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The teaching of a universal fatherhood, that is, the teaching that says everyone in the world is a child of God, is one of the many important questions in these days. If all the people in the world are God’s children, then they do not have to repent, they do not have to confess their sins, and there is no need to receive the Lord Jesus as Savior. Since all are already children of God, there is no need to have any new relationship with God. However, if this is not the case, then the gracious gospel revealed in the Bible becomes necessary. God is willing to save the world which is at enmity with Him. This is the gospel. Hence, we are willing to look into what God in His Bible has taught us concerning this matter. May God open our eyes that we will not be deceived by the philosophy of this world.
At present, there is a very popular and modernistic teaching which says that God is the Father of all mankind and that all people in the world are brothers and children of God. Some reason that at the time the Lord Jesus was born, the Jews had a very narrow concept of God. For this reason, Christ purposely made known the matter of the universal fatherhood in order to make people understand that He was not a mighty and terrifying God, but a very kind and loving Father. That was why He taught the disciples to pray, saying, “Our Father who is in the heavens” (Matt. 6:9).
This kind of saying is very appealing to people, but it is a sugar-coated, poisonous pill. This pleases the unregenerated, fleshly people, because they do not have to worry about their sins. God is their Father, and no father would send his son to hell as a punishment. They do not have to be born again, they do not need to repent, they do not need to abstain from sin, nor do they have to bear fruit. Since God is their Father, He loves them. They do not have to believe or rely on the Lord Jesus, nor do they have to receive Him as their Savior because they are already the children of God. They think that God only loves, so He will not punish the wicked by eternal damnation.
This kind of teaching is extremely dangerous. It is the enemy of the gospel and the destroyer of man’s faith. It deceives people, leads people into eternal suffering, and makes them hopeless cases. When Christ came, although He called God His Father, He did not preach that God was the Father of everyone. Rather, He told the people that they should have a change of father in order to be saved. The Lord Jesus only referred to God as the Father of His disciples, not as the universal Father. We must pay attention to this point.
Thank God that He has given us the Bible to be our tutor. God’s Word is infallible. God’s Word is our supreme court, and it answers all our questions. All human reasonings have no standing before God’s Word. Our God does not leave His people in the dark. He will give discernment to those who are humble; He will teach the meek His way. If we are truly humble, meek, and willing to be taught, God will surely teach us. “If anyone resolves to do His will, he will know concerning the teaching” (John 7:17). May the Holy Spirit of God lead us in this study that we may understand the teachings of the Bible.
There are many times in the Old Testament when God is called the Father. Isaiah 63:16 says, “For You are our Father.” Jeremiah 31:9 says, “I am a Father to Israel.” However, the way to enter into the Holy of Holies had not yet been opened; therefore, the beloved Israelites still could not have an intimate fellowship with God like that of a father and son. When the Lord Jesus came, He revealed the fatherhood of God. In the Sermon on the Mount, seventeen times the Lord Jesus referred to God as the Father. Except for the last time (Matt. 7:21), when He called God His own Father, all the other times He said, “your heavenly Father,” “your Father,” or “our Father who is in the heavens.” In Matthew there are altogether forty-three references to God as the Father, and of these, twenty-one refer to Him as the Father of His disciples. There are five references in Mark, twice as the Father of the Lord Jesus, once as the Father only, and the remaining two times as the Father of the disciples. Luke mentions God as the Father two times, God as the Father of the disciples three times, and God as the Father of the Lord Jesus eight times. John, the gospel of the Son of God, refers to God as the Father one hundred fourteen times. With the exception of the last section, the whole book refers to God as the Father of the Lord Jesus. In chapters fourteen to seventeen alone, in His last discourse and prayer, our Lord called God the Father about fifty times. Without a doubt the Lord Jesus intended to reveal God as the Father. At the end of His prayer, He said, “And I have made Your name known to them” (John 17:26). This name is the Father. The God whom the Lord Jesus revealed is the Father. This is right. However, even though the Lord Jesus revealed God’s fatherhood, we must determine if this fatherhood is particular or general. Is God the Father of certain people or the Father of the whole world? Are only a part of the world God’s sons, or are all His sons? We need to answer these questions very carefully because if everyone is a son of God, as some have preached, then the relationship of all people with God is the same; there is no distinction among them. Since all people are created by God, it follows that all are born of God. We should therefore love one another, for we all came from one loving Father, and someday we will all go to the same place. If one is saved, then all are saved. There is really no difference. There is no judgment because God is our Father, and there is no hell because God is a loving Father. There is no Savior because we have no need of Him! On the other hand, if not everyone is a son of God, then we have to seek to know how we can become children of God, so that we will not be punished by God later. First we will look at:
The Bible has shown us four aspects of sonship in which the people of the world have no part. Just by looking at these four aspects of the doctrine of sonship, we can see that the people of the world are different and that not all people are sons of God.
