Saw a post today that said, “We must read our Bibles like men digging for hidden treasures.”, Ryle. This is very true. Here is some simple digging. The word adoption as we know it is not found in the new testament. The English word adoption is translated from a Greek word that means, “the placing of a son”. That is a coming of age ceremony for a man who was born into an Israelite family and has reached the age set by his father. You can spiritualize these verses and destroy God’s intended meaning or do some digging and figure out what God wanted you to understand. The easy way is not always the correct way.
Romans 8:15 “For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of the placing of a son, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.”
Romans 8:23 “And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the placing of a son, to wit, the redemption of our body.”
Romans 9:4 “Who are Israelites; to whom pertaineth the placing of a son, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law, and the service of God, and the promises”.
Galatians 4:5 “To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the the placing of a son.”
Ephesians 1:5 “Having predestinated us unto the placing of a son by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will”.
Remember Paul is writing to the Nations of Israel who were dispersed after the Assyrian captivity. According to the Law of the Kinsman Redeemer, only a true physical kin can redeem a relative. This is why the bible spends so many words showing the kinship of Christ to true descendants of Jacob/Israel. Also the phrase “under the Law” is reserved for those who are descendants of Jacob/Israel. Only those who were foreknown, that is true descendants of Jacob/Israel, by God could be predestined, Romans 8:29-30. Also the word called is defined by scripture as descendants of Jacob/Israel only, Isaiah 48:12. Remember, the modern day Jews have never been God’s Israel people.
If you really want to know what God through scripture is saying to you, then you have to do some work. Don’t depend on the guy who was taught just enough to keep his job as a preacher at your church. He might know more after thirty years, but he is still not going to say anything that will jeopardize his job.