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Laws of Sonship, part 1

There is no sonship without fatherhood. The relationship between fathers and sons is based on the Fifth Commandment, “Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be prolonged in the earth” (Exodus 20:12). While this applies to one’s earthly parents, the same commandment also applies to our relationship to our heavenly Father. Hence, the Fifth Commandment is the primary law of Sonship.

Those who have been begotten by the Holy Spirit, both males and females, have the right to claim to be sons of God. Spiritually speaking, a son of God is not a matter of gender, for we read in Galatians 3:26-28,

²⁶ For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. ²⁷ For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. ²⁸ There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.

Begotten and Born

Jesus told Nicodemus in John 3:3 (NASB),

³ Jesus answered and said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again [Greek: gennethe anothen, “begotten from above”], he cannot see the kingdom of God.”

The term, “born again,” as it is rendered by the NASB and the KJV, is not accurate enough for our purposes here. It should be rendered “begotten from above,” that is, begotten of God, the Father, by means of the Holy Spirit.

The Greek word, gennethe, is from the root word, gennao. Dr. Bullinger tells us in his notes on Matthew 1:2,

“begat. Gr. Gennao. When used of the father = to beget or engender; and when used of the mother it means to bring forth into the world.”

Men engender; women give birth. And so, in Matthew 1:2, where we read that Abraham begat Isaac, it is apparent that Abraham did not actually give birth to Isaac. Abraham merely engendered Isaac in the womb of Sarah, who later gave birth to Isaac.

In Matthew 1:20, the angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph and told him to take Mary to be his wife, even though she was pregnant and thought by many to be an adulteress. The angel explained to him, “for that which has been conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit.” The Greek word translated “conceived” is gennethen, from gennao. It is self-evident that Jesus had not yet been born in Bethlehem. We see that the word is used here of conception, rather than of birthing. The Holy Spirit had acted as the Father to beget, or engender, an embryo within Mary.

So what does this all mean to us? How does this apply to John 3:3, where Jesus told Nicodemus that he had to be “born again?” It shows that when the Spirit of God indwells us, we are begotten from above. Technically, we are not yet “born.” The term, “born again” is not fully accurate, for it implies that we have now been made fully in the image of our Father. The fact is, an embryo has not yet taken full shape. It is yet being made and formed into the image of its father and mother. The teaching that Christians are now “born again” has caused many to think that they have now arrived at the final goal of life on earth, and that there is little else to do except wait to go to heaven. Meanwhile, the only real purpose the Christian seems to have on earth is to witness to others and to support their church with their presence and with their presents.

One of the major goals in this book is to challenge that mindset and to show people that they must progress through the stages of development revealed by the feast days of Israel in order to arrive at the final destination.

The other word used in John 3:3, which we have not yet explained, is anothen, translated “again,” as in “born again.” Vine's Expository Dictionary says that “it signifies from above, or anew.” If John had meant to imply “again” or “another time,” he would have used the Greek word, deuteros, as he did in John 9:24,

²⁴ So a second time [deuteros] they called the man who had been blind, and said to him, “Give glory to God; we know that this man is a sinner.”

We conclude, then, that John 3:3 instructed Nicodemus (and us) that we are to be “begotten from above,” rather than to be “born again.” First things first. We must first be begotten before we can be brought to full birth.

Two Stages of Sonship

Many years ago, while I was studying at the University of Minnesota, I was asked to join a group of Christian students who called themselves the Manifested Sons of God. I later learned that this was actually an offshoot of the new Charismatic Movement. These people believed that they were “now” the sons of God and fully “manifested” in the world. I declined to join them. Other Bible teachers condemned them, including the Sonship teachers. But in those days I did not yet know the underlying issues, as I was young.

1 John 3:2 says,

² Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we shall be. We know that, when He appears, we shall be like Him, because we shall see Him just as He is.

John tells us that “now we are children of God,” but he also shows that we are not yet “what we shall be.” Perhaps he had in mind the fact that an embryo is a child that is yet being formed. In other words, there are two main stages of development, one after conception and the other after birth. Manifestation has to do with coming into visibility (birth). To claim to be manifested sons of God prior to the perfection seen at birth is inaccurate, for it fails to distinguish the process of Sonship.

I have met some who claim to be perfected now, but this claim is based on what they call faith, but which I call positive thinking. They fail to understand the difference between imputed righteousness and actual righteousness. Romans 4 is Paul’s great explanation of imputation (logizomai). His great example is Abraham himself, to whom God gave the promise of a son. The promise itself imputed a son to him and made him the father of many nations, even though he had no sons at all.

Imputation and Faith

Romans 4:17 KJV actually gives us the definition of imputation, telling us that God “calleth those things which be not as though they were.” When Abraham believed God’s promise, it was counted, credited, imputed (logizomai) to him as righteousness (Romans 4:3). To impute is a legal act that secures that which is promised, but nonetheless, it is something that is not yet fulfilled. Another step is required. So it is with begetting and birthing of a son.

Faith is knowing and believing the promise of something in the future. In this way, faith contains the element of hope. Romans 8:23, 24 says,

²³ And not only this, but also we ourselves, having the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our body. ²⁴ For in hope we have been saved, but hope that is seen is not hope; for who hopes for what he already sees?

Again, 2 Corinthians 5:7 says,

⁷ for we walk by faith—not by sight.

In other words, until we actually see the promise of God fulfilled tangibly, “we walk by faith.” Our faith does not make it happen; it is merely resting in the belief that God will make it happen. Perhaps our greatest enemy is impatience. We tend to think that the promises of God ought to be fulfilled quickly, when, in fact, it may take many years. See the example of Abraham, whose promise is still developing to this day.

There are many who think that if the promise is not quickly fulfilled, it is because of a shortage of faith. To hasten the promise, they think they must work up their faith by the power of their own will and effort. But such self-effort only points to positive thinking, not true faith. Faith rests; positive thinking labors hard.

The Right of Sonship

John 1:11-13 says,

¹¹ He came to His own, and those who were His own did not receive Him. ¹² But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name, ¹³ who were born [begotten], not of blood[line], nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.

The right of Sonship is for “those who believe in His name.” To believe is to have faith. Faith begets “Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Colossians 1:27). In this biblical metaphor, “Christ in you” is the embryo that has been begotten by the Spirit. Hence, “the hope of glory” is the hope, or expectation and glory of childbirth. In this sense, we are pregnant with an anointed son, a “christ,” if you will, a son of God—not Jesus Christ, the firstborn Son of God, but you-Christ, a son of God who is Jesus’ younger brother.