Required reading
Murray firstly makes clear that it is not simply an aspect of justification or another way of stating the privilege conferred by regeneration: 'Justification means our acceptance with God as righteous and the bestowal of the title to everlasting life. Regeneration is the renewing of our hearts after the image of God. But these blessings in themselves, however precious they are, do not indicate what is conferred by the act of adoption. By adoption the redeemed become sons and daughters of the Lord God Almighty; they are introduced into and given the privileges of God's family. Neither justification nor regeneration expresses precisely that.'
Four points are then made about the relation of adoption to these other acts of grace:
(i) Though adoption is distinct it is never separable from justification and regeneration;
(ii) Adoption, like justification, is a judicial act;
(iii) Those adopted into God's family are also given the Spirit of adoption whereby they are able to recognize their sonship and exercise the privileges which go with it;
(iv) There is a close relationship between adoption and regeneration. Regeneration is natural generation, adoption is a legal act.
Murray then distinguishes between the different types of the fatherhood of God:
(i) God's fatherhood which is exclusively trinitarian - Jesus alone shares this fatherhood of God.
(ii) Universal fatherhood of man through his creation of them;
(iii) Fatherhood through redemption and adoption.
When we speak of God as Father through adoption, we cannot mean the other two types of God's fatherhood.
Finally Murray makes clear that when we approach God as Father we are approaching the first member of the trinity only, not the Son or the Holy Spirit.
What grabbed me
I liked Murray's attempt to describe the awesome reality that it is to be adopted by God: 'Adoption, as the term clearly implies, is an act of transfer from an alien family into the family of God himself. This is surely the apex of grace and privilege. We would not dare to conceive of such grace far less to claim it apart from God's own revelation and assurance. It staggers imagination because of its amazing condescension and love. The Spirit alone could be the seal of it in our hearts...It is only as there is the conjunction of the witness of revelation and the inward witness of the Spirit in our hearts that we are able to scale this pinnacle of faith and say with filial confidence and love, Abba Father.' Nice point. Without the Holy Spirit's confirmation of God's revelation, we couldn't dare call God Father.
Now it's your turn
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