Galatians 4:6

(Verse 6.) But because you are sons of God, God has sent the spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying out, Abba, Father. Clearly the Apostle Paul mentions three spirits, the Spirit of the Son of God, as in this present place, God has sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts (Rom. VIII, 14). And the Spirit of God, as in that place: For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. And the Holy Spirit, as in that place: Your bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you (I Cor. VI, 19). That the Holy Spirit is distinct from the Son of God is clearly and convincingly confirmed in the Gospel: Whoever speaks a word against the Son of man will be forgiven. But whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, neither in this age nor in the age to come will be forgiven (Luke 12:10). This is because many, due to their lack of knowledge of the Scriptures (as Firmianus also states in the eighth letter to Demetrianus), assert that the Holy Spirit is often referred to as the Father and sometimes as the Son. And while we believe clearly in the Trinity, removing the third person, they do not want to be his substance, but his name. But in order not to take too long (for this is not a dialogue, but a commentary), I will briefly show the three spirits named in the fiftieth psalm, as the prophet says: Create a clean heart in me, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. Do not cast me away from your presence, and do not take your Holy Spirit from me. Give me the joy of your salvation, and strengthen me with your principal spirit. He calls the principal spirit Father, because the Son is from the Father, and not the Father from the Son. […]

Had not we been first made sons, we could not have called Him Father. If then grace hath made us freemen instead of slaves, men instead of children, heirs and sons instead of aliens, is it not utter absurdity and stupidity to desert this grace, and to turn away backwards?

From where is it evident, he says, that we have been deemed worthy of adoption? Although he showed this before as well, when he declared that we have put on Christ, Who is the Son, he also proves it now by the fact that we …

Felicitous, however, is this kiss of participation that enables us not only to know God but to love the Father, who is never fully known until he is perfectly loved. Are there not surely some among you who at certain times perceive deep within their …

Above, the Apostle revealed the gift bestowed on the Jews; here he shows that this gift pertains also to the Gentiles. First, he mentions the gift; Secondly, the means of obtaining it (v. 6); Thirdly, he discloses the fruit of this gift (v. 7). He …

And because ye - Gentiles who believe, are also thus made his adult sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts likewise, crying, Abba, Father - Enabling you to call upon God both with the confidence, and the tempers, of dutiful children. The Hebrew and Greek word are joined together, to express the joint cry of the Jews and gentiles.

Israel was God's son, his first-born, Rom. ix. But now, under the gospel, particular believers receive the adoption; and, as an earnest and evidence of it, they have together therewith the Spirit of adoption, putting them upon the duty of prayer, and enabling them in prayer to eye God as a Father (

quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens

And because ye are sons,....

Abba, Father--The Hebrew says, "Abba" (a Hebrew term), the Greek, "Father" ("Pater," a Greek term in the original), both united together in one Sonship and one cry of faith, "Abba, Father." So "Even so ('Nai,' Greek) Amen (Hebrew)," both meaning the same (Re 1:7). Christ's own former cry is the believers' cry, "Abba, Father" (Mr 14:36).

It is not, as in earthly inheritances, the death of the father, but our Father's sovereign will simply that makes us heirs. child--Greek, "one under age." differeth nothing, &c.--that is, has no more freedom than a slave (so the Greek for "servant" means).

WE do not find the doctrine of the Trinity in Unity set forth in Scripture in formal terms, such as those which are employed in the Athanasian creed; but the truth is continually taken for granted, as if it were a fact well known in the church of God. If not laid down very often, in so many words, it is everywhere held in solution, and it is mentioned incidentally, in connection with other truths in a way which renders it quite as distinct as if it were expressed in a set formula.

WE do not find the doctrine of the Trinity in Unity set forth in Scripture in formal terms, such as those which are employed in the Athanasian creed; but the truth is continually taken for granted, as if it were a fact well known in the church of God. If not laid down very often, in so many words, it is everywhere held in solution, and it is mentioned incidentally, in connection with other truths in a way which renders it quite as distinct as if it were expressed in a set formula. In many passages it is brought before us so prominently that we must be wilfully blind if we do not note it. In the present chapter, for instance, we have distinct mention of each of the three divine Persons. “God,” that is the Father, “sent forth the Spirit,” that is the Holy Spirit; and he is here called “the Spirit of his Son.” Nor have we the names alone, for each sacred person is mentioned as acting in the work of our salvation: see the fourth verse, “God sent forth his Son.”; then note the fifth verse, which speaks of the Son as redeeming them that were under the law; and then the text itself reveals the Spirit as coming into the hearts of believers, and crying Abba, Father. Now, inasmuch, as you have not only the mention of the separate names, but also certain special operations ascribed to each, it is plain that you have here the distinct personality of each. Neither the Father, the Son, nor the Spirit can be an influence, or a mere form of existence, for each one acts in a divine manner, but with a special sphere and a distinct mode of operation. The error of regarding a certain divine person as a mere influence, or emanation, mainly assails the Holy Ghost; but its falseness is seen in the words—“crying, Abba, Father”: an influence could not cry; the act requires a person to perform it.

