Basic Theology: Adoption - Responsibilities of Adoption
Responsibilities of Adoption
Every privilege carries with it a responsibility! 2 Peter 3:11, Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness,
1. We have received His Spirit, be careful not to grieve Him.
Ephesians 4:30, And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.
When we study the verses 17 to 32 in the same chapter carefully we can identify the things which grieve Him.
There is no greater incentive to holy living than the constant reminder that the Holy Spirit dwells within.
2. We have been given His Name, not to bring any dishonour upon Him.
Acts 9:15, But the Lord said to him, “Go, for he is a chosen vessel of Mine to bear My name before Gentiles, kings, and the children of Israel.
2 Timothy 2:19, Nevertheless the solid foundation of God stands, having this seal: “The Lord knows those who are His,” and, “Let everyone who names the name of Christ depart from iniquity.”
Acts 5:41, So they departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for His name.
Nothing hinders the work of God more than when Christians bring dishonour upon His name.
3. We are being conformed to His image: let us be submissive to the hands of the Potter.
Jeremiah 18:1-6,
Isaiah 64:8, But now, O Lord, You are our Father; We are the clay, and You our potter; And all we are the work of Your hand.
Sometimes His dealings with us may be painful, and often they will be perplexing but always they are for our good.
4. We experience His comfort: let us do so and let us share it with others.
2 Corinthians 1:3-4, Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, 4 who comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.
Hebrews 10:25, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.
How wonderful it is that we can experience His comfort! But let us be careful that we do not become selfish and self-centred in our enjoyment of his blessings.
5. We should enjoy His liberty, let us be victorious over every form of carnal or legal bondage.
John 8:36, Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed. Romans 8:2, For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death.
Lazarus was raised from the dead, but he had “his hands and feet wrapped around with strips of linen, and a cloth around his face” (John 11:44) – work, walk and witness!
6. We must expect His disciplining, let us be exercised by it.
Hebrews 12:11, Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful; nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it. 1 Corinthians 11:27-32, Therefore whoever eats this bread or drinks this cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. 28 But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup. 29 For he who eats and drinks in an unworthy manner eats and drinks judgment to himself, not discerning the Lord’s body. 30 For this reason many are weak and sick among you, and many sleep. 31 For if we would judge ourselves, we would not be judged. 32 But when we are judged, we are chastened by the Lord, that we may not be condemned with the world.
In every time of testing we should ask, “What new lesson is the Lord seeking to teach me?”
7. We are going to share His glory: let us be humbled by this rapturous prospect.
Revelation 1:17, And when I saw Him, I fell at His feet as dead. But He laid His right hand on me, saying to me, “Do not be afraid; I am the First and the Last.
1 John 3:1-2, Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God! Therefore the world does not know us, because it did not know Him. 2 Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.
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