Colossians 1.12b-The Father Qualified the Christian to Share in the Saints' Inheritance in the Kingdom of God
Wenstrom Bible Ministries
Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom
Sunday March 15, 2015
Colossians: Colossians 1:12b-The Father Qualified the Christian to Share in the Saints’ Inheritance in the Kingdom of God
Lesson # 16
Colossians 1:3 We give thanks to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you, 4 since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and the love which you have for all the saints; 5 because of the hope laid up for you in heaven, of which you previously heard in the word of truth, the gospel 6 which has come to you, just as in all the world also it is constantly bearing fruit and increasing, even as it has been doing in you also since the day you heard of it and understood the grace of God in truth. 7 just as you learned it from Epaphras, our beloved fellow bond-servant, who is a faithful servant of Christ on our behalf. 9 For this reason also, since the day we heard of it, we have not ceased to pray for you and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding 10 so that you will walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, to please Him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God, 11 strengthened with all power, according to His glorious might, for the attaining of all steadfastness and patience; joyously, 12 giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints in Light. (NASB95)
Colossians 1:3 We continue making it our habit of giving thanks to God namely the Father of our Lord, who is Jesus, who is the Christ when we make it our habit of occupying ourselves with praying on behalf of each and every one of you as a corporate unit. 4 We do this because we heard about your faith in Christ, who is Jesus and in addition your love which you continue to regularly demonstrate for the benefit of each and every one of the saints. 5 All of you do this because of the confident expectation which is, as an eternal spiritual truth reserved in the heavens for all of you. All of you heard this by means of the teaching, which is the truth, namely the proclamation of the gospel 6 which all of you continue to appropriate for the benefit of all of you. Just as in fact throughout the entire world, it continues to produce fruit as well as spread so also it continues to produce fruit as well as spread among all of you from the day all of you obeyed. Consequently, all of you acquired an objective experiential knowledge of the grace originating from God by means of the truth. 7 Just as all of you learned the truth from Epaphras, our beloved fellow-servant who is faithfully serving the Christ on behalf of each and every one of us. 8 The one who also revealed to us your divine-love by means of the Spirit’s power. 9 For this reason also, from the day we ourselves heard about all of you, we never permit ourselves to cease making it our habit of occupying ourselves with praying on behalf of each and every one of you. Specifically, we make it our habit of occupying ourselves with making urgent requests that (God) would cause all of you to be filled with that which is knowing His will experientially by means of a wisdom which is absolute resulting in a discernment which is spiritual. 10 The purpose would be all of you living your lives in a manner worthy of the Lord so as to be fully pleasing to Him. This would result in all of you bearing fruit by means of each and every kind of action which is divine good in quality and character and in addition increasing in knowing experientially God the Father. 11 This is because of all of you are empowered by means of a power which is absolute, because of a power which is sovereign, namely, His glory. The purpose of which is to perfectly embody perseverance as well as patience with joy. 12 All the while, all of you making it your habit of giving thanks to the Father who has qualified each and every one of you with regards to sharing in the saints’ inheritance residing in that which is characterized by light. (Author’s translation)
“The inheritance” is the noun klēros (κλῆρος), which pertains to that which is given as a portion or share or that which is given as a rightful possession and is used with reference to the Christian’s inheritance which they will receive at the Bema Seat if they are faithful in life.
Paul describes what the Father has done for the Colossian believers in that he teaches that the Father qualified each and every one of them to share in the saints’ inheritance which resides in that which is characterized by light, namely the kingdom of God.
This inheritance is a reference to rewards at the Bema Seat for faithful service to God and speaks of the reward believers will receive for being a good and faithful steward with their time, talent, treasure and truth God gave to them as trusts.
Every church age believer has the opportunity to receive their eternal inheritance if they fulfill the condition of being faithful till death or the rapture whichever comes first and thus executes the Father’s will for their life.
Paul teaches in Colossians 3:23-25 that if the Colossians are faithful, they will receive the inheritance which clearly implies if they are not faithful, they will not receive this inheritance.
Colossians 3:23 Whatever you do, do your work heartily, as for the Lord rather than for men 24 knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance. It is the Lord Christ whom you serve. 25 For he who does wrong will receive the consequences of the wrong which he has done, and that without partiality. (NASB95)
The inheritance in the Bible: (1) Related to God’s plan for the believer after conversion. (2) Added blessings to the Saved (i.e. Rewards on top of salvation). (3) Possession. (4) Is meritorious ownership of the kingdom (i.e. Millennium and eternal state) (5) Conditioned on faithful obedience to the will of God. (6) Can be forfeited through habitual disobedience to the will of God. (7) 2 Types of inheritance (God and the possession of land in the Millennium) (Every believer receives God as their inheritance).
