I have the following models:
class User < ActiveRecord::Base
has_many :memberships
has_many :groups, :through => :memberships
end
class Group < Act
You can get closer without changing your model at all, by removing the unused join from your call:
Post.joins(group: :memberships).where(memberships: { user_id: 1 })
compiles to SQL
SELECT "posts".* FROM "posts"
INNER JOIN "groups" ON "groups"."id" = "posts"."group_id"
INNER JOIN "memberships" ON "memberships"."group_id" = "groups"."id"
WHERE ("memberships"."user_id" = 1)
something like this should work for you, although it requires mixing in a little raw SQL
Post
.joins("INNER JOIN memberships ON memberships.group_id = posts.group_id")
.where(:memberships => {:user_id => current_user.id})