One might think these are one and the same, but they aren’t.
A “child of God” refers to the New Testament description of a Christian, a
person who has received new life and adoption into God’s family through
salvation. The “people of God” refers to the Old Testament Israelites. Being
called a child of God is open to all who believe, regardless of race, status,
age, gender, etc. Only the Israelites could be called “the people of God”. What
is the difference in how these two groups act?
John 1:12-13 New American
Standard Bible (NASB)
But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to
become children of God, even to those who believe in His name,
who were born, not of blood
nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.
The phrase “child of God” is only used in the New Testament
and refers to one who acts like God. It is a person who exhibits
Christ-likeness, a person who has given up the ways and pursuits of the
world in exchange for the ways and pursuits of God.
Romans 8:16-17 New American
Standard Bible (NASB)
The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are
children of God, and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ,
if indeed we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified
with Him.
It is not our ancestry which identifies us as children of
God, but our spirit. It is what we believe, resulting in certain actions, not
our skin color, which proves our heritage.
Ephesians 5:1-5 New American
Standard Bible (NASB)
Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children;
and walk in love, just as
Christ also loved you and gave Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice
to God as a fragrant aroma. But immorality or any impurity or greed must not even be
named among you, as is proper among saints; and there
must be no filthiness and silly talk, or coarse jesting, which are not
fitting, but rather giving of thanks. For this you know
with certainty, that no immoral or impure person or covetous man, who is an
idolater, has an inheritance in the kingdom
of Christ
Our actions do not buy our inheritance, they prove who we belong to.
Philippians 2:14-16 New American
Standard Bible (NASB)
Do all things without grumbling or disputing;
so that you will prove
yourselves to be blameless and innocent, children of God above reproach in the
midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you appear as lights in
the world, holding
fast the word of life, so that in the day of Christ I will have reason to glory
because I did not run in vain nor toil in vain.
A child of God seeks and
strives for godliness and righteous living, not from duty but out of love for
God. We should be so impacted and motivated by our love for our Father that we
do everything we can to please and glorify Him by being like Him, confident in
His love so that when we do sin, we turn to Him in true repentance.
The people of God, as a
whole, were generally not like this. As seen throughout the Old Testament, they
were wayward, unfaithful and ungodly. They worshiped God in word but not in
deed. They claimed to serve the true God, but in secret served and worshiped
other gods. They were idolatrous and sinful. These actions can be seen in
Exodus, Judges, and the books of Samuel, Kings and Chronicles. God told them in
Deuteronomy:
Deuteronomy 11:13-17 New American
Standard Bible (NASB)
It shall come about, if you listen obediently to my
commandments which I am commanding you today, to love the Lord your God and to serve Him
with all your heart and all your soul, that He will give the rain for
your land in its season, the early and late rain, that you may gather in your
grain and your new wine and your oil. He will give grass in your fields for your cattle, and you
will eat and be satisfied. Beware that your hearts are not deceived, and that you do
not turn away and serve other gods and worship them. Or the anger of the Lord will be kindled against
you, and He will shut up the heavens so that there will be no rain and the
ground will not yield its fruit; and you will perish quickly from the good land
which the Lord is giving you.
God gave them full warning
after their rebellion in the wilderness. He told them what would happen and let
them make their own choice of who they would follow. And the cycle was seen
repeatedly: they would turn away from God, they would be oppressed, they would
cry out to God, He would rescue them and times would be good for a while. Then
it would repeat. It continued for centuries until they became so wicked that
God could no longer bear their sin and idolatry. And as foretold in the books
of the prophets, they were exiled, final punishment for their lack of
repentance.
It is easy to judge the
Israelites and say “I would never do that.” But how often do we? We don’t serve
idols made of metal or wood, but we serve idols of self, money, status, gratification.
We don’t sacrifice our children to false gods in fire, but we sacrifice our
children for the sake of our own schedule or comfort. We don’t turn to other
countries for help, but we turn to ourselves. Just as the Old Testament people
of God were physical descendants, and the New Testament children of God are
spiritual descendants, so the literal/physical idolatry of the Old Testament is
mirrored in the spiritual idolatry of the New, and the physical punishment in
the Old Testament is mirrored in the spiritual punishment in the New.
Deuteronomy 28:47-48 New American
Standard Bible (NASB)
Because you did not serve the Lord your God with joy and a
glad heart, for the abundance of all things; therefore you shall serve your
enemies whom the Lord will send against you, in
hunger, in thirst, in nakedness, and in the lack of all things; and He will put
an iron yoke on your neck until He has destroyed you.
It is not just that the
Israelites didn’t obey God, but they didn’t enjoy serving Him. They found no
pleasure in it. It was ritual and duty. The reason they didn’t stay faithful to
Him was because they didn’t love Him. It was all superficial action, nothing of
the heart.
That is the difference
between the people of God and a true child of God. It doesn’t matter how much
we go to church, how many good works we do, how much we tithe and donate. None
of it matters if our hearts are not in it, if we don’t do it out of love for
God. God wants all of us, especially our hearts, not just our empty actions.
Faith and works are dead without each other.
1 Chronicles 28:9 New American
Standard Bible (NASB)
As for you, my son Solomon, know the God of your father,
and serve Him with a whole heart and a willing mind; for the Lord searches all hearts, and
understands every intent of the thoughts. If you seek Him, He will let you find
Him; but if you forsake Him, He will reject you forever.
As David encouraged his son,
seek God with all your heart, with a willing mind and a serving body. Give Him
all of you out of love for what He has done for you. Be a true Child of God.
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