{"id":966652,"date":"2012-10-09T21:16:57","date_gmt":"2012-10-09T21:16:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/provbaptist.org\/?p=966652"},"modified":"2012-10-10T14:58:30","modified_gmt":"2012-10-10T14:58:30","slug":"identifying-the-children-of-god","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/provbaptist.org\/?p=966652","title":{"rendered":"Identifying the Children of God"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Over the years, many people in society as well as within the church have repeated the sentiment that \u00e2\u20ac\u0153we are all children of God\u00e2\u20ac\u009d or that \u00e2\u20ac\u0153everyone is a child of God.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

But is this true?<\/p>\n

According to Scripture, everyone is not a child of God.<\/p>\n

In fact, Jesus called some of the most religious and self-righteous people in Israel \u00e2\u20ac\u0153children of the devil\u00e2\u20ac\u009d (John 8:44) because their desires were to do the devil\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s will, not God\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s.<\/p>\n

In Acts 17:28, the Apostle Paul quotes a Greek poet as saying, “For we are indeed his offspring.” He made that statement to pagans. However, Paul was not saying that the unsaved pagans before him were children of God.<\/p>\n

Paul was linking “offspring of God” with being created<\/em> by God. We all came from God because He created every person. But to be His child through faith is very different.<\/p>\n

While every person is a creation<\/em> of God, and every human being bears the image of God<\/em>, to be a child of God is distinct from this.<\/p>\n

When Scripture speaks of the children of God, it always refers to those who have become God\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s children through saving faith in Jesus Christ.<\/p>\n

In fact, John 1:12 says, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153to all who did receive [Jesus], who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

In this passage of Scripture, it is clear that \u00e2\u20ac\u0153children of God\u00e2\u20ac\u009d only refers to people who receive Jesus and believe in Him unto salvation. They alone are \u00e2\u20ac\u0153born of God.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

Throughout most of the twentieth century and up to this very day, theological liberalism has peddled the idea of \u00e2\u20ac\u0153the universal fatherhood of God and the universal brotherhood of man.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

\u00c2\u00a0Most of the people who repeat this statement don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t realize it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a foundational thought within theological liberalism\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 but it is.<\/p>\n

Its purpose is, no doubt, to bring everyone together with a common sense of unity and equality. But a true child of God will recognize the difference between those who are in Christ and those who are not in Christ.<\/p>\n

The gospel is an invitation to all people that they may become children of God through faith in Jesus Christ. He alone can grant people this right. He alone can cause someone to be born of God. That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s why Jesus came to earth.<\/p>\n

If anyone wants to become a child of God, they are invited to come to Jesus today.<\/p>\n

Forsake your sins through repentance, and trust His atoning work on your behalf. \u00c2\u00a0Follow Him, submit to Him, and obey Him from this day forward.<\/p>\n

Receive His forgiveness and delight in His gift of salvation. To receive Jesus by believing His gospel is to become what Scripture calls a true child of God.<\/p>\n

.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Over the years, many people in society as well as within the church have repeated the sentiment that \u00e2\u20ac\u0153we are all children of God\u00e2\u20ac\u009d or that \u00e2\u20ac\u0153everyone is a child of God.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d But is this true? According to Scripture, everyone is not a child of God. In fact, Jesus called some of the most religious … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “Identifying the Children of God”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":966653,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[3],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/provbaptist.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/966652"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/provbaptist.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/provbaptist.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/provbaptist.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/provbaptist.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=966652"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/provbaptist.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/966652\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/provbaptist.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/966653"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/provbaptist.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=966652"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/provbaptist.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=966652"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/provbaptist.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=966652"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}