Ephesians 1:5

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“Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will.”

Are Christians God’s “adopted” sons, or will they be real sons after the resurrection? Does it matter? The concept of adoption by God represents a subtle counterfeit to God’s Master Plan. Satan wants Christians to believe that they are only going to be artificially added by God to an already complete Family and family Name.

The popular belief and idea of a closed, completed Godhead—the trinity—does not allow for more sons of God beyond Jesus Christ. However, Colossians 1:18 and Romans 8:29 plainly state that Christ is the firstborn of many brethren who are to follow later into the family by the same process of conversion, begettal, spiritual growth and resurrection from the dead (John 3:3-6).

Christians are not adopted children, but are sons as legitimate as Christ Himself. This is because every child of God is begotten by the same Spiritual Father (Matt. 3:17). Christians are in every sense real sons—in a real Family—named of God. Romans 8:23 contains the same mistranslation found in Ephesians 1:5. The phrase “adoption of sons” comes from the Greek word huiothesia, and should be correctly translated “spirit of sonship.”