His being the Son of God is very special and unique; He has something different from the other sons of God. This is why the Bible says, “the only begotten Son” (John 1:18). He is so holy, pure, and special that no one but He can be called the only begotten Son of God. Here the phrase “only begotten” excludes all other people of the world.
The angels are those who directly inherit the word of God (John 10:35). Of course, it is evident that we are not angels. Obviously, we have no part in this aspect of sonship.
The Israelites are also called the sons of God. Moses said to the children of Israel, “You are the children of Jehovah your God” (Deut. 14:1). Since we are not Israelites, we cannot claim to be children of God in this position.
The first time in the Bible that God is referred to as the Father is in Exodus. When God sent Moses to deliver the Israelites, He said, “And thou shalt say unto Pharaoh, Thus saith the Lord, Israel is my son, even my firstborn: and I say unto thee, Let my son go, that he may serve me” (Exo. 4:22-23a). God is not the Father of the whole world. He only called out the Israelites and called them His sons; the people of the world are not included. The fatherhood of God mentioned by Isaiah, Jeremiah, and the other prophets only refers to the Israelites. The people of the world are not allowed to participate in this sonship. Although Malachi said, “Have we not all one father? hath not one God created us?” (2:10), the word “we” does not refer to all the people in the world. This is made clear by looking at what follows: “Why do we deal treacherously every man against his brother, by profaning the covenant of our fathers?” God’s covenanted people were the Israelites, not any other people. God made a covenant on Mount Sinai only with their forefathers, not with the forefathers of the people of the world. Therefore, besides the Israelites, no others are considered sons of God. Furthermore, the prophet said, “The burden of the word of the Lord to Israel by Malachi” (1:1). Malachi’s prophecy is directed only to the Israelites. When our Lord was on earth, two of the parables He gave were based on the fact that the chosen Israelites are the sons of God. “A man had two children. And he came to his first son and said, Child, go today and work in the vineyard....And he came to the other and said likewise” (Matt. 21:28, 30a). Does this parable prove that God is the Father of everyone in the world? No. This parable was spoken by our Lord to warn the priests and the elders because they did not receive the preaching of John and because they loathed and rejected Christ. The younger son here refers to the repentant tax collectors, sinners, and prostitutes; though they were unclean, they were willing to repent and obey the gracious call. Therefore, they were the obedient sons. The parable of the prodigal son has the same meaning. It was spoken to reproach the Pharisees and the scribes because they murmured against the Lord Jesus for receiving the sinners and eating with them. The older son refers to the Pharisees and the scribes, whereas the younger son refers to the repentant sinners.
Since we are not Israelites in the flesh, the rights bestowed on the Israelites as the sons of God do not involve us. We cannot be the children of God in this regard.
Adam was directly created by God and was also called the son of God: “The son of Enosh, the son of Seth, the son of Adam, the son of God” (Luke 3:38). Besides Adam, nobody was directly created by God; hence, the people in the world cannot be called the sons of God as Adam was. In the genealogy in Luke 3, there are seventy-five people including Adam (in verse 36 Cainan is not counted). These seventy-five people were all created by God, but only Adam was created directly. The other seventy-four people were called the sons of men; only Adam, God’s direct creation, was called the son of God. So, this genealogy is sufficient to prove that the people in the world are not the sons of God simply because they were created. “...Adam, the son of God”; but “...Seth, the son [not of God] of Adam.”
Men are created by God and are also born of Adam. Even though the Bible does not call them the sons of God, they are nevertheless referred to as God’s kind. When Paul was preaching in Athens, he said that God “made from one every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, determining beforehand their appointed seasons and the boundaries of their dwelling, that they might seek God, if perhaps they might grope for Him and find Him, even though He is not far from each one of us; for in Him we live and move and are, as even some poets among you have said, For we are also His race. Being then the race of God, we ought not to suppose that what is divine is like gold or silver or stone, like an engraving of art and thought of man” (Acts 17:26-29).
The original Greek word for “race” is yevos. This word is also translated in the Bible as kind, tribe, and nation. Only here is it translated “race.” This word is very different from “son”; the only thing it has in common with “son” is that it is also a noun. Thus, this verse only refers to men as God’s kind, not to men as the spiritual sons of God. When looking at the context, we further realize the point Paul was making is that man was created by God. Since God is so great and full of lovingkindness, man should not worship idols as God. This verse does not prove that all people are sons of God.
Man should never claim God’s creation to be the basis of sonship. If creation can prove sonship, then are cows, sheep, dogs, and horses, which were also created by God, the sons of God?
Since the people of the world are neither (1) Jesus Christ, nor (2) angels, nor (3) Israelites, nor (4) Adam, they can never claim to be the sons of God as those in the four categories mentioned above. Since the people of the world cannot find a basis among these four kinds of sonship through which they can be called the sons of God, they should therefore seek a way outside of these four that they might become children of God. However, the Bible does not give us any other way to call a person a son of God except to believe in the Lord. Since the Bible does not give any basis for the people of the world to be considered children of God, they are therefore not children of God.
