Salvation is by Grace Alone, Through Faith Alone in Christ Alone
Most false doctrines are based on one verse or passage of scripture. The foundational scripture of the Adoption Theology is Ac. 17:28. Jesus, as well as the Father and Holy Spirit, are omnipresent and are therefore in all of the creation, yet separate from the creation also. This would be Pantheism if God were in his creation and not separate from it. Christ can be said to be in mankind in the same way God is omnipresent in his creation, but he is not indwelling or abiding in all mankind. He does not have a personal, ongoing relationship with all mankind like he has with Christian believers (Eph. 2:19-22). Jesus is said to fill everything in every way (Eph. 1:23), but he is not resident in everything, including mankind. God the Father indwells Christians (Jn. 14:23); the Son indwells Christians (Jn. 14:20); and the Holy Spirit indwells Christians (Ro. 8:9).
Ac. 17:24-27 says that every nation of mankind was made from one man so that man would seek God and perhaps reach out for him. This is what God wants but will not force men to do. The passage goes on to say that God is not far from each individual because in him we (mankind) live, move, and have our being. In other words, we have our natural life because of him and our ability of motion and movement is because of him. He is the source of our capacity to utilize and control the movements of our body and even our mind. We exist as who we are as human beings because of him. He is the source of our life and all that we are and all that we can do as human beings.
The connection between Jesus Christ and humanity is not that he is indwelling all mankind without them even knowing it. The connection is that he is the Creator who is the source of ALL human life and being and continual existence. We would not be here, nor would we continue to exist without him. We are necessarily connected to him as our source and
sustainer.
Adam, which means mankind, was a corporate one in which all mankind to come was in him. Ge. 2:7 says that God breathed the breath of life (lit. lives) into man and he became a living being. Mankind sinned in Adam before Adam had any offspring. So when he sinned it was a part of all of mankind and passed through his offspring. Through the incarnation Jesus (God with us) became one of us. He was the perfect mediator between God and mankind being both God and man in one person. He was both parties to the reconciliation. He, therefore, became our Corporate One. Both God and Mankind’s representative. A corporation is an individual entity, which represents its stockholders. Christ was the “last Adam” (I Cor. 15:45), mankind’s Corporate Head.
Jesus, the Corporate One, in his incarnation was made to have a sinful nature just like ours. He had a sinful nature but sin was not in it because he had not sinned. He then saw, as it were, through Adam’s eyes. Though he did not have sin, he did have the law or principle of sin and death in his sinful nature. He fought it all of his life, never giving in. He successfully undid what Adam had begun. When he was crucified, it was this sinful nature of mankind that received the death penalty and was executed. When Jesus rose from the grave, he only had his divine nature. He was absolutely holy and righteous.
Jesus is the only human who has been through this whole process that we are to go through to receive salvation ultimately. He only, has lived a perfect, righteous life. He ascended to heaven as a glorified man. He has accomplished for mankind what mankind can not accomplish. Because of who he is, he can share the salvation that he has accomplished for all of mankind through faith. The provision for ALL MANKIND IS IN HIM.
God’s plan is to bring humans into the Trinitarian fellowship that he has always experienced with the Father and the Holy Spirit and to ultimately adopt (Ro. 8:23-25) them as his sons, giving them immortality so they would ever be in a Perichoretic relationship with him and the Father and the Holy Spirit. We have not experienced this ultimate salvation yet. God, out of his grace, planned for this and Jesus is the one responsible for its accomplishment. This salvation is now provided for in God’s Son. It is credited to us through the medium of faith. The objective aspect of the gospel is by grace and is unconditional (Ro. 3:21,28; 1 Cor. 1:30,31; Phil. 3:9), but the subjective aspect of the gospel is conditional (Lk. 9:23; Gal. 2:20; Phil. 2:12,13) and faith is the sole medium for receiving salvation from Jesus. Faith as a medium establishes our relationship with Christ and in turn God considers us as being saved. He gives us the Holy Spirit as a down payment of our ultimate salvation to come in the future.
Salvation is in Christ. He has salvation to give and through faith God considers us justified (Gal. 2:16), which means he gives us forgiveness of sins and because of the righteous life of Christ he imputes that righteousness (Phil. 3:9) to us and declares us righteous. God considers us sanctified (Ac. 26:28) and imparts Christ’s righteousness to us as we allow him to work in our lives (the process of sanctification). He also considers us as his adopted sons (Gal. 3:26) though we are waiting for the actual adoption as sons (Ro. 8:23-25). We can say that we “are saved” in the sense that we are in a perichoretic relationship with Christ (Jn. 14:20) and have been justified, and are being sanctified, and have the Holy Spirit as a pledge of our ultimate salvation and inheritance to come (Eph. 1:13-14). Our actual righteousness from Christ will come at the glorification when Christ returns for his bride and “… many will be made righteous” at that time (Ro. 5:19). And we will actually become adopted then also (Ro.
8:23-25).
