Children of God

The Sons of God

“After Jesus and his disciples arrived in Capernaum, the collectors of the two-drachma tax came to Peter and asked, “Doesn’t your teacher pay the temple tax ?” 
“Yes, he does,” he replied. When Peter came into the house, Jesus was the first to speak. “What do you think, Simon?” he asked. “From whom do the kings of the earth collect duty and taxes—from their own sons or from others?” 
“From others,” Peter answered. “Then the sons are exempt,” Jesus said to him.  
“But so that we may not offend them, go to the lake and throw out your line. Take the first fish you catch; open its mouth and you will find a four-drachma coin. Take it and give it to them for my tax and yours.” 
                   Matthew 17:24-27.

Here the subject of Temple tax came up. Every man over the age of twenty had to pay two-drachmas to Gods work, for the up keep of the temple.
It’s interesting what is said here,
“What do you think, Simon?” he asked. “From whom do the kings of the earth collect duty and taxes—from their own sons or from others?” 
“From others,” Peter answered. “Then the sons are exempt,” Jesus said to him.”
The implication here is that the tax is collected from others for God, not from the sons of God, God’s royal household which Peter and the rest of the disciples belonged.
John make things clear when he writes,
“Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God—  children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.” 
                                    John 1:12-13.
Paul to the Galatians writes
“You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus,” 
                                                                       Galatians 3:26.
This is a fact about Christians. We are sons and daughter of God when we accept Him by faith.
John also notes another fact,
“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.”  
           1John 3:1.
It is a fact that all too often the world does not understand Christians. They can’t understand why we would go as far as suffering and dying for Him.
They don’t understand because they do not know Jesus.
It is up to us to with the help of the Holy Spirit to show them reality that is Jesus. His love and his grace.
We are to be humble in doing this.
Even in the passage above with respect to temple tax Jesus uses wisdom. He says to Peter,
“But so that we may not offend them, go to the lake and throw out your line. Take the first fish you catch; open its mouth and you will find a four-drachma coin. Take it and give it to them for my tax and yours.” 
We should as far as possible not offend the secular world. We should as much as it depends on us, pay our taxes, respect the laws of the country in which we live.
The writer of Hebrews saying,
“Make every effort to live in peace with all men and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord.” Hebrews 12:14.
Think about it.