Religions say everybody is a child of God - Bible says no!

As I’ve talked to people of other religions, it has dawned on me that most if not all of them teach that everyone is a child of God.

Whether you are Muslim and teach that all children are born Muslim but then are led away by the devil, or whether you are Mormon, and teach that everyone on earth existed previously as a spirit child of God, most religions agree that people are born children of God except Christianity. Over the last year or so, I’ve noticed that many Christians mistakenly agree with these false religions.

The Bible is very clear that this is not so. There are many passages that teach that one must become a child of God at some point in their life, and there are four main ones that come to mind that we must look at to understand this.

John 1:12-13

But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.

John makes it very clear for us in the first chapter of his gospel. The word become in verse 12 is key. It implies that there was a time that all those who are children of God were not. Those who humbly receive Christ, repent of their sin and recognize their need to make Jesus their Lord receive the right to become children of God. John instantly reminds the reader that the reason that they were willing to receive Christ was not because of their will as if they were smarter than those around them, but rather God through His grace chose some who would become His children.

Ephesians 1:5-7

In love, He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved.

The doctrine of Adoption is arguably one of the sweetest doctrines in the Bible, but it doesn’t make any sense if people are already born children of God. Instead, adoption implies that we were apart from Him. Ephesians 1:3-14 is an astonishing list of all the blessings we inherit as children of God, and what makes it that much sweeter is the fact that this inheritance was not given to us because of birthright, but, instead, solely by grace. Paul exults when he considers the Ephesians and the fact that they will get to partake of all the blessings listed therein. He remembers going house to house throughout Ephesus (Acts 20:19-20) and begging them, in tears, to repent of their sins and follow Christ, and while in prison in Rome, he was getting reports that many had come to know the Lord and were being adopted by Him and would partake in every heavenly blessing for eternity.

Ephesians 2:3

Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest.

Paul goes on to say in Ephesians 2 that before we became children of God we were children of wrath. The Bible is very clear about the fact that everyone is born under the wrath of God. God hates sin, He hates pride and every living creature is going to be destroyed by the coming fury of God. That is unless God, in His infinite grace, saves us from Himself. Christ, upon the cross, bore the wrath in the place of all who would later become children of God. God’s one and only Son, who was never adopted, paid the price so that you and I could be adopted into God’s family.

John 8:42,44

If God were your Father, you would love me, for I came from God and I am here…You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father’s desires.

Jesus declares something even more troubling. He goes as far as to say that anyone who doesn’t love Him is actually a child of Satan. His explanation is very clear. If you were a child of God you would accept Him for who He truly is, you would believe in the Trinity, and you would love to follow His commandments. If you reject the God of the Bible, then you are simply following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air as Ephesians 2:2 says and we know that that prince is the Devil himself. Jesus Himself declared that human beings who don’t know Him not only are not children of God, but they are, in fact, children of the Devil.

There are many more verses that declare this important truth throughout Scripture. The reason why this is so important is twofold. First of all, we must revel in the fact that we are now able to be called children of God. That we can declare with joy the words of John in 1 John 3:1: See how great a love the Father has bestowed on us, that we would be called children of God! The doctrine of adoption should remind us of the fact that we are going to enjoy something for eternity that we did not deserve. That we become part of an inheritance that we do not merit. That we get to cry out “Abba, Father” because God, in His infinite mercy, made us alive together with Christ (Eph. 2:4).

Secondly, the doctrine of adoption will make us more evangelistic. As we look to the people God has placed around us, we will see people who not only are not part of God’s family but who are under God’s wrath and following their true father the Devil himself. Our compassion for them grows as we consider their state and we grieve for their situation. Suddenly, as we look to the people around us despite how obvious their sin is or not, we will understand that God’s wrath abides on them and their need for salvation is dramatic. We can’t help but be more urgent as we consider the implications of the doctrine of Adoption.