No–Not Everyone is a Child of God

Who is in God's Family?

We live in a divided time full of tension.

The recent election results have people questioning how they will get along with loved ones over the Holidays.

On a daily news program recently, I listened to a religious leader explain that we simply need to treat everyone as the “child of God they are.”

This sparked my interest because it echoes several lines I’ve heard recently.

Let me be clear–the Bible teaches clearly that God created every person with dignity (Genesis 1:26–28). The Bible teaches joyfully that God loved the world enough to send Christ as Redeemer (John 3:16–21).

God loves every person.

However, the Bible’s teaching is being twisted by modern intuitions and talking points.

Finding a spiritual director who will tell you that you are a child of God does not make you one.

Only God can pronounce you “Beloved,” and He pronounces that blessing in Christ.

Further, the Scripture makes it abundantly clear that God’s children are identified by their obedience to God and their love for each other.

Look at the Words of 1 John 3:10,

¹⁰ This is how we know who the children of God are and who the children of the devil are: Anyone who does not do what is right is not God’s child, nor is anyone who does not love their brother and sister.

John speaks in ways that jar our modern sensibilities and shock our appetite for “niceness.”

You are either God’s child, or you are a child of the devil.

God’s children do what God says is right (obey His Word) and love their brothers and sisters (the church).

We cannot “resolve” the tensions and divides of our day by uniting everyone as “God’s child” when the Scripture says clearly this is false.

The tensions and divides of our day are solved by calling people to obey the Gospel of Christ and become His followers in the church.

Your family can have unity over the coming Holidays, but not by eliminating the boundaries to the family of God!

We can be united under Christ—the future of the world is Jesus Over Everything! That future comes through loving clarity about people’s need for reconciliation with God in Christ.

I hope to see everyone as God’s child–let’s preach and pray for new birth!