Every person who has ever lived or ever will live is born into this spiritual position.

According to Scripture, this spiritual position is not just one of orphanhood, but one of slavery and bondage. Much like the earthly orphanhood of First Century Rome. (See yesterday’s post for more info.)

Spiritual adoption mirrors first century adoption. Spiritually, our pre-adoption position is one of slavery and bondage. The Apostle Paul, occasionally refers to this spiritual slavery.

Earlier in the Book of Romans, in chapter 6, Paul refers to our pre-adoption position as being “…slaves to sin…” (Rom. 6:6). More specifically, we are slaves to our sinful nature. This sinful nature is the slavery and bondage that we have been born into.

Spiritual slavery leads to death.

Without spiritual adoption, the end result of this slavery to our sinful nature is not a good one. Just above our key verses of Romans 8:15-17, Paul writes in verse 13, “…if you live according to the sinful nature, you will die;” (Rom. 8:13a)

This of course, referring to spiritual death. This means eternal separation from God and eternal existence in hell.

The only way out of this spiritual slavery, away from the slave-master of our sinful nature, away from the end result of eternal death, is spiritual adoption.

Spiritual adoption is the dividing line.

Spiritual Adoption can be defined as follows:

“God’s act of making otherwise estranged human beings part of God’s spiritual family by including them as inheritors of the riches of divine glory.” (Dictionary of Theological Terms, 1999)

I love this definition. We will be “part of God’s spiritual family” and included “as inheritors of the riches of divine glory.”

Tomorrow we’ll explore post adoption. In my final Celebrating Our Adoption post, we’ll look at our position following spiritual adoption. Our position, no longer of slavery, but of royalty.

Join the Conversation, Share Your Thoughts:

Thinking back to your days before spiritual adoption, how would you describe slavery to a sinful nature?