All right, I guess I'll start us off. I'm going to be the moderator here of the Q&A. And so we'll try to get to as many of these as we can under our time limits. So the first question is, I think, a good general one. It says, I think probably referring to something referenced by Van, when worldly people say or post that we're all children of God, What is the best Christian response? He's got a mic. I think I tried to say that take him to John 1 12 and just tell him we're not. I mean, why do you think they say that? I mean, is it because it's lack of biblical literacy? Or is it their pride? Is it sinful? Or is it just ignorance? I think it's just a term of endearment. I mean, just almost a romanticism type thing. You know, we're all just children of God. In other words, you know, we're all fine with God. I don't think there's anything more than that. I think it's very superficial. Well, you made a point after you said that in your sermon. You said that, but then you said, now there is a sense in which we're all, that there is a relationship that we have with God. We're made in the image of God. The light of the world has come into the world enlightening every man. Well, Acts 17, you know, Paul does say, I mean, you can hear what I've said in Acts 17, you know, Paul at the Areopagus, you know, Mars Hill, and, you know, he quotes the secular poets and saying, you know, we are God's offspring. So, you know, you could hear what I just said, and then you could be thinking, but wait a second, don't we see in Scripture where it does say we are God's offspring? And so what I was saying is there's a difference between those two to say, your God's offspring is to say one thing and to say that you are God's children or sons of God is a different thing. Offspring is in the sense of it's what Paul is doing is he's relating a status of being. By the way, J.V. Fesco in his book, what's the title of his book? Do you remember? Reforming Apologetics. Yes, that's what it is. And he had apologetics in the name. He speaks about this. basically what's happening is Paul is giving just a status of being you know this is who you are you you're an offspring of God by virtue of your creation you have a relationship and so that's that's what he's communicating you have a relationship with God now it's not a relationship in being in God's family you don't have a relationship of being a child of God but you have a relationship of being an offspring of God offspring in the sense that God created you and so therefore being created like you say part of it is the imago Dei being you know you have the image of God you know within you and again you can go into you know, general revelation, the outward witness of God, you have the inward witness of God with your conscience. So you have a status of God. You are under the authority of God and you are under the accountability of God by virtue of your creation. Just everyone has that status. And so that's what it means to be the offspring of God. Now to be a child of God, that's different. That's where you have to be brought into being a child of God, and that's what John 1 speaks about right there. So again, if someone wants to use a phrase where we're all just children of God, and then maybe you can have a conversation with them, well, you mean that God created all of us? And if they say, well, yeah, that's exactly what I meant. And you can say, well, you're exactly right about that. It's not the best word to use. but you can say that yes we all do have a relationship to God in that we are created by him and therefore we are all accountable to him and so by the way that would be a great starting place to go off into evangelism by the way you are accountable to him and listen you have failed miserably and so therefore now make a beeline for the cross and so you can make that distinction so if they're talking about that they're right but as they're saying well no we're children of God in the sense that We're children of God, that we're in the family of God. And so therefore, we have all the things we talked about today, the privileges, the liberties, and everything like that. Well, then no, that's wrong. We're not born in that status. I'm not sure the person who would ask that question would have this level of biblical knowledge, but you may have a conversation with someone. When you said that, I had my Greek New Testament, and in Acts 17, 28, the word for offspring is genops. And all the places where it talks about son or children, it's quioi tufetna, the sons of God, or tatechna tufetna, the children of God. So it's a completely different language that's being used. So if someone, I doubt someone would have that level, maybe if they were to appeal to Act 1728. It's two different terms, means two completely different things. So, sorry. Probably what's added to the confusion is probably within the last 50 years every president has used that expression, we're all children of God. Oh yeah. And we have in our country we have a national motto, in God we trust, kind of gives this assumption that if you're American, you're a child of God. That's probably added to the confusion. Let me give this one to Ryan. Someone asks, how would you comfort a struggling