Part 2, Chapter 10: Communion with Christ in Privileges

Of communion with Christ in privileges: of adoption: the nature of it: the consequents of it: peculiar privileges attending it: liberty, title; boldness, affliction, communion with Christ hereby.

The third thing wherein we have communion with Christ is grace of privilege before God: I mean as the third head of purchased grace. The privileges we enjoy by Christ, are great and innumerable. To insist on them in particular, were work for a man's whole life, not a design to be wrapped up in a few sheets. I shall take a view of them only in the head, the spring and fountain from which they all arise and flow. This is our adoption. Beloved, now we are the sons of God (1 John 3:2). This is our great and fountain privilege. From where is it that we are so? It is from the love of the Father (verse 1). Behold, what love the Father has given unto us, that we should be called the sons of God. But by whom immediately do we receive this honor? As many as believe on Christ, he gives them this power to become the sons of God (John 1:12). Himself was appointed to be the firstborn among many brethren (Romans 8:29), and his taking us to be brethren (Hebrews 2:11) makes us become the children of God. Now that God is our Father, by being the Father of Christ, and we his children, by being the brethren of Christ, being the head and sum of all the honor, privilege, right, and title we have, let us a little consider the nature of that act, whereby we are invested with this state and title; namely our adoption.

Now adoption is the authoritative translation of a believer by Jesus Christ from the family of the world and Satan, into the family of God, with his investiture in all the privileges, and advantages of that family.

To the complete adoption of any person, these five things are required.

1. That he be actually, and of his own right, of another family, than that to which he is adopted. He must be the son of one family or other in his own right, as all persons are.

2. That there be a family to which of himself he has no right, into which he is to be grafted. If a man comes into a family upon a personal right, though originally at never so great a distance, that man is not adopted. If a man of a most remote consanguinity, does come into the inheritance of any family by the death of the nearer heirs, though his right before were little better than nothing, yet he is a born son of that family, he is not adopted. He is not to have the plea of the most remote possibility of succession.

3. That there be an authoritative legal translation of him, by some that have power thereunto, from one family into another. It was not by the law of old, in the power of particular persons, to adopt when, and whom they would. It was to be done by the authority of the sovereign power.

4. That the adopted person be freed from all the obligations that be upon him unto the family, from which he is translated: otherwise he can be no way useful, or serviceable unto the family, into which he is engrafted. He cannot serve two masters, much less two fathers.

5. That by virtue of his adoption, he be invested in all the rights, privileges, advantages, and title to the whole inheritance of the family into which he is adopted, in as full and ample manner, as if he had been born a son therein.

Now all these things and circumstances do concur, and are found in the adoption of believers.

1. They are by their own original right of another family, than that into which they are adopted. They are by nature the children of wrath (Ephesians 2:3). Sons of wrath: of that family whose inheritance is wrath; called the power of darkness (Colossians 1:13). For from thence does God translate them into the kingdom of his dear Son. This is the family of the world and of Satan, of which by nature believers are. Whatever is to be inherited in that family; as wrath, curse, death, hell, they have a right thereunto. Neither can they of themselves, or by themselves get free of this family: a strong man armed, keeps them in subjection. Their natural estate is a family condition, attended with all circumstances of a family; family duties and services; rights and titles; relations, and observances. They are of the black family of sin, and Satan.

2. There is another family into which they are to be translated, and to which of themselves, they have neither right nor title. This is that family in heaven and earth, which is called after the name of Christ (Ephesians 3:15). The great family of God: God has a house, and family for his children, of whom, some he maintains on the riches of his grace, and some he entertains with the fullness of his glory. This is that house whereof the Lord Christ is the great dispenser, it having pleased the Father to gather in one all things in him, both which are in heaven, and which are in earth, even in him (Ephesians 1:10). Herein live all the sons and daughters of God, spending largely on the riches of his grace. Unto this family of themselves they have no right, nor title: they are wholly alienated from it (Ephesians 2:12), and can lay no claim to anything in it. God driving fallen Adam out of the garden, and shutting up all ways of return with a flaming sword ready to cut him off, if he should attempt it; abundantly declares that he, and all in him, had lost all right of approaching unto God, in any family relation. Corrupted, cursed nature is not vested with the least right to anything of God: therefore

They have an authoritative translation from one of these families to another. It is not done in a private underhand way, but in the way of authority. To as many as received him, he gave power to become the sons of God (John 1:12). Power, or authority. This investing them with the power, excellency, and right of the sons of God, is a forensic act, and has a legal proceeding in it. It is called the making us meet for the inheritance of the saints in light (Colossians 1:12). A judicial exalting us into membership in that family, where God is the Father, Christ the elder brother, all saints and angels brethren and fellow children, and the inheritance a crown immortal and incorruptible, that fades not away.

Now this authoritative translation of believers from one family into another, consists of these two parts.

1. An effectual proclamation and declaration of such a person's immunity from all obligations to the former family, to which by nature he was related. And this declaration has a threefold object.

1. Angels: it is declared unto them, they are the sons of God. They are the sons of God, and so of the family whereunto the adopted person is to be admitted, and therefore it concerns them to know, who are invested with the rights of that family, that they may discharge their duty towards them. Unto them then it is declared, that believers are freed from the family of sin, and hell, to become fellow sons, and servants with them: and this is done two ways (Job 1:16; 38:7; Hebrews 12:22-24; Revelation 22:9).

1. Generally by the doctrine of the gospel (Ephesians 3:10). Unto the principalities, and powers in heavenly places is made known by the church, the manifold wisdom of God.

1. By the church is this wisdom made known to the angels: either as the doctrine of the gospel is delivered unto it, or as it is gathered thereby. And what is this wisdom of God, that is thus made known to principalities and powers? It is that the Gentiles should be fellow-heirs, and of the same body with us (verse 6). The mystery of adopting sinners of the Gentiles, taking them from their slavery in the family of the world, that they might have a right of heirship, becoming sons in the family of God, is this wisdom thus made known. And how was it primitively made known? It was revealed by the Spirit unto the prophets and apostles (verse 5).

2. In particular by immediate revelation. When any particular soul is freed from the family of this world, it is revealed to the angels. There is joy in the presence of the angels of God (that is among the angels, and by them) over one sinner that repents (Luke 15:10). Now the angels cannot of themselves absolutely know the true repentance of a sinner in itself. It is a work wrought in that cabinet, which none has a key unto but Jesus Christ: by him it is revealed to the angels, when the peculiar care, and charge of such an one is committed to them. These things have their transaction before the angels (Luke 12:8-9). Christ owns the names of his brethren before the angels (Revelation 2:5). When he gives them admittance into the family where they are (Hebrews 12:22), he declares to them that they are sons, that they may discharge their duty towards them (Hebrews 1:14).

2. It is denounced in a judicial way unto Satan, the great master of the family whereunto they were in subjection. When the Lord Christ delivers a soul from under the power of that strong armed one, he binds him: ties him from the exercise of that power and dominion which before he had over him. And by this means does he know that such an one is delivered from his family; and all his future attempts upon him, are encroachments upon the possession, and inheritance of the Lord Christ.

3. Unto the conscience of the person adopted. The Spirit of Christ testifies to the heart and conscience of a believer, that he is freed from all engagements unto the family of Satan, and is become the Son of God (Romans 8:14-15), and enables him to cry Abba Father (Galatians 4:6). Of the particulars of this testification of the Spirit, and of its absolving the soul from its old alliance, I shall speak afterward. And herein consists the first thing mentioned.

2. There is an authoritative engrafting of a believer actually into the family of God, and investing him with the whole right of sonship. Now this, as unto us, has sundry acts.

