Forgiveness in Christ: A Study in Romans 8Sample

The Spirit of Adoption

You have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” (v. 15)

One of the great confessions of the Christian faith is that Jesus Christ is the only Son of God. The Apostles’ Creed states, “We believe . . . in Jesus Christ, God’s only Son, our Lord.” When God established his covenant with the people of Israel, he named them as his children, “You are the sons of the Lord your God” (Deut. 14:1).

The doors of that covenant have swung wide open on their hinges in Jesus Christ so that now non-Jews may also be included in the covenant and be named as children of God. Jesus is God’s Son by nature. Our incorporation into the family is by way of adoption—“You did not receive a spirit of slavery, but you have received the Spirit of adoption” (v. 15).

As God’s children, we are given the same benefits that belong to God’s only begotten Son, Jesus Christ. Those benefits include the privilege of calling on the Father, like children calling for a parent in the darkness of night during a thunderstorm. When we call, he hears. When we cry, he listens. He is our Father; he hears and listens because we belong to him, and he cares for us. Our very crying out to him is evidence that we belong to him; our calling on him is a reminder that we are his children.

As you pray, call out to your loving heavenly Father.