2LCF Chapter 12 - Of Adoption

Jim Butler

Adoption into the family of God is a sovereign act of grace grounded entirely in union with Christ and received only by those who are justified. Drawing on 1689 London Baptist Confession chapter 12, this exposition distinguishes the creational sense in which all men are God's offspring from the redemptive grace of adoption that belongs to the justified alone. The benefits of adoption — inclusion in God's family, the Spirit of adoption, boldness of access to the throne of grace, God's fatherly pity, protection, provision, discipline, and the inheritance of everlasting salvation sealed by the Holy Spirit — are unfolded through an extensive range of Scripture passages. Adopted sons and daughters are called to walk in love, light, and wisdom, resting in the indicative of the cross as the foundation for all obedience.