brother who isn't sure of his adoption? That's a good question, because I think as we go through this entire thing, one of the things that is connected is that assurance of our confession says the assurance of faith is not of the essence of faith. It means you can have true faith, true salvation, but not always be assured of it. I guess I would want to gently ask the question, why are you so worried about being in the house? it seems as though you have concerns that you may not be a child of God. And a child of God wants to be a child of God. And so if you, it doesn't always mean that someone who's worried about eternal things is definitely a Christian, but it is a good sign when a person has a category of understanding what adoption is and says, I'm concerned about that. So I might take them to John 6 37, you know, where, where the Lord, it's one of those three verses in John that are often used together as a triad or ought to be, all that the Father gives me will come to me. And then this is the part that I would encourage the doubting believer to cling to, because they're the words of our Savior. And the one who comes to me, I will by no means cast out. So you have someone who's worried, that their elder brother is not their elder brother. So you point them to their elder brother, I think. And there's a whole host of things that we could address there, but that's part and parcel. You're saying that you wouldn't rush in and just quickly try to assure them. Oh, no, no. Don't worry about that. You probably are, you know. Yeah, I mean, over time, I want to understand, are there certain sins that you haven't confessed in your life? Is there a misunderstanding about what the gospel is? These kinds of things, but if it's a person who those things are not readily apparent. Then. I think you you push them to the gospel and the gospel promises, one of which we talked about today at length, and that is adoption and that adopted children may have seasons where some have stronger assurance than others. But it can be crippling for believers who hear all of these things that we're talking about and the questions of what if come. So I think we just point them back. We've walked with them through a variety of pastoral issues. We point them back to Christ first and to self second. For such a person, too, we could also point them to chapter 18 of the Confession of the Assurance of Grace and Salvation. It's in four paragraphs. It's a wonderful teaching with proof texts about assurance. It could be related to understanding adoption. Van. In regards to Van's lecture, What are the bodily needs of our glorified body that wouldn't be a result of the fall? And I'm guessing somebody heard, I don't remember hearing that, but did you at some point say something about our glorified bodies having needs? Okay, go ahead. Yes, I missed that one, sorry. Basically what I was saying, just in our glorified bodies, since our bodies will be human, we will have to do, we will have human things. So therefore, for example, Because we're human, we will have a place where we will reside. Christ says, I go to prepare a place for you. I will come and take you back and receive you. To myself, I think scripture points out that I don't think it's merely symbolic that there will be a banquet meal in heaven. I think there will be eating in heaven and preparation of food in heaven. I think it will be, I think a picture of eating is basically that Eden is, before the fall, is a sinless, non-glorified in a sense, picture of what heaven will be, a sort of small view of the greater reality of what heaven will be. And so therefore, you have people there who are not fallen and who partake of different things, food and eat, and I think even when we look at our Lord, his glorified body. I mean, he has breakfast on the beach. Luke 24, he eats honeycomb and fish. So yeah, so when I said needs, you know, the point I was making is all those things that a physical existence would require, because we're not going to be non-physical, non-corporal, you know, we're going to have physical existence. All those things God will provide for us. And might we say too that it's the same human needs that we have without the taints of the fall on human needs. So I will need to eat but I will not need to take medicine for cancer. And you won't be a glutton. I won't be. You're not one now, I think. Anyway. Steve Clevenger. Can a true believer continue to commit the same sin habitually? Can a true believer commit the same sin habitually? Yes. You want to expand on that? Yes, they can. God's people can only commit the same sin habitually. They can commit grievous sin. We have an example of David doing that in the Old Testament. I do. I think the New Testament teaches that there will be progress and grace and sanctification. But I think as Christians, we're still sinners. We sin. Okay, so there are remaining corruptions within the believer. And in 1 John 1 8, I think it is, he says, he is without sin, he's a liar, the truth isn't in him. So yes, okay, you're gonna battle with pride, you're gonna battle with, but I think the person may be asking, okay, you know you're cheating on your taxes this year, you do it next year, you do it