Adoption, in Christian theology, is the admission of a believer into the family of God. In the evangelical ordo salutis ("order of salvation"), adoption is usually regarded as a step immediately subsequent to justification. As a theological word, adoption has similar connotations to the act of legally placing a child with a parent or parents other than those to whom they were born. There are three references in the New Testament to God "adopting" Christians as his own children (Galatians 4:5, Romans 8:15 and Ephesians 1:5) and one reference to the adoption by God, of the "people of Israel" (Romans 9:4). Adoption as a theological term introduces a relational dimension to the consequences of Salvation. Adoption as a theological concept is also another consequence of the 'legal' act of justif