Galatians MacArthur New Testament Commentary (Macarthur New Testament Commentary Serie) by John F MacArthur

Author:John F MacArthur [MacArthur, John F]
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Tags: Undefined
ISBN: 9780802407627
Publisher: Moody Publishers
Published: 1987-11-07T16:00:00+00:00

ITS CONFIRMATION

And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” (4:6)

God confirms believers as His adopted sons through the gift of the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of His Son. They not only have the knowledge of sonship through the truth of God’s Word in their minds but the very essence of sonship through His indwelling Spirit in their hearts. A human father cannot give his own nature to an adopted child, but God can and does by sending His Holy Spirit to dwell within the hearts of believers.

The Lord tells His children that He “has blessed [them] with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ,” that “He chose [them] before the foundation of the world, that [they] should be holy and blameless before Him,” that “He predestined [them] to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself,” and that “in Him [they] have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of [their] trespasses, according to the riches of His grace, which He lavished upon [them]” (Eph. 1:3-5, 7-8). But when believers experience trying circumstances or fail to live in obedience to God, it is easy for them to doubt their exalted position as His children.

One of the ministries of the Spirit to the sons of God is to enable them with full confidence to cry out to Him, “Abba! Father!” The Spirit offers subjective ministry that confirms the objective truth of Scripture. Declaring that same message to believers at Rome, Paul wrote, “For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, ‘Abba! Father!’ The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God” (Rom. 8:14-16).

As mentioned in the previous chapter, Abba is a diminutive of the Aramaic word for father. It was a term of endearment used by young children of their fathers and could be translated “daddy” or “papa.” The Holy Spirit brings us into a personal, intimate relationship with our heavenly Father, whom we may approach at any time and under any circumstance, knowing that He always hears us and lovingly cares for us, because we are truly His own.

“In Him, you also,” Paul wrote to the Ephesians, “after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation—having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is given as a pledge of our inheritance, with a view to the redemption of God’s own possession, to the praise of His glory” (Eph. 1:13-14). The fact that a believer has an intimate relationship with God, and can confidently cry out to Him as Father, is beautiful and magnificent proof of sonship. Those who have the status of divine sonship through the Son also have the essence and the assurance of it through the Spirit, who draws them into intimate communion with their heavenly Father.

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