Romans 8:15: For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.
Galatians 4:6: And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father.
There are only three occurrences of “Abba, Father” in the Scriptures, Mark 14:36, Romans 8:14, Galatians 4:6. All three invocations pertain to a heartfelt and deep in the bowels vocal cry/invocation to God the Father. What is the significance of these three? Is there is an interesting parallel between these? Two occurrences of the “Abba, Father” invocations are a heartfelt cry by the believer-saint; and one invocation is by our Lord in the garden of Gethsemane prior to His betrayal by Judas and arrest by those sent by the Jewish High Priest. And what is the significance of each of these? Consider Mark 14:34-36 first:
Mark 14:34-36: And saith unto them, My soul is exceeding sorrowful unto death: tarry ye here, and watch. And he went forward a little, and fell on the ground, and prayed that, if it were possible, the hour might pass from him. And he said, Abba, Father, all things are possible unto thee; take away this cup from me: nevertheless not what I will, but what thou wilt.
Christ invoked prayer each day to His Father, but notice that at the end of His earthly ministry, at the pinnacle of His earthly ministry, at the foot of the cross, so to say, before His captors caught Him to take Him to Pontius Pilot, Jesus turns His prayer to address the Father – Abba, Father! This marks a distinction of a first time usage and address to the Father with the words – Abba, Father. There is a definite reason for this address: Jesus was set to fulfill the pinnacle work of the cross which the Father had sent Him to perform.
The cry to our Father, exactly like Christ Jesus cried out in prayer to His Father in Mark 14, is a natural cry once we fully digest the book of Romans base doctrines regarding the pillars of essentials truths of justification, sanctification. Once these are learned and applied, we come to the realization that we are adopted as a son of God (Romans 8:14) and if correctly digested in our hearts, and reckon these truths in our minds, we can then truly cry, Abba, Father.
Romans 8:14: For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. 15 For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.
The word "for" in verse 14 is a further explanation and amplification of what it means to walk after the Spirit—to mind the things of the Spirit—to be in the Spirit and have the Spirit of God dwelling in you—and for the Spirit of God to quicken your mortal body—and through the Spirit, mortifying the deeds of the body. It is a further full-blown detailed analysis of how you are to functionally live unto God at this point in our sanctification. The word "for" in verse 15 is a orientation and amplification of what it means to be adopted as a son of God. Romans 8:14-15 has a bunch of things packed into these verses: “as many as are led by the Spirit of God” — you’re supposed to know what that means; “the sons of God” — you’re supposed to know what that means; “the spirit of bondage to fear” — you’re supposed to know what that means; “the Spirit of adoption” “the Spirit of adoption” — you’re supposed to know what that means; and the pinnacle phrase "Abba, Father"“the Spirit of adoption” — you’re supposed to know what that means. The purpose of these verses are designed to give the son an initial knowledge to his basic orientation to sonship edification, which will begin the path unto the “perfecting” of the saint as a son of God.
The purpose, then, Biblical speaking, is that Christ Jesus cry's Abba Father to submit to the Father as His Son; and we as believer-saints in the grace of God also cry Abba Father to submit to our declaration that we are "sons" of our Father God as God declares in Romans 8:14-15.
Interesting that he doesn’t mention Luke’s singular observation: “his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground.”
I wonder how FReepers view this passage. What does it mean?
You're needlessly wasting server space with multiple repeated postings.
Thanks for your posts!
I ran across this commentary by Eusebius on Psalm 21:12 and it was something I hadn’t pondered before.:
“For Tribulation is very near, for there is NONE to help me.”
“The bitterest of the suffering heaped upon Him then was that not one of the angels who were propitious and eager to be of aid, nor any of the divine Powers, dared set foot in the domain of death or work with Him to relieve the souls present there. He alone could actually go on without fear, since it was only for Him that the gates of death had opened, and the prison guards of death were terrified at seeing Him advance alone. It was upon seeing the impious domination of this tyrant, so strong that none of the Powers of heaven would dare take their place beside Christ in the lower regions and work with Him for the salvation of the souls there, that He says with good reason that the final agony is near at hand and there is no one to assist him.”
Dem. Ev., 10.