Heir by Position, Pauper by Practice #18

Thursday, January 22, 2026

“Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ” (Galatians 4:7 KJV).

Saints, we in Christ are spiritual winners and heirs by position, but we can choose to be spiritual losers and paupers by practice!

Colossians 2:10 pronounces, “And ye are complete in him [Jesus Christ]….” “Complete” means “lacking nothing, crammed to the full.” Such is our identity in Christ and entirely because of Christ. “He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?” (Romans 8:32). This is our spiritual wealth in Christ, that of Ephesians 1:3: “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ:….” One of the dominant themes of Ephesians (advanced form of doctrine, building on elementary Romans) is “riches” (see Ephesians 1:7,18; Ephesians 2:4,7; Ephesians 3:8,16). Therefore, Satan seeks to reduce us to mere paupers!

After laying out Colossians 2:6,7—victorious Christian living—the Holy Spirit inserts a word of caution in verse 8. “Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.” We should “watch out, be careful,” for Satan our adversary (enemy) will use whatever or whomever is necessary to draw us away from Christ (just as booty or treasure is carried off from a plundered building or town). Remember the Galatians’ move from the riches of grace to spiritual pauperism, “weak [inability] and beggarly [poverty]” works-religion (Galatians 4:9)!

Like in New Testament times, the Devil’s program is still extremely (!) lethal (!) in destroying Christian lives via “philosophy” (love of man’s wisdom), “vain deceit” (empty/worthless lies), “the tradition of men” (manmade ideas and practices passed down from generation to generation, which customs compete with and therefore distract from the Bible’s supreme authority), and “the rudiments of the world” (basic/shallow religious/philosophical/speculative systems, world religions). “And this I say, lest any man should beguile [trick, charm] you with enticing [appealing, tempting, attractive] words” (Colossians 2:4).

Such “enticing”—albeit deceptive—words have filled church history for 2,000 years now….