Children of God - The Certainty of Sonship

1 John 3:1-3 Our Position as Adult Sons

:1 Our Father - Initiator of a relationship - Regeneration saves adoption brings us into a relationship and standing as adult sons

2 Corinthian 6:18 ““I will be a Father to you, and you shall be My sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty.””

Psalm 68:5 “A father of the fatherless, a defender of widows, Is God in His holy habitation.”

Adoption - He loved us and called us

Gal 4:5 “to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons.”

Gal 4:7 “Therefore you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.”

Romans 8:15 “For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father.””

In the New Testament, adoption is the act of God whereby he gives each of his children an adult standing in the family the instant he or she is born again. You do not get into God’s family by adoption but by regeneration. Why? Because an adopted child does not have the same nature as his adoptive parents. God’s children have God’s own nature because they have been born of God’s Spirit (2 Pet. 1:4). Adoption has to do with our standing in the family. It simply means that God treats us as adults, not as babes, and gives us adult privileges.

Warren W. Wiersbe

Children of God -

John 1:12 “But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name:”

1 John 3:4-9 Our Provision of Sonship

:5 Jesus takes away our sin - our propitiation

2 Corinthians 5:21 NKJV

For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

Hebrews 9:26 NKJV

He then would have had to suffer often since the foundation of the world; but now, once at the end of the ages, He has appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself.

1 John 3:6 “Whoever abides in Him does not sin. Whoever sins has neither seen Him nor known Him.”

the KEY to all this is the word ABIDE. if we abide in a sinless Savior we cannot sin. Sin is not the product of abiding. If we abide in the light we cannot sin, if we abide in the darkness we sin.

1 Cor 15:45 “And so it is written, “The first man Adam became a living being.” The last Adam became a life-giving spirit.” who answers the door. which dog do you feed.

:8 God’s plan in Christ to destroy the works of the devil

Hebrews 2:14–15 NKJV

Inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, He Himself likewise shared in the same, that through death He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, and release those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.

1 John 3:10-15 Our Privilege of Sonship

:10 Practice righteousness

:11 true love

John 13:34 NKJV

A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another.

John 15:13 “Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends.” Our Memorial Day Verse

“find a way to give yourself away”

:14 eternal security shown in our love

1 John 3:14 NKJV

We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love the brethren. He who does not love his brother abides in death.

1 John 3:16-24 Our Pattern of Sonship

Our pattern - Jesus laid down His life (Our example) Be like Jesus

Romans 8:17 “and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together.”

The New King James Version (Chapter 3)

My little children, let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth.

In tongue or in truth or deed and in truth - fill in

Our confidence - :20 no condemnation - no conditions

Rom 8:1 There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, (ends here) who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. - italics - may be transcribed from verse:4

Romans 8:1 ESV There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

The New Commandments - to believe and to love.

Believe - we are commanded - This is a new command

Love one another

John 13:34 “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another.”

Galatians 5:14 “For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.””

Gal 5:6 “For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything, but faith working through love.”