Most of us spend our lives feeling like we are one bad day away from spiritual bankruptcy. We look at our thin faith, our shaky obedience, and our mounting list of spiritual chores and wonder how we could ever stand before a holy God. We often treat the Christian life like a high-stakes credit card we can never quite pay off. But Richard Alleine, a pastor who knew the Westminster standards in his bones, has a different perspective. In his classic work Heaven Opened!, he argues that if you are in Christ, the riches of the universe have already been legally signed over to you. This isn’t just a book about getting to heaven; it is a “Magna Carta” for the soul that shows how the Covenant of Grace changes everything from your bank account to your deathbed.
God is the inheritance, not just the executor
One of the most mind-blowing takeaways from Alleine is that God does not just give us things like peace or pardon. Instead, He gives us His very self. In our Reformed tradition, we often talk about God’s attributes as high and lofty concepts to be studied. Alleine brings them down to earth. He explains that when God says, “I will be their God,” He is making over His entire essence to us. His omnipotence becomes our guard, His wisdom becomes our counselor, and His sufficiency becomes our treasure. It is the difference between receiving a check from a wealthy father and having the father himself come to live with you and share his entire estate.
This shifts our focus from what we can get from God to the fact that we possess Him. Alleine makes it clear that a person who has God has everything, even if they have nothing else. If you are in the covenant, God’s eternity is the “date of your happiness,” and His unchangeableness is the rock you can finally rest on.
The Lord God has made over himself in this covenant. This is the great and comprehensive promise: “I will be their God.” I am God; and what I am is all theirs: myself, my glorious incomprehensible essence, all my glorious attributes.
Your trials are grace-cups, not poison
We usually think of suffering as a sign that God is angry or that the covenant has somehow failed. Alleine flips this on its head by stating that the “cross is in the covenant.” He argues that for a believer, the curse has been completely separated from the cross. Because Christ drank the “venom” of God’s wrath, the afflictions we face are actually “healthful potions” designed for our cure. This means that every loss, every pain, and every frustration is actually a covenant blessing in disguise.
This perspective is incredibly helpful for the laity sitting in the pews who are struggling with health or financial issues. It reminds us that God is a wise physician who proportions the “medicine” of the cross to our specific needs and strength. He doesn’t afflict us because He wants to see us cry, but because He would rather see us cry than perish.
Your sufferings shall not be a cup of wrath, but a grace-cup; not a curse, but a cure; not a cup of trembling, but a cup of blessing to you. They shall not hurt you, but heal you. My blessing shall attend you in every condition.
Death has been demoted to your personal valet
For many, death is the “king of terrors,” a dark prison-house we spend our lives trying to avoid. Alleine, however, explains that for the person in covenant with God, the very commission of death has changed. It is no longer a jailer taking a criminal to his execution; it is now a “porter” or a doorkeeper opening the gate to the Master’s joy. Death is actually listed as a “purchase” of the covenant, an advantage that brings an end to all our enemies, especially sin.
This changes the way we look at our final breath. Instead of a loss, it is a massive gain. Alleine describes the day of a believer’s death as the “birthday of their glories.” When the body falls into the dust, the covenant ensures that it is merely resting in hope, waiting for the day when it will be fashioned like the glorious body of Christ.
The commission of death is changed. It was once, Take him, jailer; away with him, carry him to prison. It is now, Take him, janitor; take him, porter; take him in, give him an entrance into his Master’s joy.
The earth is your temporary housing, not your home
Alleine addresses the common complaint that the “meek” don’t seem to be inheriting much of the earth right now. He argues that while the saints might not have the biggest houses or the most gold, they actually have a better title to the earth than anyone else. What the believer has, they have by “promise,” not just by common providence. This means that even a “handful” of bread comes with a blessing that turns it into a feast.
This is a powerful word for those who feel the pinch of poverty. Alleine reminds us that we are “fellow-heirs with Christ,” who is the heir of all things. If the whole world were necessary for your salvation, God would give it to you. Since He is your portion, you can be content with whatever “pittance” He carves out for your body, knowing that the “upper springs” of His grace are always running freely.
What they have, they have a better and further title to, than any others in the world. What they have descends upon them not barely by providence, but by promise. A little coming from the promise has more in it than the greatest abundance that is only handed down by common providence.
Holiness is a gift God works in you, not just a task He sets before you
One of the most comforting parts of the book is Alleine’s explanation of the “New Heart.” For many Christians, the requirements of the gospel—faith, repentance, and obedience—feel like a new law that we have to fulfill in our own strength. Alleine points out that in the Covenant of Grace, God actually undertakes to “cause” us to walk in His statutes. He doesn’t just demand a new heart; He promises to give it.
This takes the pressure off the struggling believer who feels like their heart is made of stone. Alleine reminds us that God is the one who “fashions” us for Himself. He gives the knowledge that guides us, the love that constrains us, and the fear that keeps us from wandering. Our obedience is simply the “Spirit of the living God” moving the wheels of our lives.
I will not only reckon you for my people, but I will undertake for you, that you shall consent to me, accept of me, own me, follow me, and cleave to me as my people. . . . I will sanctify you, and guide you, and teach you, and help you.
The Covenant is a legal deed you can hold in your hand
Alleine concludes the book by emphasizing that the covenant is a “firm and irrevocable deed.” It is not a vague feeling or a hopeful wish; it is a “Magna Carta” signed in the blood of Christ and ratified by the oath of God. He even provides a formal way for readers to “seal the counterpart” by signing their own names to a written covenant with God. This moves the spiritual life out of the realm of “maybe” and into the realm of settled legal fact.
This is the ultimate anchor for a “flickering” soul. When you doubt your salvation, Alleine tells you to look at the “instrument of your salvation”—the Word of God. He encourages us to treat the promises as “bonds or writings” that prove our estate. If the writings are safe, the soul is safe, regardless of how we feel on any given morning.
Look, I make with you an everlasting covenant, ordered in all things, and sure; and do here solemnly deliver it to you as my act and deed, sealed with sacred blood, and ratified with the oath of God.
You should read Heaven Opened! because it will help change your mindset from living like a spiritual beggar when you are actually a child of the King. Richard Alleine does not just give you theology; he gives you a map to the “unsearchable riches” that are already yours. If you want to find a joy that can survive a prison cell or a peace that can look death in the face and smile, this is the book that will show you how. It is time to stop looking at what you lack and start looking at the “deed of gift” that has opened heaven to you.