We Are All Adopted As Sons

Trista and I have four children. Rory, our firstborn, is a biological son. Brennan, our second born, is an adopted son. Telsa, third, is an adopted daughter. Daisy, our youngest, is a biological daughter. When Trista and I wrote our will, it stated that, upon our death, all our worldly assets would be divided equally among our children. This was years before we started a family, so we didn’t know how many kids we’d have or how they’d come to us. It didn’t matter. Regardless of gender, birth order, or adoptive status, all of our children would be equal heirs. 

This is also how God considers each of his children — equal heirs in a divine inheritance. Although equality is commonplace now, this concept was revolutionary in Bible times. 

ADOPTION IN THE ROMAN EMPIRE

Throughout many ancient cultures, inheritance varied widely between sons and daughters. This was certainly the case for citizens of the Roman Empire. The majority of a father’s estate was passed on to his sons, especially the oldest. Daughters would receive a dowry upon marriage, but when it came to inheritance upon their father’s death, they typically received nothing.

In an age when many families had difficulty caring for their children, fostering was a common way of bringing non-biological children into a household. They could be orphans, poor relatives, or apprentices. Wherever they came from, those taken in without formal adoption were called alumni, derived from the Latin word for “nourish”. The differentiation between alumni and slaves was not always clear, but foster children would be cared for, educated/trained, and often given funds or property upon reaching adulthood. Alumni often progressed to become trusted members of the family. However, the legal status of foster children didn’t change — they weren’t entitled to anything beyond the kindness of those who took them in. Adoption, however, meant a great deal more. 

For childless families, adoption (from the Latin adoptio) was the means of transferring paternal wealth and power within patriarchal Roman society. It wasn’t just about expanding the size of one’s family, adoption involved succession of the family name. Thus, it was primarily a male practice. Property-owning male citizens (paterfamilias) with no legal heir could adopt an adult male to carry on their family name, property, and religious practices. Although women had some role in lineage and inheritance, they weren’t legally involved. Adopting a son did not make paterfamilias' wife a mother. Nor was marriage required — adult bachelors or eunuchs could adopt to carry their name and inherit their estate. 

The origin of adopted sons varied widely, but staying within the broader family (grandson, nephew, younger cousin) was common. A man with no sons may even adopt his daughter’s husband to formalize his lineage. However, in order to legally adopt a son-in-law, the father had to emancipate (disown) his daughter to avoid an incestuous brother-sister relationship, even if they didn’t share the same bloodline. Adopting a stepson from a wife’s previous marriage was another option. In other cases, adoptees weren’t relatives at all. A paterfamilias could adopt a male friend, or a friend’s son, but usually along similar social ranks. Fostering was preferable for poor children. On some occasions, a beloved slave could be adopted by his childless master, which would be a huge move in social standing and wealth. 

A servant who deals wisely will rule over a son who acts shamefully and will share the inheritance as one of the brothers. (Pr 17:2)

The first Roman emperor, Augustus, was adopted by his great uncle, Julius Caesar. Upon his death, Augustus inherited his uncle’s wealth, property, and title of Caesar. Without a male heir of his own, Augustus adopted his daughter’s three sons, and then his nephew, Tiberius, who eventually succeeded him as emperor.

Adoption in the Roman Empire during the first century influenced the writers of the New Testament, who related . 

ADOPTION BY GOD

In his letter to the church in Galatia, the apostle Paul talked extensively about sonship in Christ. Specifically, he described that, although we were all in rebellion to God, he has called us into his family and adopted us as sons. 

When the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. (Gal 4:4-5, ESV)

The Greek word for son here is hulos, which occurs many times in Paul’s letter. The final word at the end of this passage is huiothesia, meaning “adoption as sons”. Some modern Bible translations (like NLT) render this term as “adoption as children”, but its full meaning is lost with gender-neutral terms. 

The cultural and legal context of male-centric adoption in ancient Rome is key to understanding Paul’s teaching about inheritance as sons. 

Because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God. (Gal 4:6-7, ESV)

Let’s be clear here: Paul is speaking about all believers in this passage, not just men. Whether male or female, legally, we are all “sons” of God, in the legal adoptive sense. Now, women in God’s family don’t forfeit their gender, nor must they set aside their femininity, but their womanhood doesn’t exclude them from sharing in an equal inheritance with their spiritual brothers. 

In the first century, such teaching was revolutionary. Daughters and sons in God’s family were treated equally. It further explains what Paul said in the prior chapter:

You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise. (Gal 3:26-29, NKJV)

In God’s kingdom, all social discriminators have been abolished. Daughters are legally considered sons, entitled to equal inheritance. Gentiles are treated as native-born Jews, fully accepted into God’s nation of priests. Slaves are free in Christ, despite their earthly bondage. All members of God’s family are equal. 

SUMMARY

Four children. Two boys, two girls. Two biological, two adopted. Brennan and Telsa (adopted) are equal to Rory and Daisy (biological) as heirs to our estate. Similarly, the daughters will receive just as much as our sons. Birth order doesn’t change their inheritance either — Daisy, our lastborn daughter, will receive just the same as our firstborn son. 

God has no favorites. We are  all poor spiritual orphans, but Jesus, God’s firstborn, paved the way for all of us to be adopted into his family of believers. Contrary to the culture of the Roman Empire in the first century, daughters of the Most High have been adopted as sons. Regardless of race, gender, or adoptive status, or birth order, all believers are “heirs according to the promise” with Jesus under God’s covenant of faith and salvation. 

Amen.

© D. B. Ryen Incorporated, October 2025.

All Scripture quotations are from The English Standard Bible (ESV), Crossway, 2001.