Study Guide: Every Believer Is God's Child
Quotations are from the World English Bible (WEB); please check each one in your own Bible.
The Big Idea
The big idea: John states who has been born of God in one sentence, and the test is faith, not class: “Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God.” (1 John 5:1). Scripture gives one birth, one adoption, and one anointing to all who believe; it does not divide believers into God's children and a second class who are not.
Read Aloud
Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God. Whoever loves the Father also loves the child who is born of him.
— 1 John 5:1
For you are all children of God, through faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. If you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring and heirs according to promise.
— Galatians 3:26–29
For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are children of God. For you didn’t receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption, by whom we cry, ‘Abba! Father!’ The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God; and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with him, that we may also be glorified with him.
— Romans 8:14–17
Where We Stand
Scripture says
- Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God (1 John 5:1).
- “Beloved, now we are children of God.” (1 John 3:2)
- As many as received him were given the right to become God's children, born not of the will of man but of God (John 1:12–13).
- You are all children of God, through faith in Christ Jesus (Galatians 3:26).
- There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free man, male nor female; you are all one in Christ Jesus (Galatians 3:28).
- If a son, then an heir of God through Christ (Galatians 4:7).
- As many as are led by the Spirit of God are children of God — heirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ (Romans 8:14, 17).
- Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ is not his (Romans 8:9).
- The anointing the believers received from him remains in them (1 John 2:27).
- The children of God and the children of the devil are the two families Scripture names (1 John 3:10).
- The 144,000 are sealed out of every tribe of the children of Israel, and a great multitude which no man could count stands before the throne (Revelation 7:4, 9).
- Jesus has other sheep who will hear his voice and become one flock with one shepherd; he died to gather into one the children of God who are scattered abroad (John 10:16; 11:52).
- The righteous shall inherit the land, and live in it forever (Psalm 37:29).
- The creation will be delivered into the liberty of the glory of the children of God (Romans 8:21).
We conclude
- Our conclusion: the new birth, the adoption, and the anointing belong to every believer as such; the test of the birth is believing that Jesus is the Christ (1 John 5:1; Galatians 3:26).
- Our conclusion: Revelation 7 describes two companies — a numbered company sealed from Israel's tribes and an unnumbered multitude from every nation — not two classes of believer with two sonships (Revelation 7:4, 9).
- Our conclusion: little flock names the flock's small beginning and other sheep its gathered nations; the flock becomes one, and its gathered ones are children of God (Luke 12:32; John 10:16; 11:52).
- Our conclusion: the earthly hope is the inheritance of God's children, not the portion of a lesser class; the meek inherit the earth, and the creation is set free into the children's liberty (Matthew 5:5; Romans 8:21).
The Hard Questions
- Doesn't being born again belong only to those who will see the Kingdom in heaven (John 3:3)? See The strongest objection under Everyone Who Believes Has Been Born of God.
- Aren't the sonship texts — born again, sons of God, joint heirs with Christ — written about the anointed class? See The strongest objection under You Are All Children of God Through Faith.
- Isn't the anointing a token of a heavenly inheritance, given to a few? See The strongest objection under The Anointing Is Given to All Who Are His.
- Doesn't Revelation 7 itself contrast two groups — a numbered 144,000 and a crowd no man could number? See The strongest objection under A Numbered Company, and a Multitude No Man Could Count.
- Aren't the 144,000 bought from among mankind as firstfruits for heaven (Revelation 14:1–4)? See A second objection under A Numbered Company, and a Multitude No Man Could Count.
- Didn't Jesus himself name two groups of his sheep — a little flock and other sheep (Luke 12:32; John 10:16)? See The strongest objection under One Flock, One Shepherd.
- Isn't even the least in the Kingdom greater than John the Baptizer (Matthew 11:11)? See A second objection under One Flock, One Shepherd.
- How is the two-class teaching stated by those who hold it? See The Teaching We Differ From.
- Does salvation depend on settling these questions? See Whether salvation depends on these questions under Questions Answered.
Discussion Questions
- What test does John give for having been born of God, and to whom is his letter written? (See Everyone Who Believes Has Been Born of God.)
- Why does Jesus' amazement at Nicodemus matter for the claim that the new birth belongs to a few? (See The strongest objection under Everyone Who Believes Has Been Born of God.)
- Which word in Galatians 3:26 does the class teaching have to remove, and why? (See You Are All Children of God Through Faith.)
- To whom does John say “You have an anointing” (1 John 2:20), and what does Paul say of anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ? (See The Anointing Is Given to All Who Are His.)
- What difference does Revelation 7 itself draw between its two companies — and what difference does it never draw? (See A Numbered Company, and a Multitude No Man Could Count.)
- What does it change for you that the scattered ones gathered into the one flock are called, by John himself, the children of God? (See One Flock, One Shepherd.)
Hope
The Father has not hidden what his children are. “See how great a love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God!” (1 John 3:1). If you believe that Jesus is the Christ, the apostle's sentence is about you: you have been born of God (1 John 5:1).
For the Leader
Allow about 40 minutes for one session. Read 1 John 5:1 first, then Galatians 3:26–29 and Romans 8:14–17. Invite everyone to open and check each verse in their own Bible.
© 2026 Elvis Lucas, Open the Text. Original: https://openthetext.com/series/test-the-teaching/05-every-believer-is-gods-child-study-guide/
Quoting and Sharing