The Gospel of Guided Grace
Grace and Our Inheritance

Genesis 26:7 (NLT)
    And when the men there asked him about Rebekah, he said, "She is my sister." He was afraid to admit that she was his wife. He thought they would kill him to get her, because she was very beautiful.

Genesis 20:2 (NLT)
    Abraham told people there that his wife, Sarah, was his sister. So King Abimelech sent for her and had her brought to him at his palace.

Genesis 21:9-10 (NLT)
    But Sarah saw Ishmael—the son of Abraham and her Egyptian servant Hagar—making fun of Isaac. [10] So she turned to Abraham and demanded, "Get rid of that servant and her son. He is not going to share the family inheritance with my son, Isaac. I won't have it!"

Genesis 25:28 (NLT)
    Isaac loved Esau in particular because of the wild game he brought home, but Rebekah favored Jacob.

Be aware of patterns of our past inheritance that influence our present responses, tendencies and ways of thinking that keeps us away from God’s fuller grace

Hebrews 12:5 (NIRV)
     Be sure that no one misses God's grace.

1. Because of God’s grace, we inherit a new nature that needs to be realized and worked-out

2 Cor. 5:17 (NLT)  
    What this means is that those who become Christians become new persons. They are not the same anymore, for the old life is gone. A new life has begun!

Galatians 4:7 (Msg)  
    Doesn't that privilege of intimate conversation with God make it plain that you are not a slave, but a child? And if you are a child, you're also an heir, with complete access to the inheritance.

Ephesians 1:17-18 (NIV)
I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better.  I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints.

Romans 5:16 (NLT), 17 (NIV)  
    …For Adam's sin led to condemnation, but we have the free gift of being accepted by God, even though we are guilty of many sins.  [17] For if, by the sin of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God's abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ.

2. Renounce our inherited bondages as God reveals them to us and then move on

Titus 2:11-14 (ESV)
     For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.

Genesis 32:22-30 (NLT)  
    But during the night Jacob got up and sent his two wives, two concubines, and eleven sons across the Jabbok River. [23] After they were on the other side, he sent over all his possessions. [24] This left Jacob all alone in the camp, and a man came and wrestled with him until dawn. [25] When the man saw that he couldn't win the match, he struck Jacob's hip and knocked it out of joint at the socket. [26] Then the man said, "Let me go, for it is dawn."
    But Jacob panted, "I will not let you go unless you bless me."
    [27] "What is your name?" the man asked.
    He replied, "Jacob."
    [28] "Your name will no longer be Jacob," the man told him. "It is now Israel, because you have struggled with both God and men and have won."
    [29] "What is your name?" Jacob asked him.
    "Why do you ask?" the man replied. Then he blessed Jacob there.
    [30] Jacob named the place Peniel—"face of God"—for he said, "I have seen God face to face, yet my life has been spared."
    
2 Tim. 1:7 (NIV)  
    For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline.

3. Our new inheritance needs to be worked-out from potentiality to actuality, and can never be left to auto-pilot

Philippians 2:12 (NIV)
    … continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling

God’s Grace preserves, converts and enhances the inheritance we already possess

Romans 8:28 (NLT)  
    And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.