The truth of the matter is that God in Christ has accomplished all that is necessary for salvation. The Adoption Theology claims that through what Christ accomplished in his life, death, resurrection, and ascension he saved every individual of mankind. It is a done deal without any response on their part. But according to scripture God has given the Holy Spirit through faith to those who believe to make changes in their lives as they abide in Him and He abides in them. We, as Christians, are identifying with what he did for us through faith. God considers us to be saved. He sees us like his own Son. All who believe will inherit the eternal kingdom. Those who have not believed will be judged by Christ, the Creator, Judge, and Savior of the world. Hopefully, they too will believe and enter the joys of our Lord and Savior.
John Huffman
Ac. 17:24-27 says that every nation of mankind was made from one man so that man would seek God and perhaps reach out for him. This is what God wants but will not force men to do. The passage goes on to say that God is not far from each individual because in him we (mankind) live, move, and have our being. In other words, we have our natural life because of him and our ability of motion and movement is because of him. He is the source of our capacity to utilize and control the movements of our body and even our mind. We exist as who we are as human beings because of him. He is the source of our life and all that we are and all that we can do as human beings.
The connection between Jesus Christ and humanity is not that he is indwelling all mankind without them even knowing it. The connection is that he is the Creator who is the source of ALL human life and being and continual existence. We would not be here, nor would we continue to exist without him. We are necessarily connected to him as our source and
sustainer.
Adam, which means mankind, was a corporate one in which all mankind to come was in him. Ge. 2:7 says that God breathed the breath of life (lit. lives) into man and he became a living being. Mankind sinned in Adam before Adam had any offspring. So when he sinned it was a part of all of mankind and passed through his offspring. Through the incarnation Jesus (God with us) became one of us. He was the perfect mediator between God and mankind being both God and man in one person. He was both parties to the reconciliation. He, therefore, became our Corporate One. Both God and Mankind’s representative. A corporation is an individual entity, which represents its stockholders. Christ was the “last Adam” (I Cor. 15:45), mankind’s Corporate Head.
Jesus, the Corporate One, in his incarnation was made to have a sinful nature just like ours. He had a sinful nature but sin was not in it because he had not sinned. He then saw, as it were, through Adam’s eyes. Though he did not have sin, he did have the law or principle of sin and death in his sinful nature. He fought it all of his life, never giving in. He successfully undid what Adam had begun. When he was crucified, it was this sinful nature of mankind that received the death penalty and was executed. When Jesus rose from the grave, he only had his divine nature. He was absolutely holy and righteous.
Jesus is the only human who has been through this whole process that we are to go through to receive salvation ultimately. He only, has lived a perfect, righteous life. He ascended to heaven as a glorified man. He has accomplished for mankind what mankind can not accomplish. Because of who he is, he can share the salvation that he has accomplished for all of mankind through faith. The provision for ALL MANKIND IS IN HIM.
God’s plan is to bring humans into the Trinitarian fellowship that he has always experienced with the Father and the Holy Spirit and to ultimately adopt (Ro. 8:23-25) them as his sons, giving them immortality so they would ever be in a Perichoretic relationship with him and the Father and the Holy Spirit. We have not experienced this ultimate salvation yet. God, out of his grace, planned for this and Jesus is the one responsible for its accomplishment. This salvation is now provided for in God’s Son. It is credited to us through the medium of faith. The objective aspect of the gospel is by grace and is unconditional (Ro. 3:21,28; 1 Cor. 1:30,31; Phil. 3:9), but the subjective aspect of the gospel is conditional (Lk. 9:23; Gal. 2:20; Phil. 2:12,13) and faith is the sole medium for receiving salvation from Jesus. Faith as a medium establishes our relationship with Christ and in turn God considers us as being saved. He gives us the Holy Spirit as a down payment of our ultimate salvation to come in the future.
Salvation is in Christ. He has salvation to give and through faith God considers us justified (Gal. 2:16), which means he gives us forgiveness of sins and because of the righteous life of Christ he imputes that righteousness (Phil. 3:9) to us and declares us righteous. God considers us sanctified (Ac. 26:28) and imparts Christ’s righteousness to us as we allow him to work in our lives (the process of sanctification). He also considers us as his adopted sons (Gal. 3:26) though we are waiting for the actual adoption as sons (Ro. 8:23-25). We can say that we “are saved” in the sense that we are in a perichoretic relationship with Christ (Jn. 14:20) and have been justified, and are being sanctified, and have the Holy Spirit as a pledge of our ultimate salvation and inheritance to come (Eph. 1:13-14). Our actual righteousness from Christ will come at the glorification when Christ returns for his bride and “… many will be made righteous” at that time (Ro. 5:19). And we will actually become adopted then also (Ro.
8:23-25).
The truth of the matter is that God in Christ has accomplished all that is necessary for salvation. The Adoption Theology claims that through what Christ accomplished in his life, death, resurrection, and ascension he saved every individual of mankind. It is a done deal without any response on their part. But according to scripture God has given the Holy Spirit through faith to those who believe to make changes in their lives as they abide in Him and He abides in them. We, as Christians, are identifying with what he did for us through faith. God considers us to be saved. He sees us like his own Son. All who believe will inherit the eternal kingdom. Those who have not believed will be judged by Christ, the Creator, Judge, and Savior of the world. Hopefully, they too will believe and enter the joys of our Lord and Savior.
John Huffman