Heirs According to Promise (Sermon for the Second Sunday after Pentecost: June 22, 2025)

Watch the sermon here. Listen to the sermon here.

Texts:  Psalm 3

Isaiah 65:1-9

Galatians 3:23-4:7

Luke 8:26-39

Grace, mercy, and peace be to you from God our Father, and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

What does it mean to be an heir? When we think of this word, we often think of an inheritance that we receive from a family member after their death. This usually includes possessions that are passed down to children and then become that child’s possession through a written will. Likewise, Paul in our text from Galatians talks about how we are heirs through Christ. In fact, we receive this inheritance through the promises of God which are given to us. Therefore, by faith, we are heirs of the promise through Christ.

In our text, St. Paul states that “we were held captive under the law” (v. 23). Under the law, we are condemned and held captive since we are unable to perfectly keep the law. Ever since the fall into sin, we have failed to do what was given to us in the Ten Commandments. This inability to follow God’s commands holds the entire world captive with no hope for release. We experience this condemnation on a daily basis as we continue to turn away from God’s promises. We know that the law is written on our heart. Yet, we fail to obey it due to our sinful condition that we inherited from our parents, Adam and Eve. Think about how easy it is for us to ignore and disobey God’s Law whether it be gossiping, lying, cursing, coveting, et cetera. We constantly do these things without even thinking about it. Our sinful nature keeps us from doing the very things which are commanded of us to do, and the Law continues to bind us in chains – as ones who are imprisoned.

St. Paul continues: “the law was our guardian until Christ came, in order that we might be justified by faith” (v. 24). In the days of the Old Testament, before the Incarnation, the Law played an important role in the lives of God’s people. It was the thing that guided the Israelites in their way of life – what they were to do and how they were to act. This sense of the law actually includes more though. St. Paul is talking about the Torah, in which the promise of the Messiah that is also included. The Torah reassured the people of Israel of the Gospel, namely that they were saved by their faith rather than their works. This is how our fathers of old were saved, such as Abraham. He was justified by God and saved by his faith. This is clearly seen in the biblical account of God’s command of Abraham to sacrifice his son Isaac in Genesis 22. As a result of Abraham’s obedience and faith, he was given God’s blessing, and his son was spared from death.

This Old Testament understanding of being justified by faith is the same for us today too. The Law serves us today in its threefold use as a curb, mirror, and guide. However, things are different now that Christ has come. God’s people of old were saved by their faith in the promise of Christ’s coming. Even before the Incarnation, Abraham was justified by faith, just as Scripture states in Genesis 15:6, “Abraham believed the Lord, and he counted it to him as righteousness.” Abraham like many others in the Old Testament was saved by his faith in the coming Messiah. He truly believed that Christ would one day come and his faith rests in that promise. Today, we are saved by our faith in Christ who came down from heaven, died, and rose again to fulfill what was prophesied in the Old Testament. Likewise, we believe that He will come again to judge the living and the dead.

“But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian” (v. 25). Christ perfectly kept the law in every way that we could not. This is that distinction that St. Paul makes between the days before the Incarnation and after. Before faith, we were held captive under the law. Now that faith has come, in other words, Christ has come and dwelt among us in the Incarnation (John 1:14), we are no longer held captive under the Law. However, the Law still has its effect because we still sin. We are simultaneously saint and sinner. Even though we have been justified through faith (Romans 5:1), we are still sinners who are damned by the Law we cannot keep (Romans 7). In our text, Paul is saying that for the people of faith, the law is no longer our guardian since it has been fulfilled through Christ. Like the people of the Old Testament, we are still saved by our faith but now this faith rests in the knowledge of what Christ completed for us on the cross in His bitter suffering and death and His resurrection from the grave.

As Christians who gather under this commonality of faith, Paul states, “for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith” (v. 26). How then are we all sons of God through faith? In the following verse, Paul gives us the example of our Baptism. In Baptism, God’s Triune Name is spoken, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and the sign of the cross is placed upon us, marking us as one belonging to God. This is the baptismal candidate’s entrance into God’s kingdom where He calls each and every one of you as His own. In fact, every single one of us who have been baptized into Christ, received the Holy Spirit through God’s Word and the application of water. That is what makes it a baptism. Everyone who has been baptized has put on Christ and has been joined together into one body. As St. Paul says, “For you are all one in Christ Jesus” (v. 28). All that are baptized receive the same promises of God. There is no more need for distinction between Jew, Greek, slave, free, male, or female (v. 28). These distinctions do not determine our standing before God, even though they still remain in creation. Baptism brings all the faithful together, living as one in union with Christ. We are all part of one body – the church.

