Three-year-old Jessica had...
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Three-year-old Jessica had been adopted a few days after her birth by the DeBoer family of Michigan. Sometime later, her birth parents in Iowa suddenly wanted custody of their child returned to them. The legal tug-of-war raged on in the courts of both states for months. Paul talks about adoption in this passage from Romans. At that time the world was fully aware of the Roman process for adoption. It was a lengthy process, and once completed, it was "a done deal." The natural parents could never again seek custody of the child. The results of Roman adoption were as follows: 1. The adopted person was considered a "new" person. Any and all past history, including indebtedness or any legal trouble, was completely erased. All ties to the past and the natural family were destroyed. 2. The adopted child had as much legal right to the family estate as any natural children or relatives. 3. The adopted child literally became the property of his or her adoptive father. Paul tells us that when we were adopted by God, our past life with all its sin, was erased, and we became co-equal heirs to God's kingdom. -- Joseph
