Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God—
The word “right” in (NIV) is “power” (KJV) and is translated from the Greek exousia (not dunamis which is physical power and from which we get the word “dynamite”) which means power of choice, of authority, of rule, or physical or mental power. It is a delegated power. Not everyone rejected the Light when He came into the world. Those who didn’t were given a gift, the power to choose to become God’s children.
The “sons of God” are referred to in several Old Testament passages, but it is unclear as to who they were. (Gen 6:2, 6:4, Job 1:6, 2:1, 38:7)
Genesis 6:2 the sons of God saw that the daughters of men were beautiful, and they married any of them they chose.
Genesis 6:4 The Nephilim were on the earth in those days—and also afterwards—when the sons of God went to the daughters of men and had children by them. They were the heroes of old, men of renown.
Job 1:6 One day the angels came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan also came with them.
Job 2:1 On another day the angels came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan also came with them to present himself before him.
Job 38:7 while the morning stars sang together and all the angels shouted for joy?
Although what exactly the sons of God are going to be like has not yet been shown, there are several attributes of them which we can see in the New Testament. (Rom 8:19)
Romans 8:19 The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed.
Attributes of sons of God
- Led by the Spirit of God (Rom 8:14)
- Blameless (Phili 2:15)
- Pure (Phili 2:15)
- Completely different from the world (Phili 2:15)
- A result of God’s love (1 Jo 3:1)
- Unknown by the world (1 Jo 3:1)
- Inner knowledge of child status (Rom 8:16)
- Liberated (Rom 8:21)
- Doers of righteousness (1 Jo 3:10)
- Lovers of their brothers (1 Jo 3:10)
Romans 8:14 because those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.
Philippians 2:15 so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe
1 John 3:1 How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him.
Romans 8:16 The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children.
Romans 8:21 that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God.
1 John 3:10 This is how we know who the children of God are and who the children of the devil are: Anyone who does not do what is right is not a child of God; nor is anyone who does not love his brother.
To qualify as one who receives Him and is thus given the power to become a child of God, one must “believe in His name.” Biblically, a name describes who and what a person or thing is. For example, Jesus was given His name because of its meaning of “Yahweh saves” (Matt 1:21). Sometimes names had to be changed because the person had changed. An example is Jacob (“deceiver”) (Gen 27:36) who later in life had his name changed by God to Israel “God prevails” (Ge 32:28) after his wrestling match with the angel of the LORD. See also Psalm 20:7 and many other passages where our trust is obviously not in the fact that God is called Yahweh; it is in God Himself because of Who He is.
Matthew 1:21 She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.”
Genesis 27:36 Esau said, “Isn’t he rightly named Jacob? He has deceived me these two times: He took my birthright, and now he’s taken my blessing!” Then he asked, “Haven’t you reserved any blessing for me?”
Genesis 32:28 Then the man said, “Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel, because you have struggled with God and with men and have overcome.”
Psalms 20:7 Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the LORD our God.
The presence of the preposition “in” is also very important. We are not just to believe Him, which would be to believe everything He says is true. Even the demons do that (James 2:19). They know He is speaking the truth. We are to believe “in,” “on,” or “upon” Him (His Name) which means to trust Him as a person.
James 2:19 You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder.
An example would be a chair. I believe that the chair will hold my weight, but until I actually sit in it, that belief is only head knowledge. It is only when I place my weight in it that I am truly placing trust “in” its ability to hold me. Is Christ holding you up? Are you trusting Him as your Lord and Savior?