Among these four kinds of sonship, we find that only the Israelites are still existing on the earth. However, the Israelites have lost their rights according to the flesh since the New Testament age began (John 8). It is because “it is not the children of the flesh who are the children of God, but the children of the promise are accounted as the seed” (Rom. 9:8). If the Israelites, who were originally called children of God, have been deprived of their rights, then do the other people of the world who are not called children of God have the right to call themselves children of God? In this age God does not differentiate between Israelites and Gentiles; they are all the same to Him. The people of the world, whether Israelites or Gentiles, are not the sons of God.
We can read the Word of God again and consider at the present time whose sons the men of the world are. The Israelites said to Christ, “We have one Father, God” (John 8:41). Our Lord’s answer to this was quite clear. “If God were your Father you would love Me....You are of your father the devil,...for he is a liar and the father of it” (vv. 42-44). Our Lord clearly referred to the Israelites as the sons of the devil because they followed the desires of the devil (v. 44). If the chosen Israelites are not sons of God but rather sons of the devil, then the rest of the world, even more, are sons of the devil. How solemn this is! Our Lord not only referred to the Israelites as the sons of the devil, He went even further. The Lord said that the devil is the father of liars. By saying this, He included all unregenerated people (Psa. 116:11; 12:1-2; 5:9) under the name and the sonship of the devil. Is not this kind of testimony clear? They are not the sons of God.
When we come to the Epistles of John, the boundary is clearly enlarged to include all the people of the world. “He who practices sin is of the devil, because the devil has sinned from the beginning. ...Everyone who has been begotten of God does not practice sin, because His seed abides in him; and he cannot sin, because he has been begotten of God. In this the children of God and the children of the devil are manifest” (1 John 3:8-10). Dear friends, do not be deceived. Everyone in the world belongs to one of two fathers. They are children of either father. If one is not a child of God, then he is a child of the devil. There is no neutral ground. The presumption that God is the Father of all men and that all men are His children cannot stand before these few verses in the Scripture. “In this the children of God and the children of the devil are manifest” (v. 10). The children of the devil are not only those who are opposed to Christ. All those who are not manifested as the children of God are also included. These two families have their own natures and characteristics. By these characteristics they are manifested as to which family they belong. People who belong to the devil are dead in offenses and sins; people who belong to God are born of God and have eternal life. Generally speaking, it is not so difficult to differentiate between the dead and the living. Therefore, the children of God should be very careful to manifest themselves to be of God. When we read Matthew 13, again we see the differences between the children of God and the children of the devil. The good seed are the sons of the kingdom of the heavens, the children of God; the tares are the sons of the evil one, the children of the devil. The tares and the wheat look similar when they first start growing, but the difference is shown at harvest time. In these days, many people look quite good outwardly, but when the fruit is born, the difference will be seen. The children of God and the children of the devil are sure to be manifested. Paul told the Ephesian believers, “We... were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest” (Eph. 2:3). Here it makes a clear separation between the “we,” those who now believe in the Lord Jesus and are the children of God, and “the rest,” the children of wrath. Those who are not saved by grace are children of wrath and are of Satan’s kind.
Thus, the Bible, through its many references, reveals this important truth—God is not the Father of all men in the world. Not all the people in the world are children of God. Since Genesis 3, the Bible shows us that the people in the world are of two families, the seed of the woman (of Christ) and the seed of the serpent (of the devil). Since God has separated the people in the world, we who believe in Him should humbly accept this fact.
In the Bible, there are also many secondary proofs. Here we will take a brief look at a few of them. The presumption of a universal fatherhood is based on the Sermon on the Mount, in which the Lord Jesus addressed God as the Father. This presumption, therefore, says that God is the Father of all men in the world. However, we should take note who the Lord was talking to on the mount. If the Lord was talking to the general public, then the presumption is logical. If this is not so, and if the Lord was talking to a special group of people, then the theory fails to prove itself. Matthew 5:1-2 says, “And when He saw the crowds, [the Lord Jesus did not teach these people, but] He went up to the mountain. And after He sat down, His disciples came to Him [His disciples also went into the mountain]. And opening His mouth, He taught them.” Who? The disciples, not the multitudes. The Sermon on the Mount was addressed by our Lord Jesus to His disciples, that is, the Christians (Acts 11:26). It was not addressed to the multitudes. Therefore, sixteen times in the Sermon on the Mount, the Lord Jesus referred to God as the Father of the disciples, not as the Father of the multitudes. All of the references to “your” and “our” were directed to the disciples. From this, we can see that the presumption of universal brotherhood does not have any basis.
