What does it mean to be a citizen? Is it something we just take for granted and never think about? That’s the way far too many Christians view their citizenship in heaven. Today we will look into How you become a citizen and what that means. The easiest way to become a citizen is to simply be born. That makes you a natural born citizen of whatever country you were in at birth. But what if you were not born in the United States, but you want to live here and become a citizen? There is a process to go through. After you’ve gone through that process you can be recognized as a fully functioning citizen of the United States. This brings with it all the rights afforded to citizens of our country and it also brings with it responsibilities. In the natural world, we are natural born citizens of sin and death. This is why we have to be spiritually “born-again” into kingdom citizenship. But since we have come from a foreign country of sin and death. So, there is a process to go through. Consider these questions for a minute. In the natural, when you want to change your citizenship, do you have to stop shoplifting to become a citizen? No, that is not a requirement. Do you have to stop speeding and driving drunk to become a citizen? No, that is not a requirement. Do you have to stop punching people in the face when you don’t like them to become a citizen? No, that also is not a requirement. Now look, there are certainly laws against those things, but they are not citizenship requirements. But here’s the thing, you are not granted citizenship based on your ability to keep the laws.
If you want to remain in good standing with the government of the country, you obey their laws, but keeping the laws does not make you a citizen. Obeying the law is a requirement after you are granted citizenship. The law is for the protection of those who are already citizens. The laws from the country you came from are probably different than those here in the US. So you have to learn ours in order to succeed. Romans 3:20 “20 For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin.” You are not granted citizenship in the kingdom by keeping the law. There is nothing you can do to earn it. God’s grace allows you in, when you believe in and confess Jesus is Lord. Ephesians 2:8-9 “8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast.” The process of becoming a successfully functioning citizen is more than just being accepted into the country and recognized as a citizen by the government. That’s the easy part. Functioning successfully as a new citizen is really about learning how to live in a country you didn’t grow up in. And in order to do that, you will have to re-learn a lot of basic functions. Including your habits, your speech and your mindset. For example, if you were born in, and grew up in a country that drives on the left side of the road like the UK, you’ll now have to learn how to change your habit of driving on the wrong side of the road.
If you came from a country that doesn’t speak English, like China, you’ll have to learn how to communicate with a new language. And if you came from a communist country like North Korea, that doesn’t allow freedoms, you’ll have to learn to change your mindset and adjust to your new rights, based on our constitution. All of these things are counter intuitive, if you’ve never done them before. They go against everything you’ve been taught your entire life, and so those old thoughts, habits and actions don’t just magically disappear overnight when you become a citizen. Changing your mindset and behavior so you can adjust to your new citizenship is a process. Major problems will arise when you just can’t bring yourself to let go of your old life in your previous country. The memories are too strong and the habits are engrained too deeply. When you can’t adapt to your new citizenship, along with the laws and customs of your new country, you will have issues. The same is true in the Kingdom of God. There is a process to becoming a fully functioning kingdom citizen. You have to re- learn your habits, your speech and your mindset. A couple of weeks ago we learned that the Holy Spirit is the Governor who lives in us, the governor’s mansion. And His job is to make us look like, act like and talk like kingdom citizens. In other words, to help us live on earth as fully functioning kingdom citizens. Jesus came to give out kingdom citizenship immigration forms, so that we could become legal kingdom citizens. But the Holy Spirit is taking you through the process to make you into what God created you to be...a fully functioning kingdom citizen.
Hebrews 10:12-14 “12 But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, 13 waiting from that time until his enemies should be made a footstool for his feet. 14 For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified.” The sacrifice of Jesus has put us in a perfect position of being justified and righteous before God. Now that our sin and death problem has been removed, God can place His Holy Spirit in us and begin the process of growing and maturing us in our faith. Yes, it is a process. Our justification happens at the moment of salvation, but growing and maturing takes time. It’s the process of learning how to function as a kingdom citizen. The growing and maturing process is what we call sanctification. It’s a fancy church word that I don’t really like to use, because most people don’t understand what it actually means. Here is the text book definition: Sanctification is the action of setting something or someone apart as holy, purifying it, and dedicating it to God’s service. But let me put it in kingdom terms that may help make it more clear: Sanctification is the active process of the Holy Spirit working in our lives to make us act, talk and think like kingdom citizens...in order for us to fulfill His will on earth. It’s about surrendering our will to God’s will and it’s a process that will take the rest of your life. The old laws of the old country we used to live in served that country well, but now this new kingdom you want to live in has different laws. And that’s what sanctification is all about. It’s about learning the new laws of God’s kingdom and abandoning the old laws that we grew up understanding and following. That’s how we become successful kingdom citizens.