1. The giving a believer a new name in a white stone (Revelation 1:17). They that are adopted are to take new names: they change their names they had in their old families, to take the names of the families whereinto they are translated. This new name is, a child of God: that is the new name given in adoption: and no man knows what is in that name, but only he that does receive it. And this new name is given, and written in a white stone; that is the tessera of our admission into the house of God. It is a stone of judicial acquitment. Our adoption by the Spirit is bottomed on our absolution in the blood of Jesus: and therefore is the new name, in the white stone; privilege grounded on discharge. The white stone quits the claim of the old family; the new name gives entrance to the other.

2. An enrolling of his name in the catalogue of the household of God. Admitting him thereby, into fellowship therein. This is called the writing of the house of Israel (Ezekiel 13:9), that is the roll, wherein all the names of the Israel, the family of God are written. God has a catalogue of his household; Christ knows his sheep by name. When God writes up the people, he counts that this man was born in Zion (Psalm 87:6). This is an extract of the Lamb's book of life.

Thirdly, testifying to his conscience, his acceptance with God, enabling him to behave himself as a child (Romans 8:15; Galatians 4:5-6).

The two last things required to adoption are, that the adopted person be freed from all obligations to the family from whence he is translated, and invested with the rights and privileges of that whereunto he is translated. Now because these two comprise the whole issue of adoption, wherein the saints have communion with Christ, I shall handle them together, referring the concernments of them unto these four heads.

1. Liberty: 2. Title, or right: 3. Boldness: 4. Correction. These are the four things in reference to the family of the adopted person, that he does receive by his adoption, wherein he holds communion with the Lord Jesus.

1. Liberty: The Spirit of the Lord, that was upon the Lord Jesus did anoint him to proclaim liberty to the captive (Isaiah 61:1). And where the Spirit of God is, (that is the Spirit of Christ given to us by him because we are sons) there is liberty (2 Corinthians 3:17). All spiritual liberty is from the Spirit of adoption. Whatever else is pretended, is licentiousness. So the apostle argues (Galatians 4:6-7), he has sent forth his Spirit into their hearts crying Abba Father, wherefore you are no more servants, no more in bondage, but have the liberty of sons. And this liberty respects in the first place, the family from whence the adopted person is translated; it is his setting free from all the obligations of that family.

Now in this sense, the liberty which the saints have by adoption is either from that which is real, or that which is pretended; that which is real respects a twofold issue of law, and sin. The moral unchangeable law of God, and sin, being in conjunction, meeting with reference to any persons, has, and has had a twofold issue;

1. An economical institution of a new law of ordinances, keeping in bondage those to whom it was given (Colossians 2:14).

2. A natural (if I may so call it) pressing of those persons with its power and efficacy against sin, whereof there are these parts.

1. Its rigor, and terror in commanding.

2. Its impossibility for accomplishment, and so insufficiency for its primitively appointed end.

3. The issues of its transgression, which are referred unto two heads: 1. Curse: 2. Death. I shall speak very briefly of these, because they are commonly handled, and granted by all.

2. That which is pretended, is the power of any whatever over the conscience, when once made free by Christ.

First then, believers are freed from the instituted law of ordinances, which upon the testimony of the apostles, was a yoke which neither we nor our fathers (in the faith) could bear (Acts 15:10). Wherefore Christ blotted out this handwriting of ordinances that was against them, which was contrary to them, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross (Colossians 2:14). And thereupon the apostle after a long dispute concerning the liberty that we have from that law, concludes with this instruction (Galatians 5:1), stand fast in the liberty wherewith Christ has made us free.

2. In reference to the moral law, the first thing we have liberty from, is its rigor, and terror in commanding (Hebrews 12:18-22). We are not come to the mount that might be touched, and that burned with fire, to the whirlwind, darkness, and tempest, to the sound of the trumpet, and the voice of words, which they that heard besought that they might hear it no more; but we are come to mount Zion, etc. As to that administration of the law wherein it was given out with dread, and terror, and so exacted its obedience with rigor, we are freed from it, we are not called to that estate.

2. Its impossibility of accomplishment, and so insufficiency for its primitive end by reason of sin. Or we are freed from the law as the instrument of righteousness, since by the impossibility of its fulfilling as to us, it is become insufficient for any such purpose (Romans 8:2-3; Galatians 3:21-23). There being an impossibility of obtaining life by the law, we are exempted from it as to any such end, and that by the righteousness of Christ (Romans 8:3).

3. From the issue of its transgression.

1. Curse. There is a solemn curse enwrapping the whole wrath of God, annexed to the law, with reference to the transgression thereof: and from this are we wholly at liberty (Galatians 3:13). By being made a curse, he has delivered us from the curse.

2. Death (Hebrews 2:14-15), and therewith from Satan (Hebrews 2:15; Colossians 1:13), and sin (Romans 6:14; 1 Peter 1:18), with the world (Galatians 1:4), with all the attendances, advantages, and claim of them all (Galatians 4:3-5; Colossians 2:20), without which we could not live one day.

That which is pretended, and claimed by some, wherein indeed and in truth we were never in bondage, but are hereby eminently set free, is the power of binding conscience by any laws and constitutions, not from God (Colossians 2:20-22).

2. There is a liberty in the family of God, as well as a liberty from the family of Satan; sons are free: their obedience is a free obedience. They have the Spirit of the Lord, and where he is, there is liberty (2 Corinthians 3:18); as a Spirit of adoption he is opposed to the spirit of bondage (Romans 8:15). Now this liberty of our Father's family, which we have as sons and children, being adopted by Christ through the Spirit, is a spiritual largeness of heart, whereby the children of God do freely, willingly, genuinely, without fear, terror, bondage, and constraint go forth unto all holy obedience in Christ.

I say this is our liberty in our Father's family; what we have liberty from, has been already declared.

There be Gibeonites outwardly attending the family of God: that do the service of his house, as the drudgery of their lives; the principle they yield obedience upon, is a spirit of bondage unto fear (Romans 8:15). The rule they do it by, is the law in its dread and rigor, exacting it of them to the utmost, without mercy and mitigation; the end they do it for, is to fly from the wrath to come, to pacify conscience, and seek righteousness as it were by the works of the law. Thus servilely, painfully, fruitlessly, they seek to serve their own conviction all their days.

The saints, by adoption have a largeness of heart in all holy obedience. Says David, I will walk at liberty, for I seek your precepts (Psalm 119:4-5; Isaiah 61:1; Luke 4:18; Romans 8:2, 21; Galatians 4:2; 5:1, 13; James 1:25; John 8:32-33, 36; Romans 6:18; 1 Peter 2:16). Now this amplitude, or son-like freedom of the spirit in obedience, consists in sundry things.

1. In the principles of all spiritual service, which are life, and love: the one respecting the matter of their obedience, giving them power, the other respecting the manner of their obedience giving them joy, and sweetness in it. It is from life, that gives them power as to the matter of obedience (Romans 8:3).

The law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus, sets them free from the law of sin and death: it frees them, it carries them out to all obedience freely. So that they walk after the Spirit (verse 1), that being the principle of their workings (Galatians 2:20). Christ lives in me, and the life which I now live in the flesh, is by the faith of the Son of God: the life which I now live in the flesh, that is the obedience which I yield unto God, while I am in the flesh, it is from a principle of life, Christ living in me. There is then power for all living unto God, from Christ in them, the Spirit of life, from Christ carrying them out thereto. The fruits of a dead root, are but dead excrescences; living acts are from a principle of life.

Hence you may see the difference between the liberty that slaves assume, and the liberty which is due to children.

First, slaves take liberty from duty; children have liberty in duty. There is not a greater mistake in the world than that the liberty of sons in the house of God consists in this — that they can perform duties or take the freedom to omit them, that they can serve in the family of God if they will and can choose whether they will or not. This is a liberty stolen by slaves, not a liberty given by the Spirit to sons.

The liberty of sons is the inward spiritual freedom of their hearts naturally and genuinely going out in all the ways and worship of God. When they find themselves straitened and shut up in them, they wrestle with God for enlargement and are never contented with the doing of a duty unless it is done as in Christ, with free, genuine, and enlarged hearts. The liberty that servants have is from duty; the liberty given to sons is in duty.

