The Way of the Heir

The Way of the Heir

The wisdom of a man is to understand his way. In reality it is evident that people understand others’ ways better than their own. They can tell others what they ought to do or should have done; all while there is a sad lack of understanding of what they themselves ought to do. This is man’s folly. You can encounter it everywhere, and it speaks powerfully to all those who seek God’s wisdom and understanding. God’s word speaks first of all to us, and it is we who first shall learn to know our own way. Afterwards we can become interested in the others’ well-being, for then that is also part of our own way.

“The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him that we may also be glorified together.” Rom. 8:16-17.

We are born by the word of truth to be heirs. It is not something we imagine or wish; on the contrary, it is reality! We are born to it by faith in the word of truth! We have been chosen in Him according to the foreknowledge of God, to partake of all God’s blessing, and thereby partake of His glory.

We were completely unfamiliar with the fruit: the joy, the rest, and the blessedness we would experience, but we believed the Word, in the hope it would be fulfilled in us.

“Now I say that the heir, as long as he is a child, does not differ at all from a slave, though he is master of all . . . .” Gal. 4:1. We see this in the natural. The rich man’s son plays with the poor man’s son without realizing that he is heir to all that his father owns, whereas the one he is playing with does not have the same opportunities. As long as the Christian heir is a child in faith, he is like a slave, yet without being a slave, and still he slaves away. And it is right, it is absolutely right that he is slaving away, because it will bring him to faith in Christ. As soon as he lays hold of faith in Christ’s power, he ceases from all his striving in his own strength because it did not bring him to perfection. There is a mystery in this: The more eagerly and honestly he is slaving, the sooner he will lay hold of faith. Everything transpires according to law; nothing happens by chance. God liberates the upright slave when the time has come, for it is not the slavery of a slave, but of a son.

On the other hand, the person who rejects slavery as a child never lays hold of faith in Christ’s power, and remains a sinner as long as he lives. Therefore no one must be afraid of the commandments, for you will love them if you have the right attitude. Even you who have come up in years must not feel embarrassed to acknowledge that you have not left the stage of being a child, but be zealous and active in the heir’s slavery.

But the heir must by faith grow up to Him who is the head—Christ. Therefore the apostle Peter writes that he must put off all malice and all guile and also all hypocrisy and envy and all backbiting, and long for the spiritual, pure milk like a new-born child, so that he may grow to salvation. 1 Pet. 2:1-2. The pure, spiritual milk is God’s word spoken as God’s word. This calls for righteous works done in faith that lead to true liberty and spiritual growth. We become conscious of our high calling in Christ Jesus, and the way is open to continue in it and complete it, in Him.

When we speak about pure milk we also speak (by implication) about impure milk which furthers neither growth nor salvation.

When the Word is spoken in a way that you neither shall nor can do anything, it is a kind of adulterated milk, and the speaker promises liberty without works. All those who drink of this adulterated milk end up in false liberty and are not liberated from sin.

But the heir grows his growth in Christ and matures to the ministry before God. This command of Jesus is addressed to him: “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Matt. 28:19-20.