Every truth examined in this series — the new birth, righteousness, the indwelling Spirit, authority, prayer, healing, confession, love, community, mission, hope — is ultimately a dimension of a single comprehensive reality that stands as the final declaration of what God has done for and given to the new creation:
An inheritance.
Not a conditional promise dependent on future performance. Not a reward waiting to be earned through sustained faithfulness. An inheritance — the settled, legal, irrevocable entitlement of the heir that is secured not by what the heir achieves but by whose family they belong to and what the Father has prepared for them.
“The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ.” — Romans 8:16–17 (KJV)
The logic is inexorable. Children → heirs. Heirs of God. And — the most staggering part — joint-heirs with Christ. What Christ inherits, the new creation inherits with Him. Not a portion of His inheritance while He receives the greater share. Joint-heirs: the same inheritance, shared fully.
The Greek Foundation — Kleronomia and the Weight of Inheritance
The primary Greek word for inheritance in the New Testament is kleronomia — from kleros (a lot, a portion, an allotment) and nemo (to possess or distribute). In the ancient world, inheritance was the portion allotted to an heir from the estate of the one who died — legally secured, legally transferred, legally belonging to the heir by right of relationship.
The background of kleronomia in the Old Testament context is the land of Canaan — the territorial inheritance God allotted to Israel as His covenant people. God’s promise to Abraham — “Get thee out of thy country… unto a land that I will shew thee” — was the promise of an inheritance. When Joshua led Israel into Canaan, they were receiving their kleronomia: the portion God had promised, allotted, and secured for them. Every tribe received their share of the land — their kleros, their portion — and it was secured by the covenant God had made with their forefather Abraham.
This is the background against which the New Testament’s language of inheritance must be read. When Paul declares the new creation to be heirs of God, he is invoking a framework his readers understood: the covenant God who promised an inheritance to Abraham has, in Christ, made available an inheritance that transcends the land of Canaan — an inheritance that is the fullness of all God has and is, extended to every new creation who is in Christ.
“Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ.” — Galatians 3:16 (KJV)
The promise to Abraham found its fulfilment in Christ — and in Christ, every new creation becomes a participant in the Abrahamic promise: “And if ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.” — Galatians 3:29 (KJV).
Sons, Therefore Heirs — Galatians 4:4–7
The mechanism by which the new creation enters the inheritance is the same mechanism that establishes their identity as children of God — adoption:
“But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons. And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father. Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.” — Galatians 4:4–7 (KJV)
The logic moves from adoption to inheritance in one movement: because the new creation has been adopted as sons, they are heirs of God through Christ. The servant has no inheritance — only those who are in the family. The new creation is in the family — not as servants who have been elevated to honorary family status, but as sons who have been born of God and adopted into the full rights of sonship.
Abba, Father. The Aramaic word of intimate address — the word a child uses to a beloved father. Not the formal address of a subject to a sovereign. The cry of a child to a Father. And the Spirit Himself is the witness to this relationship — crying within the new creation Abba, Father, confirming the adoption, establishing the basis for the inheritance.
Sealed with the Holy Spirit — Ephesians 1:11–14
The most concentrated description of the inheritance in the New Testament is in Paul’s opening doxology in Ephesians 1, where three successive statements of what God has done all converge on the inheritance:
“In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will: That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ. In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise, Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.” — Ephesians 1:11–14 (KJV)
We have obtained an inheritance. Past tense. Already obtained. The new creation does not wait to receive an inheritance — they have already obtained one in Christ.
Sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise. The sealing is the mark of ownership and security — the ancient seal that marked a document as authentic, owned, and protected. The Holy Spirit dwelling in the new creation is God’s seal upon them — the mark that says: this person belongs to Me, and what belongs to Me is secure.
The earnest of our inheritance. Here is the second Greek word that demands attention: arrhabon — the earnest, the down payment, the guarantee. In first-century commerce, the arrhabon was a portion of the purchase price paid in advance as a guarantee that the full payment would follow. The arrhabon was not merely a token or symbol — it was the same currency as the full payment, just a partial amount, given to secure the transaction and guarantee its completion.
The Holy Spirit — the indwelling presence of God — is the arrhabon of the new creation’s inheritance. What the new creation already experiences of God — His presence, His peace, His power, His love shed abroad — is not the full inheritance. It is the down payment of the same. The God who has given the Holy Spirit as arrhabon is the God who has committed Himself to deliver the full inheritance at the redemption of the purchased possession. The new creation’s present experience of the Spirit is the guarantee that the fullness is coming.
The Inheritance Reserved in Heaven — 1 Peter 1:3–5
“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you, Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.” — 1 Peter 1:3–5 (KJV)
Four qualities of the inheritance that Peter declares — each one by deliberate contrast with every earthly inheritance:
Incorruptible — aphthartos, unable to rot, to decay, or to be subject to any corrupting force. Every earthly inheritance is corruptible: money devalues, property deteriorates, estates are contested and depleted. The inheritance in Christ is incorruptible — untouched by the processes of decay that affect everything in the fallen world.