Second, the liberty of slaves or servants is from mistaken, deceiving conclusions. The liberty of sons is from the power of the indwelling Spirit of grace — an inward living principle.

Second, love, as to the manner of their obedience, gives them delight and joy. John 14:15: if you love me, keep my commandments. Love is the bottom of all their duties. Hence our Savior resolves all obedience into the love of God and neighbor, and Paul on the same ground tells us that love is the fulfilling of the law, Romans 13:10. Where love is in any duty it is complete in Christ. How often does David with admiration express this principle of his walking with God: O how I love your commandments! This gives saints delight — the commandments of Christ are not grievous to them. Jacob's hard service was not grievous to him because of his love for Rachel; no duty of a saint is grievous to him because of his love for Christ. They do all things from love with delight and complacency. Hence they long for advantages of walking with God and pant after more ability. Love also gives joy in obedience. 1 John 4:18: there is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. When their soul is moved to obedience by love, it expels that fear which is the issue of bondage upon the spirit. When life and love concur, there is freedom, liberty, and largeness of heart — greatly removed from that straitened and bondaged frame in which many walk all their days who know not the adoption of sons.

Second, the object of their obedience is presented to them as desirable, when to others it is terrible. In all their approaches to God, they eye him as a Father. They call him Father, Galatians 4:6 — not in a mere form of words but in the spirit of sons. God in Christ is continually before them not only as one deserving all the honor and obedience he requires, but as one exceedingly to be delighted in, as being all-sufficient to satisfy and satiate all the desires of the soul. When others wrap up their talents, as dealing with an austere master, the sons of God draw out their strength to the uttermost, as drawing near to a gracious rewarder. They go from the principle of life and love to the bosom of a living and loving Father; they do but return the strength they receive to the fountain, to the ocean.

Third, their motive to obedience is love. 2 Corinthians 5:15: from an apprehension of love they are effectually carried out by love to give up themselves to him who is love. What a freedom is this, what a largeness of spirit in those who walk according to this rule! Darkness, fear, bondage, conviction, and hopes of righteousness accompany others in their ways. The sons, by the Spirit of adoption, have light and love with complacency in all their walkings with God. The world is a universal stranger to the frame of children in their Father's house.

Fourth, the manner of their obedience is willingness. They yield themselves to God as those who are alive from the dead, Romans 6:13. They yield themselves — give up themselves willingly, cheerfully, and freely. With my whole heart, says David. Romans 12:1: they present themselves a living sacrifice and a willing sacrifice.

Fifth, the rule of their walking with God is the law of liberty — divested of all its terrifying, threatening, killing, condemning, and cursing power, and rendered in the blood of Jesus sweet, tender, useful, directing, and helpful as a rule of walking in the life they have received, not the way of working for the life they have not. These may suffice to manifest that liberty of obedience in the family of God which his sons and daughters have, and which the poor convicted Gibeonites are not acquainted with.

Second, the second thing which the children of God have by adoption is title. They have title and right to all the privileges and advantages of the family into which they are translated. This is the preeminence of the true sons of any family. The ground on which Sarah pleaded the ejection of Ishmael was that he was the son of the bondwoman, Genesis 21:10 — not a genuine child of the family and therefore could have no right of heirship with Isaac. The apostle's argument is: we are no more servants but sons, and if sons, then heirs, Romans 8:14-17. We have right and title, and not being born to it — for by nature we are children of wrath — we have this right by our adoption.

The saints hereby have a double right and title. First, proper and direct in respect of spiritual things. Second, consequential in respect of temporal things.

The first — the title as adopted sons to spiritual things — is in respect of its object twofold.

First, to a present place, name, and room in the house of God and all the privileges and administrations thereof.

Second, to a future fullness of the great inheritance of glory — a kingdom purchased for that whole family of which they are by Jesus Christ.

They have a title to and an interest in the whole administration of the family of God here.

The supreme administration of the house of God — in the hand of the Lord Christ, as to the institution of ordinances and the dispensation of the Spirit to enliven and make effectual those ordinances for their appointed end — is the prime notion of this administration. The saints are its prime objects; all this is for them and exercised toward them. God has given Jesus Christ to be head over all things to the church which is his body, Ephesians 1:22-23. He has made him head over all these spiritual things and committed the authoritative administration of them all to him for the use and benefit of the church — that is, the family of God. It is for the benefit of the many sons he will bring to glory that he does all these things, Hebrews 2:17. The aim of the Lord Jesus in establishing gospel administrations is the perfecting of the saints, Ephesians 4:8-12. All is for them, all is for the family. All gospel administrations and ordinances are theirs and for them. Whatever benefit the world receives from the things of the gospel — as much does every way — it is engaged for it to the children of this family. This then is the aim and intention of the Lord Christ in the institution of all gospel ordinances and administrations: that they may be of use for the house and family of God and all his children and servants therein.

It is true the word is preached to all the world, to gather in the children of God's purpose who are scattered throughout the world and to leave the rest without excuse. But the prime end and aim of the Lord Christ thereby is to gather in those heirs of salvation to the enjoyment of that feast of good things which he has prepared for them in his house.

They, and they only, have right and title to gospel administrations and the privileges of the family of God as held out in his church according to his mind. The church is the house of God, 1 Timothy 3:15, Hebrews 3:6. Herein he keeps and maintains his whole family, ordering them according to his mind and will. Who shall have any right in the house of God but his children? We will not allow a right to any but our own children in our houses — will God allow any right in his house but to his children? Is it fitting to take the children's bread and cast it to dogs? None but children have any right or title to the privileges and advantages of the house of God.

First, consider the nature of that house: it is made up of such persons as it is impossible any but adopted children should have a right to a place in. It is composed of living stones, 1 Peter 2:5 — a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people, verse 9. Saints and faithful in Christ Jesus, Ephesians 1:1. Saints and faithful brothers, Colossians 1:2. A people all righteous, Isaiah 60:21. The whole fabric of it is glorious, Isaiah 54:11-14. The way of the house is a way of holiness through which the unclean shall not pass, Isaiah 35:8. Expressly they are the sons and daughters of the Lord God Almighty, and they only, 2 Corinthians 6:17-18. All others are excluded, Revelation 21:27. It is true that sometimes unfit persons creep unawares into the great house of God, so that in it are not only vessels of gold and silver but also of wood and clay, 2 Timothy 2:20. But they only creep in, as Jude says, verse 4; they have no right or title to it.

Second, the privileges of the house are such that they will not suit or profit any other. To what purpose is it to give food to a dead man? Will he grow strong by it? The things of the family and house of God are food for living souls. Children only are alive; all others are dead in trespasses and sins. Look at whatever particular of the saints' enjoyments in the family of God you please, and you shall find them all suited to believers. Being bestowed on the world they would be a pearl in the snout of a swine.

It is only the sons of the family who have this right. They have fellowship with one another, and that fellowship with the Father and with the Son Jesus Christ. They show forth the Lord's death until he comes. They are entrusted with all the ordinances of the house and the administration of them. And who shall deny them the enjoyment of this right or keep them from what Christ has purchased for them? The Lord will in the end give them hearts everywhere to make use of this title accordingly, and not to wander on the mountains forgetting their resting place.

Second, they have a title to the future fullness of the inheritance purchased for this whole family by Jesus Christ. So the apostle argues, Romans 8:17: if children then heirs. All God's children are firstborn, Hebrews 12:23, and therefore are heirs. Hence the whole weight of glory prepared for them is called the inheritance, Colossians 1:12 — the inheritance of the saints in light. If you are Christ's, then you are Abraham's seed and heirs according to the promise, Galatians 3:29 — heirs of the promise, that is, of all things promised to Abraham in and with Christ.

