Possessing Your Inheritance

 

Whatever you do, do your work heartily, as for the Lord rather than for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance [kleronomia – inheritance, possession]. It is the Lord Christ whom you serve.                     Colossians 3:23-24

Like the Old Testament usages, the words for inheritance in the New Testament primarily refer to spiritual obedience as a condition for receiving an inheritance. Becoming an heir can come through a family relationship, through faith, or some form of obedience or merit. Nearly every occurrence of kleronomos – inherit includes either the presence or absence of some work or character quality as a condition of obtaining or forfeiting the particular possession. The account of the Rich Young Ruler below provides insight:

Rich Young Ruler

And someone came to Him and said, "Teacher [didaskolos – instructor, master], what good thing shall I do that I may obtain [echo – implies continued possession] eternal life?" And He said to him, "Why are you asking Me about what is good? There is only One who is good, but if you wish to enter into life, keep the commandments." Then he said to Him, "Which ones?" And Jesus said, "YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT MURDER; YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT ADULTERY; YOU SHALL NOT STEAL; YOU SHALL NOT BEAR FALSE WITNESS; HONOR YOUR FATHER AND MOTHER; and YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF." The young man said to Him, "All these things I have kept; what am I still lacking?" Jesus said to him, "If you wish to be complete [teleios -  finished, the end goal], go and sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me." But when the young man heard this statement, he went away grieving, for he was one who owned much property. And Jesus said to His disciples, "Truly I say to you, it is hard [duskolos – with difficulty] for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. Again, I say to you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God." When the disciples heard this, they were very astonished and said, "Then who can be saved?" And looking at them, Jesus said to them, "With people, this is impossible, but with God, all things are possible."                     Matthew 19:16-26

Mark 10:17 tells us: As He was setting out on a journey, a man ran up to Him and knelt before Him and asked Him, "Good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?" This young man, wealthy and most likely a leader in the Synagogue, approached Jesus as Good Teacher, kneeling before Him. His question: what shall I do to inherit eternal life? It appears he was a good man, sincerely asking the Master a very serious question, not intending to trap Him as the Pharisees did repeatedly, but desiring to be instructed in the right path to eternal life. Jesus' first response sets the man straight on what is good: the only one who is good is God. (According to the Talmud, "There is nothing else that is good but the Law.") He then reminded the young man to “keep the commandments,” that is, all 613 commandments. When questioned, "Which ones?" Jesus quoted those commandments related to one’s relationship with others (6, 7, 8, 9, and 5), summarized by YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF. When he told Jesus that he believed the ruler had honored those commands, he still felt something was lacking. Keeping the Law did not bring any believer to inherit the Kingdom.

This ruler was not asking how he could earn salvation. Instead, he wondered how he could be assured of entering Messiah's Kingdom and his inheritance. Jesus was teaching him that the goodness of the Law of Moses was not sufficient to accomplish this. It would take a more profound commitment, represented by giving up his possessions. When Jesus addressed His disciples, He told them So then, none of you can be My disciple who does not give up all his own possessions (Luke 14:33). Jesus also disclosed that there is a spiritual energy that works against those who are rich, who have many possessions. The eye of a needle is an entrance to a fortified city that a camel could pass through by getting on its knees, signifying humility, that it is very difficult for a rich man to humble himself before God so as to receive his inheritance in eternity. "With people, this is impossible, but with God, all things are possible." 

In the Wilderness 

Do not harden your hearts, as at Meribah, As in the day of Massah in the wilderness, "When your fathers tested Me, they tried Me, though they had seen My work. “For forty years, I loathed that generation and said they are a people who err in their heart, and they do not know My ways. “Therefore, I swore in My anger, truly they shall not enter into My rest.”                   Psalm 95:8-11

For who provoked Him when they had heard? Indeed, did not all those who came out of Egypt led by Moses? And with whom was He angry for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies fell in the wilderness? And to whom did He swear that they would not enter His rest, but to those who were disobedient [apeitheo – disobedient, not to allow oneself to be persuaded]? So, we see that they could not enter because of unbelief [apistos – faithlessness, distrust, unbelief].          Hebrews 3:16-19

