I think that the greatest of all human tragedies is the tragedy of self-deception. What do I mean? How many people are there in the church…the universal body of the Lord Jesus scattered across the globe…who believe that their future in Jesus is secure but are completely deceived.
Deceived by what? Deceived by the notion that they are God’s children because they believe and do the right things…without ever having experienced the supernatural work of God’s Spirit in their hearts.
They have moved their lives…their company and activities…into the orbit of the visible church. They attend every service, participate in the life of the body, keep company with God’s people and appear to be one of them but…they lack one thing…the most important thing that sets them apart from the world. They lack what Jesus called “the new birth”.
They lack citizenship in the kingdom of heaven.
Let’s look at the meaning of citizenship.
We are all born into this world and citizens of the “dominion of darkness”.
What does it take for one’s citizenship to be transferred from the dominion of darkness to the kingdom of God? Jesus said that it takes a “new birth”.
“Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit.”
John 3:5 NIV
Whatever Jesus meant, we understand that entrance into God’s kingdom means much more than simply changing one’s behaviour. It means that God does something in us that makes the difference. It takes a rescue!
“For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.”
Colossians 1:13-14 NIV
Paul said it takes resurrection from spiritual death…
“As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins…But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus,”
Ephesians 2:1, 4-6 NIV
Every one of us was born spiritually dead. We had physical life but we had no connection with God because our human nature was inherited from the first man, Adam. He rebelled against God’s rule and changed allegiance to the one who rules in the “dominion of darkness”.
Only God could reverse the situation by supernatural intervention. Only through Jesus, our substitute, who took our punishment on the cross, could God forgive our sin, give us His nature, reconcile us to the Father and change our status from slaves to sons.
This means that we cannot become citizens of heaven by our family connections, by changing our environment, or our behaviour by deciding to be a child of God. This change happens only through God’s grace and by His power at work in us.
“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast.”
Ephesians 2:8-9 NIV
Who initiates this change? Not us! We can’t do a thing about our lost situation unless God begins the process.
“All those the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away.”
John 6:37 NIV
It’s the Father who gives to Jesus those He has chosen.
“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love”
Ephesians 1:3-4 NIV
…and it’s by His power that He changes us inside so that we are no longer His enemies but His sons and daughters.
This change is so dramatic that we, who were once dead to God, become dead to sin and alive to God.
“For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin— …Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him.”
Romans 6:6, 8 NIV
Can you see, then, that going to church or reading the Bible can make no difference to our destiny unless…what we do is the fruit of what we believe and what God has done in us?
“If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved.”
Romans 10:9-10 NIV
Changing citizenship is a process and a partnership. God works in us by the power of His Spirit when we believe His Word, receive His forgiveness for sin, and surrender our lives to Jesus as Lord. The Holy Spirit does the work in us, changing our hearts, our nature, and our allegiance from self to God.
There is one more way in which we can know that we are God’s children. Apart from the changes that are real in us…we love God…we love His Word…we love His people…the Holy Spirit, who has come to live inside us, speaks.
“The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children.”
Romans 8:16 NIV
Now this is the acid test. Paul said that the real way to know whether we are in God’s kingdom or not is simple. Who or what runs your life?
“Those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on what the flesh desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires…You, however, are not in the realm of the flesh but are in the realm of the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, they do not belong to Christ….For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God.”
Romans 8:5, 9, 14 NIV
Fake “Christians” are like the plastic ornaments of a Christmas tree. They have no connection…no life from the tree. They may look real but they are dead.
Followers of Jesus are joined to Him like branches in the vine. They draw their life from Him and they bear the fruit of His nature in them.
“Why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say?”
Luke 6:46 NIV
Are you a fake or a follower?