There are three things which in this regard the children of God are said to be heirs of.

1 The promise as in that place of Galatians 3:29. And Hebrews 6:11. God shows to the heirs of the promise the immutability of his counsel: As Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, are said to be heirs of the same promise (Hebrews 11:9). God had from the foundation of the world, made a most excellent promise in Christ, containing a deliverance from all evil; and an engagement for the bestowing all good things upon them: it contains a deliverance from all the evil which the guilt of sin, and dominion of Satan had brought upon them, with an investiture of them in all spiritual blessings in heavenly things in Christ Jesus: hence (Hebrews 9:15) the Holy Ghost calls it a promise of the eternal inheritance. This in the first place are the adopted children of God heirs unto. Look whatever is in the promise which God made at the beginning to fallen man, and has since solemnly renewed, and confirmed by his oath; they are heirs of it, and are accepted in their claim for their inheritance in the court of heaven.

2. They are heirs of righteousness (Hebrews 11:7). Noah was an heir of the righteousness which is by faith: which Peter calls a being heir of the grace of life (1 Peter 3:9). And James puts both these together (James 2:6), heirs of the kingdom which God has promised: that is, of the kingdom of grace, and the righteousness thereof, and in this respect it is that the apostle tells us (Ephesians 1:11) that we have obtained an inheritance; which he also places with the righteousness of faith (Acts 26:13). Now by this righteousness, grace, and inheritance, is not only intended that righteousness which we are here actually made partakers of, but also the end, and accomplishment of that righteousness in glory, which is also assured in the

Third place; they are heirs of salvation (Hebrews 1:14) and heirs according to the hope of eternal life (Titus 3:7), which Peter calls an inheritance incorruptible (1 Peter 1:4) and Paul the reward of the inheritance (Colossians 3:24), that is, the issue of the inheritance of light, and holiness which they already enjoy. Thus then distinguish the full salvation by Christ, into the foundation of it, the promises, and means of it, righteousness and holiness, the end of it eternal glory; the sons of God have a right and title to all in that, that they are made heirs with Christ.

And this is that which is the main of the saints' title and right which they have by adoption: which in sum is, that the Lord is their portion, and inheritance, and they are the inheritance of the Lord; and a large portion it is that they have. The lines are fallen to them in a goodly place.

2. Besides this principal, the adopted sons of God have a second consequential right: a right unto the things of this world, that is, unto all the portions of it, which God is pleased to entrust them here withal. Christ is the heir of all things (Hebrews 1:3). All right, and title to the things of the creation was lost, and forfeited by sin. The Lord by his sovereignty, had made an original grant of all things here below for man's use; he had appointed the residue of the works of his hands in their several stations, to be serviceable unto his behalf. Sin reversed this whole grant, and institution: all things were set at liberty from the subjection unto him: yet that liberty being a taking them off from the end, to which they were originally appointed, is a part of their vanity, and curse. It is evil to any thing to be laid aside as to the end, to which it was primitively appointed: by this means the whole creation is turned loose from any subordinate ruler; and man having lost the whole title whereby he held his dominion over, and possession of the creatures, has not the least color of interest in any of them, nor can lay any claim unto them; but now the Lord intending to take a portion to himself, out of the lump of fallen mankind, whom he appointed heirs of salvation, he does not immediately destroy the works of creation, but reserve them for their use in their pilgrimage. To this end he invests the whole right and title of them in the second Adam, which the first had lost; he appoints him, heir of all things. And thereupon his adopted ones, being fellow heirs with Christ, become also to have a right and title unto the things of this creation.

To clear up this right what it is, I must give some few observations.

1. The right they have, is not as the right that Christ has: that is sovereign, and supreme, to do what he will with his own: but theirs subordinate, and such, as that they must be accountable for the use of those things whereunto they have a right and title. The right of Christ, is the right of the Lord of the house, the right of the saints is the right of servants.

2. That the whole number of the children of God have a right unto the whole earth, which is the Lord's and the fullness thereof, in these two regards.

1. He who is the sovereign Lord of it, does preserve it merely for their use, and upon their account: all others whatever being bad faith possessors, invading a portion of the Lord's territories, without grant or leave from him.

2. In that Christ has promised to give them the kingdom and dominion of it, in such a way and manner, as in his providence he shall dispose; that is, that the government of the earth shall be exercised to their advantage.

3. This right is a spiritual right, which does not give a civil interest, but only sanctifies the right and interest bestowed. God has providentially disposed of the civil bounds of the inheritance of men (Acts 17:26), suffering the men of the world to enjoy a portion here, and that oftentimes very full, and plenteous, and that for his children's sake, that those beasts of the forest, which are made to be destroyed, may not break loose upon the whole possession. Hence

4. No one particular adopted person, has any right by virtue thereof, to any portion of earthly things, whereunto he has not right and title upon a civil interest given him by the providence of God. But

5. This they have by their adoption, that

Look what portion soever God is pleased to give them, they have a right unto it, as it is reinvested in Christ, and not as it lies wholly under the curse and vanity that is come upon the creation by sin, and therefore can never be called unto an account for usurping that which they have no right unto, as shall all the sons of men, who violently grasp those things which God has set at liberty from under their dominion because of sin.

By this their right, they are led unto a sanctified use of what thereby they do enjoy: inasmuch as the things themselves are to them pledges of the Father's love, washed in the blood of Christ, and endearments upon their spirits to live to his praise, who gives them all things richly to enjoy.

And this is a second thing we have by our adoption: and hence I dare say of unbelievers: they have no true right unto anything of what kind soever; that they do possess.

They have no true, unquestionable right I say even unto the temporal things they do possess; it is true they have a civil right in respect of others, but they have not a sanctified right in respect of their own souls. They have a right and title that will hold plea in the courts of men, but not a right that will hold in the court of God, and in their own conscience. It will one day be sad with them when they shall come to give an account of their enjoyments. They shall not only be reckoned with for the abuse of that they have possessed, that they have not used, and laid it out for the glory of him whose it is, but also that they have ever laid their hands upon the creatures of God, and kept them from them for whose sakes alone they are preserved from destruction. When the God of glory shall come home to any of them, either in their consciences here, or in the judgment that is for to come, and speak with the terror of a revengeful judge: I have suffered you to enjoy corn, wine, and oil, a great portion of my creatures; you have rolled yourselves in wealth and prosperity, when the right heirs of these things lived poor, and low, and mean at the next doors; give in now an answer what, and how you have used these things, what have you laid out for the service and advancement of the gospel? What have you given unto them for whom nothing was provided? What contribution have you made for the poor saints? Have you had a ready hand, and willing mind to lay down all for my sake? When they shall be compelled to answer as the truth is, Lord, we had indeed a large portion in the world, but we took it to be our own, and thought we might have done what we would with our own, we have eaten the fat, and drunk the sweet, and left the rest of our substance for our babes; we have spent somewhat upon our lusts, somewhat upon our friends, but the truth is we cannot say that we made friends of this unrighteous mammon, that we used it to the advancement of the gospel or for ministering unto your poor saints, and now behold we must die, and so forth. So also when the Lord shall proceed further and question not only the use of these things, but also their title to them, and tell them the earth is mine and the fullness thereof: I did indeed make an original grant of these things to man, but that is lost by sin; I have restored it only for my saints, why have you laid then your fingers of prey upon that which was not yours, why have you compelled my creatures to serve you, and your lusts, which I had set at loose from under your dominion: give me my flax, my wine and wool, I'll set you naked as in the day of your birth, and revenge upon you your rapine, and unjust possession of that which was not yours. I say at such a time what will men do?

Boldness with God by Christ is another privilege of our adoption; but hereof I have spoken at large before, in treating of the excellency of Christ in respect of our approach to God by him; so that I shall not reassume the consideration of it.

Affliction also as proceeding from love, as leading to spiritual advantages, as conforming unto Christ; as sweetened with his presence is the privilege of children (Hebrews 12:3-6), but on these particulars I must not insist.

