The Guarantee of Our Inheritance
Knowing Our Special Place as God's Children
We feel safer when we buy things with a guarantee. Today, cars, appliances, major electronics, and almost anything come with a guarantee to get your money back or any problem fixed — all for your peace of mind as you make the purchase. I think it is a part of human nature.
In Ephesians 1:3-12, Paul establishes the present reality of the Christian. He says each one in Christ has been blessed with every spiritual blessing. They have been adopted as a son or daughter of God, redeemed by the blood of Christ, which has resulted in forgiveness, wisdom, and insight being lavished upon them according to the riches of His grace. This was all to fulfill God’s plan: to unite all things in Him and give his children an inheritance for the praise of his glory. If you are in Christ, all these things are yours presently. They are foundational to understanding who you are in Christ, where you will be in eternity, and God’s purpose for your existence on earth.
In Ephesians 1:13-14, Paul says your guarantee is your receipt of the Holy Spirit. He is the “down payment” of our inheritance. Today, there are down payments on new cars, homes, and even when you buy a gun on layaway at a gun store. We make down payments to demonstrate our seriousness about completing a transaction. Here, Paul is saying the Spirit has been given to us for the purpose of confirmation. In other words, Paul says the Spirit is in you to fill you with confidence.
Let’s look at Galatians 4:5-7. First, we’ll examine verse 5:
to redeem those under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.
Why did God send Jesus at the fullness of time (see 4:4)? There are two purposes. First, Jesus came for redemption. “The law” here is not the law of Moses. Rather, it is law in general. When we use the term “under the law,” it refers to someone subject to its penalty. We were sinners condemned to God’s wrath. We were “under the law.” Jesus came to redeem us from that. But Jesus came for more than just to provide for forgiveness — He came to bring us into God’s family, i.e., so that we might be adopted. You are special to God. It’s personal. He loves you. He has committed to you. He is your father.
To confirm that you are His, God has given the Spirit, who resides in our hearts. Look at verses 6-7:
And because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba, Father!” So you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son, then God has made you an heir.
Note again your status: you are sons. You have the Spirit to confirm that fact. He testifies to you that you are his.1 You are no longer Satan’s slave—you are God’s son—and an heir to a great inheritance.
Now, back to Ephesians.
To further illustrate the guarantee, Paul says in Christ, we were sealed with the Spirit when we heard and believed the truth. In Greco-Roman times, a seal marked ownership. In the same way, Paul says, you are owned by God. You are His. As a result, you are a possessor of these things:
His approval. God has poured His grace upon you in the Beloved One, Ephesians 1:6.
Authentic testimony. Official documents were often signed and stamped with a seal over the signature, guaranteeing their authenticity. Paul says His Spirit sealed you for the day of redemption (Ephesians 4:30).
Appropriation. As God's adopted son or daughter, you have been transferred into his marvelous kingdom of grace, Colossians 1:13.
Security. In ancient times, sealed documents were rolled up and fastened with a small spot of clay, making it easy to see if the document had been tampered with. In 2 Timothy, Paul writes, God’s solid foundation stands firm, bearing this inscription: The Lord knows those who are his, and let everyone who calls on the name of the Lord turn away from wickedness, 2:19.
Completion. Seals indicate a finished transaction. Concerning your salvation, your debt has been paid. In Colossians 2:13-15, Paul speaks of what Jesus accomplished:
And when you were dead in trespasses and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, he made you alive with him and forgave us all our trespasses. He erased the certificate of debt, with its obligations, that was against us and opposed to us, and has taken it away by nailing it to the cross. He disarmed the rulers and authorities and disgraced them publicly; he triumphed over them in him.
Our being made alive and forgiven in verse 13 indicates our ongoing spiritual state or status in Christ. This includes all your sins before and after your baptism. Not only did Jesus obliterate the sins of your past, but He lives to destroy them now. He is your advocate, 1 John 2:1, and your intercessor, Hebrews 7:25.
It is amazing to me the lengths the apostles go to stress to us the surety of receiving our inheritance. They want us to know our special place as God’s children. They want us to know how special God is, choosing us when we rightly deserved eternal death and saving us by grace. They also want us to know that since our status is secure, we must live a life that reflects it. You haven’t been saved to live as you choose; you have been called to consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus, Romans 6:11, and to continue obeying from the heart that pattern of teaching to which you were handed over, Romans 6:17.
You are free. Your inheritance is guaranteed. Now, go live the life that imitates God as a dearly loved child, Ephesians 5:1
Other passages that speak of the Spirit’s work of confirmation are Romans 8.15-17; 26-27; 1 John 5.6-11.