What is the Christian understanding of adoption? The WSC defines adoption as an act of God’s free grace, whereby we are received into the number and have a right to all the privileges of the sons of God.” Where do we find adoption in the Bible? The concept of adoption is found throughout the Old Testament but not made clear until we come to the New Testament. In the New Testament, primarily through the writings of the Apostle Paul, we are introduced to adoption as the explanation of how God saved us and how we became part of His family. This week on the Straight Truth Podcast, Dr. Richard Caldwell sits with Dr. Josh Philpot to candidly discuss how his family came to be through physical adoption and how physical adoption is a wonderful and beautiful picture of God choosing us and bringing us into His family through adoption. Dr. Philpot shares that after marrying, he and his wife Jennifer were planning to have children a couple of years down the road into the marriage. Around the same time they were discussing their family planning, they heard sermons from Ephesians 1 on adoption. Ephesians 1 teaches that God chose us before the foundation of the world and how, in His love, He predestined us for adoption as sons to the Father through Jesus Christ. Dr. Philpot shares that he had never thought of adoption in those terms as being God’s idea, God’s plan. Those sermons really impacted him and his wife so much that it occurred to them that they ought to consider adoption at the same time they were considering biological children. What ended up taking place, however, in God’s providence, was the opening of one door and the closing of the other. Dr. Philpot shares how they had the privilege and the blessing to adopt four children and bring them into their family. Dr. Philpot goes on to discuss the ins and outs of physical adoption. He shares with us about initial pain and sadness, the difficulties that can come, and the costliness and financial challenges associated with adoption. But, more importantly, Dr. Philpot shares the joys and delights associated with the realness of their family. Additionally, he shares some cautions about adoption, saying that maybe not everyone is called to adopt. Yet, even if we are not, there are other ways we can support it. He tells us it’s truly amazing to consider how physical adoption today mirrors the gospel. He believes it helps to give a fuller understanding of what God has really done in saving us. He encourages us to consider what God has done in calling us out of darkness and into light and into His family. The benefits and the privileges are far greater than we will ever understand or realize in this lifetime. But physical adoption gives us a visible and real picture of that truth.