Every line in this chapter is a text bursting with meaning. It seems to be an inexhaustible mine overflowing with glorious gospel truth. Every word seems to echo "Grace!" "Grace!" 'Grace!" Everything directs our thoughts to the grace of God and shows forth the glory of God. Starting at verse one, Paul sets before us a golden ladder. Each step seems to ascend higher and higher. From justification, he rises to regeneration. From regeneration, he rises to sanctification. From sanctification, he rises to glorification. In glorification, he declares God's elect to be "heirs of God and joint-heirs with Jesus Christ!" To all who believe on the Lord Jesus Christ there is the promise of an inheritance that is incorruptible, eternal, undefiled, and "fadeth not away. " What can this mean? What is it to be an heir of God?
Without question, this inheritance is the only inheritance worth having. Any other inheritance is unsatisfying and disappointing. The riches of this world, for which men labor so feverishly, are sure to bring with them many cares. They can never cure an aching heart, ease a troubled conscience, or relieve the burdens of a guilty soul. The riches of this world cannot prevent sickness, bereavement, separations, and death. They cannot even secure temporary happiness or domestic tranquility; but there shall never be any disappointment among the heirs of God in heaven.
The inheritance spoken of here is the only inheritance that can be kept forever. All others must be left at the hour of death, if they have not vanished before. Howard Hughes carried no more with him to the grave than Lazarus. That is not the case with the heirs of God. Our inheritance in Christ is eternal (Heb. 9:15).
The inheritance awaiting God's saints in glory is the only inheritance there is which is within the reach of all who desire it. Most people in this world will never be able to obtain great wealth or attain greatness, no matter how hard they strive for them. Yet, glory, honor, and eternal life are set before sinners in the gospel and freely given to all who accept them on God's terms. "Whosoever will" may be an "heir of God and joint-heir with Jesus Christ!" Yes, all who trust Christ are the children of God; and all who are the children of God are "heirs of God and joint heirs with Jesus Christ."
ALL WHO ARE THE CHILDREN OF GOD ARE THE HEIRS OF GOD. "If children, then heirs." If we are the children of God, then we are the heirs of God. If we are not God's children, then we are not God's heirs. Shocking as it is for many to be informed of it, the fact is, not all people are the children of God. We are all God's creatures; but we are not all God's children. This heirship does not come as the result of natural creation or family descent. The Holy Spirit does not say, "If creatures, then heirs," or "if children of Abraham, then heirs." Grace does not run in bloodlines. Grace is the free gift of God (John 1:12-13; Rom. 9:7-13). Neither human merit nor religious rituals are the basis of heirship (Gal. 4:30; Rom. 4:9-12). It is not written, "If servants, then heirs," or "If circumcised or baptized, then heirs."
The Holy Spirit tells us plainly that the one condition of heirship with Christ is this – "If children, then heirs." Perhaps you ask yourself, "How can I know whether or not I am a child of God? How can I know whether or not I am born again, born from above?" God provides us with very clear answers to those questions. There is no guess work to this thing. Here are five characteristics of all who are children of God. If these things are true of us, we are the children of God, born again by almighty grace, and heirs of God. If these things are not true of us, then we are yet "children of wrath even as others."
1. All who are born of God, all who are the children of God, all who are saved by the grace of God, all who are "heirs of God and joint-heirs with Christ," believe on the Lord Jesus Christ (John 1:12). If you trust the Lord Jesus Christ alone as your Savior and Lord, if you look to Christ alone for acceptance with God, your faith in him is the fruit and evidence of his work of grace in you (Heb. 11:1).
2. All who are the children of God are led by the Spirit of God (Rom. 8:14). The Holy Spirit leads those who are Christ's. There is a movement in their hearts, lives, and affections which they feel, though they may not be able to explain it, a movement which is always in the same direction. The Holy Spirit always leads us away from ourselves to Christ...Away from our sin to his blood...Away from our righteousness to his righteousness...Away from self-confidence to the confidence of faith in Christ...Away from our feelings to his Word...Away from our works to his work. The Spirit of God also leads believers by providence, through the counsel of the Word, and by the power of his grace. He guides them in the will of God, in paths of righteousness, and to the throne of grace.
3. For another thing, – all who are born again by the power and grace of God the Holy Spirit have the blessed liberty of the sons of God (Rom. 8:1-4, 15). We have been delivered from that slavish fear of God which is caused by the guilt of sin and the terror of the law. We have been redeemed from that guilt that caused Adam to hide "himself in the trees of the garden" and made Cain "go out from the presence of the Lord." Though we fear God in the sense of holding him in the highest reverence, believers are no longer afraid of God in the sense of being terrified of him. Sinners though we are, we are not afraid of God's holiness, justice, and majesty. We see God now in the full glory of his holy Being and have peace, because we see him reconciled through the blood of his own dear Son. We see all his glorious attributes displayed and honored in the death of Christ as our Substitute. We now draw near to God in prayer and speak to him with the confidence and peace of a child to his father. We now serve the Lord our God, not out of a sense of fear, but from a sense of love and gratitude. We have exchanged the spirit of bondage for the Spirit of liberty. We have given up the spirit of fear for the Spirit of love. We have put off the spirit of obligation and put on the Spirit of gratitude. We have dropped the spirit of law and taken up the Spirit of grace.