THE birth of our Lord Jesus Christ into this world is a wellspring of pure, unmingled joy. We associate with His Crucifixion much of sorrowful regret, but we derive from His birth at Bethlehem nothing but delight. The angelic song was a fit accompaniment to the joyful event and the filling of the whole earth with peace and good will is a suitable consequence of the condescending fact. The stars of Bethlehem cast no baleful light—we may sing with undivided joy, "Unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given."

THE birth of our Lord Jesus Christ into this world is a wellspring of pure, unmingled joy. We associate with His Crucifixion much of sorrowful regret, but we derive from His birth at Bethlehem nothing but delight. The angelic song was a fit accompaniment to the joyful event and the filling of the whole earth with peace and good will is a suitable consequence of the condescending fact. The stars of Bethlehem cast no baleful light—we may sing with undivided joy, "Unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given." When the Eternal God stooped from Heaven and assumed the nature of His own creature who had rebelled against Him, the deed could mean no harm to man. God, in our nature, is not God against us but God with us! We may take up the young Child in our arms and feel that we have seen the Lord's salvation—it cannot mean destruction to men. I do not wonder that the men of the world celebrate the supposed anniversary of the great birthday as a high festival with carols and banquets. Knowing nothing of the spiritual meaning of the mystery, they yet perceive that it means man's good and so, in their own rough way, they respond to it. We who observe no days which are not appointed of the Lord, rejoice continually in our Prince of Peace and find in our Lord's Manhood a fountain of consolation. To those who are truly the people of God, the Incarnation is the subject of a thoughtful joy which always increases with our knowledge of its meaning, even as rivers are enlarged by many trickling brooks. The Birth of Jesus not only brings us hope, but the certainty of good things. We do no merely speak of Christ's coming into relation with our nature, but of His entering into union with ourselves, for He has become one flesh with us for purposes as great as His love! He is one with all of us who have believed in His name.

And because ye are sons - By faith in Christ Jesus, being redeemed both from the bondage and curse of the law; God - the Father, called generally the first person of the glorious Trinity, hath sent forth the Spirit - the Holy Ghost, the second person of that Trinity, of his Son - Jesus Christ, the third person of the Trinity - crying, Abba, Father! from the fullest and most satisfactory evidence that God, the Father, Son, and Spirit, had become their portion.

And because ye are sons - As a consequence of your being adopted into the family of God, and being regarded as his sons. It follows as a part of his purpose of adoption that his children shall have the spirit of the Lord Jesus. The Spirit of his Son - The spirit of the Lord Jesus; the spirit which animated him, or which he evinced. The idea is, that as the Lord Jesus was enabled to approach God with the language of endearment and love, so they would be. He, being the true and exalted Son of God, had the spirit appropriate to such a relation; they being adopted, and made like him, have the same spirit. The “spirit” here referred to does not mean, as I suppose: the Holy Spirit as such; nor the miraculous endowments of the Holy Spirit, but the spirit which made them like the Lord Jesus; the spirit by which they were enabled to approach God as his children, and use the reverent, and tender, and affectionate language of a child addressing a father. It is that language used by Christians when they have evidence of adoption; the expression of the warm, and elevated, and glowing emotions which they have when they can approach God as their God, and address him as their Father. Crying - That is, the spirit thus cries, Πνεῦμα Pneuma - κράζον krazon). Compare the notes, Rom 8:26-27. In Rom 8:15 it is, “wherewith we cry.” Abba, Father - See the note at Rom 8:15. It is said in the Babylonian Gemara, a Jewish work, that it was not permitted slaves to use the title of Abba in addressing the master of the family to which they belonged. If so, then the language which Christians are here represented as using is the language of freemen, and denotes that they are not under the servitude of sin.