Isn't everyone a child of God?
John 1 and 8, Acts 17, Galatians 4, and Romans 8.
The short answer Settled
No. God makes a person His child when he believes. Every person is God's creature, made by Him and kept alive by Him. But only the one who believes is given the right to become God's child, and God adopts him as a son and heir.
The right to become children
John says, "as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name" (). They were given the right to become His children, so they were not His children before. Paul says the same: "you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus" ().
Jesus told men who would not believe Him, "If God were your Father, you would love Me" (). And then: "You are of your father the devil" ().
Adopted as sons
Scripture calls this adoption. God sent His Son "to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons" (). Adoption gives a son's place and a son's inheritance: "Therefore you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ" ().
And God gives the believer a son's voice. "Because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying out, 'Abba, Father!'" (), so the believer can speak to God as his own Father. "The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God" ().
Now, and not yet
It is true now. "Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be" (). Part of the inheritance is still ahead: believers are "eagerly waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body" (). The body's share is still to come; the place in the family is already given.
The usual objection
Many people say that everyone is a child of God. Paul himself told the Athenians, "we are the offspring of God" (). On this view believing does not make anyone God's child; it only helps a person see what he already was.
Every person is God's offspring in that God made him and gives him life: "in Him we live and move and have our being" (). That is a creature's tie to his Maker, not a child's place in the family. A carpenter made every chair in his house, but he does not leave the house to the chairs. John says believers are given "the right to become children of God"; Jesus told unbelievers that God was not their Father; and the believer is adopted, "no longer a slave but a son."
The words behind it
| Word | Where | Form | What it shows |
|---|---|---|---|
| ἐξουσίαν exousian, "the right" (Strong's 1849) | Noun | A right that is given. | |
| τέκνα θεοῦ γενέσθαι tekna theou genesthai, "to become children of God" (5043, 2316, 1096) | Noun; aorist infinitive | A change, not a discovery. | |
| διὰ τῆς πίστεως dia tēs pisteōs, "through faith" (4102) | Preposition with noun | How a person becomes a son. | |
| Εἰ ὁ θεὸς πατὴρ ὑμῶν ἦν Ei ho theos patēr hymōn ēn, "If God were your Father" (2316, 3962) | Condition contrary to fact | "If God were your Father" (and He is not). | |
| Γένος Genos, "the offspring" (1085) | Noun | A family line or kind, not the words for children or sons used of believers. | |
| υἱοθεσίαν huiothesian, "the adoption as sons" (5206) | Noun | Placing as a son. | |
| κληρονόμος klēronomos, "an heir" (2818) | Noun | One who receives an inheritance. | |
| νῦν τέκνα θεοῦ ἐσμέν nyn tekna theou esmen, "now we are children of God" (3568, 5043, 2316) | Present indicative | Children now. | |
| ἀπεκδεχόμενοι apekdechomenoi, "eagerly waiting" (553) | Present participle | The body's share is still awaited. |
No textual variants affect the conclusion.
This study checks the Greek Received Text against the Majority Text, and the written Hebrew against its traditional reading. If a difference could change a conclusion, this note explains it. Otherwise it says that none does.