ADOPTION
Gordon H. Clark
Chapter XII of the Westminster Confession, on Adoption, is rather short, consisting of only one section; yet it undoubtedly merits at least a short discussion. The section states that all those who are justified are also made children of God by adoption and thereby enjoy certain liberties and privileges.
During the past hundred years as modernism developed, the doctrine of adoption has been slighted by those disloyal ministers who have rejected the infallibility of the Bible. In its place they have preached a natural and universal Fatherhood of God and a natural and universal brotherhood of man. Now, the Scriptures have considerable to say about the Fatherhood of God, but they have little or nothing to say about a natural and universal Fatherhood.
One verse that might be so understood is Paul's use of a quotation from a Stoic poet, "for we are also his offspring." Possibly the poet had some notion of a universal Fatherhood, but Paul used the quotation only to stress that God is a Spirit and that men were created in God's image. Another verse is Eph. 3:15, "Of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named." But this family is more reasonably understood as the family of the redeemed than as the human race as a whole.
In contrast with these few and doubtful verses, the Scriptures speak many times and clearly of God's Fatherhood in relation to a portion of mankind. Of the Pharisees, Jesus said, "ye are of your father the devil"; but he taught his disciples to pray, "Our Father." The most familiar figure of speech by which entrance into the Christian life is described is that of a new birth. Not all men, but some only are born again, not by their own will, but of God; and thus God gives them authority to become sons of God. Quite evidently they were not natural born sons, otherwise they would not have needed to be born again. If men must be born again, those who are not born again are not children of God.
The figure of a new birth is appropriate to the new life that then commences. So also is the figure of the resurrection. Men who were dead in sin are raised with Christ to a life they did not previously have. But the Scriptures also describe this change as adoption. Children of another father are adopted by God and become a part of the Christian family. Here too the previous conclusion follows: if a man becomes a child of God by adoption, he could not have been a child of God by nature. And for the same reason it is clear that the Bible does not teach the universal Fatherhood of God nor the universal brotherhood of man. It speaks about sheep and goats, and about a final and irremediable division between them.
Adoption brings certain privileges that are denied to those not adopted. First, they receive God's name, and as members of the family can now call God, Abba, Father. They are pitied, protected, and provided for. They are sometimes even chastened by God as a Father, "yet never cast off, but sealed to the day of redemption, and inherit the promises as heirs of salvation."
It is comforting to know that the act of adoption cannot be annulled; the new birth can never be undone; the resurrection to newness of life can never be reversed. Later in the Confession this is more fully stated in the chapters on the assurance of salvation and the perseverance of the saints.
ANGLERS (By the Editor of The Testament For Fishers Of Men)
METHOD—The Approach
(From Page XI in the Testament For Fishers Of Men )
No doubt there would be more personal workers if would-be "fishers of men" were given some clear and workable method. Jesus' figure of "fishing" is very suggestive as to a simple method. Simple does not always mean easy. A simple method may call out the best that is in us, but it will be one that anybody can understand. In recognizing the value of a method we are not forgetting that the Holy Spirit is the power that turns men to Christ; but since the Holy Spirit operates through individuals, it is important that individuals use all the tact, wisdom, and skill at their command,—with method. In fishing, the method may be divided into three movements: (1) The Approach; (2) Angling; (3) Landing the Catch.
The Approach. Fishing in streams requires caution, lest the fish be frightened away. Some fishermen in the mountains, where trout are very wary, crawl upon hands and knees to the brink, and cast the hook ever so quietly. It is done as noiselessly as the falling of a leaf from an overhanging tree.
The soul-winner approaches tactfully. Not with stealth, but with tact—and tact is simply putting yourself in the other fellow's place and considering his need or his taste. Tact quickly discovers and corrects a wrong approach. Be tactful. Be earnest. Be frank. Be courageous. Be considerate. Sometimes the circumstances in which you find a man give a clue to the best method of approaching him. Your approach as an angler may be more effective if you know the fish—its habitat, its habits, its likes, its dislikes. A good fisherman, therefore, studies the fish.
Just so, your approach to a man on this—regarded by many as a delicate subject—will be more effective if you have learned what is his attitude toward life and toward things in general and in
