Scripture Reading: Gal. 3:29; 4:7; Rom. 8:17; Eph. 1:18; Titus 3:7
Ⅰ
An heir is a person legally entitled to inherit the property, assets, or title of another person upon his death.
Ⅱ
The literal meaning of heir is “someone who has been appointed to receive an inheritance.”
Ⅲ
The believers become heirs:
A
Since we are renewed through regeneration to receive the divine essence, we are also made heirs of God, who are qualified to inherit the estate of God the Father (Rom. 4:14; 8:17; Gal. 3:29; 4:7), according to the hope of eternal life (Titus 3:7).
B
The eternal life, which is our enjoyment in this age and our hope in the coming age, is not only for us to live and enjoy God in this age but also for us to inherit all the riches of what God is to us in the coming age and in eternity; hence, we have the hope of eternal life.
C
According to this hope, we are made heirs of God to inherit all His riches for eternity.
Ⅳ
In the Bible an heir is one who rightfully receives the property:
A
An heir of God is a recipient of a promise or inheritance from God, born into His family through faith in Christ.
B
Heirs of God signifies inheriting eternal life, the kingdom of God, and spiritual blessings, often described as being co-heirs with Christ.
C
In the Bible, an heir is one who receives an inheritance, typically a son or a designated relative who takes possession of a father’s estate, rights, and responsibilities.
D
Spiritually, it refers to believers born into God’s family who, as co-heirs with Christ, receive the promises of salvation, eternal life, and the kingdom of God.
Ⅴ
The following verses are key Bible verses regarding “heirs of God”:
A
“If children, heirs also; on the one hand, heirs of God; on the other, joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him that we may also be glorified with Him”—Rom. 8:17:
１
This shows that there is a condition for us to be heirs.
２
It is not that we are heirs simply because we are children of God.
３
Rather, after being born as children, we must grow in life to become sons, and then we must pass through suffering that we may be glorified to become legal heirs.
B
“You are…a son; and if a son, an heir also through God”—Gal. 4:7:
１
The New Testament believer is no longer a slave to works under law but is a son in life under grace.
２
The New Testament believers become heirs of God not through the law nor through their fleshly father but through God, even the Triune God—the Father, who sent forth the Son and the Spirit (vv. 4, 6); the Son, who accomplished redemption for sonship (v. 5); and the Spirit, who carries out the sonship within us (v. 6).
C
“If you are of Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, heirs according to promise”—3:29:
１
To be Abraham’s seed we must be of Christ, be a part of Christ.
２
Because we are one with Christ, we are Abraham’s seed, heirs according to promise, inheriting God’s promised blessing, which is the all-inclusive Spirit as the ultimate consummation of the processed God, who is our portion.
３
Under the new testament, the believers as God’s chosen people, being sons of full age, are such heirs, not under law but in Christ.
Ⅵ
Now we will consider the believers’ status as heirs of God:
A
Christ is the Heir of all things (Heb. 1:2), and the believers are destined to be joint heirs with Christ.
B
After being saved, we are children of God, sons of God, partakers of the divine nature, and heirs of God.
C
When we reach the stage of growth of being joint heirs with Christ, we will be glorified.
D
“In order that having been justified by His grace, we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life”—Titus 3:7:
１
Heirs in Titus 3:7 refers to not merely sons but heirs who are qualified to inherit the Father’s estate—Rom. 4:14; 8:17; Gal. 3:29; 4:7.
２
Such heirs are born (John 1:12-13) of God’s eternal life (3:16).
E
The believers have become heirs of God through regeneration in the resurrection of Christ—11:25:
１
When Christ was resurrected, we, His believers, were all included in Him; thus, we were resurrected with Him—Eph. 2:6.
２
In His resurrection He imparted the divine life into us and made us the same as He is in life and nature.
３
This is the basic factor of our regeneration to become heirs of God.
F
In their status as heirs of God, the believers share with all the saints in the light the Triune God embodied in Christ as their portion—Col. 1:12.
G
Acts 26:18 speaks of the forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who have been sanctified by faith in Christ.
H
This divine inheritance is the Triune God with all He has, all He has done, and all He will do for His redeemed people.
I
As heirs of God, the believers will also be glorified with Christ—Rom. 8:17b:
１
Christ is now in glory.
２
Eventually, we will be brought into glory and be glorified with Christ.
３
When we are glorified, the body of our humiliation will be transfigured into a glorious body—Phil. 3:21.
４
The life that we have within us as a seed is the life of glory; this is Christ in us, the hope of glory—Col. 1:27.
５
When we have been permeated and saturated with the element of glory, that glory will come out of us; this is what it means for us, the heirs of God, to be glorified with Christ.
J
The believers’ enjoyment of the divine inheritance will consummate in being made God’s inheritance—Eph. 1:18:
１
As heirs of God, the believers are joint heirs with Christ according to the promise and the hope of eternal life, through justification by the grace of Christ and regeneration in the resurrection of Christ.
２
Ephesians 1:18 indicates that God’s inheritance is in the saints.
３
As those who are God’s inheritance, we have been sealed with the Holy Spirit—v. 13.
K
We thank the Lord for bringing us deep into the truth concerning the believers as heirs of God.