What an inheritance! (Ephesians 1:11-14)

Ephesians 1:11-14

In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will, that we who first trusted in Christ should be to the praise of His glory.

In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory.

New King James Version (NKJV)

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

• Ephesians 1:11 can be understood not only as believers receiving an inheritance but as God's redeemed people being set apart as his inheritance.
• God's choice and predestining purpose mean that salvation rests on his counsel rather than accident, human worth, or self-made righteousness.
• The believer belongs to God because God has chosen, purchased, redeemed, and claimed a people for himself.
• Faith hears and trusts the word of truth, the gospel of salvation, looking to Christ's righteousness and blood rather than personal merit.
• The promised Holy Spirit seals believers as God's own and serves as the guarantee or first installment of their inheritance.
• The greatest inheritance is God himself: his people will be with him, enjoy him, and praise his glory forever.

• Do I understand myself first as belonging to God, or as free to live only for my own desires?
• When suffering strips away lesser loves, will I trust that God himself is enough to sustain and satisfy me?
• Have I merely heard the gospel audibly, or do I believe in my heart that Jesus Christ is Lord and risen?
• When I doubt, do I try to earn salvation through introspection and performance, or return to Christ's righteousness and blood?
• How does the Holy Spirit's presence strengthen assurance that I am God's child and will receive the promised redemption?
• Does the gift of belonging to God produce praise, obedience, and gratitude in my daily life?

Inheritance

The reciprocal covenant blessing in which believers belong to God as his treasured people and receive God himself as their everlasting portion.

Predestination

God's eternal purpose ordering salvation according to the counsel of his will rather than human worth or chance.

Faith

Hearing the gospel with the heart and trusting the person, work, righteousness, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Seal of the Spirit

The Holy Spirit's mark of God's ownership and authenticating promise that believers are his children.

Guarantee

The Spirit as God's down payment or first installment assuring believers of the full redemption still to come.