the next year, and you do it the next year. And you can pass your sin and repent. But you do it habitually over and over again. I mean, does that invalidate at some point your confession of faith? As they are aware of that as sin, they should not have assurance. They shouldn't have assurance knowing that they're continuing in this. So if they weren't a Christian, if they did it repeatedly, they wouldn't have assurance that they were a believer. So you'd base it on it. You would say experientially that it would fail for them. I believe that's what's going to happen. They're going to continue in this sin willfully by cheating on the taxes. We're not talking about, you know, They feel like internally they're struggling with pride as a lifelong process. This outward act that they continue to do, that's a problem. That's a big problem. What do you say, Ryan, to that? I think there are a couple components there. I agree with your answer, brother. Yes, a true blood-bought believer can struggle with the same sin multiple times. I do think there are other components that we could throw in here to add to what you were saying. I think we should qualify that a true believer shouldn't struggle with the same sin over and over and over and have the same claim to assurance. That's going to get in the way. In fact, sometimes a wrestling with assurance may be not the only reason, but it may be that we're struggling with habitual sin. But I think another issue is a true believer who's wrestling with the same sin should expect that God, the Holy Spirit, will bring conviction and there will be a wrestling. So the question is, are they struggling with habitual sin or are they just Habitually sinning without and I think that Every person is different, but that qualification I think is part of the discussion, too And if there is no chastening I mean there's some serious language used there that this is how they know that they're the children of God God chastening them if they there's no chastening no correcting and Van, let's see, I think this is a question that relates to your message. So if you look at Romans chapter 8, the question is, Isn't the spirit of bondage spoken of in Romans 8, 1, speaking of the law? And so I think maybe this is in reference to when you were preaching, I think it was you, you talked about in verse 15, you have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear, and they're saying, Oh, they said Romans 8, 1, I'm not sure. But they're saying, could that refer to the law as opposed to, I guess, a person's experience of bondage to sin? Does that make sense? Yeah, I mean, this is, I mean, as you look at this, I mean, this is basically someone who, Romans 8, someone who's battling in the flesh, I mean, verse 9, however, you are not in the flesh, but in the spirit, if indeed the spirit of God dwells in you. Verse 11, if the spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Jesus Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies. Verse 12, so then, brethren, we are under obligation not to the flesh, but to live according to the flesh. We are not, so then, brethren, we are not under obligation not to the flesh, according to the flesh, for if you're living according to the flesh, you must die. Verse 14, for all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are the sons of God. So there's a distinction there. So it's, you're either being led by the flesh or by the Spirit. And so, so he's saying those who are being led by the Spirit, these are the sons of God. And so therefore now he goes into adoption. So as I see it, that's the difference there. So as he goes into adoption now, he's basically saying that basically in these two lives this is what has happened so now now that you have been adopted this is what is going on you don't have that old spirit or slavery that you did have again the comparison is between living into the flesh living into the spirit you know this is talking about your old life and your new life so before you had that that spirit of slavery that led you to fear, but now you've been given the spirit of adoption that has led you out of it. All right, I'm gonna follow up. Someone else asked, because it seemed to be, this is germane to what you were teaching, right? Okay. Okay, so someone said- Was I that confusing? Sorry about that. No, you were that stimulating, brother. You got people thinking. Paul said that he had not known sin, but for the law. is one of the Christian liberties we enjoy, freedom from the law's condemnation. What is my relationship to the law now? As a Christian, as an adopted son of God, what is my relationship to the law? Well, with adoption, I mean, it would be the same as it is with just as a believer. I mean, basically, I mean, in a nutshell, for an unbeliever, The law is a tutor. It's to lead us to Christ. It's to show you not a standard by which you can be made commendable unto God, so therefore keep the law, and if you do it well enough, God will be pleased with you and you'll be acceptable to God. but it is to show you you can never keep this standard, so therefore it is to render you to be crushed under the law, to be totally condemned under, so therefore now we have to seek a righteousness