#102 What it means to be a son of God

From Meditations on the Epistles of John, by Samuel Froehlich

I John 3:2 ff.

It would be hard for me to leave the word, "Now are we the sons of God," without it having become clear to all of us what it means to be a son of God, so that no one should be deceived about it, for if our sonship is a fact, the inheritance follows of itself, even though we now do not yet understand what it will be. As children of God we must be as Jesus was and since we did not see Him in the flesh, we must learn to know Him by the Word and in the Spirit, so as to pattern ourselves after Him, and we shall choose no other man for our model than He Who has come into the world and died on the cross for this, that He might separate us anew from the sin that has come upon us through Adam. For if he who has sinned has not seen or known Jesus, then only he who does not sin knows Him because it is not Christ but the devil who sins. But if Christ is in us, the devil no longer is, and we would not have to serve him.

The apostles (Peter, Paul and others) by nature were not better and stronger than we are, but after they had put on Christ, they became strong in Him and so conformable to Him that they again, as visible images of Christ, could be an example in the imitation of Him for others, and if one could be an example then all can be, because it is not our strength and endeavor but the grace and gift of God in Christ (Ephesians 2).