God is dealing with believers upon the merits of Jesus Christ His Son. We are not being dealt with according to what we deserve… but according to what He deserves. He was obedient unto death, He made an end to our transgressions, and He fulfilled every commandment the Father gave Him. Therefore, God our Father highly exalted Him. He is resurrected from the dead, and He now sits at the right hand of the throne of glory. He has all dominion, all power, and all authority as the REWARD for His great obedience (Acts 2:23-28).
And, the beauty of the gospel is that we are joint-heirs together with Christ (Rom 8:17). Our Lord Jesus is WORTHY of everything that He gets; He did the doing and the dying. And, we are worthy for EVERY blessing of grace because of Him (Col 1:9-14). God does not look to us to add our own personal obedience; in fact, He rejects everyone who comes to add anything to Christ's sacrifice (Mal 2:13-16). God demands that we be delivered from the law, that system of merit, entirely. He demands that we come to Him without trying to earn anything depending entirely upon the merits of His Son's sacrifice. Then, when the believer sees that he is being dealt with by the covenant God entirely through the merits of the perfectly obedient Christ, his eyes have been enlightened to the exceeding richness of his inheritance (Eph 1:17-20).
This INHERITANCE is what God our Father has promised to give us. It is includes all spiritual blessings–it includes everything that our God has promised and commanded. In the first few verses of Joshua 1, the Holy Spirit teaches us FOUR very important things with regards to our inheritance.
1. It is entirely because of the righteousness of Jesus Christ. Do not seek to add your own personal obedience, and do not think God will give you any good thing apart from faith in Christ (Joshua 1:2, 7-8). My brethren, the more we can see Christ's righteousness is the justification for us, the more assurance we will have and the more boldly we will seek our inheritance– (Eph 3:12) "In whom we have boldness and access with confidence by the faith of him." In spite of all my sins, as vile and many as they presently are, I am commanded, exhorted, and drawn by God Almighty to have exceeding boldness and confidence before His holy presence ENTIRELY because of the outside of me, apart from my experiences, but on my behalf, perfect obedience of His Son!
2. Seek your inheritance– "Moses my servant is dead; now therefore arise, go over this Jordan… (Josh 1:2)." All righteousness has been fulfilled, so don't leave the promises laying on the table; take them and receive them to their fullest. The story is told of a man sailing from Europe to America in the mid-19th century. While the others passengers were feasting, this man ate sparingly. Finally, after several days, someone asked him why he lived on potatoes and water when such an abundant feast was ready. The man answered, "I eat sparingly because I'm saving my money. I do not want to be spent when I get to America." However, the other passenger responded, "The meals are free! When you bought your ticket, everything was included." And alas, this is our inheritance in Christ Jesus! When HE redeemed us by the shedding of His precious blood and washed away all of our sins, He paid the entire price for all of the promises. They are ours, and we must take them continually. We must live upon the promises–the things supernatural–because this is deliverance.
3. Do not be afraid. God says, "Have not I commanded thee?" Who can stop the Predestinator? "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee withersoever thou goest (Joshua 1:9)." The fear of man is a snare causing us to stumble, but whoever puts their trust in the Lord shall be exalted (Prov 29:25). Obstacles shall try your faith, but press on. Hold fast to God's faithfulness when you are tempted to compromise/cower.
4. The inheritance is by grace, and it is God's good pleasure to GIVE it to you– (Josh 1:6) "Be strong and of good courage: for unto this people shalt thou divide for an inheritance the land, which I sware unto their fathers to GIVE them." God is already willing to do this, and it requires no greatness from us. The man whose son was demon possessed said with tears, "Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief (Mark 9:24)." The Lord Jesus Christ did not despise him because of his unbelief; He blessed him through the faith that he had.