In the Sermon on the Mount, the Lord Jesus said that God “causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good and sends rain on the just and the unjust” (Matt. 5:45). This is referring to how God treats all men equally. Yet our Lord was very careful. He did not confuse this point with God’s fatherhood. He did not say that the good, the bad, the righteous, and the unrighteous people are all sons of God. He specifically differentiated the fatherhood. He said, “Love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may become sons of your Father who is in the heavens, because He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good” (vv. 44-45). It is clear that the evil as well as the good are being differentiated from the sons of God. Moreover, to be a son of God, one should have such a love. Such a word is not for the common people of the world.
“And if you greet only your brothers, what better thing are you doing?...You therefore shall be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect” (vv. 47-48). “You” are sons of God, because God is “your Father who is in the heavens” (v. 45). Here again it is very clear that “you,” the sons of God, are separated from the others. Is this not plain to see? Not all men are sons of God. This verse also has a further meaning: “There are people in this world who are not yet your brothers, and God is not their Father; God is ‘your Father who is in the heavens’; although they are not the sons of God, God is perfect, and He gives the sun and the rain to them.” This is more than clear. The children of God should love their enemies, those who are not the children of God, because the heavenly Father is such a loving One.
The Lord Jesus in answering the Jews said, “If God were your Father you would love Me” (John 8:42). The children of God should be like God their Father in nature in the same way that our physical body should bear the characteristics of our father in the flesh. Since God is well pleased with the Lord Jesus, the children of God should also love Him. God is not a Father to him who does not love the Lord Jesus. If this were not so, then would not 1 Corinthians 16:22 be a little too strong? The Bible purposely records this word to be our guide. The word of Christ totally excludes the unregenerated ones and does not recognize them as sons of God. This word “if” gets down to the very root of the question. If the “if” of Christ stands, then the presumption of a universal fatherhood is a total failure.
“For whoever does the will of My Father who is in the heavens, he is My brother” (Matt. 12:50). Only those who do the will of God are the sons of God. The people in the world have not received salvation, they are not regenerated, they cannot know the will of God. Consequently, how can they do the will of God? This testimony of our Lord firmly rejects the theory that all men in the world are the sons of God.
The word in 1 John 3:1 is also very firm. “Behold what manner of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and we are. Because of this the world does not know us, because it did not know Him.” For men to become the sons of God is the special kindness of God. The world does not share a part in this. Here “we” and “the world” are clearly separated. “We should be called children of God; and we are.” What about the world? The world does not know us. If all men in the world were children of God, then the Holy Spirit would not separate the believers from the world and would not say, “The world does not know us.” If all men in the world are children of God, then what the Holy Spirit has said is meaningless! Please consider this. If everyone in the world is a child of God, should not the world know the children of God? What kind of talk is this? The theory that all men in the world are sons of God has no basis in the Bible. It is refuted by the Bible, and it is totally contrary to the clear teaching of the Bible.
Peter called the believers “your brotherhood in the world” (1 Pet. 5:9). This does not mean that the people of the world are the brothers of the believers. It means that the brothers of the believers are in the world. The people of the world are not the believers7 brothers, although among them, there are some who are their brothers. This verse tells us how their brothers were afflicted with sufferings from the devil because they did not belong to the world. “The whole world lies in the evil one” (1 John 5:19). Naturally, there is no need for the devil to bother those who belong to the world. There is a big difference between the people of the world and “the brothers.” “Honor all men. Love the brotherhood” (1 Pet. 2:17). The brothers are set apart from all men, that is, the people of the world. What God has separated, let no one yoke them together. The people in the world are not all brothers because they are not all sons of God.
Therefore, in the Epistles, the phrase “grace to you and peace from God our Father” is frequently spoken to a group of special people. Likewise, the phrase “our brothers” is specifically directed toward the believers.
Although not all the people in the world are children of God, there are those in the world who are the children of God. Since the Lord Jesus testified of God as a Father, God must then be the Father of a certain class of people. The fact that the Bible sets the children of God apart from the people of the world is a proof to this truth. But who are the children of God? Concerning this matter, the Bible is not silent. It has a clear and definite testimony. The Bible makes it clear that the children of God have their (1) position, (2) spirit, (3) nature, and (4) conduct. These four characteristics manifest who are the children of God and who are not. Those without these four characteristics are the children of Satan and are not of God. Although there are times when the children of God are weak and fallen, and although they may at times seem unable to live up to these four characteristics, such a condition is temporary and not permanent. Once they are revived and have arisen, they will be recovered to their normal condition. (Please note here: the children of God have these characteristics; however, this does not mean that because they have these characteristics they become the children of God. In the following paragraphs we will see how to become the children of God.)