Although the believer’s salvation cannot be merited but is received when a person expresses faith alone in Christ alone (Eph. 2:8-9), the believer’s inheritance on the other hand is meritorious.
This means that they have to fulfill the condition of being faithfully obedient to the will of God till physical death or the rapture (i.e. resurrection of the church).
Because the church age believer can forfeit their eternal inheritance through unfaithfulness to the Lord, there are many warnings regarding being unfaithful (Heb. 10:35-39).
The believer is promised that if they fulfill the condition of being faithful, they will be given the privilege to reign with Christ (Rom. 8:16-18; 1 Cor. 6:9-10; Gal. 5:19-1; Eph. 5:5-10; Heb. 12:12-17).
God’s plan for blessing the believer may be compared to an escrow contract.
An escrow is a deed, bond or other agreement by which one person conveys some form of property to another person.
Rather than being conveyed directly, however, the property is deposited with a third party, to be delivered when the intended recipient fulfills certain conditions set forth in the terms of the escrow agreement.
Just as an escrow agreement has three parties, so also Ephesians 1:3 mentions three parties: (1) God the Father is the Grantor, He’s the Giver. (2) Jesus Christ acts as a depository or escrow officer. (3) The believer is the grantee or the receiver.
The believer who fulfills the condition of the escrow by faithfully executing God’s plan for their life in time will receive the conveyance of their escrow blessings for time and in eternity.
The believer who does not fulfill the conditions of the escrow in time and does not reach spiritual maturity will not receive the conveyance of their escrow blessings for both time and eternity.
The believer who does not fulfill the conditions of the escrow will have these greater blessings remain on deposit in heaven as a memorial to the justice of God.
Ephesians 1:1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, to the saints who are at located in Ephesus and who are faithful in Christ Jesus. 2 Grace to all of you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 3 Worthy of praise and glorification is the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the One who has blessed with every spiritual blessing in the heavenlies in the Person of Christ. 4 When He elected us to privilege in Him before the foundation of the world for the purpose of being holy and blameless before Him. 5 By means of divine love He has predestined us for the purpose of adoption for Himself according to grace purpose of His will. 6 For the praise of the glory of His grace by means of which (grace) He has graced us out in the Person of the Beloved. 7 In whom (the Beloved) we have the redemption through His blood (Christ’s substitutionary spiritual death), the forgiveness of sins according to the riches of His grace. 8 From which (riches of His grace) He has directed infinite wealth toward all of us by means of all wisdom and perfect judgment. 9 When He made known to all of us the mystery of His will according to His grace purpose, which He (the Father) purposed in Him (Christ). 10 With respect to the dispensation of the fulness of the times to unite all things in the Person of Christ those in heaven and those on earth by means of Him (Christ). 11 In whom also we have obtained an inheritance when we were predestined according to the purpose of the One who works all things according to the counsel of His will. 12 For the purpose of us being for the praise of His glory, those of us who have confidently placed their trust in the Person of Christ. 13 In whom (the Person of Christ) you have confidently placed your trust after hearing the word of truth, namely, the gospel of your salvation, in the Person of whom (Christ), in fact, when you had trusted, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit who is the Promise 14 who (the Holy Spirit) is the guarantee of our inheritance until the deliverance of the purchased possession (church) for the praise of His glory. (My translation)
“We have obtained an inheritance” is the verb kleroo, which means means “to receive an inheritance” from the Father at the moment of conversion that is on deposit with the Person of Christ who will distribute this inheritance if the believer fulfills the conditions of the escrow which is to execute the Father’s plan in time.
“Inheritance” is the noun kleronomia which means “possession, inheritance,” and refers to the believer’s escrow blessings.
These escrow blessings or in other words our eternal inheritance is mentioned in other places in the Scriptures (Col. 1:9-12; 3:23-25; Heb. 9:15; 1 Pet. 1:3-5).
In Colossians 1:12, “light” is used for the kingdom of God in contrast to the kingdom of darkness which is led by Satan which is indicated in verse 13 in which Paul reminds the Colossians that the Father rescued them from the domain of darkness and transferred them to the kingdom of His beloved Son.
The concept of holiness is signified by the term “light” indicating that Christ’s kingdom is characterized by holiness.
In Colossians 1:12, Paul informs the Colossians that the saints’ inheritance resides in “that which is characterized by light,” which is a reference to the kingdom of God in contrast to the kingdom of darkness which is led by Satan.
This is indicated clearly by Paul’s statements in verse 13 in which he reminds the Colossians that the Father rescued them from the domain of darkness and transferred them to the kingdom of His beloved Son.
The light and darkness motif in these verses simply means that the kingdom of God is characterized by holiness whereas the Satan’s kingdom is characterized by evil.