“And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying out, ‘Abba, Father!'”

This verse divinely attests that we are sons of God because the Holy Spirit cries out in our hearts.

And because you are sons,

It is clear that the one condition for receiving the Spirit is “because you are sons,” No other requirement or condition is necessary. God gives us proof that we are His sons because we have the indwelling Holy Spirit crying out in our hearts. This is the evident reality of sonship. God does not give the Holy Spirit to those not sons because the proof of son-placing is the provision of the Holy Spirit. This is more than a theoretical making us “sons”–for God implants the very Spirit of His Son into our hearts.

God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son

The unique title for the Holy Spirit here is “the Spirit of His Son,” emphasizing the unity of being adopted by God and the experience of the Spirit. 

God the Father not only “sent His Son, but He also sent the “Spirit of His Son,” that is, the Holy Spirit. He is the third person of the Trinity. Thus, the full Trinity works on our salvation. The Holy Spirit is a gift of God to every believer because of sonship. No true son or daughter of God lacks the Holy Spirit.

God “sent forth” His Son, and then He “sent forth the Spirit of His Son.” The same Greek word in both cases for “send” means to send officially. The Holy Spirit is the official representative of God to take the place of stewards and guardians of the law.

into your hearts,

God sends the Spirit “into your hearts.” It is through the Spirit that Christ lives in our hearts (Eph 3:16-17). The law could only affect and govern external relations, but the Holy Spirit controls the internal nature of man.

crying out, ‘Abba [Aramaic word for father], Father’

The Holy Spirit moves the Christian to cry out, “Abba, Father.” “Abba” is an Aramaic word for “father,” a term of endearment. It does not convey the diminutive idea of “daddy.” The Christian could not make this cry without the Holy Spirit. This is evidence that the Spirit indwells us. We know subjectively that He indwells us because genuine sons and daughters cry out to their Father.

“But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His” (Romans 8:9).

“For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out ‘Abba, Father.’ The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together” (Romans 8:14-17).

God secured our sonship by His Son and assured us of it by giving His Spirit. In both cases, God took the initiative. He sent His Son to give us the status of sonship, and He sent His Spirit that we have the experience of it; we can be confident of it through intimate prayer– “Abba Father.” In this, we use the language of sons, not slaves. Sons have the same nature as their fathers, and slaves do not. Thus, the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit witnesses to our sonship and prompts prayer. Because we are sons, God sent the Holy Spirit into our hearts. We need no other qualification to pray; we have complete freedom to access God. 

Principle:

God assures the Christians of salvation by the presence of the Holy Spirit.

Application:

The Holy Spirit is present within each believer’s heart to give evidence of our position in God’s family.

When we become a child of God, God not only adopts us as a child of God but as an adult son. Childhood speaks of our relationship with God; sonship speaks of our privileges as adults in the family of God. The bestowal of the Holy Spirit gives Christians confidence of our acceptance with God. God does not base our approval with Him on what we are or do but because of what Jesus is and did. We no longer look upon Him as a judge but as a Father. Our possession of the Holy Spirit demonstrates the Father-son relationship of God’s grace.

When Jesus left His place in the world, the Holy Spirit came to replace Him. We live in the age of the Holy Spirit. God speaks today through the Holy Spirit by the Word of God. We do not have to go through gyrations when we hunger. We do not have to crawl on our knees to get God’s attention. All we have to say is, “Father, I’m hungry; I need clothing.” We do not have to beat ourselves on the chest or cut our arms to get His attention. He knows and understands because the Holy Spirit indwells us.

Our right to prayer is not how long we pray. It is not our sincerity. Nor does it depend upon anything in the believer’s life. Our right to pray is founded on what Jesus Christ did by His death on the cross – He gave us equal status with Himself before God forever. He is perfectly acceptable to God, so we are perfectly admissible to Him.

“Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need” (Hebrews 4:16).