Heir To A Crown

Rom 8:17 "and if children, then heirs; heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ,

Introductory Thoughts

* I fear that many professing Christians have no idea who they are, nor do they know who they are supposed to be, nor do they really have any concept of where they are supposed to be going.

* The churches are often too much like the world, and many professing Christians have little in their life to distinguish them from the lost world.

* One of the great problems, even for true believers, is the influence of the world on our thinking, and the little time we spend contemplating the glories of heaven and the great gift God has given us.

* There are also many today, who because of the worldly and ungodly lives of many professing Christians, have concluded that a man can lose true salvation—the problem is not that people have lost it, but that they never had it.

* In teaching now on the security of the Believer, we must be careful to have everyone understand that the glories and joys described tonight have nothing to do with making a profession of faith or joining a local church. Rather, they have to do with the inheritance of a true believer in Christ—one who has repented from their sins, has really put all of their faith and trust in Christ, and who has the evidence in their life of a true work of the Holy Spirit.

* Tonight we begin to look at the security of true believers.

* There are many who deny eternal security, but they cannot do that without ignoring Romans 8:17-39.

* If you have friends, neighbors, co-workers, etc., who believe God’s eternal salvation can be lost once had, then you take notes.




1. The Security of True Believers seen in the basic proposition— “… if children, then heirs…”

a. This is not an “if, then” proposition.

(1) The Greek construction in this verse has the meaning of, “since this is the case.”

(2) The words assume that we are true believers and we know it—and this construction holds true in the verses from Galatians, Titus, Hebrews, and Colossians that we show below by comparison.

b. Since, then, we are the Sons of God, we are heirs—this is a constant theme in the New Testament

(1) Since you are an adopted Son of God, you inherit Abraham’s Promise: not the promises of land, and an earthly kingdom, but the spiritual part of the Abrahamic Covenant—Gal 3:29 "And if you are Christ's, then you are Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise."

(2) Since you are an adopted Son of God, you have been elevated from slavery in the court of a cruel, evil master, to royalty, in the court of a kind and loving King. Gal 4:7 "Therefore you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ."

(3) Since you are an adopted Son of God, your inheritance is eternal. Titus 3:7 "that having been justified by His grace we should become heirs according to the hope of eternal life."

(4) Since you are an adopted Son of God, your inheritance is protected by Angels. Heb 1:14 "Are they not all ministering spirits sent forth to minister for those who will inherit salvation?"

(5) Since you are an adopted Son of God, your inheritance, and the fact that you possess your inheritance are both due to the work of God. Col 1:12 "giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light."

(6) Since you are an adopted Son of God, you have been qualified for the inheritance by God’s plan of redemption. Heb 11:7 "… heir of the righteousness which is according to faith."

(7) Since you are an adopted Son of God, an evidence of your inheritance is following Christ. Col 3:24 "knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance; for you serve the Lord Christ."

c. Since we are God’s Sons, then the inheritance is secure—“… if children, then heirs…”

(1) John 10:28 "… I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand."

(2) 1 Pet 1:3-5 "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you, 5 Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time."


2. The Security of True Believers Seen in the Identity of the One Making the Bequest— “…heirs of God…”

a. The Security of any Inheritance depends on the integrity and power of the one making the bequest.

(1) The frailty of human inheritance

(a) Change of mind of the one making the bequest.

(b) Change of actions of the heir.

(c) Factors beyond the control of the one making the bequest.
1. —going broke, for instance.

(2) The Security of Divine Inheritance

(a) God has promised. Heb 6:13-20

(b) Lam 3:22-23 "It is of the LORD'S mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. 23 They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness."

(c) Even our own actions cannot destroy God’s promise. John 10:28-29 "And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. 29 My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand."

(d) There is no power or person who can change the counsel of God

(i) Isa 14:24-27 "The LORD of hosts has sworn, saying, "Surely, as I have thought, so it shall come to pass, And as I have purposed, so it shall stand: …. 26 This is the purpose that is purposed against the whole earth, And this is the hand that is stretched out over all the nations. 27 For the LORD of hosts has purposed, And who will annul it? His hand is stretched out, And who will turn it back?""


(ii) Isa 46:9-11 ""… For I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like Me, 10 Declaring the end from the beginning, And from ancient times things that are not yet done, Saying, 'My counsel shall stand, And I will do all My pleasure,' 11 … I will also bring it to pass. I have purposed it; I will also do it."

(3) God is in control of the process from beginning to end. 1 Pet 1:3-5 "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you, 5 Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time."

b. Doctrinal Basic: God is Immutable—Change is a constant with humans, but God does not change.

