Opinion

God promises that he will give divine sonship to everyone that has accepted Christ as Lord and savior. “Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not. Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is” (I John 3:1-2). The word “sons” is not the Greek word huios (sons), but the Greek word teknon, meaning “born children.” This gift is a permanent possession given all that trust Christ. God in all his wisdom, grace, and power has placed his love upon the saints in the sense that they have become the permanent object of his love. Smith says: “The purpose of this amazing gift; a wise, holy love, concerned for our highest good, not simply that we may be saved from suffering and loss, but in order that we may be styled children of God. And we have not only the name but the character: so we are.” The translation of this verse expands the meaning and explains this great mystery. “All of you, behold what foreign kind of love the Father has permanently bestowed upon us, to the end that we may be named born-ones of God. And we are. On this account the world does not have an experiential knowledge of us, because it has not come into an experiential knowledge of Him.”