People unfamiliar with the Bible sometimes express the thought that we are all children of God just because we are part of the great human family. The Bible challenges this assumption and declares that we are all by nature completely out of touch with God and we become His children only through adoption. This is taught in several places in the Bible, including John 1:12-13, Gal.4:3-7, and Eph.1:4-8, as well as the passage we study today, Rom.8:14-19. Another way the Bible expresses this same idea is when it describes God’s salvation as “choosing”. God chose Abraham and his family in Gen. 18:17-19. Abraham had several sons, but God chose one, Isaac, to receive His promise, purpose, and blessing. Isaac had two sons, and again God chose: “Jacob I loved and Esau I hated”. Jacob’s twelve sons were progenitors of God’s chosen people, Israel. The Bible teaches (whether you like it or not) that God saves those He chooses to save. They are adopted into God’s family, not because of any merit, but just because of God’s grace. We celebrate God’s choice, but we don’t understand it or deserve it.
In John 8:31-44, Jesus and the Pharisees ask each other, “Who’s your daddy?”. The Pharisees claim that Abraham is their father; Jesus refutes this, because Abraham was a believer (Gen.15:6) and the Pharisees refuse to believe. The Pharisees’ next claim is that God is their father, and again Jesus pushes back, because Jesus is the human expression of God and if He is not recognized, you’re not in the family. Then Jesus identifies the Pharisees’ origin. Their father is the devil, because they believe his lies and do his will. “The whole world is lost in the darkness of sin; the light of the world is Jesus”. Those called to Him become God’s children, by adoption.
Salvation by adoption has several implications. If everyone is God’s child, you are innately good; if you are adopted into God’s family, you are forgiven. If everyone is God’s child, God is within; if you are chosen to be God’s child, God is above. He fights His way in through the Holy Spirit’s sanctifying power. If everyone is God’s child, you are entitled to God’s blessing. He owes you. If you are chosen, God graces you. If everyone is God’s child, your origin is what’s important. If you are chosen, your destination is what’s important. I’m not blessed because I came from God; I’m blessed because I’m going to Him.
Our text tells us that the Holy Spirit God graciously chose to put into us teaches us to call God “Abba, Father”. Abba is an informal term for “father” used by Jewish children in Jesus’ day. The New Testament is written in Greek, but “abba” is Aramaic, the language Jesus knew as a child. According to John McArthur, it is “an informal, Aramaic term for father that conveys a sense of intimacy….It connotes tenderness, dependence, and a relationship free of fear or anxiety.” This is how Jesus addressed God when He was in the garden of Gethsemane. He didn’t call on God the transcendent father of all, He needed His dear father with whom He had a loving relationship. You need that Abba too, and you have Him in your life through His gracious choice. Congratulations, you adopted child of God. He has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; not because you deserved it, but just because it was in His heart. You are part of a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, to show forth the praises of our wonderful Father!