A fundamental tenet of all Christianity proclaims that none can inherit eternal life except through Jesus Christ. Therefore it came as a great surprise when two major Christian denominations expressed the possibility of salvation apart from accepting Christ as Savior. In a Midnight Call report of September 1998, the Presbyterian Church considered how non-Christians, including Jews, Muslims and Buddhists, might be destined for eternal life. The following month, Pope John Paul II stated that "through the practice of what is good in their own religious traditions, and following the dictates of their consciences, members of other religions positively respond to God's invitation and receive salvation in Jesus Christ, even though they may not recognize Him as their Savior" (The Christians News & Views Newsletter, Vol. 4, Number 10, October 1998, emphasis added throughout).

In this article, we'll read how Christ was the sole inheritor of eternal life. And we'll unlock the mystery of how it is possible for all mankind to become coheirs with Christ.

Inherit the Kingdom of God

God revealed prior to Jesus' birth that His Son would be the "horn of salvation" who would remember the promise of His holy covenant which God gave to Abraham (Luke 1:68-73). The promise God gave to Abraham was about inheritance and about salvation (Hebrews 11:8-9).

In Matthew 25:34, Christ said those who would be blessed of the Father would inherit the Kingdom. God's Kingdom will be on the earth, therefore Christ promised that the meek will inherit the earth (Matthew 5:5).

The statements above indicate many will inherit God's Kingdom. Yet, paradoxically, Scripture also indicates that Jesus Christ is the sole inheritor. Both indicators are true. Understanding this paradox will absolutely prove how and why salvation comes by no other name than Jesus Christ.

Jesus Christ-Sole Inheritor

As we look into the Scriptures, take special notice of who God gives claim to His Kingdom. From the cradle to the grave, God's Word depicts Jesus Christ as the possessor of His Kingdom.

Before Jesus was born, Luke 1:33 relates the prophecy spoken by the angel Gabriel to Mary, "And He [Jesus] will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end." Before His death, Christ told Pilate, "My kingdom is not of this world" (John 18:36).

Many scriptures are very convincing concerning Christ's sole inheritance. The account in Luke 19:12 describes the analogy of Jesus Christ (a nobleman) going to a far country "to receive for himself" a kingdom. When Christ spoke about some of His disciples seeing the Kingdom of God in a vision, He defined it as "His kingdom" (Matthew 16:28). Also in Colossians 1:13, the Kingdom is called "the kingdom of the Son of His love." We read in 2 Peter 1:11, "…the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ."

God appointed Jesus Christ as heir of all things (Hebrews 1:2). He is the official heir to God's Kingdom. And Christ rewards us, for "…from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance; for you serve the Lord Christ" (Colossians 3:24). He cannot reward us with an inheritance that doesn't belong to Him. But the Kingdom of God does belong to Christ, as we have just seen.

What About God?

Lest we misunderstand Christ's role in the plan of God, it is important to highlight the fact that God is the one who gives the Kingdom to Christ. That's why we find the term "kingdom of Christ and God" also used in the Bible (Ephesians 5:5). As explained in 1 Corinthians 15:27-28, all things have been put under Christ, but it is understood that God is not under the authority of Christ. God is the One who put all things under the feet of Christ.

Christ will rule until the last enemy, death, is destroyed. "Now when all things are made subject to Him, then the Son Himself will also be subject to Him who put all things under Him, that God may be all in all" (1 Corinthians 15:28). Christ will at that time deliver the Kingdom to the Father (verse 24).

What About Us?

Up to this point, we have seen that Jesus Christ is the recipient of God's Kingdom from the Father. But where does this leave the rest of us? Why is Christ the sole inheritor? How can He share it with us?

How you and I receive inheritance involves a mystery that few understand. This mystery proclaims once again why salvation can come only through Jesus. But in order to understand this mystery, we must recognize why, technically speaking, we are not qualified to receive inheritance but Christ is.

Death Negates Inheritance

Let's look at inheritance from a human standpoint. We all recognize that a child's promised inheritance from a parent would be useless if the child were to die before receiving that inheritance. From God's point of view, that's why you and I could not receive the inheritance: we are worthy of eternal death. And the dead cannot receive anything!

Romans 6:23 tells us, "the wages of sin is death." In explaining how we died, Paul wrote that the commandment, which was meant to bring life, brought death because sin deceived us and killed us (Romans 7:10-11).

He explained further that it was not the commandment that caused death. Rather it was sin-breaking commandments (verse 13). James writes a similar statement, "Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death" (James 1:15). We understand then, that because we deserve death and are looked upon by God as being as good as dead, we cannot receive an inheritance, of and by ourselves. This brings us to the intriguing question: How can we be delivered from death and receive an inheritance?

Quoting Paul again, "Who will deliver me from this body of death? I thank God-through Jesus Christ our Lord!" (Romans 7:24-25). Eternal life is a gift through Jesus Christ. Along with Paul, the apostle Peter understood that "there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved" (Acts 4:12).

Abraham and His Seed

Jesus Christ is the only person, albeit the only begotten Son of God, who never sinned (2 Corinthians 5:21; 1 Peter 2:22; 1 John 3:5). He, unlike all mankind, does not deserve the death penalty. Therefore, He is the only one qualified to inherit God's Kingdom.

