| rdfs:comment | - "Adoption is that privilege, bestowed upon those who are united with Christ, and justified by faith, by which they are admitted into the family of God, adopted as his children, and made joint heirs with his own Son." Although it has legal connotations, adoption is distinguished from justification. It is also distinguished from regeneration. While regeneration refers to being spiritually reborn into the family of God, the concept of adoption refers to being included in a family one was not born into. It is essentially relational.
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| abstract | - "Adoption is that privilege, bestowed upon those who are united with Christ, and justified by faith, by which they are admitted into the family of God, adopted as his children, and made joint heirs with his own Son." Although it has legal connotations, adoption is distinguished from justification. It is also distinguished from regeneration. While regeneration refers to being spiritually reborn into the family of God, the concept of adoption refers to being included in a family one was not born into. It is essentially relational. Through adoption, we relate to God the Father as our Father-Savior, to Jesus as our brother and co-heir and fellow sufferer, and to the Spirit as our leader and pledge (or "down payment") of our inheritance in Christ.
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