1. ETERNAL. 2. WHEN ONE BELIEVES. 3. COMPLETE AT RESURRECTION. III. THE BLESSINGS OF ADOPTION. 1. FILIAL. 2. EXPERIMENTAL. IV. SOME EVIDENCES OF SONSHIP. 1. GUIDANCE. 2. CONFIDENCE. 3. ACCESS. 4. LOVE FOR THE BRETHREN. 5. OBEDIENCE. E. ADOPTION. Regeneration begins the new life in the soul; justification deals with the new attitude of God towards that soul, or perhaps better, of that soul towards God; adoption admits man into the family of God with filial joy. Regeneration has to do with our change in nature; justification, with our change in standing; sanctification, with our change in character; adoption, with our change in position. In regeneration the believer becomes a child of God (John 1:12,13); in adoption, the believer, already a child, receives a place as an adult son; thus the child becomes a son, the minor becomes an adult (Gal. 4:1-7). I. THE MEANING OF ADOPTION. Adoption means _ the placing of a son_. It is a legal metaphor as regeneration is a physical one. It is a Roman word, for adoption was hardly, if at all, known among the Jews. It means the taking by one man of the son of another to be his son, so that that son has the same position and all the advantages of a son by birth. The word is Pauline, not Johannine. The word is never once used of Christ. It is used of the believer when the question of rights, privileges, and heirship are involved. It is peculiarly a Pauline word (Gal. 4:5; Rom. 8:15, 23; 9:4; Eph. 1:5). John uses the word "children," not "sons," because he is always speaking of sonship from the standpoint of nature, growth, and likeness (cf. 1 John 3:1, R. V.). Exodus 2:10 and Heb. 11:24, furnish two splendid illustrations of the Scriptural sense and use of adoption. II. THE TIME WHEN ADOPTION TAKES PLACE. 1. IN A CERTAIN SENSE IT IS ETERNAL IN ITS NATURE. Eph. 1:4, 5--Before the foundation of the world we were predestinated unto the adoption of children. We need to distinguish between the foreordaining to adoption, and the actual act of adoption which took place when we believed in Christ. Just as the incarnation was foreordained, and yet took place in time; and just as the Lamb was slain from before the foundation of the word, and yet actually only on Calvary. Why then mention this eternal aspect of adoption? To exclude works and to show that our salvation had its origin solely in the grace of God (Rom. 9:11; 11:5, 6). Just as if we should adopt a child it would be a wholly gracious act on our part. 2. IT TAKES PLACE THE MOMENT ONE BELIEVES IN JESUS CHRIST.