Sonship - Cry Abba Father

biblelesson said:

So the question is:
Do we cry abba Father?
Or, do the Spirit enable us to Cry Abba Father?

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Abba, as I understand it , is Father in Aramaic. Jesus Christ of Nazareth used both the Aramaic word Abba and the Greek word Pater "Abba Pater" only once
And He said, “Abba, Father, all things are possible for You. Take this cup away from Me; nevertheless, not what I will, but what You will.”
The Holy Spirit dwells in each regenerated Christian. The other two uses of Abba in scripture, Romans 8:15 and Galatians 4:6 reveals our connection to The Father through His Holy Spirit. In other words "Abba Father" is the formal cry recognized by The Father because we have His Holy Spirit. Without His Spirit we can not cry out Abba Father.

biblelesson said:

Hello All,

I wanted to post this to start a discussion around Sonship in Christ.

Christ has made it possible for us to be the sons of God, where we are the children of God who protects us and loves us. It has been very difficult for many people to see this due to bad teaching. I myself have struggled with truly believing that God loves me due to bad situations in my life, and bad teaching as well.

But, the Spirit of God that's given to all believes provides us with ability to see the truth of Sonship, the truth of God's love. I believe we don't have to wonder if it's really true that God loves us. Our free gift of salvation in Christ is also the grace to accomplish what we otherwise would not be able to accomplish.

Galatians 4:6, And because ye are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying Ab-ba Father."

So the question is:

Do we cry abba Father?

Or, do the Spirit enable us to Cry Abba Father?

I believe what the gospel is saying is that what we are not able to do, the Spirit does. The Spirit itself provides us the ability in our inner man, in our hearts, to cry Abba Father.

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Welcome!

For we heard:
for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith. -Galatians 3:26

So we are sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus.

biblelesson said:

There are many Christians who struggle to believe this, although we are Sons of God in Christ Jesus.

What's the problem and why is it so hard to believe this truth? I'm seeing now how I must grow up in Christ.

Galatians, 4:19, "my little children, of whom I travel in birth again until Christ be formed in you."

I see this as a growing up in Christ, meaning we as Christians do not automatically have the perfected faith that's needed to believe rightly at the start, but that it is a process as we continue in the gospel.

So, believing God as our Father, seems to be only head knowledge at first, but the Holy Spirit perfects that faith in our hour hearts.

I'm expressing this to help myself, and I hope it helps other too. Because, the way I have been viewing things for years (without understanding) was to think I "should have the great faith and understanding of the gospel already." And because I found myself still struggling, or because the right faith had not been manifested in my life, I would feel guilty, and basically thought something was wrong with me, or question if I was really a Christian. I could cry right now because I see that this thinking was wrong.

Yes, I can say right now in my mind that God is my Father in Heaven. But, I need the Holy Spirit to make it real for me in my inner man, in my heart. This morning, I woke up with a little sunlight in my heart.

I pray that God increases that sunlight (the light of Christ) in my heart to see Him as Father, day by day, and that I grow in Christ day by day into the servant He wants me to be - Until Christ be formed in me! The tears are flowing!

There are so many strong Christians on this site, and I thank God for you, and I thank you for your comments.

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Dear one,
We have heard:

• My little children, for whom I labor in birth again until Christ is formed in you,-Galatians 4:19 NKJV

How do Christ is formed in us ?
This is what we have heard:

• Therefore, laying aside all malice, all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and all evil speaking, -1 Peter 2:1 NKJV
• as newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby, if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is gracious. -1 Peter 2:2-3 NKJV

So dear one,
This is what I prayed after I have heard what have been spoken:

Abba Father,
Grant me Your strength which You give through Your Holy Spirit, that I can lay aside all malice, all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and all evil speaking.

Let me be like newborn babies,
Abba Father,
Grant me desire the pure milk of the word,
that I may grow thereby, taste that You are gracious to me, your adopted son through faith in Christ Jesus.
Amen

By praying, we trust that we receive what we prayed will be ours, as the Lord Himself taught us in Mark 11:22-25

After praying, we trust in the peace that the Lord gave us, the peace that surpass understanding will guard our hearts and minds in union with Him; as we are taught in Philippians 4:6-7

Dear one, are you still concerned how Christ is formed in you ?
This is what we have heard:

• For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants for Jesus' sake. -2 Corinthians 4:5 ESV
• For God, who said, "Let light shine out of darkness," has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. -2 Corinthians 4:6 ESV

Likewise, we heard :

• For the commandment is a lamp and the teaching a light, and the reproofs of discipline are the way of life, -Proverbs 6:23 ESV

Dear one,
When God said,"Let light shine out of darkness," — is it not a commandment ?
It is.

Where has this light shine out of ? Isn’t darkness ? Where is this darkness, that apostle Paul spoke of ? Did he not say,” has shone in our hearts.” Isn’t this darkness in our hearts? Yes, it is.

Where this light has shone ? This light has shone in our hearts. How do we perceive and understand that this light has shone in our hearts. Didn’t we hear in Proverbs 6:23, that the teaching a light ? Whose teaching is the teaching is the light. Yes, it is our Lord’s teaching, that gave light to our hearts; that enlightened our hearts with the knowledge of the glory of God before Christ.

So dear one, heed what our Heavenly Father have said:

• My son, be attentive to my words; incline your ear to my sayings. -Proverbs 4:20 ESV
• Let them not escape from your sight; keep them within your heart. -Proverbs 4:21 ESV
• For they are life to those who find them, and healing to all their flesh. -Proverbs 4:22 ESV
• Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life. -Proverbs 4:23 ESV

So dear one,
What are we to keep within our hearts? The Father’s words that He has spoken through Christ, that is, Christ’s teaching.

When we keep our hearts with vigilance, that is, when we keep the Lord’s teaching in our hearts with vigilance, from the Lord’s teaching flow the springs of life.

So apostle Paul, labor in love, that Christ’s teaching is formed in our hearts.

And apostle Peter said, when the desire of the word, or the Spirit of the word is in us, thereby, we taste that the Lord is gracious to us or have steadfastly loved us.

To God be the glory. Amen

biblelesson said:

I believe what the gospel is saying is that what we are not able to do, the Spirit does. The Spirit itself provides us the ability in our inner man, in our hearts, to cry Abba Father.

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We are instructed to pray always as children: "Our Father".
If we are to follow the Lord's manner, we should boldly speak of God as "My Father".
John 20:17 Jesus said to her, Do not cling to Me, for I have not yet ascended to My Father;
but go to My brethren and say to them, I am ascending to My Father and your Father, and
My God and your God.