Sonship

Pastor Martin opens a new section on adoption, arguing that adoption is an even higher blessing than justification — as a judge's son rescuing a criminal only illustrates justification, but the judge adopting the pardoned criminal as his own heir pictures adoption. He then traces adoption's centrality through four spheres: God's eternal purpose (Ephesians 1), Christ's temporal activity (Galatians 4), the initial application of salvation (John 1, Galatians 3-4), and the final application of salvation (Romans 8, 1 John 3, Revelation 21). He closes by rebuking the notion of universal fatherhood and urging believers to enjoy this pinnacle privilege.

Pastor Martin distinguishes the legal and experiential dimensions of adoption with a vivid illustration of adoptive parents waiting to receive their child, then expounds three legal privileges of adoption: an inviolable sonship grounded in the work of Christ for us (John 1:11-13), a shared heirship as co-heirs with Christ (Romans 8:14-17), and a conferred brotherhood in which the risen Christ is not ashamed to call us brethren (Hebrews 2:10-17). He urges believers to meditate on these privileges until they become felt realities and warns the unconverted of their alien, wrath-bearing position.