Romans 8 v 15 - 16,reads, '' The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by Him we cry, 'Abba , Father''. The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God's children'. F. F. Bruce writes,' The term '' adoption'' may have a somewhat artificial sound in our ears; but in the Roman world of the first century AD an adopted son was a son deliberately chosen by his adoptive father to perpetuate his name and inherit his estate; he was in no sense inferior in status to a son born in the ordinary course of nature , and might well enjoy the fathers affection more fully an reproduce the father's character more worthily'. Commenting on this John Stott writes, 'It is evident then that the popular notion of 'the universal fatherhood of God' is not true'. Every person born is God's offspring by creation, but it is only when one is born again by God's Spirit , are we adopted into God's family . John 1 v 12. reads,' Yet to all who receive Him ( Jesus) , to those who believe in His name, he gave the right to become children of God'.
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