Inheritance

 The Concept of Inheritance               1-4-25

Happy New Year!

Remember in our previous posts we talked about salvation being free and eternal.Free with respect to works.The only condition being that we believe in Jesus.Nothing else.Eternal meaning everlasting.Once we have it, we cannot lose it for any reason.And of course the first questions that arise are those of repentance, commitment, obedience, license to sin etc.It is the aim of this study to show that all of those concepts above are indeed relevant to the Christian experience.They are consistently taught in the Bible as commands that we will be held accountable for.However,they are NOT taught as commands that our salvation, our justification before God,is dependent upon.Our eternal destiny is determined by one, and only one requirement,simple childlike faith or belief.So,where does all the other stuff fit in? The doctrine of rewards.We will begin our look at this doctrine by looking at the Biblical concept of inheritance.

Here is a foundational truth of rewards.There are differences between God's children.Now,I can assure you,this is one of two concepts,the other being sin and it's pervasiveness, that are rarely taught in today's western church.We are all equal before the Lord is the stance that prevails today.But,is that what the Bible teaches? I have been persuaded over the years, that indeed the Bible does make distinctions between believing children.

The Scriptures speak of two different aspects or types of inheritance.One is because we are children of the Most High God.The other inheritance is because we are FAITHFUL children of the Most High God.The first inheritance is conditioned on faith in Jesus. It is guaranteed of all who put their faith in the Son of God and believe that He gives eternal life.The second is conditioned on merit or a more familiar term,works.A believer can possess the first and lose out on the second.Possession of the second inheritance is based upon good deeds or works and the avoidance of sin.A quick look at the Old Testament will give you an idea.I will give you the Scripture references so you can look them up.Israel's inheritance was a permanent gift from the Lord.(Gen.12:7,15:18-21.17:8,Ex.6:8)This was God's covenant with His people Israel.The land would be their's forever.However,there was more to the concept of inheritance than a guaranteed possession.There was an aspect that inheritance could be gained or forfeited.The most glaring Old Testament example is Moses.Moses,because of an act of disobedience lost his inheritance in the promised land. Look.

Numbers 20:8-12

“Take the staff, and assemble the congregation, you and Aaron your brother, and tell the rock before their eyes to yield its water. So you shall bring water out of the rock for them and give drink to the congregation and their cattle.” And Moses took the staff from before the LORD, as he commanded him.Then Moses and Aaron gathered the assembly together before the rock, and he said to them, “Hear now, you rebels: shall we bring water for you out of this rock?” And Moses lifted up his hand and struck the rock with his staff twice, and water came out abundantly, and the congregation drank, and their livestock. And the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, “Because you did not believe in me, to uphold me as holy in the eyes of the people of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land that I have given them.”

As an aside did you notice God's explanation of Moses's disobedience? 

"...Because you did not believe in me..."    Just Sayin'

Deuteronomy 32:48-52

That very day the LORD spoke to Moses, “Go up this mountain of the Abarim, Mount Nebo, which is in the land of Moab, opposite Jericho, and view the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the people of Israel for a possession. And die on the mountain which you go up, and be gathered to your people, as Aaron your brother died in Mount Hor and was gathered to his people, because you broke faith with me in the midst of the people of Israel at the waters of Meribah-kadesh, in the wilderness of Zin, and because you did not treat me as holy in the midst of the people of Israel. For you shall see the land before you, but you shall not go there, into the land that I am giving to the people of Israel.”

Moses lost his right to possess inheritance of the promised land because of disobedience.However,Moses did not lose his salvation did he? I hope not!If Moses could not get in, then WOE IS ME! I am in big,BIG trouble!!Well,do not fret,I can prove that Moses did not lose his salvation.Look.

Matthew 17:1-3

 And after six days Jesus took with him Peter and James, and John his brother, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became white as light. And behold, there appeared to them Moses and Elijah, talking with him.

 

 Moses and Elijah both made it in didn't they?Of course.Get the concept from the Old testament because it carries forward into the New Testament as it pertains to rewards for New Testament believers. Once again, an inheritance is given to all believers that is permanent and secure for eternity.In the Kingdom,Moses will surely possess his share of the permanent gift of the land.

 

 There is a passage in the New Testament that explains this concept but uses the entire wilderness generation.

 

 Look at Hebrews 3:16-19.

 "For who were those who heard and yet rebelled? Was it not all those who left Egypt led by Moses? And with whom was he provoked 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? So we see that they were unable to enter because of unbelief."

 

 This passage is talking about the wilderness generation and their loss of inheritance or reward because of disobedience due to,once again,unbelief. Now here is the kicker.They were all saved.Yep that's right.Look.

 

 1st Corinthians 10:1-5

 "For I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, that our fathers were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea, and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, and all ate the same spiritual food, and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank from the spiritual Rock that followed them, and the Rock was Christ. Nevertheless, with most of them God was not pleased, for they were overthrown in the wilderness."

 

 Look at the repeated use of the word "all." They all drank of the spiritual rock which was Christ.But,due to disobedience they were overthrown in the wilderness.

 

 Isaiah 57:13

"When you cry out, let your collection of idols deliver you!

The wind will carry them all off,

a breath will take them away.

But he who takes refuge in me shall possess the land

and shall inherit my holy mountain."

The only thing I want you to notice for now in this verse is the distinction God makes in this verse.If one takes refuge in God,he will not only possess the land, but he will inherit His holy mountain.This is a distinction we shall take up in a future post.

A final note.Inheritance in the Old Testament is different from our modern way of thinking on inheritance.In the Bible an inheritance was a present possession.It was received while one was still living.The word means "an allotted portion."How one possesses the inheritance is contextual.In the Old Testament it was possessed by casting lots, gifts, and meritorious works etc,.In the New Testament we see the idea once again of two inheritances.One guaranteed, one conditional.In the New Testament our relationship with Jesus the Messiah is tantamount.Both inheritances are connected with our relationship with Him.Both salvation and rewards flow from our level of "abiding in Him."It is possible that a regenerate or saved person can miss out on the receiving of an inheritance.

In ancient Israel,one became an heir by birth, but could forfeit his firstborn privilege due to disobedience.The nation had the unconditional promise of the land through Abraham,but they missed out on much of what God had for them due to disobedience.It is the same in the New Testament.There are going to be differences and distinctions in the rewards given to believers.All who believe in Jesus will take part in kingdom blessings, but their "inheritance"will not be the same.Without getting too detailed, inheritance as we think of it is something in addition to salvation.But,that is not really the aim of this post.I want to show you that those "hard verses" are harmonized.There is no contradiction in Scripture.It is not broken.We will stop here for now.We will look in some detail next time at the differences between the guaranteed first inheritance and the conditional second inheritance.For a head start go look at Romans 8:12-17.

Pay special attention to verse 17 and the word "if." KJV has "if"ESV has "provided"NASB has "if."The important point is the conditional nature of the word "if."

All we must do is believe.

God Bless