Galatians 3:16-26 Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ. And this I say, that the covenant, that was confirmed before of God in Christ, the law, which was four hundred and thirty years after, cannot disannul, that it should make the promise of none effect. For if the inheritance be of the law, it is no more of promise: but God gave it to Abraham by promise. Wherefore then serveth the law? It was added because of transgressions, till the seed should come to whom the promise was made; and it was ordained by angels in the hand of a mediator. Now a mediator is not a mediator of one, but God is one. Is the law then against the promises of God? God forbid: for if there had been a law given which could have given life, verily righteousness should have been by the law. But the scripture hath concluded all under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe. But before faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed. Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith. But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster. For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus.

If the promises were made to Abraham and to Jesus Christ, then where is our inherent promises?

All our promises are in Christ and to obtain them you must be in Christ. How that comes about is pointed out in these three words; justified by faith.

Acts 26:18 To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me.

As I am reading this, it occurs to me that the people of the time, the Jews upon which this gospel first fell, would have had their ears perked up at the sound of one word in this passage.

Inheritance.

This word of faith in Christ is new to them, but inheritance had a deep cultural implication upon which their understanding was not based on faith. I do not have that cultural understanding. Inheritance was not my experience. I do however know human instincts and why certain words carry more meaning when heard.

I knew the power of sin in my life. I wasn’t blaming Satan for those sins, I owned them. Forgiveness held more sway over me than inheritance. I knew nothing about sanctification nor spiritual blindness, so I didn’t have a complete understanding about this passage. I did however have enough interest in forgiveness to inquire more.

Does it mean that those who heard “inheritance” didn’t find the Lord? No not at all but knowing humanity as I do, some would come to a point and say “This wasn’t what I was looking for.” All of these things and more are founded on the same thing, the promises of God.

For anyone who has a mentality of instant reward, such as receiving an inheritance, may find disappointment. The truth of God’s promises are time sensitive. Some we can receive instantly, some we will receive on this journey. The powerful and important ones will not be received until this journey is over. Because of this believing on Him who makes those promises and a correct understanding of those promises is critical.