“giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light.”

“to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light”

The word “partakers” means share; we share Our Lord’s inheritance. Christians are partners with Christ. Christ is the heir of God (Heb. 1:2). Heirship is based on sonship (Rom. 8:16,17). All those who unite with Christ share his inheritance (Eph. 1:11). We are accepted in the Beloved One (Eph. 1:6). Salvation qualifies us to inherit God’s kingdom.

We are joint-heirs with Christ, 

“The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, ¹⁷ 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). 

What does it mean to possess a joint-heirship with Christ? When a couple opens a joint account in the bank, they both have access to the entire account. In the human account, it is whoever gets there first gets the money! In the divine account, both access the account equally. This does not mean that half of it is the Lord’s and half mine.

We share in the inheritance of the saints. A “saint” is a person who has entered into union with Christ eternally. This is a person set apart unto God forever. The moment we are born again, we become a saint. It will take time to take on the characteristics of a saint. We need to be taught how to grow spiritually. It takes time to grow in grace. We may not be very saintly, but we are saints. As we grow, we become more saintly.

“Light” refers to God’s presence. The “light” is the spiritual sphere into which the Lord transformed us from the authority of darkness (Eph 6:12). God took us out from under the authority of Satan and his rebel kingdom and placed us under the sovereignty of King Jesus. God’s glory is his manifest presence (1 Tim. 6:16).

Principle:

We share in the heirship of Christ.

Application:

Do you realize how rich you are spiritually? The more we examine our spiritual inheritance, the more we realize how rich we are. We may live in a spiritual slum district, whereas we could live in the spiritually best part of town. What a pity to live beneath our spiritual privileges! We live like paupers when we are millionaires. Faith makes tangible what is invisible to the naked eye.