Daily Bread – May 25, 2022 (The Fourth Day – Genesis 1:14-19) Romans 8:15 – You have not received back the spirit of slavery to fear, but you have received the spirit of sonship in which you cry out, “Abba, Father!” Properly Defining Our Sonship From Scripture To say we have not been begotten of God is to deny the faith that is in Christ Jesus – for the only way we can come into this ‘so great a salvation’ is to be born into it by the Spirit (John 1:12-13, 3:3-8; 2 Corinthians 5:17; Ephesians 2:10). In the context of the New Testament, sonship cannot be described by the English word “adoption.” It would be better for us to make a literal translation of the compound word ‘huiothesia’; which is ‘huios-‘ (“son”) and ‘-tithemi’ (“to place”). The translation would then be “to place as a son.” The word ‘huiothesia’ is not found in classical writers, so the obscurity of the meaning must fit the context of the New Testament [Zodhiates, S. (2000, c1992, c1993, The Complete Word Study Dictionary)]. “In Greek, there are no instances of adoption in the transfer sense. Even when the ruler cult made its way into the world, the divinity of the ruler was viewed in terms of descent, rather than adoption” (Theological dictionary of the New Testament. 1964-c1976. Vols. 5-9). The only example in the Bible that gets us close to the meaning of the English word “adoption” is found in Acts 7:21. When the daughter of Pharaoh found Moses and took him unto herself, she adopted him (‘anaireomai’). The word ‘huiothesia’ was not used in the Bible to describe placing someone who was not actually a natural-born son “in place” as a son. Adoption is to formally and legally declare that someone who is not one’s own child is, henceforth, to be treated and cared for as one’s own child. This is not the case with the New Testament saints because we were born of God; and therefore, God’s own children. We were once children of disobedience; and as such, Jesus rightly identified men as the children of the devil (John 8:44; Ephesians 2:1-3; 1 John 3:8). We are now born of the Spirit and have become the offspring of the Word of God (1 Peter 1:23). The English word “adoption” does not testify to this truth, but rather leaves us with the status of having someone else other than God as our real father in a spiritual sense. If we are to believe this is true, we cannot truly say we have been born of God. Blessings, Pastor Mark Spitsbergen