According to the New Testament we are “sons of God.” Does this make us equal to God?
Listen: 96 Question 4
We have the words of the Lord in Isaiah 45:6 where He says, “That they may know from the rising of the sun, and from the west, that there is none beside me. I am the LORD, and there is none else.” The Lord tells us that there is no one beside Him. No one is the Lord’s equal in nature, power, or divinity. We have not, nor will we ever attain a level that will make us equal to God.
Let’s read Galatians 4:4-7 which says, “But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons. And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father. Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.” We are not naturally the children of God, but it is through the act of adoption that we become His children. This adoption is based on our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. We have this truth revealed to us in John 1:12, “But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name.” We have the truth of adoption brought out in Romans 8:14-16, “For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God.” We also read in Galatians 3:26, “For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus.”
As children of God, the Lord has given each one the Spirit of God. Ephesians 1:13-14 tells us, “In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise, Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.” So, as children of God, we have the Spirit of God as the earnest of our inheritance until the very day the Lord calls us Home…whether by death or rapture. So, we can see that upon belief in the Lord Jesus, we are made the children of God and are indwelt with the Spirit of God.
However, God alone is God. Although we are the sons, or children of God, we will never be gods. Only Christ Himself could claim to be the Son of God, and God the Son. He was, and is, equal with God in nature, power, and divinity. Reading of Christ, we see in Philippians 2:6 that He, “…being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God.” In other words, when Christ claimed equality with God, He was not taking anything that did not already belong to Him. Christ alone is equal with God because He is God. (96.4)