Adoption, inChristian theology, is the reception of a believer into the family ofGod. In theReformedordo salutis ("order ofsalvation"), adoption is usually regarded as a step immediately subsequent tojustification. As a theological word, adoption has similar connotations to the act of parents wholegally take responsibility for a child who was not originally born to them. There are three references in theNew Testament to God "adopting" ('υιοθεσια,uiothesia) Christians as his own children (Galatians 4:5,Romans 8:15 andEphesians 1:5) and one reference to God adopting the "people of Israel" (Romans 9:4). Adoption as a theological term introduces a relational dimension to the consequences of salvation.[1]
Adoption as a theological concept is also another consequence of the 'legal' act ofjustification, alongsideredemption andreconciliation.[2] TheOld Testament precedent for this term comes from the story ofMephibosheth, who despite not being part of Davidic family was included in the Royal inheritance (2 Samuel 9:7-13).[3] Adoption is an important feature of Reformation theology as demonstrated by article 12 of theWestminster Confession of Faith:[4]
All those that are justified, God vouchsafes, in and for His only Son Jesus Christ, to make partakers of the grace of adoption, by which they are taken into the number, and enjoy the liberties and privileges of the children of God.