(1) He differentiates His manifestations to men;

(2) He reveals mysteries previously concealed Eph 3:7-11);

(3) He may even speak as if He were human in order to be understood),

(4) But God does not change in His essence--He is eternally the same.

(a) Deu 33:27 The eternal God is your refuge, And underneath are the everlasting arms;

(b) Heb 13:8 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.

(c) Mal 3:6 "For I am the LORD, I do not change; Therefore you are not consumed, O sons of Jacob.

(d) Heb 1:11 They will perish, but You remain; And they will all grow old like a garment;

(e) Heb 1:12 Like a cloak You will fold them up, And they will be changed. But You are the same, And Your years will not fail."

(f) James 1:17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning

3. The Security of the Believer Seen in the Nature of the Inheritance.

a. The Inheritance is incorruptible—1 Pet 1:4 To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled—Mat 6:19-20 "Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: 20 But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal:"


b. The Inheritance cannot be taken away—Mat 6:19-20 "Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: 20 But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal:"

c. The Inheritance is glorious—Rom 8:18 "For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us."

d. The Quantity of the inheritance is everything of value in the universe. Heb 1:1-2 "God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, 2 has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds;"

e. The inheritance is eternal. 2 Cor 5:1 "For we know that if our earthly house, this tent, is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens."


4. The Security of the Believer Seen in the Nature of the Relationship of True Believers to Christ— and joint heirs with Christ,

a. Christ is our fountain of life

(1) Psa 36:9 "For with You is the fountain of life; In Your light we see light."

(2) John 7:38-39 ""He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water."

b. We shall share His glory

(1) John 17:22-24 ""And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one: 23 "I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me. 24 "Father, I desire that they also whom You gave Me may be with Me where I am, that they may behold My glory which You have given Me; for You loved Me before the foundation of the world."

c. Our life is lost in Him. Gal 2:20 ""I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me."

d. We are accepted in Him—Eph 1:6 "to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He has made us accepted in the Beloved."

e. We shall be conformed to His Image Phil 3:21 "who will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body, according to the working by which He is able even to subdue all things to Himself."

5. The Security of the Believer Known Through The Earnest of Our Inheritance—Rom 8:17 "And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ;

a. The Spirit is the earnest of our inheritance—Eph 1:13-14 "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, 14 who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory."

(1) The Seal and the Earnest—always connected

“…It seems to be an established rule in the Apostle’s thinking and writing that he never mentions the Spirit as the ‘seal’ without at the same time mentioning the Spirit as the ‘earnest’. Sonship immediately conjures up the notion of inheritance; the two things are indissolubly linked together.” (Lloyd-Jones, Romans)

(2) Examples

(a) 2 Cor 1:22 "who also has sealed us and given us the Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee."

(b) Eph 1:13-14 "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, 14 who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory."

b. The Spirit is the Seal of our Salvation

(1) The Seal—(John MacArthur)

“The sealing of which Paul speaks refers to an official mark of identification placed on a letter, contract, or other document. That document was thereby officially under the authority of the person whose stamp was on the seal. Four primary Truths are signified by the seal: (1) Security; (the seal had not been tampered with) (2) Authenticity; (The document was authentic) (3) Ownership; (The document was owned by the person whose seal was on it) (4) Authority (The seal carried the weight of the authority of the person to whom the seal belonged.)

(2) The Guarantee—1 John 3:24 "Now he who keeps His commandments abides in Him, and He in him. And by this we know that He abides in us, by the Spirit whom He has given us."

(3) 1 John 4:13 "By this we know that we abide in Him, and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit."

6. Applications

a. We Must Have Our Heart Set On The Prize, and our eyes on Christ.

b. It is ONLY the heavenly minded that are of any earthly good in God’s Kingdom.

Heb 11:13-16 "These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off were assured of them, embraced them and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. 14 For those who say such things declare plainly that they seek a homeland. 15 And truly if they had called to mind that country from which they had come out, they would have had opportunity to return. 16 But now they desire a better, that is, a heavenly country. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared a city for them."

Phil 3:13-14 "Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, 14 I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus."

c. We must realize that we are citizens of Heaven, not of Earth, and we must walk that way.

Phil 3:15-20 "Therefore let us, as many as are mature, have this mind; and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal even this to you. 16 Nevertheless, to the degree that we have already attained, let us walk by the same rule, let us be of the same mind. 17 Brethren, join in following my example, and note those who so walk, as you have us for a pattern. 18 For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ: 19 whose end is destruction, whose god is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame; who set their mind on earthly things. 20 For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ,"