Romans 8:15Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

The Jewish people did not receive the Spirit. Of what, then, is Paul speaking here? He called the writings by this name because they were spiritual.

Likewise, the law was spiritual, and so were the water from the rock and the manna. “For all ate the same spiritual food,” he says, “and all drank the same spiritual drink” (1 Cor 10:3).

He also calls the rock spiritual, saying, “They drank of the spiritual Rock that followed them” (1 Cor 10:4). Since all these actions were supernatural, the Apostle called them spiritual.

Yet those who then participated in them had not received the Spirit.

Why, then, were the Old Testament writings writings of bondage? Consider the whole life of the Jews, and then you will clearly know this.

Among them punishments were repaid quickly, and reward followed at once. It was proportionate and resembled a kind of daily provision given to servants.

Everywhere a strong fear was placed before their eyes. Bodily washings were strictly observed, extending even to restraint in actions.

But with us it is not so. The thought and the conscience are cleansed. Christ does not say only, “Do not kill,” but also, “Do not be angry.”

He does not say only, “Do not commit adultery,” but also, “Do not look with an impure eye.” Thus we are to acquire the habit of virtue and advance in all other things not from fear of present punishment, but from love for Him.

God does not promise a land flowing with milk and honey. He makes us co-heirs of the Only-begotten.

In every way He turns us away from present goods and promises especially to bestow such gifts as are fitting for those who have become sons of God.

Among us there is nothing sensory, nothing bodily, but everything is spiritual. The Jews, though called sons, were called so as slaves.

But we, as those who have become free, have received adoption and await heaven for ourselves. God spoke with the Jews through others, but with us He speaks personally.

The Jews did everything because they were moved by fear of punishment. The spiritual do everything from desire and love, and prove this by advancing beyond what is prescribed in the commandments.

The Jews, like hirelings and ingrates, never ceased murmuring. Christians please the Father.

Those men blasphemed even while receiving benefits. We give thanks even in dangers.

Although sinners must now also undergo punishment, there is a great difference even here. Among the Jews, priests stoned, burned, and subjected men to the cutting off of bodily members.

We too are subject to correction. But for us excommunication from the Father’s table and removal from beholding it for a definite number of days is sufficient.

For the Jews, adoption was only the honor of a name. With us, the reality follows the name: cleansing through baptism, the gift of the Spirit, and the sending down of the other blessings.

To this one could add many other proofs of our nobility and their low estate.

Having indicated all this by the words “Spirit,” “fear,” and “adoption,” the Apostle presents another proof that we have the Spirit of adoption.

What is this proof? “By Whom we cry, Abba, Father.” Those who have been illumined know well how important this is.

For in the mystical prayer they are commanded to pronounce this saying before all else.

What then? Did the Jews not call God Father? Do you not hear what Moses says: “You forsook God Who begot you” (Deut 32:18)?

Do you not hear how Malachi reproaches them and says, “Has not one God created us? Is there not one Father of you all?” (Mal 2:10).

Even if many other sayings of Scripture were brought forward, we shall nowhere find that the Jews called God by the name Father and prayed to Him so.

But among us, priests and laymen, rulers and those under authority, all are commanded to pray in this way.

This is the first word we pronounce after that wondrous birth and after the new and extraordinary order of nourishment.

Moreover, if the Jews ever called God Father, they did so according to their own understanding. Those who live according to grace call Him so by the power of the Spirit.

There is a spirit of wisdom, through which the unwise became wise, as was shown in teaching. There is a spirit of power, through which the weak raised the dead and cast out demons.

There is also a spirit of gifts of healing, a spirit of prophecy, and a spirit of tongues. So too there is a Spirit of adoption.

As we know of the spirit of prophecy that the one who has it foretells the future, not speaking from his own mind but moved by grace, so one must speak of the Spirit of adoption.

The man who has received Him names God Father, moved by the Spirit.

Desiring to show our true origin, the Apostle also used the Hebrew expression. He did not say only “Father,” but “Abba, Father,” as lawful children especially call their father.

The Jews, he says, received a spirit of slavery. He so names the written law, for although it was given by the Spirit, it is more fitting for slaves. From this came bodily punishments after deeds, stonings, burnings, and threats: 'The sword shall devour you' (Is 1:20). From this came also earthly rewards, promises of earthly goods, and many small commandments fitting for slaves.

Therefore, although the Jews were called sons, they were slaves. We, however, are called sons as noble and free. Our rewards are heavenly, and the Kingdom is heavenly. Our punishment does not consist in stonings and the like, to which the Jews were subjected by the priests. For us it is enough only to exclude the guilty one from the mystical table, as one would a son.

