Why We’re Not All Children of God

Did you know that Christians don’t believe that we’re all children of God? This may be shocking, as a significant number of people just assume that we’re all children of God. But, not so! Not us Christians.

While that may seem harsh, we don’t reject the idea because we’re trying to be mean…but because the Bible actually teaches this! God Himself has told us—in no uncertain terms—none of us are inherently children of God.

In this video, I’m going to explain where the Bible teaches this, how Scripture says we can “become children of God,” and why this profound difference between Mormons and Christians matters so much.

Don’t Some Verses Say We’re All Children?

Latter-day Saints often quote two verses in support of us all being God’s literal children. But before I look at those verses, I want you to first consider these statements in the New Testament:

1. The Apostle Paul calls a false prophet a “…son of the devil” (Acts 13:10)
2. The book of 1 John tells us that our works make it “evident who are the children of God, and who are the children of the devil” (1 John 3:10).
3. Jesus even says something similar to the religious leaders of His day. He proclaimed, “Why do you not understand what I say? It is because you cannot bear to hear my word. You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father’s will” (John 8:43-44)

The Bible uses shocking language like this; language that says that the devil is the father of some people!

I bring these verses up because they should help us understand that the language of “fathering” and “sonship” in the Bible doesn’t necessarily refer to a literal begetting as spirit children.

Jesus wasn’t trying to indicate that the Pharisees were the literal begotten spirit children of the devil when he said they were “of their father, the devil.”

With that in mind, let’s look at 2 of the verses from the Bible that Latter-day Saints use to argue that we’re all children of God. First, Hebrews 12

“Besides this, we have had earthly fathers who disciplined us and we respected them. Shall we not much more be subject to the Father of spirits and live?” (Hebrews 12:9)

Hebrews 12 compares the discipline of our earthly Fathers to the discipline of our “Heavenly Father.” He’s speaks to Christians in recognition that God is the creator of our spirits. Kind of like how Steve Jobs “fathered” the iPhone; God “fathered” our spirits.

The second verse is in Acts 17:

“…as even some of your own poets have said, ‘For we are indeed his offspring.’ Being then God’s offspring, we ought not to think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and imagination of man.” (Acts 17:28-29)

In this test, Paul quotes a pagan poet…he’s using the language of that poet to prove his point, that idolatry is absurd—even within their pagan framework!

Now, there is a sense in which we are the “offspring” of God; we are in His image, we are His creation—but note that this quote from a non-Christian poet is the only time we find the language of being God’s offspring in the entire New Testament. He’s using the term “offspring” because it’s language the Athenians were familiar with that could best make his point!

We can become Children of God

Now, in and of itself, those reasons wouldn’t be enough to prove that we’re not all the literal children of God…but let’s now examine this point: the Bible teaches that Christians become children of God. Consider these super-clear verses in the book of John:

“…But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.” (John 1:12-13)

Notice the word “become” in this verse. You can’t become something that you already are! I can’t become human—I’m already human! I can’t become a son of my dad; I’m already His son! So when John says that by faith, we may “become” children of God—He means to say that we’re not inherently children of God!

Instead, followers of God are those who have adopted by Him. Galatians 4:4-5 says

“…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.”(Galatians 4:4-5).

Ephesians 1:5 says, “In love, (God) predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will.” If I’m an adopted son of God, then I wasn’t born as God’s spirit child! And how can we be adopted to become a child of God? Galatians 3 says

“For in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God through faith.” (Galatians 3:26). 

It is “through faith” that we are sons of God, not “through spiritual begetting in the premortal life.”

Romans 8, often quoted by Latter-day Saints about this issue, also proves this same point:

“For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ…” (Romans 8:14-17)

If we are to be “co-heirs with Christ,” it must be because we’ve been adopted as Sons, and thus we receive an inheritance…the inheritance that Christ receives in His humanity—an inheritance of physically glorified bodies, a future perfected earth, and eternal life. 

Why does this matter?

So what? Why is this important? Well, in part, because our being children of God is foundational for the Mormon doctrine of exaltation.

If we’re not begotten as children of God, but instead are adopted—that removes the grounds for exaltation! How can we become just like God if we’re not His species? If God hasn’t physically begotten us in a preexistence, then Scripture’s teaching on the uniqueness of God makes sense! There really is no one like God—including us!

So many Mormons have used the example of human children to illustrate exaltation; don’t I want my children to be just like me? Well, of course…but my son is the same species as me! We’re not expecting my adopted guinea pig to become like me!

Adoption is also important because the Mormon doctrine of being “children of God” affects how people see eternal judgment in hell.

Lots of people think: how could God be so cruel to His children as to punish them for eternity? If God is our Father, then surely has an “obligation” towards us! But if God is not the Father of all mankind, He has no such obligation. In other words, not one of God’s children will be judged for eternity in Hell…but not all of mankind are children of God.

I leave you then with the words of the Holy Spirit found from John 1:12 –

“But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.”