This I say is the head, and source of all the privileges which Christ has purchased for us, wherein also we have fellowship with him: fellowship in name, we are (as he is) sons of God; fellowship in title and right, we are heirs, co-heirs with Christ; fellowship in likeness, and conformity, we are predestinated to be like the firstborn of the family; fellowship in honor; he is not ashamed to call us brethren; fellowship in sufferings, he learned obedience by what he suffered; and every son is to be scourged that is received; fellowship in his kingdom; we shall reign with him; of all which I must speak peculiarly in another place, and so shall not here draw out the discourse concerning them any further.

This chapter concerns communion with Christ in privileges: adoption — its nature, its consequences, the specific privileges that come with it, including liberty, title, and boldness — along with affliction, and how the saints hold communion with Christ through all of these.

The third area in which we hold communion with Christ is the grace of privilege before God — the third category of purchased grace. The privileges we enjoy through Christ are great and countless. To treat them all in detail would be the work of a lifetime, not something that can be covered in a few pages. I will look at them only in their head, the spring and source from which they all arise and flow. That source is our adoption. 'Beloved, now we are children of God' (1 John 3:2). This is our great and foundational privilege. Where does it come from? It comes from the love of the Father (verse 1): 'See how great a love the Father has bestowed on us, that we would be called children of God.' But by whom do we immediately receive this honor? To all who received Christ, He gave the right to become children of God (John 1:12). He was appointed to be the firstborn among many brothers (Romans 8:29), and His calling us brothers (Hebrews 2:11) is what makes us children of God. The fact that God is our Father by being the Father of Christ, and that we are His children by being brothers of Christ — this is the head and sum of all the honor, privilege, right, and title we have. Let us consider the nature of the act by which we are placed in this status and given this title: our adoption.

Adoption is the authoritative transfer of a believer by Jesus Christ from the family of the world and Satan into the family of God, along with his investiture in all the privileges and advantages of that family.

A complete adoption of any person requires five things.

1. The person must actually belong, by his own natural right, to a different family than the one into which he is adopted. He must be a son of some family by birth, as all people are.

2. There must be a family to which he has no natural right, into which he is to be grafted. If a person enters a family by his own right — however distant that connection may originally have been — he is not adopted. If someone with a very remote family connection comes into an inheritance because all the closer heirs have died, he is still a natural son of that family line, however tenuous; he is not adopted. He cannot claim a right based on even the most remote possibility of succession.

3. There must be an authoritative, legal transfer of the person, carried out by those with the power to do it, from one family into another. It was not, under the old law, within the power of private individuals to adopt whoever they wished whenever they chose. It had to be done by the authority of the ruling power.

4. The adopted person must be freed from all obligations to the family from which he is being transferred — otherwise he cannot be useful or serve the family into which he is being grafted. A person cannot serve two masters, much less two fathers.

5. By virtue of his adoption, the person must be fully invested in all the rights, privileges, advantages, and claim to the entire inheritance of the family into which he is adopted — just as fully as if he had been born a son in that family.

All these requirements are met in the adoption of believers.

1. By their own natural right they belong to a different family than the one into which they are adopted. By nature they are children of wrath (Ephesians 2:3) — sons of wrath: belonging to the family whose inheritance is wrath, called the domain of darkness (Colossians 1:13). From that family God transfers them to the kingdom of His beloved Son. This is the family of the world and of Satan, to which believers by nature belong. Everything that family inherits — wrath, curse, death, hell — they have a claim to. They cannot free themselves from this family on their own: a strong armed man holds them in subjection. Their natural condition is a family condition, complete with all the features of family life: duties and obligations, rights and claims, relationships and expectations. They are members of the dark family of sin and Satan.

2. There is another family into which they are to be transferred, and to which they have no right or claim of their own. This is the family named after Christ — in heaven and on earth (Ephesians 3:15). The great family of God: God has a household for His children, some of whom He maintains by the riches of His grace and others He welcomes into the fullness of His glory. This is the household of which the Lord Christ is the great steward — it having pleased the Father to bring all things together in Him, both in heaven and on earth (Ephesians 1:10). In this household all the sons and daughters of God dwell, freely drawing on the riches of His grace. To this family they have no right or title of their own; they are completely estranged from it (Ephesians 2:12) and can lay no claim to anything in it. God driving fallen Adam out of the garden and blocking every path of return with a flaming sword ready to cut off any attempt to return — this makes abundantly clear that Adam, and all in him, had forfeited every right of approach to God in any family relationship. Fallen, cursed human nature has not even the smallest right to anything that belongs to God — therefore:

They receive an authoritative transfer from one of these families to the other. It is not done in a quiet, informal way — it is done by authority. 'To all who received Him, He gave the right to become children of God' (John 1:12). Power, or authority. This investing them with the power, dignity, and right of the children of God is a formal act and has a legal character to it. It is called being 'qualified to share in the inheritance of the saints in light' (Colossians 1:12). It is a judicial elevation into membership in the family where God is the Father, Christ the elder Brother, all saints and angels brothers and fellow children, and the inheritance a crown that is immortal, incorruptible, and will never fade away.

This authoritative transfer of believers from one family to another consists of two parts.

1. An effective public declaration of that person's freedom from all obligations to the former family to which he belonged by nature. This declaration has a threefold audience.

1. Angels: it is declared to the angels that believers are sons of God. The angels are sons of God and members of the family into which the adopted person is being admitted — so it is fitting that they know who has been invested with the rights of that family, so they can carry out their duty toward them. It is therefore declared to them that believers have been freed from the family of sin and hell to become fellow sons and servants with them. This is done in two ways (Job 1:6; 38:7; Hebrews 12:22-24; Revelation 22:9).

1. Generally, through the teaching of the gospel (Ephesians 3:10): the manifold wisdom of God is made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places through the church.

This wisdom is made known to the angels through the church — either as the gospel is delivered to the church, or as the church is gathered through it. And what is this wisdom of God that is made known to the rulers and authorities? It is that 'the Gentiles are fellow heirs and fellow members of the body' (verse 6). The mystery of adopting sinners from the nations — taking them from their slavery in the family of the world so that they might have the right of inheritance as sons in the family of God — is this wisdom that is being made known. And how was it first made known? It was revealed by the Spirit to the prophets and apostles (verse 5).

2. In particular, through direct revelation. When any specific soul is freed from the family of this world, it is revealed to the angels. 'There is joy in the presence of the angels of God' — that is, among the angels and by them — 'over one sinner who repents' (Luke 15:10). The angels cannot on their own know with certainty whether a sinner's repentance is genuine. That is a work wrought in a place to which no one has a key but Jesus Christ; He reveals it to the angels when He places a particular person under their care and charge. These things take place before the angels (Luke 12:8-9). Christ acknowledges the names of His brothers before the angels (Revelation 2:5). When He grants them admission into the family where the angels already are (Hebrews 12:22), He declares to the angels that these are sons, so that they may fulfill their duty toward them (Hebrews 1:14).

2. It is proclaimed in a judicial way to Satan, the great head of the family to which the adopted person had been in bondage. When the Lord Christ delivers a soul from under the power of that strong armed one, He binds him — restraining him from the exercise of the power and dominion he had previously held over that person. By this Satan knows that such a person has been removed from his family, and all his future attempts against that person are intrusions into the possession and inheritance of the Lord Christ.

3. To the conscience of the person adopted. The Spirit of Christ testifies to the heart and conscience of a believer that he has been freed from all ties to the family of Satan and has become a child of God (Romans 8:14-15), enabling him to cry, 'Abba, Father!' (Galatians 4:6). The particulars of this testimony of the Spirit, and of its releasing the soul from its old allegiance, I will address later. This completes the first part mentioned.

2. There is an authoritative grafting of a believer into the family of God, investing him with the full rights of sonship. As it concerns us, this involves several distinct acts.