Our commandments are divine and fitting for the noble: do not look upon a woman with an impure eye, do not swear, leave your possessions. They are fulfilled not from fear of punishment, but from inward disposition. He proves this by the fact that many among us advance beyond what is prescribed in many commandments. Moreover, the Jews did not have the Spirit, but we have His abundant grace.

'By Whom we cry, Abba, Father!' He used the Hebrew word, for true sons properly address their father in this way. How so, you ask? Did not the Jews also call God Father? It is said, 'You forgot the Protector Who begot you' (Deut 32:18). Elsewhere: 'Has not one God created us?' (Mal 2:10). Again: 'Have we not all one Father?' (Mal 2:10).

Yet although this is said of the Jews, not a single Jew was found who called God Father in prayer, as all of us now call Him after Baptism. Besides, if the Jews ever called God Father, they did so from their own mind. Believers name Him thus while being moved by the power of the Spirit.

Just as we recognize the spirit of prophecy from the fact that the one who has received it foretells the future, so the spirit of adoption is recognized from the fact that the one who has received it names God Father, being moved to this by the Spirit. For this too is one of the gifts of the Spirit, as Paul himself suggests.

This slave's fear, even when a man believes in the Lord, includes not love of righteousness, but only fear of condemnation. Sons, however, cry, 'Abba, Father!' Of the two words, one belongs to circumcision and the other to uncircumcision.

I believe Paul is speaking of the fear that was given in the Old Testament, so that those earthly goods would not be lost which God had promised to His servants under the law, who were not yet sons under grace.

Freed by the grace of God from fear, we received the Spirit of adoption. Thus, remembering who we were and who we have become by the gift of God, we may conduct our life with the greatest care. The name of God the Father must not be dishonored by us, and we must not fall into the deeds we managed to escape.

We have received such grace that we may dare to say to God, 'Abba,' that is, 'Father.' Therefore Paul warns us not to fall into pride after receiving faith. If we attach an unworthy life to the voice crying, 'Abba, Father,' we act unjustly toward God by calling Him Father. Yet God, in His goodness, has truly forgiven us what lies beyond our natural powers.

'To one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom, to another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit,' and so on (1 Cor 12:8-9).

Having shown that we truly have been granted the dignity of adoption, the Apostle added, 'By Whom we cry, Abba, Father.' For we have a commandment, when offering the mystical prayer to the Master, to call Him Father. We say, 'Our Father, Who art in heaven' (Mt 6:9).

The Apostle added 'Abba' to show the boldness of those who invoke Him. Little children, having greater freedom before their father because their reason is not yet complete, more often use this word when addressing their fathers. So we, by His ineffable love for mankind and immeasurable goodness, call the Creator of all things Father, as we have been commanded. Yet we do not know how great the difference is between Him and us. We do not understand even ourselves with exactness, and of His nature we have no knowledge at all.

'By Whom we cry, Abba, Father.' Only in the New Testament has the high right been given to man to approach God as Father with filial love and boldness. Such boldness is born in man by the Holy Spirit, by Whom we cry, 'Abba, Father!' The Apostle is evidently alluding to the Lord's Prayer. According to the observation of blessed Augustine, Abba refers to the Jews, and Father to the Gentiles.

To make this clearer, the Apostle compares the spirit of evangelical life with the spirit of life under the law. 'You did not receive,' he says, 'the spirit of bondage again to fear,' as it was under the law. He says this only by way of comparison. There they did not receive any spirit. Rather, such was the spirit of the law that it held those under it in obedience by fear. Those under it obeyed as slaves and bondsmen. Thus the spirit of their life, breathed upon them by the whole being of the law, was a spirit of bondage arising from fear.

The spirit of evangelical life is not like this. Here men serve God in spirit, not as slaves, but as sons in the house. They understand all the plans of the master of the house, their Father. They enter into them, sympathize with them, desire them, and love them. The difference between the spirits is already plainly great from this. But it is still greater because the evangelical spirit of sonship is not merely breathed in by the content of the Gospel, as the Old Testament spirit of slavery was by the content of the law. What is far more important is that it is created in the depth of our spirit by the Holy Spirit, whom we receive in Christ Jesus. Bearing this Spirit, we dare to cry to God, who is boundlessly great and incomprehensible to the mind: 'Abba, Father! Our Father!' The Only-begotten Son of God and God, who arranged all this for us, taught us so.

