Adoption
The giving to any one the name and place and privileges of a son who is not a son by birth. (1.) Natural. Thus Pharaoh's daughter adopted Moses (Ex. 2:10), and Mordecai Esther (Esther 2:7). (2.) National. God adopted Israel (Ex. 4:22; Deut. 7:6; Hos. 11:1; Rom. 9:4). (3.) Spiritual. An act of God's grace by which he brings men into the number of his redeemed family, and makes them partakers of all the blessings he has provided for them. Adoption represents the new relations into which the believer is introduced by justification, and the privileges connected therewith, viz., an interest in God's peculiar love (John 17:23; Rom. 5:5-8), a spiritual nature (2 Pet. 1:4; John 1:13), the possession of a spirit becoming children of God (1 Pet. 1:14; 2 John 4; Rom. 8:15-21; Gal. 5:1; Heb. 2:15), present protection, consolation, supplies (Luke 12:27-32; John 14:18; 1 Cor. 3:21-23; 2 Cor. 1:4), fatherly chastisements (Heb. 12:5-11), and a future glorious inheritance (Rom. 8:17, 23; James 2:5; Phil. 3:21).
Passages cited in this entry
Exodus 2:10 · Esther 2:7 · Exodus 4:22 · Deuteronomy 7:6 · Hosea 11:1 · Romans 9:4 · John 17:23 · Romans 5:5 · 2 Peter 1:4 · John 1:13 · 1 Peter 1:14 · Romans 8:15 · Galatians 5:1 · Hebrews 2:15 · Luke 12:27 · John 14:18 · 1 Corinthians 3:21 · 2 Corinthians 1:4 · Hebrews 12:5 · Romans 8:17 · James 2:5 · Philippians 3:21
M. G. Easton, Illustrated Bible Dictionary, 3rd edition (1897). Public domain; text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library. A nineteenth-century Protestant reference: its dates, archaeology and judgements reflect the scholarship of its time and are not Imago Dei's editorial position.