1. The giving of a new name on a white stone (Revelation 2:17). Those who are adopted receive new names: they lay aside the names they had in their old families and take the names of the families into which they have been transferred. This new name is 'child of God' — that is the new name given in adoption, and no one knows what is in that name except the one who receives it. This new name is given and written on a white stone, which is the token of our admission into the household of God. It is a stone of judicial acquittal. Our adoption by the Spirit rests on our absolution through the blood of Jesus — and therefore the new name is on the white stone: privilege resting on discharge. The white stone releases the claim of the old family; the new name grants entrance to the other.

2. The enrolling of his name in the register of God's household, admitting him into fellowship there. This is called the 'writing of the house of Israel' (Ezekiel 13:9) — that is, the roll on which all the names of Israel, the family of God, are recorded. God has a register of His household; Christ knows His sheep by name. When God records His people, He notes that this person was born in Zion (Psalm 87:6). This is an extract from the Lamb's book of life.

3. Testifying to his conscience of his acceptance with God and enabling him to conduct himself as a child (Romans 8:15; Galatians 4:5-6).

The last two requirements for adoption are that the adopted person be freed from all obligations to the family from which he was transferred, and invested with the rights and privileges of the family into which he has been transferred. Since these two together comprise the whole substance of adoption, in which the saints hold communion with Christ, I will address them together under four headings.

1. Liberty. 2. Title, or right. 3. Boldness. 4. Correction. These are the four gifts a person receives in relation to his new family through adoption, and it is in these that he holds communion with the Lord Jesus.

1. Liberty: The Spirit of the Lord who rested on the Lord Jesus anointed Him to proclaim freedom to the captives (Isaiah 61:1). And where the Spirit of the Lord is — that is, the Spirit of Christ given to us by Him because we are sons — there is freedom (2 Corinthians 3:17). All spiritual freedom comes from the Spirit of adoption. Whatever else is called freedom is merely license. As the apostle argues in Galatians 4:6-7: God has sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, 'Abba, Father!' — therefore we are no longer servants, no longer in bondage, but have the freedom of sons. And this freedom has to do, first of all, with the family from which the adopted person was transferred; it is his release from all the obligations of that family.

Now in this sense, the freedom the saints have through adoption is freedom from what is real and from what is merely imposed. What is real concerns a twofold result of the law and sin together. The moral, unchangeable law of God, when it meets sin in a person, has produced — and continues to produce — two results:

1. The temporary institution of a new body of laws and ordinances, holding in bondage those to whom it was given (Colossians 2:14).

2. What I might call a natural pressing of those persons by the law's power and force against sin — which has these parts:

1. Its harshness and terror in commanding.

2. Its impossibility of fulfillment, and therefore its inability to accomplish its originally intended purpose.

3. The consequences of transgressing it, which fall under two headings: 1. Curse. 2. Death. I will be very brief about these, as they are commonly discussed and agreed upon by all.

What is merely claimed — not real bondage — is any supposed power of human authority to bind the conscience, which Christ has set free.

First, then, believers are freed from the instituted law of ordinances, which the apostles testified was a burden that neither we nor our ancestors in the faith were able to bear (Acts 15:10). Christ canceled the written code of ordinances that was against us — that stood opposed to us — and took it out of the way by nailing it to His cross (Colossians 2:14). On that basis, after a lengthy argument about the freedom we have from that law, the apostle concludes: 'It was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery' (Galatians 5:1).

2. With regard to the moral law, the first thing we are freed from is its harshness and terror in commanding (Hebrews 12:18-22). We have not come to a mountain that can be touched — burning with fire, surrounded by darkness and storm, with the sound of a trumpet and a voice whose words made those who heard it beg that it would say nothing more. We have come to Mount Zion, and so on. From that way of administering the law — where it was issued with dread and terror and demanded obedience with harshness — we are free; we are not called to that condition.

2. Its impossibility of accomplishment, and therefore its inability to serve its original purpose because of sin. We are freed from the law as an instrument of righteousness, because — given the impossibility of our fulfilling it — it can no longer serve that purpose (Romans 8:2-3; Galatians 3:21-23). Since life cannot be obtained through the law, we are released from it for any such end — and this release comes through the righteousness of Christ (Romans 8:3).

3. From the consequences of its transgression.

1. Curse. There is a solemn curse, encompassing the whole wrath of God, attached to the law in regard to its transgression — and from this we are entirely free (Galatians 3:13). By being made a curse, Christ has delivered us from the curse.

2. Death (Hebrews 2:14-15), and with it from Satan (Hebrews 2:15; Colossians 1:13), and from sin (Romans 6:14; 1 Peter 1:18), and from the world (Galatians 1:4), along with all the entanglements, claims, and demands of all of them (Galatians 4:3-5; Colossians 2:20) — without freedom from which we could not live one day.

What is merely claimed by some — a bondage in which we were never actually held, but from which we are now notably set free by Christ — is the supposed power of human laws and regulations to bind the conscience in things God has not commanded (Colossians 2:20-22).

2. There is also a liberty within the family of God, not only a liberty from the family of Satan; sons are free: their obedience is a free obedience. They have the Spirit of the Lord, and where He is, there is freedom (2 Corinthians 3:18); as the Spirit of adoption He stands in contrast to the spirit of bondage (Romans 8:15). This liberty of our Father's household — which we have as sons and daughters adopted by Christ through the Spirit — is a spiritual spaciousness of heart, by which the children of God freely, willingly, and genuinely go out to all holy obedience in Christ, without fear, terror, bondage, or constraint.

This is our liberty in our Father's household; what we are freed from has already been described.

There are people who outwardly serve in God's household like the Gibeonites — doing the work of His house as a dreary obligation throughout their lives. The principle on which they render obedience is a spirit of bondage driven by fear (Romans 8:15). The standard they work by is the law in its harshness and severity, demanding their compliance to the last measure, without mercy or relief. The goal they work toward is to flee the wrath to come, to quiet their conscience, and to seek righteousness through the works of the law. In this servile, painful, fruitless way they spend their days serving their own conviction.

The saints, through adoption, have a spaciousness of heart in all holy obedience. As David says, 'I will walk in a wide place, for I have sought Your precepts' (Psalm 119:4-5; see also Isaiah 61:1; Luke 4:18; Romans 8:2, 21; Galatians 4:2; 5:1, 13; James 1:25; John 8:32-33, 36; Romans 6:18; 1 Peter 2:16). This son-like freedom of spirit in obedience consists of several things.

1. In the principles of all spiritual service, which are life and love: the first concerns the content of their obedience and gives them power; the second concerns the manner of their obedience and gives them joy and sweetness in it. Life gives them power for the substance of obedience (Romans 8:3).

The law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus frees them from the law of sin and death: it liberates them and carries them freely into all obedience. So they walk according to the Spirit (verse 1), which is the governing principle of their lives (Galatians 2:20). 'Christ lives in me; and the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God'— meaning: the obedience I render to God while in the flesh flows from a living principle, Christ living in me. All power for living to God comes from Christ in them, the Spirit of life, from Christ carrying them forward to it. The fruit of a dead root produces only dead growth; living acts flow from a living principle.

Here you can see the difference between the liberty that slaves assume and the liberty that properly belongs to children.

First, slaves take liberty from duty; children have liberty in duty. There is no greater mistake than to think that the liberty of sons in God's household consists in this — that they may perform duties or freely skip them, that they may serve in God's family if they feel like it and may choose not to. This is a liberty stolen by slaves, not a liberty given by the Spirit to sons.

The liberty of sons is the inward spiritual freedom of their hearts, naturally and genuinely flowing out to all the ways and worship of God. When they find themselves restricted and closed up in it, they wrestle with God for greater freedom and are never satisfied with a duty unless it is performed as in Christ — with free, genuine, and open hearts. The liberty servants have is from duty; the liberty given to sons is in duty.

