Why is it that the majority of Christians are not walking in the victory of Jesus? Why is it that so many Christians cannot imitate the lifestyle and authority of Jesus even though He commanded us to do the same things He was doing, like healing the sick and casting out demons?

This is a question that has puzzled me for most of my Christian life. I started reading the Bible fairly early in my Christian life, really from the very beginning. And I saw things that were supposed to be happening in my life and the lives of the Christians I was meeting. But they weren’t.

I spent a lot of years puzzled about this.

This passage has the explanation! It is the entire reason why the majority of Christians are not experiencing the miraculous lifestyle that the Bible indicates we should be experiencing.

The fact that most Christians do not seem to have any authority in their lives is all explained in the concept of being an HEIR of God.

An heir is someone who will inherit everything. Their status as an heir has nothing to do with their maturity level or performance. Rather, their status as an heir has everything to do with who they are related to.

An heir will inherit everything! But not every heir is mature enough to run the family business or take charge of the household.

Have you ever met a family where the kids were running the show and not the parents? It’s usually a chaotic disaster and they need the intervention of a television nanny show to get them back on track.

Children are heirs, with a FUTURE of great authority. But they are not mature enough to run the household. There are rules that they HAVE to follow. There may be babysitters, nannies, schoolmasters, and of course parents that they have to obey.

Paul tells us here that until a Christian becomes mature enough to understand that they are no longer under the babysitter that we call “the law,” they are still too immature to run the family business.

ALL Christians are heirs of God. It is a status that they gained when they were born-again into God’s family.

But the sober truth is that most Christians are too immature to have any authority. They are not yet ready to take control of the household, or the kingdom.

Christians can actually grow up as fast as they want to. The Word of God that is the instruction manual for training heirs to be able to wisely use their authority is available for study to all of God’s heirs, at least here in a free country.

It isn’t that they don’t carry the full status of HEIR. It’s just that they have absolutely no concept of the authority which comes with maturity.

But there are two problems that keep heirs from growing up into maturity and taking authority in the family business (the kingdom).

First, there is the prevalence of neglecting the instruction manual. But without a thorough knowledge of the principles of running this kingdom that we have been made heirs over, we cannot hope to become mature enough to exercise authority.

Second, many of the babysitters and tutors who are training the immature heirs are teaching them to remain immature and never grow into their maturity. And this really is a prevalent problem in the modern church.

In fact, there are teachers training the heirs that they can NEVER operate with authority. And so the heirs have no expectation of ever growing up.

Both of these problems produce Christians who are still slaves to the world. They aren’t free to exercise authority.

God’s perfect will for all of His heirs is that they would grow up into maturity and take control of the family business.

But if you cannot heal sickness, you are still immature. Not ready to exercise the authority of an heir. Still a slave.

But you remain immature by your own choice of listening to babysitters who are misleading you. And by not studying the training manual for yourself.

Some people need to study the manual. Some need to get a new tutor. That’s assuming that they ever want to grow up.

But the Good News? Even if you never grow up, you still remain an heir. God won’t kick you out of His family for not growing into maturity.