William Gurnall, On Being Made Righteous

“In a word, when God made you a righteous person He began heaven in your soul. The moment you were born again, an heir to heaven was born as well. Think about the festivities that take place when a young prince is born as heir to the throne of even some tiny territory in God’s vast creation. Do you not have even more reason to rejoice when heaven’s glory is settled in you, especially as you recall in what realm your inheritance lay before you were adopted into God’s family? Paul joins both of these aspects in a full doxology: ‘Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light: who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear son’ (Col. 1:12, 13). What a blessed change – stepping out of the devil’s dark dungeon, where you were kept in chains of unrighteousness as a prisoner bound for hell, into the kingdom of Christ’s grace, where the golden chain of righteousness around your neck tells Satan and the whole world you are the heir-apparent to heaven!.” (The Christian in Complete Armour, Vol. 2, pg. 238)