These passages address the Hebrew people and their forty years in the wilderness before entering the Promised Land. The trip from Mount Sinai, where they received the Law of Moses, to the outskirts of the Promised Land (Kadesh barnea) took only 11 days (Deuteronomy 1:2). Moses was instructed to choose twelve spies, one from each tribe to investigate the lands beyond the Jordan River and send back a report. We went into the land where you sent us, and it certainly does flow with milk and honey, and this is its fruit. “Nevertheless, the people who live in the land are strong, and the cities are fortified and very large; and moreover, we saw the descendants of Anak there (Numbers 13:27-28). Apart from Joshua and Caleb, the spies discouraged the people from wanting to enter the Promised Land immediately. They would not accept Caleb’s encouragement, “We should by all means go up and take possession of it, for we will surely overcome it” (Verse 30). Their unbelief turned to disobedience. 

Finding Rest 

Therefore, let us fear if, while a promise remains of entering His rest, any one of you may seem to have come short of it. For indeed we have had good news preached to us, just as they also; but the word they heard did not profit them, because it was not united by faith in those who heard. For we who have believed enter that rest.                               Hebrews 4:1-3 

If rest is the ultimate prize in a believer’s relationship with God, it is faith that not only opens the door to salvation but is the vessel that takes him to his promised land. These Hebrews had established their relationship with God through the Law of Moses, but their lack of faith and willingness to unite faith with what they heard, they failed to find the rest God had promised. RT Kendall, pastor of Westminster Chapel in London for 25 years, observed:

It would be a serious mistake to dismiss the children of Israel in the wilderness by writing them off as unregenerate from the start. To say that such people were never saved is to fly in the face of the memorable fact that they kept the Passover. They obeyed Moses, who gave an unprecedented, if not strange command to sprinkle blood on either side and over the doors (Exodus 12:7). But they did it… If obeying Moses’s command to sprinkle blood on the night of the Passover was not a type of saving faith, I do not know what is. These people were saved. We shall see them in heaven, even if it turns out they were saved so as by fire (1 Corinthians 3:15).

Sealed With the Holy Spirit

In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation—having also believed, you were sealed [sphragizo – seal, a mark of protection and ownership] in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is given as a pledge [arrabon – first installment] of our inheritance, with a view to the redemption of God's own possession, to the praise of His glory.                         Ephesians 1:13-14 

The Greek word sphragizo is used to describe a stone being fastened with a seal to prevent it from being removed from its position. The seal was engraved with a mark or distinctive design identifying the owner. It was often made from soft wax using a signet ring, leaving an impression on the wax to identify the owner. When one exercises faith to believe in who Jesus is and what He accomplished for each believer, the Holy Spirit is his seal and guarantee of protection and identity. According to Ephesians 4:30, the sealing is with a view to the day of redemption (Wuest), while the transformational work of sanctification takes place in the believer’s life. These verses represent one of the strongest arguments that salvation cannot be lost but is eternal. In the same way, Paul warns the believer Do not grieve [lupeo – afflict with sorrow] the Holy Spirit of God. This sealing provides room to fail and recover; it can never be broken!   

As the first installment of our inheritance, the Holy Spirit secures a legal claim upon something that is not entirely paid for. He represents an advance payment on the fulfillment of the contract. In Romans 8:23, And not only this but also we ourselves, having the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our body. God has legally and morally obligated Himself to the believer’s salvation, sanctification, and glorification. It is confirmed when Paul spoke these words in 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you have been bought with a price; therefore, glorify God in your body. Communion with Christ is the glorification of God in the body.                        

Spiritually Preserved

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who, according to His great mercy, has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are protected [phroureo – spiritually preserved] by the power of God through faith [pistis – faithfulness] for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.                        1 Peter 1:3-5 

The inheritance spoken of by Peter is not related to one’s justification but faithfulness in one’s relationship to God through the Holy Spirit. Paul tells us that the filling of the Holy Spirit is produced by one who avoids a life defined by debauchery: And do not get drunk with wine, for that is dissipation [asotia – debauchery], but be filled with the Spirit (Ephesians 5:18). This filling defines a quality of life that believers can access when they allow the Holy Spirit to control their lives by faith in the details of life. Jesus’s words in Matthew 19:29-30 explain this principle: And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or farms for My name's sake will receive many times as much and will inherit eternal life. But many who are first will be last, and the last, first.