When are believers placed as heirs with the Father and the Son?
According to Paul, the moment a person becomes a believer, they are immediately placed as an heir with the Father and the Son. Unlike Roman or Greek adoption, which involved years of tutoring, this placement happens at salvation, not after a period of training or preparation.
Les explains from Ephesians 1:5 that believers were predestinated unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ. In the Roman and Greek culture, a child was put under tutors and trained to come in at an equal level with the father, then went through rites of adoption. The Hebrew culture had the Bar Mitzvah at age 14, but Paul teaches that the moment we become a believer, we do not go through years of tutoring and training; we are immediately placed as an heir with the Father and the Son. This position is with Christ from day one, as a joint heir in the process of the adoption. Ephesians 1:11 also says we have obtained an inheritance, being joint heirs with Christ.
Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will,
More Questions
Do Christians become heirs with Christ immediately at salvation?
Paul teaches that the moment a person becomes a believer, he or she is immediately placed as an heir with the Father and the Son, without going through years of tutoring and training as in Roman adoption.