4. All who are born of God, all who are the children of God have the witness of the Spirit that they are the children of God (Rom. 8:16; I Cor. 1:22; 2 Cor. 5:5; Eph 1:13; 4:30; 1 John 5:10). The Holy Spirit has sprinkled our hearts with the blood of Christ. The blood applied by the Spirit assures us that Christ is sufficient. He gives us witness by the Word, assuring us that our sins have been put away, that peace is restored, that heaven's door is opened before us, and that hell's pit is forever shut. We have, by the witness of the Spirit, what the world can never have – "A good hope through grace" (2 Thess. 2:16).
5. The sons of God voluntarily take part in the sufferings of Christ. It is written, "If so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together" (Rom. 8:17). All God's children voluntarily take up their cross and follow their Master. They "follow the Lamb withersoever he goeth," regardless of cost or consequence. All who are the children of God are the heirs of God; and...
ALL WHO ARE THE CHILDREN OF GOD ARE THE HEIRS OF GOD, FOR THE SAME REASON, TO THE SAME EXTENT, AND TO THE SAME FULLNESS. Many believe that while all God's children are his heirs, some will inherit a scanty portion as naughty sons and daughters while others will have a large, honorable, and happy portion as obedient children. Nothing could be further from the truth. Our inheritance in heaven is not conditioned upon our works, be they good or bad, but upon our relationship to God. "If children, then heirs!" The issue is determined by that word if. If we are the Lord's children, then no doubt can exist regarding our heavenly inheritance.
There is no such thing as degrees of reward in heaven. There are no slums in the heavenly Jerusalem. There are no uncrowned princes in heaven. Whoever he was who invented the doctrine of degrees of reward in heaven knew nothing about the doctrine of grace in the gospel. The whole system smacks of the popish doctrines of indulgences and purgatory. It is but another subtle system of works religion.
Not all of God's children are prophets, apostles, preachers, teachers, evangelists, or even well-instructed, eminent saints. Not all are rich and influential in spiritual gifts and works. They are not all strong and useful; but they are all heirs of God and equally so. All are children of the same Father, loved with the same love, to the same degree. There are no degrees to our Father's love. All are blessed with the same blessings from eternity. Our Father will not take away what he has already given us; and he has already given us all things in Christ (Eph. 1:3). All are accepted upon the same grounds, for the same reason, to the same degree (Eph. 1:6). All are equally related to the Elder Brother, the Firstborn Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, through whom the inheritance comes. All have already obtained the inheritance in Christ representatively (Eph. 1:11; Heb. 6:20). There is no room for works in the system of grace (Rom. 11:6). Our glorification will no more be determined by our works than our election, redemption, justification, regeneration, and sanctification. Salvation is all of grace. If heavenly glory is the ultimate end of salvation (and it is), then our works have nothing to do with it.
THE HOLY SPIRIT DESCRIBES ALL BELIEVERS AS "HEIRS OF GOD." Think of the implications of that fact. Our inheritance is divinely great. This is what the Scriptures declare. "He that overcometh shall inherit all things" (Rev. 21:7). "All things are yours" (2 Cor. 3:21). If we are the children of God, then we are...Heirs of God's Salvation (Heb. 1:14)...Heirs of Eternal Life (Tit. 3:7)...Heirs of Promise (Heb. 6:17)...Heirs of the Grace of Life (I Pet. 3:7)...Heirs of Righteousness (Heb. 11:7)...Heirs of the Kingdom (James 2:5). If we are heirs of God, our inheritance is an inheritance of infinite proportion, too. To be heirs of God is to be heirs of all that God possesses, heirs of all that he is, heirs of God himself, and heirs of all that Jesus Christ is as the God-man, our Mediator. He has given to all his elect all the glory that God the Father gave to him as the result of his perfect obedience to God as our Representative (John 17:5, 22).
BETWEEN CHRIST AND HIS PEOPLE THERE SUBSISTS SUCH A GLORIOUSLY MYSTERIOUS UNION THAT ALL BELIEVERS ARE JOINT-HEIRS WITH CHRIST HIMSELF. "If children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Jesus Christ." This is grace indeed. God has pardoned us, received us into his house, adopted us as his sons, made us all his heirs, and has made us to be joint-heirs with his own dear Son. As justification is union and communion with Christ in his righteousness, sanctification is union and communion with Christ in his holiness, and glorification shall be union and communion with Christ in his Sonship.
Our inheritance with Christ is an inheritance worthy of the Son of God. What an inheritance that must be! It is such an inheritance as the Father reserves for and gives to his well-beloved Son in whom he is well-pleased. Our worthiness to obtain this glorious inheritance is our union with the Lord Jesus Christ. Our only worthiness to approach God in any way, at any time, is Christ. In Christ every believer is worthy to obtain this inheritance (Col. 1:12). We have been made worthy by the work of God's free grace in Christ, who brought in perfect righteousness for us by his holy life and fully paid our debt by his sin-atoning death. Our everlasting inheritance in glory with Christ is a matter of absolute certainty. Our union with him secures it. His title deed to glory is ours. The two are indivisible. His prayer for us claimed it for us. He has gone into heaven to prepare it for us and hold it in our name. He is coming again to bring us into the blessed possession of it.
I really do not know what to expect when we have obtained our inheritance (1 John 3:2); but some things are both certain and clearly revealed in the Word of God. When we have been raised from the dead and transformed into Christ's likeness, when we enter into his glory there will be nothing in eternity to sadden our hearts or dampen our spirits (Rev. 21:3-4). "Then we shall know, even as we are known." We will say an eternal "good-bye" to sin and attain perfect holiness. We shall enter into perfect rest (Heb. 4:9). Yet, we will serve the Lord perfectly (Rev. 7:15). We shall live in perfect communion with one another. We shall be totally satisfied when we shall see our Savior face to face (Ps. 17:15).