“AN HEIR OF GOD THROUGH CHRIST”
Now I say, that the heir, as long as he is a child, differeth nothing from a servant, though he be lord of all; 2). But is under tutors and governors until the time appointed of the father 3). Even so we, when we were children, were in bondage under the elements of the world: 4). But when the fullness of time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, 5). To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons. 6). And because ye are Sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father. 7.) Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.
The believer in Jesus Christ is an heir of God and will receive his appointed inheritance when Christ returns (3:29 cf Romans 8:17). This heritage includes, among other things, the blessings of reigning with Christ in the millennial kingdom to come and of dwelling eternally with the Lord in the New Jerusalem (Revelations 20-21).
During New Testament times, when an heir was but a child, he was treated no differently than a common household servant. The young heir needed instruction and had to obey the rules of his father’s house. “Even so we,” prior to salvation, were in bondage to the Law of God because it revealed our inability to meet the divine criteria for son-ship in the household of God. Man’s sinful nature prevented him from fulfilling the Law’s demands. But at God’s appointed time, He “sent forth His Son” to provide Mankind with the Redeemer who would not only cancel man’s guilt and penalty of sin under the Law but also provide him with an inheritance with all the privileges of a son (vv. 4-5). How infinitely better it is, for bot believing Jew and Gentile alike, to be the Sons of God rather than slave under His Law.
All who become heirs of God by faith in Christ (John 1-12) also receive the gift of the Holy Spirit (verse 6). The “earnest of our inheritance” is the Spirit’s seal upon the believer guaranteeing that he will receive all that is promised in Christ. No longer under the curse of the Law, the saint is now a son, “an heir of God through Christ” (V. 7). In this intimate relationship with his Lord, the child of God can cry from the heart, “Abba, Father” (Romans 8:15)—what could be more glorious than that?
-IBC
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