Quote:
Originally Posted by Ohio
Most people don't understand crucifixion either, and don't understand that part of Roman law either. Did you know that Jesus died on the cross? How did you understand what happened? Where did you get your point of reference?
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The cross concerns the past, I think most people can understand it was an ancient Roman execution device. Adoption concerns the present - is a believer today , adopted under ancient Roman law? Much harder for them to understand what adoption means in this context. If we were crucified ourselves, today, to receive salvation, then I suppose we could consider more modern execution devices like lethal injection to keep it relevant. But the cross is a fact of history.
Either "adoption" is a metaphor or "born again" is a metaphor - we know that "born again" is the reality, not the adoption.
In Christianity when a person is told they are born again
and adopted, it must be terribly confusing. "What? You mean my heavenly Father is not my real Father, only my adoptive Father?" Remember that if we call ourselves adopted we are also implying something about the Father - that we are not actually "born again".
If a person gets saved and denominations are telling them they are adopted and what that might mean under ancient Roman law, the local church is telling them that they are actually sons of God.
Another reason why Roman adoption law view is flawed is that
the Old Testament never speaks of Roman law adoption where it concerns justification - it does speak of regeneration by the Spirit however. No verse in the OT prophesies that believers will become adopted.
So there are some things that we can appreciate Paul saying in his use of the Roman adoption law metaphor, but to take this as a spiritual reality will distort the true meaning and also contradict Ezekiel 36:27 and other OT verses prophesying of organic salvation. I think that some people are reading the metaphor as if it were a spiritual reality, without realizing how little OT support the idea has. And why would the OT which is Jewish, support any notion that believers would be adopted under a pagan legal system?
The present reality is that not many believers would be comforted to know that they are adopted under any sort of legal system (Roman or otherwise) - it would equivalent to telling our own biological sons or daughters that they are adopted.