For you did not receive a spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received a Spirit of adoption by which we cry, "Abba, Father."
Truth to Learn
Christians have been adopted into God’s loving family forever!
Behind the Words
“Bondage” is from the Greek word douleia, which is derived from the verb douleuō, meaning “to be a slave” or “to serve.” This, in turn, is derived from the noun doulos, meaning “a slave, one who is in a permanent relation of servitude to another, his will being altogether consumed in the will of the owner.” So, douleia refers to the condition of being a slave, or being in bondage.
The word “abba” is a transliteration; it is brought over from the original language letter for letter, or sound for sound. This is an Aramaic word that means, “father” as a term of endearment, similar to how we might call our earthly father “dad,” “daddy,” or “papa.”
“Adoption” is from huiothesia, which is made up of huios, meaning “a son” and a form of tithēmi, meaning “to place.” Hence, huiothesia refers to a son who has been placed in another family. According to the Jewish laws, an adopted child could not be disinherited; it was a permanent placement.
Meaning Explained
In the previous two chapters Paul spent considerable time showing that before we were saved, we were slaves to sin and the condemnation of the Law. In this chapter he has been showing us that we are free from the bondage of the Law and slavery to sin. We who are saved have a free will to sin or not to sin. In other words, we are not forced to sin due to our being ruled by our sin nature. Instead, we are free to resist that temptation to sin. The reason for this freedom is shown to us in the current verse. The Spirit that we have dwelling in us (according to verse 11) is the Spirit of God. What Paul now tells us is that this Spirit is not a Spirit of bondage. Paul has been showing us throughout this letter that there are two states of being: bondage and submission. Bondage implies a condition that is forced on us, whereas submission is a condition we choose. If we are not saved, we walk according to the flesh and we are under bondage to sin. If, on the other hand, we walk according to the Spirit it is because we are saved and have chosen to submit ourselves to God. The Holy Spirit does not hold us in bondage against our will; we received the Spirit because we willingly submitted ourselves to God.
Now for another of the most precious truths of the New Testament! The Spirit that we have received, the Holy Spirit of God, is one of adoption. In other words, when we accepted the sacrifice of Jesus Christ as payment for our sins, we also willingly submitted ourselves to His Lordship (He is our master now, our sin nature is no longer our master). In response to this we were adopted by God as His child. And, as a seal of that adoption He gave us the Holy Spirit. Once God has adopted us, He cannot un-adopt us because of that sealing Spirit. He is our Spirit of adoption and because of this we can refer to God as our Father, and we can call him papa or daddy.
One of the primary benefits of our adoption by God is that we now can have a close personal relationship with our Heavenly Father because He has chosen to adopt us.
Application
Do you experience that close personal relationship with your Heavenly Father? Do you converse with Him regularly? Do you share your deepest desires and fears with Him? Do you listen to his wise advice? Or … is He more of a stranger than “daddy?”
In God's service, for His glory,
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