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sanctification, there is a growing awareness of its privileges, responsibilities, and
applications.
Adoption is not sanctification
Thomas Brooks asserts that sanctification is simply a living out of one`s adoption and
sonship (John 1:12; Rom. 8:17). He writes, If thou art a holy person, then of a child of
wrath thou art become a child of God, a child of love; and of an heir of hell thou art
become an heir of heaven; and of a slave, thou art become a son.
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The Puritans would resonate well with J.I. Packer`s assertion that sanctification is
simply a consistent living out of our filial relationship with God, into which the gospel
brings us. It is just a matter of the child of God being true to type, true to his Father, to his
Saviour, and to himself. It is the expressing of one`s adoption in one`s life. It is a matter
of being a good son, as distinct from a prodigal or black sheep in the royal family.
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Through sanctification the believer is brought into a fuller experiential awareness
of his adoption. He learns to grasp more fully what adoption is, and learns to live out of
its wonders.
The Westminster Assembly's definitions of adoption
The Westminster Assembly, which included scores of Puritans, offers three formal
definitions of adoption--a basic definition in the Shorter Catechism (hereafter SC), an
intermediate definition in the Larger Catechism (hereafter LC), and a more
comprehensive definition in the Confession of Faith (hereafter WCF):
Shorter Catechism, Q. 34: Adoption is an act of God`s free grace, whereby we are
received into the number, and have a right to all the privileges, of the sons of God.
Larger Catechism, Q. 74: Adoption is an act of the free grace of God, in and for
His only Son Jesus Christ, whereby all those that are justified are received into the
number of His children, have His name put upon them, the Spirit of His Son given
to them, are under His fatherly care and dispensations, admitted to all the liberties
and privileges of the sons of God, made heirs of all the promises, and fellow heirs
with Christ in glory.
Confession of Faith, Chap. 12: All those that are justified, God vouchsafeth, in
and for His only Son Jesus Christ, to make partakers of the grace of adoption, by