The only way we can accept these new kingdom laws is by having our minds renewed and conformed to the mind of Christ. But what is the mind of Christ? It’s about adopting the same mindset or attitude as Jesus. Philippians 2:5-8 “5 Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, 6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.” Humility is a major kingdom law for citizens to follow. This is a level of humility that is hard to imagine. Just stop and think about it for a minute. Jesus was equal with God, yet emptied Himself and became a servant to the will of the Father. That is the mindset we are called to embrace from our King. This mindset will allow us to embrace what the Holy Spirit is showing us needs to change in our daily life. It will allow us to walk according to His word and keep His commandments. 1 John 2:3-6 “3 And by this we know that we have come to know him, if we keep his commandments. 4 Whoever says “I know him” but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him, 5 but whoever keeps his word, in him truly the love of God is perfected. By this we may know that we are in him: 6 whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked.” We have to abandon our old way of thinking, acting and speaking and adopt the new thoughts, actions and words of our King. That’s the proof that we have truly come to know Him and are fully surrendering our life.
Here’s what the apostle Paul said about our old ways. And how they are not compatible with the behavior of a kingdom citizen. 1 Corinthians 6:9-11 “9 Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, 10 nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. 11 And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.” When the Bible says specifically, “do not be deceived” you can bet that it’s an area where there has been much deception and confusion in the church. We need to pay special attention to the deceptive things listed in these verses so that we truly understand how dangerous they are. It’s easy to be deceived by them, because we used to practice them. They were the old laws of sin and death that we actively participated in, because that’s how we were successful citizens in the world. But now we have to turn around and walk the opposite direction. That’s the definition of repentance...and you can’t do that until you change your mind about the direction those old laws were leading you. Once you start walking towards God and living by His laws, you begin to understand that God has a plan for you...and it’s more than just making you a citizen. He has gifted you with a unique gift.
God knows what He put into you when He created you. And He put it there to bring Him glory by using it to do His will on the earth. You may not know what it is when you first get saved. But that’s the awesome thing about having the governor in your life. The Holy Spirit is helping you discover and become what you already are. Everything you need to become who God created you to be is already inside you. But it only exists as potential until it has been unlocked. You are just like a seed. A seed is only potential fruit. It has to go through a process to become what it already is. You could say the seed has fruit DNA living inside of it...but it isn’t fully formed fruit. It’s potential fruit. Potential fruit isn’t helpful if your hungry. It has to grow and become mature in order to fulfill its purpose. And there is a process to growing a seed. Step one is to put the seed in the correct environment. The correct environment for a seed is soil. It’s the place it can get the nutrients and start sprouting roots to gain the strength to break through the ground and be seen. That is the way we are when we first become kingdom citizens. Our potential is locked inside until we grow and mature. That’s the process of sanctification. Only as we become mature can we fulfill the purpose God has for us. Step one is just like a seed. You have to be in the correct environment. That environment is under the soil of kingdom teaching, surrounded by other disciples who can provide encouragement. You have to spend a while in the soil of good teaching so you can grow spiritual roots. Only then are you stable enough to be ready to break out and be seen.
This process can be difficult for people who like to live by the motto: “Ready, Fire, Aim!” It takes patience, and that can be easier if you realize that you have been planted not buried. Satan may have you thinking that God has forgotten you underground, but God is growing your foundational roots. And know this, the enemy has no idea what is happening while you’re hidden in the soil. Use that time to gain all the spiritual nutrients you can. Your breakthrough will come soon enough. 1 John 1:8-10 “8 If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.” Confession of our sins is another kingdom citizenship law. One thing is pretty sure...we are all going to mess up from time to time. The important thing is that we realize it, confess it and ask forgiveness. Keeping a constant conversation going with the Holy Spirit is how we do that. It’s what the Bible calls “pray without ceasing.” 1 John 2:9-11 “9 Whoever says he is in the light and hates his brother is still in darkness. 10 Whoever loves his brother abides in the light, and in him there is no cause for stumbling. 11 But whoever hates his brother is in the darkness and walks in the darkness, and does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes.” Forgiveness is another kingdom law we have to follow to fully utilize our citizenship.
Without forgiveness, the Word says we are walking blind. We’ll be wandering around into areas that we know aren’t good for us, but we don’t even know we are headed there because of our blindness, caused by un-forgiveness. 1 John 2:15-17 “15 Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world. 17 And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.” Letting go of the world you used to live in and following the laws of your new country is a kingdom law itself. Just like moving to the US from the UK, you have to change from driving on the left to driving on the right. If you don’t let go of your old way of driving, you will continue to wreck. 1 John 3:7-10 “7 Little children, let no one deceive you. Whoever practices righteousness is righteous, as he is righteous. 8 Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil. 9 No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God's seed abides in him; and he cannot keep on sinning, because he has been born of God. 10 By this it is evident who are the children of God, and who are the children of the devil: whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is the one who does not love his brother.” Your actions are the evidence that you are a child of God and a citizen of heaven.
If you have been in church for years and yet there is no evidence of life change, then you have to stop and re-evaluate if you are actually a kingdom citizen. Have you silenced the Holy Spirit by ignoring His voice when He is calling you to follow the example Jesus gave us? If you have, all you have to do is repent of that and get back on track to becoming a fully functioning kingdom citizen.
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