Heirs Through Satisfied Law

“¹⁶The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, ¹⁷and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.” “³For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, ⁴in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.”– Romans 8:16-17 & 3-4 (ESV)

We have been recognized as living led by the Spirit. And as such we have been adopted as children of God. And as we are children of God, we are heirs with Jesus to the Kingdom of God. What a wonderful thing to have as my identity. I am a child of God and heir to Heaven. But, see in verse 17. We are heirs yes, but in that we will suffer. We will be persecuted as Jesus, our brother was persecuted.

Here is the thing, we will be persecuted, yes, but that persecution is from man, not from God. You see, we have been justified through our faith in Him. We have been set free from the burden that sin has on our lives. As Jesus came and took that burden away. God sent Jesus to appear as us, human, as an offering for sin, condemned our sin, and satisfied the law of sin for us. Jesus stepped in for us with God and satisfied our payment for the sin in our lives. He dismissed the case against us with prejudice to satisfy the law.

I am so grateful that I do not have to concern myself with the consequence of sin, death. I am free from sin and can lead my life focused on the work God has for me and that the Holy Spirit guides me in thanks to the grace afforded me through Jesus Christ. The law was satisfied and I get to live. And I get to live as an heir to Heaven with Jesus, my brother.

How do you qualify as heir to Heaven? Are you getting there for being a good person? What if you realized that it is because your sin has been satisfied by the grace of Jesus and the love of God?