God and the world are separate. “Do you not know that the friendship of the world is enmity with God?” Those who are at enmity with God are not the children of God; therefore, the children of God are those who come out of the world. “Do not become dissimilarly yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership do righteousness and lawlessness have? Or what fellowship does light have with darkness? And what concord does Christ have with Belial [the other name of Satan]? Or what part does a believer have with an unbeliever? And what agreement does the temple of God have with idols? For we are the temple of the living God, even as God said, ‘I will dwell among them and walk among them; and I will be their God, and they will be My people.’ Therefore ‘come out from their midst and be separated, says the Lord, and do not touch what is unclean; and I will welcome you’; ‘and I will be a Father to you, and you will be sons and daughters to Me, says the Lord Almighty’” (2 Cor. 6:14-18). The concept that all men are the sons of God cannot hold true in view of these few verses. The children of God are not defiled by the world; they are those who come out of the world. In the presence of God, the separating line between those who belong to Him and those who belong to Satan is very distinct. God is not willing that His children mix with the world. From God’s viewpoint, there is a deep gulf that separates righteousness and unrighteousness, light and darkness, Christ and Belial, believers and unbelievers, the temple of God (believers) and idols. God sees the world as two big families of people who are opposite to, and at enmity with, each other. His children are not those who remain with the worldly people, nor those who still touch unclean things, but they are those who are separate and holy. The position of the children of God is altogether incompatible with, and different from, that of the people of the world.
If a believer is separate from the world, he will, of course, not receive praises and sympathy from the world. If he is separated, he is either being proud, or he is genuinely spiritual. Either he is so proud that he would not associate himself with others and is haughtily preoccupied with himself, or he must be having such a good manner of life that he becomes compatible with his separated position. If the children of God are mixed with the world, they will lose the power of their testimony. The world will think that this kind of Christian is not any different from them! But once a child of God is separated from them, the worldly people will consider such a person to be too proud! If the children of God are not proud at heart, they should not be afraid of public criticism. Nevertheless, in the present age, if a believer truly lives out the holy, heavenly, righteous, and loving life of the Lord Jesus, the world will surely not want to mingle with him. But if we who belong to the Lord cannot show our separated position in the Lord, the world will surely tend to believe that they also are the children of God, because we are the same as they are! Therefore, the believers should all the more manifest that they are separate from the world.
“For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. For you have not received a spirit of slavery bringing you into fear again, but you have received a spirit of sonship in which we cry, Abba, Father! The Spirit Himself witnesses with our spirit that we are children of God” (Rom. 8:14-16). The sons of God are those who have the Holy Spirit in their spirits, witnessing in them that they are of God. The Holy Spirit is He “whom the world cannot receive” (John 14:17). Therefore, the people of the world are not the children of God. Our being led by the Holy Spirit confirms and shows that we are the sons of God, for He will not lead those who are not the sons of God. Not only the Holy Spirit, but our spirit also, bears witness that we are the sons of God. Those who are not the children of God are afraid of God. Whenever they think of majesty and the coming judgment of God, they are afraid, because they do not have a heart that loves God. Fear is the first issue of sin, which comes from the devil. Their conscience is still filthy because they have not received the cleansing of the precious blood of the Lord Jesus. That is why there is still much fear. But we who belong to the Lord and are the children of God have not received the spirit of fear, but the spirit of sonship. We are no longer afraid of God. Through the accomplishment of the cross of the Lord Jesus, God has forgiven our offenses, justified us, and made us His children. Now we have an intimate father-son relationship with God. He loves us and we love Him. How He loves us, cares for us, cherishes us, and looks after us are all manifested in the one word “Father.” How we obey Him, adore Him, and freely pour out ourselves to Him are all reflected in the word “children.” The various relationships between a father and a son in the world cannot compare to the depth and intimacy of the relationship between our spiritual Father and His sons. How dear and fitting is the expression “Abba, Father!” The people of the world do not have such a spirit. There is one thing which we need to remember: this spirit of sonship is received; it is not something we have by nature. This means that we, like the rest of the world, did not have this spirit. It is only through receiving this spirit that we are able to take God as our Father. If you remember this fact, you will understand the error in assuming that God is the Father of all the people of the world.
Galatians 4:4-6 says, “But when the fullness of the time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under law, that He might redeem those under law that we might receive the sonship. And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, Abba, Father!” Here we need to remember that God had two sending forths: (1) He sent forth His Son, the Lord Jesus, to redeem man and to accomplish the sonship. Originally under the law, man was guilty. In order to deliver us from the condemnation of the law, the Lord Jesus sacrificed His life on the cross and received the punishment of the law in our stead. He condemned sin in His flesh. Once the problem of sin was taken care of, those who received His redemption were able to receive the sonship. Originally, they were not sons, but based on the death of the Lord Jesus, they became sons. (2) Since those who have been redeemed have become sons, God sent forth the Spirit of His Son (the Lord Jesus) to enter their spirit in order that they could call God, “Abba, Father” and have an intimate relationship with God. The Holy Spirit here is referred to as “the Spirit of His Son.” This Son is God’s unique Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, the verse does not say the Spirit of Christ nor the Spirit of the Lord Jesus Christ, but the Spirit of His Son. This shows that this Spirit is intimately related to all the sons. Through the unique Son, man can become one of God’s sons. Because they have the Spirit of the unique Son, the children of God can have the joy and love of calling God their Father. Because of the Spirit of His Son, we now enjoy the intimacy of the fellowship which the Son (the Lord Jesus) has with the Father. As the Lord is, so are we. It is the work of the Holy Spirit that enables us to call God “Abba, Father.” Unless there is the moving of the Holy Spirit, to call God Father is to blaspheme Him, and even if we do cry “Abba, Father,” there is no feeling of intimacy to it.