Saint Chrysostom explains these two spirits at length. 'Passing over the opposite of slavery, that is, the spirit of freedom, the Apostle set forth something far greater, the spirit of adoption, through which the spirit of freedom is also imparted. He said: But you received the Spirit of adoption. It is understandable what the spirit of adoption means. But what the spirit of slavery is remains unclear, and therefore it must be explained. The Apostle's statement is not only unclear, but even entirely difficult to grasp. For the Spirit was not given to the Jewish people. What, then, is Paul speaking about here? He called the written letters the spirit of slavery. Why were the Old Testament writings letters of slavery? Examine the whole way of life of the Jews, and this too will become clear. Among them punishments followed immediately upon deeds, and rewards were not put off into the distance. They were given in exact measure, like the daily ration of servants. Everywhere terrors vividly presented themselves to their eyes. Bodily washings were strictly observed, as was caution in conduct. It is not so with us. We cleanse thought and conscience. Christ does not merely say: Do not kill, but also: Do not be angry. He does not merely say: Do not commit adultery, but also: Do not look with an unclean eye. He wants us to acquire the habit of virtue and succeed in all other things, not from fear of present punishment, but from love for Him. God does not promise us a land flowing with milk and honey. He makes us fellow heirs of the Only-begotten and strives in every way to turn us away from present goods. He promises above all to grant such goods as are fitting for those who have become sons of God. Among us there is nothing sensory, nothing bodily, but everything is spiritual. The Jews were called sons, yet as slaves. But we, having become free, received adoption and await heaven. God spoke with the Jews through others, but with us He speaks in person. The Jews did everything because they were compelled by fear of punishment. The spiritual do everything by inner disposition and love, as they prove by advancing beyond what is prescribed in the commandments. The Jews, like hired laborers and ingrates, never ceased murmuring. Christians please the Father. They blasphemed while receiving benefits. We give thanks while suffering distress. Although sinners even now do not remain without punishment, there is a great difference here also. The priests stoned, burned, and mutilated the Jews. We are turned back otherwise. For us, exclusion from the Father's Table is enough, and having it removed from our sight for a certain number of days. For the Jews, adoption was only a title in words. For us it is accompanied by reality, by cleansing through baptism, the gift of the Spirit, and the sending down of the other blessings.'

'Having indicated all this by the words spirit of fear and adoption, the Apostle brings a new proof confirming that we have the spirit of adoption. What proof? In Him we cry: Abba, Father! Those who have been illumined know how strong this proof is. This word is the first they are instructed to pronounce in the mystical prayer. You ask: did the Jews not call God Father? Do you not hear what Moses says: You abandoned the God who begot you (cf. Deut 32:18)? Do you not hear how Malachi rebukes them and says that one God created us and is Father of us all (cf. Mal 2:10)? Yet, though these and many other passages of Scripture may be brought forward, nowhere shall we find that the Jews called God by this name and prayed to Him as Father. Among us, however, sacred ministers and laymen, rulers and subjects, all are commanded to pray in this way. The first word pronounced after that wondrous birth, accomplished according to the new and extraordinary order, is: Father. Moreover, if the Jews ever called God Father, they did so from their own mind. But those who live according to grace call Him so, being moved by the power of the Spirit. Just as there is a spirit of wisdom, through which the unwise became wise and showed this in teaching, and just as there is a spirit of power, through which the weak raised the dead and cast out demons. And just as there is also a spirit of the gift of healings, a spirit of prophecy, and a spirit of tongues, so there is also a spirit of adoption. As we know concerning the spirit of prophecy that the one who has it foretells the future and speaks not from his own mind but while moved by grace, so the same must be said of the spirit of adoption. The one who has received it calls God Father, being moved to this by the Spirit. Wishing to show that we are sons by birth, the Apostle also used the Hebrew word. He did not merely say: Father, but Abba, Father. For this is how true children especially address their father.'

Concerning this last addition, blessed Theodoret remarks: 'The Apostle added Abba to show the boldness of those who call upon Him. Little children, using greater freedom before their father because their reason is still imperfect, more often use this word when addressing their fathers. So too we, according to His ineffable love for mankind and boundless goodness, call the Creator of all things Father, as we have been commanded. Yet we do not know how great the difference is between Him and us. We do not even know ourselves precisely, and of His nature we have no knowledge at all.'

Ambrosiaster adds this lesson to it. 'Having been freed by the grace of God from fear, we received the Spirit of adoption. Thus, looking at what we were and what we received by God's gift, we should order our life with the utmost diligence, so that the name of God the Father may not suffer offense in us. We must not become ungrateful and again fall under that from which we have been delivered. We have received such grace that we dare to cry: Abba, Father! This very thing must move us to be watchful, lest, after receiving such boldness, we fall into the folly of an improper life. If we show a life unlike this cry, Abba, Father, then we shall cause offense to God every time we call Him our Father. For in His goodness He has allowed us what is above our nature, so that by our deeds we may deserve what we are unworthy of by our essence.'

This saying answers the question: how is it that we have received the Spirit of adoption, yet do not feel that we are sons? We do not have the life of sons, and the spirit of sonship has departed. If this misfortune does not occur, then deep within there lives the assurance that we are children of God, as the Apostle immediately says: