Notice how many times Paul speaks to his disciples as “true sons” in the faith (Titus 1:4; 1 Timothy 1:2; and 2 Timothy 1:2). He consistently refers to believers in a paternalistic sense in his letters (1 Corinthians 4:14; Galatians 4:19; Ephesians 5:8; and 1 Thessalonians 5:5). John also calls believers “little children” in his epistles (1 John 2:1, 12, 13, 18, 28; 3:7, 18; 4:4; and 5:21). The clearest example is seen in 3 John 4: “I have no greater joy than this: to hear that my children [or disciples] are walking in the truth.”