Unfortunately, this verse has been used out of context by members of the LGBT community to push their toxic and demonic agenda upon Christians. I can assure you that St. Paul does not have in mind to advocate for this agenda. Through Holy Baptism, Christians have become one in Christ Jesus. Paul says this to explain that Gentiles are now included as sons of God in their Baptism, where this title was once only given to Jews who were God’s chosen people in the Old Testament who would carry the Messiah through their lineage (Deuteronomy 14:1). But now that Christ has come and fulfilled what was written, all who believe and are baptized are saved. All believers are saved and justified by faith and receive salvation for the sake of what Christ has done. We must continue to pray for the confused members of the LGBT movement. May God bring them to repentance that will lead to amendment of life so that they too might enjoy the promises found only in Christ Jesus that include the forgiveness of sins, eternal life, and salvation.

Since we belong to Christ, we are offspring of Abraham and heirs according to promise (v. 29). Abraham’s seed is Christ because Abraham is of the lineage of the promised Messiah. Gentiles who believe in Christ and who would not normally be counted as seeds of Abraham become heirs by their faith in Christ. There’s the difference now. They become heirs according to promise, not according to their standing in society. We too have become heirs according to promise because we have become Christ’s through Holy Baptism. This does not mean that we no longer sin. The law is still potent and condemns us revealing our desperate need for a Savior. Christ does what the law cannot do and saves us from our sin and shortcomings. This is how we can be simultaneously saint and sinner even though we are baptized into Christ Jesus, making us so-called “saved sinners.”

We are heirs according to promise because we have become children of God through Christ. Paul uses the language of children and slaves describe the condition of those subject to the law. Children, like slaves were both unable to enjoy the inheritance. In other words, their status subjected them to a slavery-like condition similar to that of Jews and Gentiles prior to Christ’s coming. For the Jews, they were bound to the law and for the Gentiles, they were bound to their pagan lifestyle. This bondage into slavery showed the need for Christ to come. The text states in 4:4-5 that “when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.” It is worth noting Paul’s language of adoption as sons. Why not say “adoption as children”? Surely, God has adopted all of you which includes both males and females. At the time of Paul’s writing to the Galatians, only sons could receive the inheritance. Therefore, Paul is making sure that you know that you have all been adopted as sons, not sons and daughters. This adoption as a son insures you that you will receive the inheritance, even if you are a female. What a great blessing that has been given to us by our Father in heaven! When we think of being children there are some things that come to mind. Children receive gifts from their parents. This certainly includes Christmas and birthday presents. But it goes beyond that idea with the daily provisions that parents offer whether it be food, shelter, clothing, et cetera. Likewise, God provides His children with gifts. This includes those things that are needed to support this body and life, but they extend beyond that too.

We receive spiritual gifts from God as His children. God provides us with the means of grace by which we are sustained in our faith. He gives us His Word read and proclaimed which we receive in the Divine Service. He also gives us His sacraments which He promises forgiveness, life, and salvation. In the Lord’s Supper, we receive Christ’s very own body and blood given and shed for the forgiveness of all our sins. These gifts are given to us purely out of God’s goodness and mercy. We do not deserve them in any way.

Another gift that children receive is the inheritance. This is most often seen in a person’s will as a list of things the children receive after the death of the parent. In Holy Baptism, we become children of God and are promised the gift of eternal life. We look forward to Christ’s second coming to judge the living and the death when we will be raised from the dead. “For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his” (Romans 6:5). The free gift of eternal life is given to us by God’s grace and favor. The gifts and inheritance that children receive from their parents are not things that are earned or merited. They are purely gifts that are freely given by the parents. Likewise, the means of grace and eternal life that we receive from our Father in heaven are not things that we deserve. In fact, we deserve the opposite since we daily sin much and deserve nothing but punishment. However, they are all given to us by His grace.

Since we receive these gifts from God, we should desire others to receive these gifts as well. By sharing our faith with others, we pray that the Holy Spirit would bring people to faith so that they may also become heirs with us and receive the same inheritance. God desires all so be saved and sent His only Son to die for the sins of the whole world. We have a comforting message to bring to those who are burdened by the sin and evil in this world. Our faith is something that we can pass on to our own children as we lead by example. When we attend the Divine Service, we show others the importance of our faith. There is much reason to rejoice knowing that Christ has saved us from our sin by fulfilling God’s law and dying in our place.

Thanks be to God that by faith, we are heirs of the promise through Christ. As heirs of this promise, we are given the inheritance of Christ’s work on the cross that has won for you forgiveness, life, and salvation this day. Rejoice and be glad dear brothers and sisters in Christ! By your faith, you have become an heir of the promise through Christ. Through your Baptism, you have been proclaimed a child of God and given the promise of eternal life in Christ Jesus. Amen.

Now may the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.