Undefiled — amiantos, unstained, unpolluted, without moral blemish. Every earthly inheritance is marked, in one way or another, by the fallen world through which it passes. The inheritance in Christ has never been touched by defilement — it is pure.
Fadeth not away — amarantos, from the amaranth flower which, unlike other flowers, was believed to never wilt or lose its colour. The inheritance in Christ does not diminish over time, does not become less with use, does not fade with the passage of years.
Reserved in heaven for you. The inheritance is not left unguarded, exposed to risk or theft. It is reserved — kept in safekeeping, protected — in heaven, the realm that is beyond the reach of every earthly threat. And the new creation is kept by the power of God through faith until the inheritance is revealed. Both the inheritance and the heir are kept.
Present Inheritance and Future Inheritance
The inheritance of the new creation has two dimensions that must be held together:
What the new creation possesses now. The inheritance is not entirely future. In Christ, the new creation already possesses every spiritual blessing in heavenly places (Ephesians 1:3). They already have righteousness, peace, joy in the Holy Spirit (Romans 14:17). They are already seated in heavenly places in Christ (Ephesians 2:6). The Holy Spirit already indwells them as the arrhabon. The authority, the love, the adoption, the access to the Father, the name of Jesus — all of these are present-tense possessions of every new creation.
What awaits at the full redemption. The inheritance that is reserved in heaven — the glorified body, the new heavens and new earth, the face-to-face presence of Christ, the complete transformation of creation — awaits its full manifestation at the return of Christ and the resurrection. “And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.” — Romans 8:17 (KJV). The glorification is the completion of the inheritance.
Peter describes this transition: “The God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you.” — 1 Peter 5:10 (KJV). The eternal glory is the destination; the present life is the way there.
The Content of the Inheritance — What the New Creation Actually Inherits
A comprehensive, Scripture-grounded account of the new creation’s inheritance in Christ includes:
Election and foreknowledge — chosen in Him before the foundation of the world (Ephesians 1:4).
Adoption and sonship — received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father (Romans 8:15).
Redemption and forgiveness — in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins (Ephesians 1:7).
Righteousness — made the righteousness of God in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:21).
Access to the Father — through Him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father (Ephesians 2:18).
The indwelling Holy Spirit — the Spirit of God dwells in you (Romans 8:9).
Authority in His name — all the power of the enemy overcome (Luke 10:19).
Healing — by His stripes ye were healed (1 Peter 2:24).
Providence and supply — my God shall supply all your need (Philippians 4:19).
Peace — the peace of God, which passeth all understanding (Philippians 4:7).
Eternal life — he that believeth in the Son hath everlasting life (John 3:36).
The glorified body — this mortal must put on immortality (1 Corinthians 15:53).
The new heavens and new earth — we look for new heavens and a new earth wherein dwelleth righteousness (2 Peter 3:13).
The face-to-face presence of Christ — we shall see Him as He is (1 John 3:2).
Joint-heirship with Christ — he that overcometh shall inherit all things (Revelation 21:7).
All things. Joint-heirs with Christ — sharing in everything that the Father has given to the Son. This is the scope of the new creation’s inheritance, secured by the cross, guaranteed by the Spirit, reserved in heaven, and awaiting full manifestation at the return of the One who purchased it.
What Comes Next
The series that began with the most fundamental question — what happened to the spirit of man at the Fall, and what happened to the new creation at the new birth — has now arrived at the horizon that gives all of it its final meaning: the complete, comprehensive, irrevocable inheritance of the new creation in Christ. In the final article of this series, we gather every thread and answer the ultimate question: given all of this — who is the new creation, and what does that mean for the life they live today?
“According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue.” — 2 Peter 1:3 (KJV)
All things. That pertain to life and godliness. Already given. In the knowledge of Him. This is where the series ends — and where every new creation begins: in the full inheritance that has been provided in Christ, held by the power of God, and available to every born-again believer who will dare to know and walk in what they carry.
Bible Verses Cited: Romans 8:14–17; Ephesians 1:3–14; 1 Peter 1:3–5; Galatians 3:16, 3:29; Galatians 4:4–7; Romans 4:13; Joshua 1:1–4; Colossians 1:12; Hebrews 9:15; Revelation 21:7; 2 Peter 1:3; 2 Peter 3:13; Luke 10:19; 1 Peter 2:24; Philippians 4:7, 4:19; 1 John 3:2 (KJV)
Series: New Creation in Christ Jesus — Article 34 of 35
Author: Joseph Olarewaju | FaithBibleStudy.org
