Yes, we are all God’s children.
29 Being then the children of God [As we are the offspring of God KJV], we ought not to think that the Divine Nature is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and thought of man.
Acts 17:29 NASBu
No, only certain people are God’s children.
26 For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus.
Galatians 3:26 NASBu
5 He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will,
Ephesians 1:5 NASBu
Everyone else is a child of the devil and/or a child of wrath.
8 That is, it is not the children of the flesh who are children of God, but the children of the promise are regarded as descendants.
Romans 9:8 NASBu
10 By this the children of God and the children of the devil are obvious: anyone who does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor the one who does not love his brother.
1 John 3:10 NASBu
SAB Contradiction 200
The problem
What does the Bible say about the question: Who is a child of God? Are all people children of God? Are just some people children of God? If so, what makes some people children of God – and not others? Moreover if Christians are children of God, aren’t they discriminating against all the other people? Is it a blessing to be a “son of God” (as a Christian) and to constantly feel better than those who are not? Mmmmm, this doesn’t sound proper. Does it?
Yes, we are all God’s children.
(Deuteronomy 14:1, Psalms 82:6, Hosea 1:10, Matthew 5:48, 6:9, John 20:17, Acts 17:29)
Concerning the referred texts we may say generally: Yes, we are all God’s children and able to speak to him saying “Our Father”. Paul said to nonbelieving hearers: “We are the offspring of God!” (KJV Acts 17:29). Compare also Luke 3:38 “the son of Enosh, the son of Seth, the son of Adam, the son of God.”
The references of Deuteronomy 14:1, Hosea 1:10, Matthew 5:48, 6:9, John 20:17 under this heading are wrong as can be seen without discussion. They are to be classified as “found children”. (see further)
Psalm 82:6 is not to be taken for human beings, but for spiritual ones.
Lost and found children
Yet, through the Fall of Man, people cannot experience their true descent. They experience that they are separated from God through sin. Not being in contact with God, many feel lost – as lost children of God – and they can’t gladly say “I am a child of God”. The Bible teaches the possibility of a restored relationship with God, resulting in the experience of a true childhood of God, or as “found children”.
– Galatians 3:26 “For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus.” (the same John 1:12)
– Ephesians 1:5 “He predestined [better: selected] us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will, …” A matter of debate is the so-called personal predestination before the foundation of the world, a strong Calvinistic doctrine, which is not relevant here. (See the discussion of Sab Contradiction 179).
– Romans 8:14 “For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.”
– Romans 9:8 “That is, it is not the children of the flesh who are children of God, but the children of the promise are regarded as descendants.”
Unbelievers?
The critic states: Everyone else is a child of the devil and/or a child of wrath. (Galatians 3:26, Ephesians 1:5, 2:3 John 1:12, Romans 9:8, 8:14, 1 John 3:8-10, John 8:41-44, Acts 13:8-10)
This is very wrong. The critic makes severe mistakes and has gotten himself into a hopeless mess. Unfortunately not a few Christians seem to have the same terrible opinion and are swimming in the same mess. This is a shame and they should know better!
Compassion and the Children of wrath
“3 Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest.” (Ephesians 2:3 NASBu)
All people are destined as sons and daughters of God, but being in the Fall of Man they have become “children of the Fall”, which is the same as “children of wrath”. Observing the world we see God’s great works, but we also see pain and misfortune among all creatures. Human Beings, considering themselves, see that they belong to one big family of mankind. Being of God’s offspring we feel that we are lost children, in a state of wrath (pain and misfortune).
The expression “Children of wrath” has the connotation of compassion and doesn’t stand at all for “Children of the devil”. This expression has a totally different meaning.
Children of the devil, murder and killing
The term “Children of the devil” is restricted to those people (one distinguishing mark) who want to finish a difference of opinion in religious matters with killing and murder (dangerous extremists). In John 8:41-44 is the accusation “your father is the devil,” this was not said by Jesus to the entire Jewish people, but to those Jews who tried to stone Him at that very moment (8:59). In 1 John 3:10 “By this the children of God and the children of the devil are obvious: anyone who does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor the one who does not love his brother.” This is explained immediately in verse 12 "not as Cain, who was of the evil one and slew his brother." When Paul called Elymas a son of the devil (Acts 13:10), he could do so as he was filled by the Holy Spirit who revealed him the final intention of Elymas (maybe as also Paul himself had lived so earlier).
We don’t have here a binary classification of mankind "children of God" (believers) and "children of the devil" (unbelievers)!
No Bible Contradiction
The problem has been incorrectly defined by the critic to speak about either children of God or children of the devil. What is the biblical wording? Yes, we are all God’s children as we are of God’s offspring. There are found and lost children of God. God’s heart goes out compassionately to those who are lost. There is no contradiction in the Bible concerning the use of these expressions.
Additional Note
The anti-Semitic suggestion of the critic concerning John 8:41-44 should be rejected. “Then said they [the Jews] to him … Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do.” It is not appropriate to suggest that Jesus accused “the Jews” of being “children of the devil”. This is dangerous nonsense as history has shown. He himself was a Jew, his followers were Jews, Judeans, and Galileans. The phrase: “They answered him …” (John 8:33) should instead be properly translated “One answered him …” (from verse 33 and eventually onwards in this and other paragraphs: “one” for “they”).
No Bible Contradiction