Second, the liberty of slaves or servants comes from mistaken, self-deceiving conclusions. The liberty of sons comes from the power of the indwelling Spirit of grace — an inward, living principle.

Second, love — as to the manner of their obedience — gives them delight and joy. 'If you love Me, you will keep My commandments' (John 14:15). Love is the foundation of all their duties. On this basis our Savior sums up all obedience in love for God and neighbor, and Paul on the same grounds says that love is the fulfillment of the law (Romans 13:10). Where love is present in any duty, that duty is complete in Christ. How often does David with wonder express this principle of his walk with God: 'O how I love Your commandments!' This gives saints delight — the commandments of Christ are not burdensome to them. Jacob's hard service was not burdensome because of his love for Rachel; no duty is burdensome to a saint because of his love for Christ. They do everything from love, with delight and satisfaction. Therefore they long for more opportunities to walk with God and hunger for greater ability to do so. Love also gives joy in obedience. 'There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear' (1 John 4:18). When the soul is moved to obedience by love, it drives out the fear that is the mark of bondage on the spirit. When life and love are at work together, there is freedom, liberty, and spaciousness of heart — far removed from the constricted and enslaved state in which many spend all their days, who have never known the adoption of sons.

Second, the object of their obedience is presented to them as desirable, whereas to others it is terrifying. In all their approaches to God, they see Him as a Father. They call Him Father (Galatians 4:6) — not in a mere formality of words, but in the spirit of sons. God in Christ is continually before them, not merely as one who deserves all the honor and obedience He requires, but as one who is to be greatly delighted in, as entirely sufficient to satisfy and fill all the desires of the soul. When others hide their talents, treating God as a hard master, the sons of God pour out their strength to the full, coming near to a gracious rewarder. They go from the principle of life and love to the embrace of a living and loving Father; they are simply returning to the fountain, to the ocean, the strength that flows from it.

Third, their motive for obedience is love. From a sense of love they are effectively moved by love to give themselves to Him who is love (2 Corinthians 5:15). What freedom this is — what spaciousness of spirit in those who walk by this rule! Darkness, fear, bondage, mere conviction, and the hope of earning righteousness accompany others in their walk. The sons, through the Spirit of adoption, have light and love with delight in all their walking with God. The world is a complete stranger to the disposition of children in their Father's house.

Fourth, the manner of their obedience is willingness. They offer themselves to God as those who are alive from the dead (Romans 6:13). They give themselves — yielding willingly, cheerfully, and freely. 'With my whole heart,' says David. They present themselves as a living sacrifice and a willing sacrifice (Romans 12:1).

Fifth, the rule of their walk with God is the law of liberty — stripped of all its terrifying, threatening, killing, condemning, and cursing power, and made by the blood of Jesus sweet, tender, useful, guiding, and helpful as a rule for walking in the life they have received — not a means of earning a life they do not have. This is enough to show the liberty of obedience in God's household that His sons and daughters enjoy, and which the poor convicted Gibeonites do not know.

Second, the second thing the children of God have through adoption is title. They have title and right to all the privileges and advantages of the family into which they have been transferred. This is the distinguishing feature of true sons in any family. Sarah's argument for expelling Ishmael was that he was the son of the slave woman (Genesis 21:10) — not a genuine child of the family and therefore with no right of inheritance alongside Isaac. The apostle's argument is: we are no longer servants but sons; and if sons, then heirs (Romans 8:14-17). We have right and title — and since we were not born to it (for by nature we are children of wrath), we hold this right through our adoption.

The saints therefore have a double right and title. First, a direct right in regard to spiritual things. Second, a consequential right in regard to temporal things.

The first — the title of adopted sons to spiritual things — has two aspects with regard to its object.

First, a present place, name, and standing in the household of God and in all the privileges and provisions of that household.

Second, a future fullness of the great inheritance of glory — a kingdom purchased for the whole family of which they are members by Jesus Christ.

They have title to and a share in the whole administration of God's household here.

The supreme administration of God's household — held in the hand of the Lord Christ, in terms of the institution of the ordinances and the dispensing of the Spirit to make those ordinances alive and effective for their purpose — is the primary aspect of this administration. The saints are its primary objects; all of it is for them and exercised toward them. God has given Jesus Christ as head over all things to the church, which is His body (Ephesians 1:22-23). He has made Him head over all these spiritual things and entrusted the authoritative administration of them all to Him for the benefit of the church — that is, the family of God. It is for the benefit of the many sons He is bringing to glory that He does all these things (Hebrews 2:17). The purpose of the Lord Jesus in establishing gospel ordinances is the perfecting of the saints (Ephesians 4:8-12). All of it is for them, all of it is for the family. All gospel administrations and ordinances belong to them and are for them. Whatever benefit the world receives from the things of the gospel — and it does benefit in many ways — it owes that benefit to the children of this family. This, then, is the aim and intention of the Lord Christ in establishing all gospel ordinances and administrations: that they serve the household and family of God and all His children and servants within it.

It is true that the word is preached to all the world — to gather in the children of God's purpose who are scattered throughout the world, and to leave all others without excuse. But the primary aim of the Lord Christ in this is to gather in those heirs of salvation to enjoy the feast of good things He has prepared for them in His house.

They, and they alone, have right and title to gospel ordinances and the privileges of God's household as administered in His church according to His will. The church is the household of God (1 Timothy 3:15; Hebrews 3:6). In it He houses and maintains His whole family, ordering them according to His will. Who should have any right in God's household except His children? We do not grant rights in our own homes except to our own children — will God grant rights in His house to those who are not His children? Is it fitting to take the children's bread and throw it to the dogs? None but children have any right or title to the privileges and advantages of the household of God.

First, consider the nature of that household: it is made up of people to whom only adopted children could possibly have any rightful place. It is composed of living stones (1 Peter 2:5) — a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God's own possession (verse 9). Saints and faithful believers in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 1:1). Saints and faithful brothers (Colossians 1:2). A people, all of them righteous (Isaiah 60:21). The entire fabric of it is glorious (Isaiah 54:11-14). The road into the household is a highway of holiness on which the unclean will not walk (Isaiah 35:8). They are expressly the sons and daughters of the Lord God Almighty — and only they (2 Corinthians 6:17-18). All others are excluded (Revelation 21:27). It is true that sometimes unsuitable people slip in unawares into the great household of God, so that it contains not only vessels of gold and silver but also of wood and clay (2 Timothy 2:20). But they only slip in, as Jude says (verse 4); they have no right or title to it.

Second, the privileges of the household are such that they will not suit or benefit any other. What use is it to give food to a dead man? Will he grow strong from it? The things of God's family and household are food for living souls. Only the children are alive; all others are dead in trespasses and sins. Look at any specific blessing the saints enjoy in God's family, and you will find it suited entirely to believers. Bestowed on the world, it would be a pearl in the snout of a pig.

It is only the sons of the family who hold this right. They have fellowship with one another, and that fellowship is with the Father and with the Son Jesus Christ. They proclaim the Lord's death until He comes. They are entrusted with all the ordinances of the household and their administration. And who shall deny them the enjoyment of this right or keep them from what Christ has purchased for them? The Lord will in the end give them hearts everywhere to act on this title and not to wander on the mountains, having forgotten their place of rest.

Second, they have a title to the future fullness of the inheritance purchased for this whole family by Jesus Christ. As the apostle argues: 'If children, then heirs also' (Romans 8:17). All of God's children are firstborn (Hebrews 12:23), and therefore heirs. For this reason the entire weight of glory prepared for them is called the inheritance — 'the inheritance of the saints in light' (Colossians 1:12). 'If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's descendants, heirs according to promise' (Galatians 3:29) — heirs of the promise, that is, of everything promised to Abraham in and with Christ.

There are three things the children of God are said to be heirs of in this regard.

