Ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. –Romans 8:15 (KJV)

If you ever forget the Lord your God and follow other gods and worship and bow down to them, I testify against you today that you will surely be destroyed. Like the nations the Lord destroyed before you, so you will be destroyed for not obeying the Lord your God. –Deuteronomy 8:19-20

Fear him who, after your body has been killed, has authority to throw you into Hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him. –Jesus in Luke 12:5

Continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling. –Philippians 2:12

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. –Proverbs 9:10

The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons. Such teachings come through hypocritical liars, whose consciences have been seared as with a hot iron. –1 Timothy 4:1-2

We wait eagerly for our adoption to sonship. –Romans 8:23 (ADOPTION PROCESS).

Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you. –Exodus 20:12

Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to turn “‘a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law—a man’s enemies will be the members of his own household.’ “Anyone who loves their father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves their son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.” –Jesus in Matthew 10:34-37

Dear friends, although I was very eager to write to you about the salvation we share, I felt compelled to write and urge you to contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to God’s holy people. For certain individuals whose condemnation was written about long ago have secretly slipped in among you. They are ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into a license for immorality and deny Jesus Christ our only Sovereign and Lord…Woe to them! They have taken the way of Cain; they have rushed for profit into Balaam’s error; they have been destroyed in Korah’s rebellion. These people are blemishes at your love feasts, eating with you without the slightest qualm—shepherds who feed only themselves. They are clouds without rain, blown along by the wind; autumn trees, without fruit and uprooted—twice dead. They are wild waves of the sea, foaming up their shame; wandering stars, for whom blackest darkness has been reserved forever. Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied about them: “See, the Lord is coming with thousands upon thousands of his holy ones to judge everyone, and to convict all of them of all the ungodly acts they have committed in their ungodliness, and of all the defiant words ungodly sinners have spoken against him.” These people are grumblers and faultfinders; they follow their own evil desires; they boast about themselves and flatter others for their own advantage. –Jude 1:3-4, 11-16

Jacob heard that Laban’s sons were saying, “Jacob has taken everything our father owned and has gained all this wealth from what belonged to our father.” And Jacob noticed that Laban’s attitude toward him was not what it had been. Then the Lord said to Jacob, “Go back to the land of your fathers and to your relatives, and I will be with you.”   –Genesis 31:1-3

Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. Because of these, the wrath of God is coming. You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived. But now you must also rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips. Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator. –Colossians 3:1-10

Blessed is the one who does not walk in step with the wicked or stand in the way that sinners take or sit in the company of mockers. –Psalm 1:1

PREACHERS ARE CALLED “SERVANTS” OF THE LORD MANY TIMES

Lord, consider their threats and enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness. –Acts 4:29

Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle and set apart for the gospel of God. –Romans 1:1

Tychicus, the dear brother and faithful servant in the Lord. –Ephesians 6:21

Epaphras, our dear fellow servant, who is a faithful minister of Christ. –Colossians 1:7

James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ. –James 1:1

Simon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ. –2 Peter 1:1

Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ. –Jude 1:1

The revelation from Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show his servants what must soon take place. He made it known by sending his angel to his servant John. –Revelation 1:1

The word “servant” is used for preachers many times in the New Testament: see here.

Sonship presents a truncated view of the Holy Spirit’s work in sanctification.

The Sonship course helpfully emphasizes that the believer is totally forgiven and righteous in God’s sight. A growth in the knowledge of God is accompanied by a growth in the knowledge of sin. Being holier equals feeling less holy. Good. So the gospel of Jesus Christ – his blood and righteousness as our only hope – becomes increasingly precious to us. That is certainly one dynamic in the Christian life. However, this is where Sonship seems to stop. Where is the daily battle with remaining sin? What about mortification by the power of the Spirit? What of self-examination? Van Dixhoorn says, “It is as if Sonship had never heard of section three in the same chapter of the Confession. The Westminster Divines go on to say that in this ‘war, although the remaining corruption, for a time, may much prevail; yet through the continual supply of strength from the sanctifying Spirit of Christ, the regenerate part doth overcome; and so, the saints grow in grace, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.’ That is far from clear in Sonship’s teaching.” —The Movement Called “Sonship” (Banner of Truth, 2000)

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John Wesley, “The Spirit of Bondage and of Adoption.”

Thomas C. Oden, John Wesley’s Teachings, volume 2, p. 218.

Geoff Thomas, “The Movement Called ‘Sonship’” (Banner of Truth, 2000).

The Path of Truth, “False Teacher: Leif Hetland – Winning Souls with False Love.” (rf. Leif Hetland’s Healing the Orphan Spirit).

ChurchWatch Central, “Bethel Church Peddling New Breed Heresy (Part 1): Spirit of Sonship = Spirit of Adoption.”

I suspect that this “sonship” teaching might be linked up with the old Manifest Sons of God teaching (the little gods heresy) (Hank Hanegraaff’s Christianity in Crisis, ch. 9)…