With this in mind, it should come as no surprise to discover that the promise to inherit the Kingdom of God was given to only one of Abraham's descendants. Writing about the subject of inheritance (Galatians 3:18), the apostle Paul made the following assertion, "Now to Abraham and his Seed were the promises made. He does not say, 'And to seeds,' as of many, but as of one, 'And to your Seed,' who is Christ" (verse 16).

Paul here specifically called attention to the fact that God did not mean many seeds. He meant only one Seed. Inheritance comes to the one Seed, Jesus Christ. Verse 19 of Galatians 3 substantiates this point when he says, "…till the Seed should come to whom the promise was made…." Again we read of only one Seed-Christ!

Jesus Christ in Us Makes Us Alive

We read above where Paul said that Jesus Christ would deliver us from death. Herein lies the mystery. How does Christ accomplish this deliverance and insure our inheritance? Understanding this mystery is the only way to completely understand salvation through Jesus Christ and what God requires of us if we are to be saved.

Remember that God considers us dead because of our sins. Why, then, can we share in Christ's inheritance? Notice the scripture containing one of the greatest keys in the entire Bible: Paul "became a minister…to fulfill the word of God, the mystery…which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. Him we preach…that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus" (Colossians 1:25-28).

The mystery of inheritance is Christ in us! If we are "in Christ," we have now actually become a new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17).

Notice what an oft-memorized scripture, Galatians 2:20, states, "I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me." The very mind and actions of Jesus Christ are being duplicated within us. This is also explained in Galatians 4:19, Philippians 1:20, Romans 8:9-10 and 2 Corinthians 4:11.

It now naturally follows that since we have Christ's new name, we are rooted and built up in Him, His life is shown in us and Jesus Christ is magnified, formed and living in us, then we can be inheritors with Him. Paul concludes the same when he writes, "if you are Christ's, then are you are Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise" (Galatians 3:29).

It is only because Christ is in us that we share His inheritance. Despite what any theological source dictates, recognition of Christ living His life in us is a precursor to salvation.

This important mystery bears repeating. We could not receive eternal inheritance because we sinned and brought upon ourselves eternal death. Dead men and women receive no inheritance. But Jesus Christ is the special begotten Son of God who was prophesied to receive the Kingdom, did not sin and did not reap eternal death! Therefore He is the only Seed of Abraham eligible to receive eternal inheritance. However, since Christ is in us, we can be "heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ" (Romans 8:17).

Inheritance and God's Spirit

Some of us may be familiar with parents who have given their full inheritance to one child, leaving the other children with nothing. No doubt, in the eyes of the parents, the one had qualified for the inheritance and the others had not. If the other children had the same character traits, all the children would have shared the inheritance.

God makes it possible for us to have the same character traits as Jesus Christ. He has literally given us the mind to think and act like Jesus Christ. "And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying out, 'Abba, Father!' Therefore you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ" (Galatians 4:6-7). The Spirit of God is given to us through Christ when we repent and are baptized for the remission of our sins as Peter stated on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2:38).

The good news for all mankind is that we can be blessed with inheriting God's Kingdom through Jesus Christ! When we have faith in Christ and live according to God's laws, as Christ did, with the Holy Spirit in us, that Spirit is one of promise which guarantees our jointly inheriting His Kingdom (Ephesians 1:13-14).

Satan's Deceptive Gospel

Now, doesn't it seem an oddity that, through the power of Christ's mind in us, we can actually attain an eternal inheritance at the resurrection from the dead, and yet some say it is not only unnecessary but also impossible to keep the very laws that Christ kept?

In this lawless world, it becomes necessary to remember a truth Jesus expounded in the Sermon on the Mount. Only the righteous will possess the Kingdom (Matthew 5:10). The Spirit of God, the mind of Christ in us, not only guarantees inheritance, it also convicts us of sin, righteousness and judgment (John 16:8). Paul made it extremely clear that through Christ "the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit" (Romans 8:1-4).

Satan has deceived the world into thinking that Christ obeyed the law in our stead. That's why the "gospel of Christ" has been so misunderstood by the world today. Did Christ obey the law for us? Are we no longer obligated to obey the Ten Commandments?

Absolutely not! Faith in Christ does not void God's law! "On the contrary," Paul clarified in Romans 3:31, "we establish the law." Jesus Christ did not obey the law for us; we obey the law of God through Christ in us! Through the Holy Spirit, Christ empowers us to live the way of love for God and love for neighbor that is embodied in God's laws (Romans 13:8-10).

The major difference between the Old and New Covenants is that through His Spirit, God places His laws in our hearts and minds rather than on tables of stone (Hebrews 8:7-13). Without God's Spirit, we have no chance to obey God, no chance of an immortal resurrection, no chance to inherit God's Kingdom, no chance for salvation. On the other hand, we can yield to the conviction of God's Spirit, obey Him and live for all eternity.

Blessings Through Christ

When God told Abraham, "In you all the nations shall be blessed" (Galatians 3:8), He really meant it. Through the one Seed of Abraham, Jesus Christ, the blessing of salvation would be possible for all. And so we have the blessing pronouncements by Christ Himself in His Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5:3-11):

"Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled. Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake."

All these blessings would come through the one speaking these words—Jesus Christ. So let us be acutely aware that God has centered His entire plan of salvation in Christ. Without Him as our Lord and Savior, there is no chance for salvation, "for in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily; and you are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and power" (Colossians 2:9-10).