Title: Unger, Merrill F
Author: Joe
Last saved by: PJD
Company: GDC

98-11-05.JSH-049 / 

©℗ 1998  Joe Griffin	Joshua

Joshua 1:3-5, Inheritance: Merrill F. Unger on “Spiritual Inheritance”; the Roman Concept Used by Paul
Unger, Merrill F.  Unger’s Bible Dictionary.  3d ed.  Chicago: Moody Press, 1966; p. 526:
1.	The metaphor of the spiritual ‘inheritance’ is embodied in the celebrated definition of believers [in Romans 8:17] as “heirs of God and joint heirs of Christ.”
2.	To our minds heirship involves no more than the idea of the acquisition of property by succession.

NOTE:  It is important to know the definition of the term “succession.”  Here are two pertinent definitions from:
Black, Harry Campbell.  Black’s Law Dictionary.  4^th rev. ed.  St. Paul: West Publishing Co., 1968; p. 1599:
Hereditary succession.	Whereby a man on the death of his ancestor acquires his estate by right … as his heir by law.
Natural succession.	Succession taking place between natural persons, for example, in descent on the death of an ancestor.

3.	This idea of succession is manifestly inapplicable with reference to the eternal God.
4.	That the heirship to which Paul alludes is Roman and not Hebrew, is evident not only from the accompanying reference to adoption [Romans 8:15, “You have received the Spirit of adoption as sons.”], but also from the fact that it is a joint and equal heirship.

NOTE:	This reference by Dr. Unger is found in:
Romans 8:17 -	Now if we are children, and we are, then we are also heirs.  On the one hand, heirs of God and, on the other hand, joint heirs with Christ.

The Greek word for “heir” is associated with the Greek noun for “inheritance” which is klhronom…a /kleronomia/.  The word “heir” is the noun:
klhronÒmoj /kleronomos /  -	The person who as God’s son, receives something as a possession from Him.
It is Jesus Christ Who is the recipient of the inheritance.  In fact we read in:
Hebrews 1:2 -	God has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed Heir of all things.

The inheritance of the Church Age believer rests entirely upon current positional truth.  Being “in Christ” through the baptism of the Holy Spirit makes him “joint heirs.”  The word in the Greek is the noun:
sugklhronÒmoj /sunkleronomos /  -	Co-inheritor.  Also used of Isaac and Jacob as participants with Abraham in the promises of God.
Hebrews 11:9 -	By faith, Abraham lived as an alien in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, joint heirs of the same promise;
v 10 -		for he was looking for the city which has foundations, whose architect and builder is God. 

This passage brings home the point that the only way to possess the inheritance is to have eternal life and that eternal life is found in one’s personal faith in Jesus Christ.  Please note that Isaac and Jacob are joint heirs of the promise given to Abraham.  We are said to be joint heirs with Christ.  Dr. Unger continues:

5.	Sir Henry Maine [English jurist, 1822-1888] writes [in his published lectures, Ancient Law, 1861]: “The notion among the Romans was that though the physical person of the deceased had perished, his legal personality had survived and descended unimpaired to his heirs or co-heirs, in whom his identity was continued.”  [p. 181]
6.	“The testator lived on in his heir or in the group of his co-heirs.  He was in law the same person with them.”  [p. 188]
7.	“In pure Roman jurisprudence the principle (was) that a man lives on in his heir—the elimination, so to speak, of the fact of death …”  [p. 190]
8.	According to Roman law, the moment a child was born he was his father’s heir.
9.	Thus there is a species of copartnership between a father and his children.  When, therefore, the father dies, it is not so correct to say that they succeed to his property, as that they acquire the free control of their own.
10.	In light of this principle of Roman jurisprudence, incongruity disappears from the great Pauline metaphor, “spiritual inheritance.”
11.	Instead of the death of the ancestor being essentially connected with the idea of inheritance, we find this circumstance ‘eliminated.’
12.	The heir has not to wait for the moment of his father’s decease.  In and through his father he is already a participator in the family possessions.
13.	The father does not die, but lives on forever in his family.  Physically absent, he is spiritually present, not with so much as in his children.

14.	In this phrase, “the heirs of God,” there is presented a most vivid view of the intimate and eternal union between the believer and God, and of the faithful soul’s possession in present reality … of the kingdom of God on earth and in heaven.

24-	Dr. Unger’s analysis of “spiritual inheritance” tells us that the believer, regardless of the dispensation, becomes an instant heir at the moment of his spiritual birth.
25-	Further, he inherits the Father’s entire estate, property and possessions, at that moment
26-	Thus Abraham inherited the promise of the land at the moment it was granted in Genesis 13:15.  How?
27-	He already possessed salvation and eternal life from his personal faith in Messiah, documented in Genesis 15:6.
28-	His sons, Isaac and Jacob, became instant heirs because of their faith in Messiah plus a heritage which genetically linked them which the bloodline of the promise.
29-	The spiritual inheritance thus has paragraphs, the first of which is salvation and eternal life.
30-	In addition, the Old Testament believer inherited the promises given to Abraham: (1) membership in a spiritual family made up Jewish relatives who not only had the genes of Abraham but also the God of Abraham; and (2) citizenship in an earthly kingdom which will be the Client Nation of our Lord’s Millennial reign.
31-	The Church Age believer inherits salvation and eternal life through faith alone in Christ alone.
32-	In addition, his position in Christ allows him to instantly possess all those things that belong to the Lord: His righteousness, sonship, heirship, royalty, priesthood, and destiny.

33-	In order to serve God and Christ the inheritance provides an entire portfolio of invisible assets, utilized by the Lord in the Incarnation.
34-	With all these things in mind, we must now compare the event about to take place on the banks of the Jordan River and our spiritual life in the Church Age.