From this, is it not too superficial to say that all the people in the world are the sons of God? Do these ones realize the significance of the phrase “the sons of God”? One must realize that the characteristic of the sons of Satan is a heart of fear and alienation. Only those who have the Holy Spirit dwelling in their heart and who have the Spirit of sonship are the children of God. The Bible only acknowledges these as the sons of God; to include others would be man’s idea and counterfeit.
“That you may be blameless and guileless, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and perverted generation, among whom you shine as luminaries in the world, holding forth the word of life” (Phil. 2:15-16). The only begotten Son of God, the Lord Jesus, is without blemish. Hence, all the children of God should be like Him. Although there is a generation that is crooked and perverted outwardly, we are the children of God without blemish inwardly. Those who are children should be like their fathers; likewise, the children of God must also be the same in nature as their heavenly Father. The crooked and perverted generation does not refer to the children of God. Wherever we see God’s nature, we see the children of God. The “children of God” is not only a title, a privilege, or a relationship, but a life from heaven, because “the Father...brought us forth by the word of truth” (James 1:17-18) in order that we might “become partakers of the divine nature” (2 Pet. 1:4). Only those who have the life of God and the nature of God are the children of God. The children of God are born of God. As such, they possess the nature of their heavenly Father. Whoever cannot reach this standard cannot be the child of God. The life from the throne flows only through His children who are living on earth.
“Everyone who practices righteousness also has been begotten of Him” (1 John 2:29). “Everyone who has been begotten of God does not practice sin” (3:9). In the original, the phrase “does not practice sin” can be rendered “does not live in sin habitually.” “In this the children of God and the children of the devil are manifest” (v. 10). Those who live in sin habitually and do not have the power of deliverance are not born of God but belong to the devil. A holy, pure, and righteous conduct demonstrates a heavenly relationship. The life that overcomes sin and the world is a life that is born of God (5:4). On the negative side, the children of God sometimes fail and continue to sin. Yet, on the positive side, they practice righteousness and overcome the world.
“If God were your Father you would love Me” (John 8:42). Since they were born of God, they love the only begotten Son of God. Love is in the heart. The likes, dislikes, love, and hatred within one’s heart reveal whether one belongs to God or to the devil. You can sometimes deceive man with your outward conduct, but you cannot deceive God or yourself with the inward condition of your heart. Those who know that they do not love God also know that God is not their Father. If you have already received the life of God, you will constantly long to love the Lord more than anything else. This is a very good test. You must also take the Lord Jesus as Lord; you must crown Him and acknowledge Him as the Master. “Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been begotten of God” (1 John 5:1). Only those who are born of God can believe that Jesus is the Christ. He is the Christ, so He is Lord. This verse does not say to believe Him in a vain way, but to acknowledge that Jesus is the Christ and to offer to Him what He deserves as the suffering and glorified Messiah. Because of the substitutionary death of the Lord Jesus, the children of God are brought to a realization of the preciousness of the Lord. As a result, before the Savior they willingly pour the oil upon His head and on His feet, acknowledging Him as Lord.
“Everyone who loves has been begotten of God” (1 John 4:7). God is love. They who are born of God, like God, have a heart of love. A loving heart is a characteristic of a child of God. The world knows that we are the Lord’s disciples because it sees that we love one another. We are those who always make peace with others: “Blessed are the peace-makers, for they shall be called the sons of God” (Matt. 5:9). A harmonious atmosphere indicates that one’s origin is from the heavens. We are commanded to love even our enemies. “Love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may become sons of your Father who is in the heavens, because He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good and sends rain on the just and the unjust” (vv. 44-45). Such magnanimity and lovingkindness can only come from the heavenly regeneration which causes men to have a change in life and which makes men like God. The children of God must manifest that they are different from the world in this respect. A heart that loves one’s enemies and prays for the persecutors simply does not exist in the world. But since the heavenly Father shows no partiality and since the believers are the children of God, they must be as the Father is. This is not something manufactured but something spontaneous. The believers can be like this because God’s life is within them. The removal of hatred is the very first manifestation of the regenerated life.
