What does the term "sons of God" mean?

[tonychanyt]

The following is from Biblical Hermeneutics:

It seems that anyone who is termed the "son of God" is someone who is directly created by God. Thus Adam is the "son of God" because he was directly created by God (Luke 3:38). Likewise, Jesus is the "son of God" because he was begotten by his heavenly father. Satan, like other angels, was created by the direct hand of God (Ezek 28:13), and therefore he too is a "son of God" (Job 1:6). Satan addressed Jesus as the "son of God," and yet Satan still believed that by tempting Jesus, he might cause Jesus to sin, and thus (like Satan) become a fallen son. The reason that one is a "son of God" in the New Testament era is that when you are born again, you receive eternal life, which was something you had not had as a spiritually dead person. (We are all sons of Adam, and therefore we are born spiritually dead.) That is, when you believe, your new spiritual life is the direct creation of God, and therefore the believer is termed a "son of God" (Gal 3:26).

 

[Divide]

From what I can tell, all of the OT refrences to sons of God refer to those who were a direct creation by God, Angels and such. But in the NT in John 1:12 it says we will be given the power to become sons of God...so maybe maybe not? It's up to us.

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:.../KJV

 

[Soyeong]

The following is from Biblical Hermeneutics:

It seems that anyone who is termed the "son of God" is someone who is directly created by God. Thus Adam is the "son of God" because he was directly created by God (Luke 3:38). Likewise, Jesus is the "son of God" because he was begotten by his heavenly father. Satan, like other angels, was created by the direct hand of God (Ezek 28:13), and therefore he too is a "son of God" (Job 1:6). Satan addressed Jesus as the "son of God," and yet Satan still believed that by tempting Jesus, he might cause Jesus to sin, and thus (like Satan) become a fallen son. The reason that one is a "son of God" in the New Testament era is that when you are born again, you receive eternal life, which was something you had not had as a spiritually dead person. (We are all sons of Adam, and therefore we are born spiritually dead.) That is, when you believe, your new spiritual life is the direct creation of God, and therefore the believer is termed a "son of God" (Gal 3:26).

A chip off of the old block is someone who has the same nature as their father expressed through doing the same works, and this is the concept of sonship in the Bible, so it does not just refer to someone who is created by God, but to someone who is created by God in His image. This is the sense that Jesus is the Son of God insofar as he is the exact image of God's nature (Hebrews 1:3), which he expressed through setting a sinless example of how to walk in obedience to God's law, so that is also the sense when we are sons of God when we are partaking in the divine nature through following his example. God's nature is the fruit of the Spirit and God's law is His instructions for how to express His n nature, which is why those who are born again of the Spirit are contrasted with those who have minds set on the flesh who refuse to submit to God's law (Romans 8:4-14), and why those who do not practice righteousness in obedience to God's law are not sons of God (1 John 3:4-10).

In John 8:39, Jesus said that if they were sons of Abraham, then they would be doing the same works as him, so the way that the sons of Abraham are multiplied in accordance with the promise is by teaching people to do the same works as him in accordance with spreading the Gospel that was made known in advance to him in accordance with the promise (Galatians 3:8). God's law is also the way that the sons of Abraham knew how to be blessed (Psalms 119:1-3), so teaching the nations to do the same works as Abraham in obedience to God's law in accordance with spreading the Gospel is the way to inherit the promise through faith. In Galatians 3:26-29, it connects those who are sons of God through faith in Christ with those who are sons of Abraham, an heirs to the promise.

 

[Jonathan_Gale]

The following is from Biblical Hermeneutics:

It seems that anyone who is termed the "son of God" is someone who is directly created by God. Thus Adam is the "son of God" because he was directly created by God (Luke 3:38). Likewise, Jesus is the "son of God" because he was begotten by his heavenly father. Satan, like other angels, was created by the direct hand of God (Ezek 28:13), and therefore he too is a "son of God" (Job 1:6). Satan addressed Jesus as the "son of God," and yet Satan still believed that by tempting Jesus, he might cause Jesus to sin, and thus (like Satan) become a fallen son. The reason that one is a "son of God" in the New Testament era is that when you are born again, you receive eternal life, which was something you had not had as a spiritually dead person. (We are all sons of Adam, and therefore we are born spiritually dead.) That is, when you believe, your new spiritual life is the direct creation of God, and therefore the believer is termed a "son of God" (Gal 3:26).

The definition of this phrase depends on the context, in the OT, particularly Gen. 6:4, Job 1:6, Ps. 82:6, it's referring to devils along with oppressive authorities possessed by these devils, hence the judgement upon them in Ps. 82. We need to be careful, try to avoid any one-size-fits-all definition, 'cause it doesn't fit all.