Romans 8:12–18

Verse 14. and so forth They are the sons of God, by this new grace of adoption, by which also they call God, Abba; that is to say, Father, whereas under the former law of Moses, God rather governed his people by fear; they were his servants, we are his sons; and if sons, also the heirs of God, with the promise of an eternal inheritance in his kingdom, provided we suffer for Christ’s sake, as he suffered for us. And surely the short sufferings in this world have no proportion, nor can be put in balance with the future endless glory, which is promised and prepared for us in heaven. Witham.—Abba is a Syriac word, which signifies my father. This is properly the word of free and noble children; for amongst the Hebrews, the children of slaves were not allowed to call their fathers Abba, nor their mothers Imma. This kind of expression was very rarely used under the old law. The Hebrews called the Almighty their Lord, their God, their Salvation, their King, their Protector, their Glory, and so forth but seldom their father, scarcely ever, except in the case of Solomon, who was a particular figure of the Messias, the true Son of God. On this account God said to him: “He shall call me Father and God; and I will be to him a Father, and will treat as my first-born.” But it is the property of the Christian to call the Almighty his Father with confidence indeed, yet tempered with a filial awe; remembering at the same time that he is his judge. Calmet.—Mat. Polus says that not any one of the just dared to call God, my Father, before the coming of Christ, as this favour was reserved for the time of the gospel. In hunc. locum. A.—Saint John Chrysostom [1] takes notice, that God was also called the Father of the Israelites, and they his children, in the Old Testament, when God rather governed his people by fear of punishments, and promises of temporal blessings, but not in that particular manner as in the new law. Witham.—The Spirit himself, and so forth By the inward motions of divine love, and the peace of conscience, which the children of God experience, they have a kind of testimony of God’s favour; by which they are much strengthened in the hope of their justification and salvation; but yet not so as to pretend to an absolute assurance, which is not usually granted in this mortal life: during which we are taught to work out our salvation with fear and trembling. Philippians 2:12. And that he who thinketh himself to stand, must take heed lest he fall. 1 Corinthians 10:12. See also Romans 11:20, 21, 22. Challoner.—He hath given to us, says Saint John, (chapter 1:12) the power, or dignity, of being the sons of God. Christ taught us to pray, and to begin our prayers with our Father, and so forth Matthew 6:9. Witham.

Abba is an Aramaic word for “Father” or “Daddy”, which can be used affectionately and respectfully in prayer to our Father in heaven.