From these four testimonies, we can see how holy, pure, and loving are the children of God! The argument that all the people in the world are the sons of God cannot stand under this examination. Nevertheless, the pitiful thing is that many regenerated children of God are still weak; they frequently stumble to the extent that they cannot uphold the standard of the children of God before the world. Therefore, the worldly people cannot see the difference between themselves and the children of God. This is why some venture to think that all the people in the whole world are the children of God! If the children of God would constantly manifest their position, spirit, nature, and conduct, how could the world come to such a conclusion? Now let us consider another question.
Since not all who are in the world are the children of God, and since the children of God are as described above, the most important question is how can one become a child of God? In other words, what is the way to change the children of Satan into the children of God?
Before we can become sons, we must first be born. You cannot be a son without being born. The first step to become a son is by birth. Before we become the sons of God, we must be born of God. Although not all the people in the world are the sons of God, yet all the people in the world can become the sons of God. It all depends on their desire and willingness. The birth in the flesh is beyond man’s own control. One’s parents, relatives, and the place, time, and circumstance of birth are not up to one’s choice. Yet the marvelous grace of God is that if a man decides to choose to become a son of God, he can attain it. Although he cannot regenerate himself, yet he can believe. Because of his believing, God regenerates him, and he becomes a son of God.
“For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus” (Gal. 3:26). God’s way is very simple. Whoever sees the danger of being a child of Satan and the calamities that are to come, and desires to become a son of God, does not need to do anything; all he needs to do is believe in the testimony of God concerning His Son, Jesus Christ, to trust in Him wholeheartedly, to obey Him, to accept Him as Savior by faith, to believe in the effectiveness of the salvation which He accomplished on the cross, and by faith to offer Jesus Christ up as the sinner’s sin offering. God will instantly forgive his sins, justify him, put a new life in him, and cause him to become a new creature in Christ Jesus. He will immediately become a son of God. To believe in Christ Jesus is nothing more than to accept the Lord Jesus as Savior. “But as many as received Him, to them He gave the authority to become children of God, to those who believe into His name, who were begotten not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God” (John 1:12-13). Now the door of grace is open wide. To be a child of God is not a matter of self-mortification, of trusting in one’s own righteous deeds, nor of gradual evolution into a child of God. Rather, it is in that split second of time when one receives the Lord Jesus as Savior and trusts in His accomplished salvation that one has the authority to become the child of God. Those who are to be the children of God must have the authority; they cannot freely proclaim themselves His sons, as others who think that all those in the world are the sons of God. This is not a self-given authority, but something given by Christ at the time man receives Him as Savior. The reason Christ can give man such authority is that He died on the cross for man and has already solved all the problems of sin. Because Christ has taken away the sins of the world, those who believe in Him are forgiven of their sins and are delivered from the punishment of sin. Once the problem of sin is solved, nothing can hinder those who believe in Him from receiving grace and truth. Once the past sins have been dealt with, the Holy Spirit of God will put God’s life and nature into the hearts of those who believe in Him. Once they have the life of God within, they will instantly become the sons of God. Regeneration happens at the moment when the life of God enters into their hearts. The work of regeneration is altogether the work of God: “Who were begotten not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God” (v 13).
In John 3, our Lord spoke clearly to Nicodemus concerning the truth of regeneration. He used the cross as the foundation of regeneration, the Holy Spirit as the Mediator of regeneration, and faith as the way of regeneration. When man receives regeneration, there may not be a particular feeling, but in his daily life spontaneously there will be a change in his conduct and a renewing of his mind. This is the work of God, not the ability of man. Those who do not have the birth of God from above will continue to be earthly as the children of the devil.
The word in John 20:17 puts our relationship with God as the Father in the Lord Jesus Christ: “My Father and your Father.” God becomes our Father in the Lord Jesus; those who are not in the Lord Jesus by faith can never be the children of God. “He who has the Son has the life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have the life” (1 John 5:12). If you do not accept the only begotten Son of God, you cannot become the child of God. All the children are accepted by God in His only begotten Son. Whoever believes in the Lord Jesus Christ will become a child of God in Him. We have received the sonship through Him (Eph. 1:5). Outside of Christ, God is not man’s Father, but man’s Judge. In Christ, God is man’s Father, because on the cross Christ has already been judged by God on behalf of those who are in Him. This is the gospel of grace, the way by which all men are saved.
The salvation of the Lord Jesus is now accomplished. Whoever is willing to believe in His name, that is, whoever is willing to accept Him, will become a child of God; those who are not willing are “the tares [which] are the sons of the evil one;...[which at] the consummation of the age...are collected and burned up with fire” (Matt. 13:38-40). Eternal life or eternal death fully depends on whether or not man will accept God’s salvation! There is only one condition for becoming the sons of God, and that is to believe, to receive the Lord Jesus as Savior. Only by trusting in the Lord Jesus on the cross can one become a son of God. It is not of works, not of conduct, not of oneself, but of faith.
After becoming a son of God, the regenerated life of God within a believer will cause him to grow in grace daily. In this way, his manner of life will become more like God’s. He will bear more of the likeness of God’s children. He will manifest the standard of God’s children in all things. Physically, a child cannot become full-grown overnight; likewise, the children of God cannot arrive at the full stature of Christ immediately after their regeneration. Instead, growth comes gradually. We who have received grace and have become the children of God should be “perfect as [our] heavenly Father is perfect” (Matt. 5:48). God requires that His children be perfect even as He is perfect. It will be difficult for people to believe us if we say that we are the children of God the Father and yet are not like Him. We will lose our testimony. Since God the Father treats good and evil men alike, how can we who are His children hate our enemies and not forgive others their sins? If we are born of Him and partake of His nature, we will surely have His compassion. If we are God’s children, yet do not love the Lord Jesus whom He loves, we are wayward sons, and do not sympathize with the Father’s heart. And how can we be His children, if we do not receive the guidance of the Holy Spirit step by step every day?
If we claim to have this heavenly relationship, we must bear the heavenly taste in all things. If we are the children of God and are born from above, everything about us must differ greatly from those who have not been born again. If we claim that we are heavenly, yet we are not much different from the worldly people, we are indeed degrading the Bible’s teachings. No matter what kind of life or environment they are in, the children of God must bear the taste of the heavenly family. This is because a heavenly life cannot be without a heavenly manifestation. It is most pitiful that the children of God have now largely lost their characteristics and have compromised with the world in all things. The reason for a lack in power is that the boundary between the saints and the world has become unclear.
Therefore, “as children of obedience, do not be fashioned according to the former lusts in your ignorance; but according to the Holy One who called you, you yourselves also be holy in all your manner of life....And if you call as Father the One who without respect of persons judges according to each one’s work, pass the time of your sojourning in fear” (1 Pet. 1:14-15, 17).
Since we have such a Father, we must not only manifest the nature of our heavenly Father in our living, but we must also live in this world as those who have a Father, not anxious as orphans. Concerning our clothing, food, and other necessities, we must fully trust in the Lord, because the Father has a tender loving care toward us. The Lord Jesus comforts us with the words, “your Father knows” (Matt. 6:8). How wonderful it is to be the children of God!
“Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not yet been manifested what we will be. We know that if He is manifested, we will be like Him because we will see Him even as He is” (1 John 3:2). Oh how great is this revelation! Although the future has not yet been manifested, nevertheless, do not the two words “like Him” include everything? Should this not cause our hearts to rejoice? Although there is a great deal of opposition in the world today, yet all will be well when the Lord comes back. Although we were very lowly and mean, the Lord wants us to be like Him. What a glory! This is the original intention of the Lord Jesus. He came down to the world to die so that He could lead “many sons into glory” (Heb. 2:10).
“For the anxious watching of the creation eagerly awaits the revelation of the sons of God....into the freedom of the glory of the children of God” (Rom. 8:19, 21). Because the creation was subjected to vanity and put under the bondage of corruption, it now groans and travails in pain. But once the children of God receive the glory and the millennium appears, the time of “the restoration of all things” (Acts 3:21) will be here.
This glory, however, is in the future. At the present time, the children of God, along with God’s only begotten Son, still suffer the rejection of man. The cross is our portion for today; the crown is for tomorrow. Although the present way is narrow, when the millennium begins, “then the righteous will shine forth like the sun in the kingdom of their Father” (Matt. 13:43). Reigning with the Lord in the millennium depends on suffering with Him today. Nevertheless, when we think of the future of those who are not the children of God, we have to take warning from them. Ours is the glory; theirs is eternal perdition in the lake of fire, the everlasting fire of hell, which is “prepared for the devil and his angels” (25:41). Eternal punishment is what the “children of wrath” deserve. Because of the substitutionary death of the Lord Jesus, we have been saved fully. Hallelujah!
Now we have seen the Bible’s opinion regarding the concept that all in the world are the sons of God. The Bible altogether denies this untrue concept. Dear reader, do not be deceived. Do not think that because all men are the sons of God, there is no need for regeneration, that it is enough just to improve oneself. You need to know: if God demands man to improve, what will happen to those who have so deeply fallen into sin that they are beyond any hope of improvement? To those people, this kind of “gospel” is indeed not much of a gospel!
At the present time, God’s door of grace is open wide. Whosoever is willing to enter will be saved. God will accept all sinners because of the Lord Jesus. Whosoever believes and trusts in the Lord Jesus can become a child of God.
If you have not yet accepted the Lord Jesus as your Savior and have not become a child of God through Him, you are still of Adam and of the devil. Adam sinned, begetting children in his own sinful image (Gen. 5:1-3). You are the direct descendant of Adam; apart from regeneration, there is no other way for you to become a child of God.
Do not think that because you are better than others that you are not a child of the devil. You must know that God has only one kind of children: those who have been redeemed by the Lord Jesus through believing in Him. Only they are the children of God. God does not care for anyone else. Please do not wait until it is too late to believe in Him.