that is not of our own because we can't generate this righteousness from our own living according to the law, and so therefore we go to Christ. So that's for an unbeliever. Now for a believer, for someone who has come to know Christ, and again this is a believer and again adoption is just again adoption speaks to that because adoption is one of the blessings for someone who has this relationship to the law but then again I mean it's all these other blessings come in at justification and all of this you know affects this new status but the law now for us is basically it is the standard of righteous living it is the standard by which we are to to live our lives unto the Lord for sanctification, but if you look in 1st Timothy chapter 1, Paul makes it very clear that, and again this was a problem in Ephesus, in Ephesus you had legalists who were there and who are pointing people back to just bare law-keeping. I mean, again, this is what I was saying earlier, what Sproul says, everything is about distinction. So for us to say, well, the gospel life, our relationship to the law is just, you keep the law now as a Christian, and you're keeping the law Bumps up your own sanctification. Well, that's not right either because basically it's for us not to just look at our own law keeping and in producing our sanctification But again, it goes back to the gospel, because as we look at the law being our standard for morality, our standard for sanctification, what is it that helps us to keep the law? What is it that provides what we need to keep the law? It is the gospel. It is the spirit working within us that has us to do that. So again, it's not just a bare, OK, well, the law is just simply for us to keep it. Again, we're looking to the spirit to enable us to keep that law. short answer for our relationship now to the law is it is our standard of Christian conduct and Christian obedience to Christ. It is how we can be made pleasing to our Father in sanctification. Anybody want to add? Jump on that one? I would just say that the believer can sing with David, I love your law. And the believer can say in their adoption in 8.1, we're not condemned by the law, but I think that there's a discussion of flesh and spirit, which you rightfully point out. But then in verse four, what does Paul say? He says that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the spirit. So there's a sense in which The law of God hasn't changed, it's just that we now are credited with the righteous law keeping of Christ and it's handed to us as a way, as you say, of walking by the Spirit, looking to it, repenting and living forward by the grace that we have in Christ. So one of the liberties and privileges of the sons of God is to keep the fourth commandment. Yes. That's because previously our conscience wasn't pricked about it, but once we're converted, we have this new status. We love the law, and we see all the privileges and benefits that accrue to us through what God has given us. Yes. I'm looking at the time, Ryan. Sure. I think there are a few more questions, but I think maybe we're over. So we'll bring it to a close. We didn't get a chance to get to your question. I'm sorry. But we'll bring it to a close. And let me just- Jeff will answer all of them in his blog, so check that out. Let me just, I'll turn it over to Ryan, maybe for a closing prayer or any other words, but let me just say on behalf of the speakers and the other guests to the people here at Grace Baptist Chapel, thank you so much for your hospitality, for the meal and the wonderful setting and sharing all the things you guys have shared with us. We really appreciate it. So we're thankful. And you guys want to add anything or hand it back over to Ryan? I just want to say the same thing. Thank you all so much. Ryan, thank you so much for hosting us, brother. I want to say a special thank you to what you call the hospitality team? Hospitality team, yeah. I know Reform Baptist don't do committees, right? But if you're out there and you're on that team, thank you so much. You guys did a wonderful job of just setting up everything. The food was great. And everyone else who helped out with the food in here, So thank you for opening up your church. Well, let's pray together as we close. Almighty God, our Father, we thank you that you have drawn us by your son through the Spirit and we thank you today that we can revel in the truth of being adopted as sons. We thank you that as believers we have been brought from the home of the world and of Satan into the home of the living God. We pray that you would bless our hearts and souls, strengthen and increase our faith through what we've heard today. We pray that you would bless our respective Lord's Days tomorrow, that as we rest on the new day of new creation, that we might find rest all over this state of Virginia and that that rest is in you and in the work of your son. So we just pray that you give us traveling mercies home. We pray that you prepare our souls for tomorrow and Lord we thank you and should you be pleased to bring us back together next year as we Lord willing look at another chapter. We just ask your blessing upon our churches until you come in Jesus name. Amen. Amen.