In the same way as we become the children of God through the regenerating power of the Holy Spirit (John 1:12, 13; 3:5), the continuing assurance that we are yet God’s children comes through the indwelling of God’s Spirit (Rom. 8:14). That He is dwelling in us may be known by the presence of the fruit of the Spirit in our lives (Gal. 5:22). If there is love in our hearts toward God and toward our fellow men, we may know that we have passed from death unto life (1 John 3:14) and have become the children of our heavenly Father (Matt. 5:44, 45), adopted into the heavenly family.

 The witness of the believer’s own spirit that he is a child of God depends upon the witness of the Holy Spirit that he is such. Compare the passage, “No man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost” (1 Cor. 12:3). It is likewise true that no one can truly call God Father, but by the same Spirit (Gal. 4:6). The following rendering makes this passage closely parallel to Gal. 4:6: “When we cry, ‘Abba Father’ it is the Spirit himself bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God” (RSV).

 Or, “the Spirit Himself,” as in many versions (see RSV). The grammatical gender of the word for “Spirit,” Gr. pneuma, is neuter. Consequently, the pronoun “itself” must likewise be neuter in the Greek. When the Holy Spirit is referred to by the masculine name paraklētos, “Comforter,” the masculine pronoun is used (see John 15:26; 16:7, 13). It is obvious that the personality of the Holy Spirit cannot be argued by the gender of the pronouns that may be used (cf. AA 53; TM 64). The office and work of the Holy Spirit have been declared to us in the Scriptures (see John 14:26; 16:8, 13-15; Rom 8:26; etc.), but the nature of the Holy Spirit is a mystery. “Regarding such mysteries, which are too deep for human understanding, silence is golden” (AA 52).