1. The promise — as in Galatians 3:29 and Hebrews 6:11, where God demonstrates to the heirs of the promise the unchangeableness of His purpose. Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob are said to be heirs of the same promise (Hebrews 11:9). From the foundation of the world, God made a most excellent promise in Christ, containing deliverance from all evil and the guarantee of every good thing for them. It contains deliverance from all the evil that the guilt of sin and the dominion of Satan had brought on them, together with their investiture in every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus. Therefore the Holy Spirit calls it 'the promise of the eternal inheritance' (Hebrews 9:15). The adopted children of God are heirs to this first. Whatever is contained in the promise God made at the beginning to fallen humanity, and has since solemnly renewed and confirmed by oath — they are heirs of it, and their claim to that inheritance is accepted in the court of heaven.

2. They are heirs of righteousness (Hebrews 11:7). Noah became an heir of the righteousness that comes by faith — which Peter calls being 'fellow heirs of the grace of life' (1 Peter 3:7). James brings both together: 'heirs of the kingdom which He promised' (James 2:5) — that is, the kingdom of grace and the righteousness of it. On this basis the apostle tells us that 'we have obtained an inheritance' (Ephesians 1:11), which he also places alongside the righteousness of faith (Acts 26:18). By this righteousness, grace, and inheritance is meant not only the righteousness we actually participate in here, but also the completion and fulfillment of that righteousness in glory, which is also secured —

Third, they are heirs of salvation (Hebrews 1:14) and 'heirs according to the hope of eternal life' (Titus 3:7), which Peter calls 'an inheritance incorruptible' (1 Peter 1:4) and Paul calls 'the reward of the inheritance' (Colossians 3:24) — that is, the final outcome of the inheritance of light and holiness which they already possess. So to summarize the whole of salvation in Christ: its foundation is the promises; its means are righteousness and holiness; its end is eternal glory. The sons of God have a right and title to everything in it, as fellow heirs with Christ.

This is the main substance of the right and title the saints hold through adoption. In sum: the Lord is their portion and inheritance, and they are the inheritance of the Lord. It is a generous portion they have received. The boundary lines have fallen for them in pleasant places.

2. Beyond this primary right, the adopted sons of God have a secondary, consequential right — a right to the things of this world, specifically to whatever portion of this world God is pleased to entrust them with. Christ is the heir of all things (Hebrews 1:2). All right and title to the things of creation was lost and forfeited through sin. The Lord by His sovereignty had originally granted all the things of this world for humanity's use, appointing the rest of His works in their various stations to serve man. Sin reversed this entire grant and arrangement: all things were released from their subjection to him. Yet that release — removing them from the purpose for which they were originally appointed — is itself part of the vanity and curse. It is a loss to any thing to be set aside from its originally appointed end. By this means the whole creation was untethered from any subordinate ruler, and humanity, having forfeited the entire title by which it held dominion over and possession of the created order, has not the slightest claim to any of it. But since the Lord intended to take a people for Himself from fallen humanity — appointing them as heirs of salvation — He did not immediately destroy the works of creation, but reserved them for their use during their pilgrimage. To this end He invested the full right and title to creation in the second Adam, which the first had forfeited, appointing Him heir of all things. And so His adopted ones, being fellow heirs with Christ, also receive a right and title to the things of creation.

To clarify what this right actually is, a few observations are needed.

1. Their right is not the same as Christ's right — which is sovereign and supreme, to do as He pleases with what is His. Their right is subordinate and comes with accountability for how they use the things to which they have right and title. Christ's right is the right of the Lord of the household; the saints' right is the right of servants.

2. The whole body of God's children has a right to the whole earth — which is the Lord's and everything in it — in two respects:

1. The sovereign Lord of the earth preserves it for their use and on their account; all others are effectively squatters, occupying a portion of the Lord's territory without His grant or permission.

2. Because Christ has promised to give them the kingdom and dominion over it, in the way His providence will arrange — meaning that the governance of the earth will be exercised for their benefit.

3. This right is a spiritual right that does not confer civil ownership, but only sanctifies the right and possessions that providence has already assigned. God has by His providence determined the civil boundaries of people's possessions (Acts 17:26), allowing the people of the world to enjoy a portion here — often a very full and abundant portion — and that for the sake of His children, so that those wild beasts who are made for destruction do not break loose and overrun the whole domain. Therefore:

4. No individual adopted person has any right by virtue of this adoption to any portion of earthly things beyond what God's providence has already given him through civil means. But:

5. What they do have through their adoption is this:

Whatever portion God is pleased to give them, they have a genuine right to it — as it is invested in Christ and freed from the curse and futility that sin brought on creation. Therefore they will never be called to account for claiming what is not rightfully theirs, as all other people will be — those who grasp hold of what God released from human dominion because of sin.

This right leads them to a sanctified use of what they enjoy — since the things themselves become pledges of the Father's love, washed in the blood of Christ, and invitations to live to His praise, who gives them all things richly to enjoy.

This is the second thing we have through our adoption. On this basis I would say of unbelievers: they have no true right to anything whatsoever that they possess.

They have no true and unquestionable right, I say, even to the temporal things they do possess. It is true they have a civil right in relation to other people, but they do not have a sanctified right in relation to their own souls. They have a title that will hold up in human courts, but not a right that will stand in the court of God or in their own conscience. A day will come when it will be a bitter thing for them to give account of what they enjoyed. They will be called to account not only for the misuse of what they had — that they did not use it for the glory of the One to whom it belongs — but also for having taken hold of God's creation and kept it from those for whose sake alone it is being preserved from destruction. When the God of glory comes to any of them — either in their consciences here, or in the judgment to come — and speaks with the severity of a judge who has been wronged: 'I allowed you to enjoy grain and wine and oil, a large portion of My creation. You rolled in wealth and prosperity while the true heirs of these things lived poor and low and humble just next door. Now give an account: what did you do with these things? What did you lay out for the service and advancement of the gospel? What did you give to those who had nothing provided for them? What did you contribute to the poor saints? Did you have a ready hand and willing heart to lay everything down for My sake?' And when they are compelled to answer truthfully: 'Lord, we had a large portion in the world, but we counted it our own and thought we could do with it as we pleased. We ate the best and drank the sweetest, and left our wealth to our children. We spent some on our own pleasures, some on our friends, but honestly we cannot say we made friends through worldly wealth, or used it to advance the gospel or to serve Your poor saints. And now we must die' — and so forth. And when the Lord presses them further, questioning not only how they used these things but whether they had any title to them at all — telling them: 'The earth is Mine and everything in it. I made an original grant of these things to humanity, but that was forfeited by sin. I restored it only for My saints. Why did you lay your grasping hands on what was not yours? Why did you force My creation to serve you and your desires, when I had released it from your dominion? I'll take back My grain, My wine, My wool — and leave you as naked as the day you were born, and repay you for your theft and unlawful possession of what was never yours.' What, I ask, will people do at such a time?

Boldness with God through Christ is another privilege of our adoption — but I have already spoken of this at length when treating the excellence of Christ in regard to our approach to God through Him, so I will not revisit it here.

Affliction too — as flowing from love, as leading to spiritual benefits, as conforming us to Christ, as sweetened by His presence — is a privilege of children (Hebrews 12:3-6), but I cannot dwell on these particulars here.

This, then, is the head and source of all the privileges Christ has purchased for us, in which we also hold fellowship with Him. Fellowship in name: as He is, so we are sons of God. Fellowship in title and right: we are heirs, co-heirs with Christ. Fellowship in likeness and conformity: we are predestined to be conformed to the firstborn of the family. Fellowship in honor: He is not ashamed to call us brothers. Fellowship in suffering: He learned obedience through what He suffered, and every son whom He receives is disciplined. Fellowship in His kingdom: we will reign with Him. Each of these I must address in its own place, and so I will not extend the discussion of them further here.