Why Abortive Parents and Some Professing Christians Hate Adoption

Saturday, I met Julian outside the Riverside Planned Parenthood. You can watch our conversation, here. During our conversation, he made some statements in response to my suggestion of placing his baby in the arms of adoptive parents. What Julian said was so honest and so telling that it revealed what I believe is a primary reason why so many abortive parents reject the idea of adoption for their unborn children. And I believe what Julian said also serves as a metaphor why some professing Christians hate the idea of adoption--not the adoption of children, but the idea of being adopted by God (See Romans 8:15-17; 23-25; Galatians 4:4-6; Ephesians 1:3-6).

When I made the suggestion of putting his baby up for adoption, Julian said no. He said that if he and his girlfriend allowed the baby to be born, then they would be unable to give the baby up for adoption. Julian seemed stunned into silence when I told him that his pride was behind the murder of his baby. I told him that he was so proud that he would murder his baby before he would allow anyone else to raise him or her.

Julian hated the idea of adoption because it would expose what he couldn't admit to himself. He loved himself too much to allow his baby to live, which drove him to commit murder for convenience's sake. At the same time, he was too proud to admit his moral failures and his inability to raise a second child, so he murdered his child instead of allowing someone else to adopt his child. Such is the wicked, depraved, self-loving heart of human beings.

Some professing Christians loathe the idea of God adopting His children--a doctrine that shines from the pages of the Word of God like the noonday sun. They loathe this beautiful, grace-filled doctrine because it shines light on the darkness of their prideful hearts. The Doctrine of Adoption makes clear that salvation is the monergistic work of God and not a synergistic, cooperative effort between God and man. Because of the Doctrine of Adoption, the professing Christian cannot take any credit for his salvation. Neither his perceived goodness or an act of his will, had anything to do with his salvation.

Like Julian who was unable to raise his second child, and too much in love with himself and proud to even try or to fathom the idea of someone else accomplishing what he couldn't, the Christian is unable to save himself and is too much in love with himself to give God all the glory for his salvation. Similarly, the professing Christian who despises the Doctrine of Adoption simply cannot fathom God working alone to do what he cannot either do for himself or help God do for him--namely, arrange, cause, and secure his salvation.

This is why the oft-used, unbiblical "life preserver" analogy should never be used when describing, to believer and unbeliever alike, the way of salvation. The analogy goes like this. An unbeliever has fallen off a ship and is treading water in the ocean. Someone sees him struggling and on the verge of drowning (God) and throws him a life preserver (Jesus). The man who wants to be saved grabs the life preserver and is hauled to safety, back on the boat. The man who rejects Jesus is like the man drowning in the ocean who never reaches for the life preserver.

The problem with the analogy: the man in the water is already dead (Ephesians 2:1-3). A dead man is utterly incapable of reaching for the life preserver. In order for the man to be saved, Jesus must jump from the boat into the ocean (Ephesians 2:5-11), drag the dead man to safety (Romans 3:21-26; Colossians 2:8:15), and then bring him back to life (1 Peter 1:3). The dead man cannot cooperate in Jesus' effort to save him. He can neither reject nor thwart Jesus' effort to save him, just as a clinically dead person cannot do anything to assist or reject someone performing CPR.

Julian hated the thought of giving his unborn son up for adoption because of his pride and his love of self. Some professing Christians hate the Doctrine of Adoption for the same reason. Until he humbles himself (James 4:6), repents and believes the gospel (Mark 1:15), Julian will remain lost in his sin and bound for hell (Luke 13:1-5). The professing Christians who hates the monergistic Doctrine of Adoption may be in the same boat, or rather a lifeless body bobbing face down on the surface of the ocean. At the very least, the professing Christian who despises such a beautiful and glorious doctrine should examine himself to see if he is really in the faith (2 Corinthians 13:5).