The introductory part of Pastor Chris’s book, “Your
rights in Christ"
highlights the Liberty we have in Christ. The word Liberty as used in Luke 4:18
means to release those that were bruised. Pastor Chris postulates that the word
liberty has two meanings. Liberty as in Luke 4:18 means to set free, to release
while liberty in Galatians 5:13 and Galatians 2:4 means right, synonymous with
authority, a legal right. We have freedom that empowers us with a legal right.
(Rights – a
just claim to authority).
In Galatians 4:7 the bible says, “Thou art no more a servant but a son”. A son has rights that the
servants do not have. The servant might not have information concerning his
masters business but the son does.
WHAT ARE THESE RIGHTS?
These rights can be categorized into the three: the right to choose, live and rule.
The right to choose (Deuteronomy 30:19; Philippians 1:21 – 25)
The New Creation is not a programmed robot; he has the right
to choose. Christianity is not a religion were you loose your right to choose.
You have the right to choose between life and death, but the unbeliever is
subjected to death already, He has no right he is under bondage. Paul tells us of his dilemma on how he was
caught between two options to make a choice to die and be with Christ, or to
live and fulfil the gospel. In John 5, the bible records that Jesus asked the
man who had been infirmed for 38 years; if he wanted to be healed (Will thou be
made whole, Verse 6). Many instances have shown that many are ignorant of their
rights in this life. Some say, maybe God put the sickness on me to make me
humble, but that is absolutely wrong because His will for us is to prosper and
be in good health even as our soul prospers (3 John 2). We have the right to choose.
The right to live (John 11:25-26; 2 Tim 1:10; 1 Cor
15:26,; Heb 11:5)
Because we have believed in Jesus Christ we have the right
to live. The bible says, whoever believes in him shall never die (Amplified
Bible says shall never die at all). This scripture in John 11:25-26 speaks of
physical death. Yes many have quoted the scripture saying and it is appointed
unto man once to die and after this the judgement (Hebrews 9:27). From this
scripture, they say every human being must die but we know that we have been
crucified with Christ and therefore the life, which we now live in the flesh we
live by the faith of the Son of God.
Death is by choice
The bible says in Romans 6:9, death has no dominion over us.
Death is a choice because Jesus abolished death and brought life and
immortality. The questions that a lot of people ask is that why do some
Christians still die. The scripture says
in 1 Corinthians 15:26 that the last enemy that shall be destroyed is death. Death is still in existence. It has only been
abolished but not yet destroyed. Being abolished means it has no legal right
upon us but except we lay down our lives, we have the right to live. (John
10:17-18). A man could live without the sting of death like Enoch and Elijah,
who never physically died.
The right to rule (Rom 5:17; Rev 1:5; 1 Pet 2:9; Eccl
8:4)
The bible says we are kings and priests, and as kings we
have the right to rule. To reign means to rule, to govern. We must walk with the mentality of a king, a
peculiar people and a chosen generation. God has given us the divine ability to
cause changes. As kings our words are powerful when we speak, we speak words of
power. The bible says, “Ye are gods”
(Psalms 82:6)
Exercise: Exercise
your rights in Christ by speaking the right words
YOUR INHERITENCE IN CHRIST
The New Creation has an inheritance in Christ. Galatians 4:7
says “wherefore thou art no more
servants, but sons, and if sons, then heirs of God through Christ”. If Heirs, then what is our inheritance? By
the reason of Jesus’ Death, a
will came into effect. Our inheritance is our legal possession. No one can
revoke the will that has been written about our inheritance (Hebrews 9:15).
What are the things that are rightly yours?
A man died in poverty because he did not know that His late father left
him a huge inheritance. What are our inheritances?
All things are yours (Eph 1:11; 1 Cor 3:21; Psalm
115:16; Rom 4:13)
Firstly, we must understand that according to scriptures we
have obtained an inheritance. Colossians says giving thanks unto the Father,
which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saint in
light and 1 Corinthians 3:21-23 tells us that all things are ours. Everything
your mind can receive is yours whether death or life, wealth, health, joy, houses,
education, all things are yours. Abraham received the promise as the heir of
the world and the promise was also to his seed.
Now our inheritance can be classified into general, which is all things,
and the specifically into three, which are: divine health, prosperity and
abundance, and deliverance.
a. Divine Health (Isaiah 53:4-5; 1 Peter 2:24; 3 John
2)
God’s will for
us is to be in good health. In Isaiah 53:4-5 and 1Peter 2:24, God affirmed
divine healing and divine health to us. Isaiah 53:4-5 was a prophecy on health
for the ordinary people. The bible says in verse 5 with his stripes we are
healed. By the stripes of a man they had
not yet seen or known.
Divine healing
While divine healing is for the unsaved, divine heath is for
the believer (1 Peter 2:24). For we being dead to sin should live unto
righteousness by whose stripes we were healed. It means we have already been
healed because the scripture has been fulfilled. Therefore, we have divine
health as our inheritance. It is God’s
will for us to prosper and be in good health even as our souls prosper. Sin
brings diseases, sickness and death. But we are the righteousness of God and
sin has no dominion over us. Health denotes freedom from sickness, it means
fitness, well-being and wholeness
b. Prosperity and abundance (3 John 22; 2Cor 8:9; 1
Tim 6:17)
Someone said “I
really don’t want to be
too rich”. But the bible says God wants us to prosper
and to have abundance. To prosper means to flourish. Poverty is a state of
lack. 2 Corinthians 8:9 says Jesus became poor so that we through his poverty
might become rich. He has given us all things to enjoy (1Tim 6:17). God wants
us to have in abundance so that we can be a blessing to others.
c. Deliverance (Col 1:12-13; Mark 16:17)
God has delivered us and so it is wrong for a child of God
to seek deliverance. Your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit.
The bible says God has translated us into the kingdom of his
son. He hath delivered us from the power of darkness. (The Amplified Bible says
“and has drawn us to himself”) and hath translated us unto
the kingdom of his dear son. We have the power to cast out demons not for them
to possess us.
YOU ARE GOD’S
ADDRESS (Col 1:27; Eph 2:21 –
22; 1 Cor 6:19)
An address is a place of residence. The New Creation is God’s house, His address. Acts
17:28 let us know that. He dwells in us, and that our body is the temple of the
Holy Spirit. Colossians states that Christ in us is the Hope of glory.
His extension (Jer 51:20-22; Acts 1:8)
Bible says we are God’s
extension, the extension of his manifested presence on earth. We execute
justice, maintain peace through our prayers and reshape situations. Acts 1:8 says we shall receive power when the
Holy Spirit comes. That power is that dynamic ability to cause changes. (See
also Psalms 149:6-9). This honour has
all the saints of God.
GOD’S
MIRROR PRINCIPLE (James 1:22-25; 2Cor 3:17,18)
A mirror is used to see ones image. It is a reflector; it
shows the exact representation of the image before it. The bible lets us know
that, God’s word is his mirror and when
we look into it we see our true reflection; that God says we are. The mirror
has the power to reflect change in a person’s
life. 2 Corinthians 3:18 says, “But
we all with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the lord are changed
into the same image from glory to glory even as by the Spirit of the Lord”. It does not matter how you
feel or see yourself, it is what the mirror shows you that you are. James
1:22-25 talks about being doers of the word and not a forgetful hearer. It gives us a clear picture of a man who is
not a doer of the word. The bible says such a person is like a man who beholds
his natural face in a glass and straight away forgets what manner of man he
was. A lot of Christians forget who they are because they do not dwell on the
Word.
As we read the Word we become transformed, we become
changed. We become more like Jesus, Romans 8:29 says He predestined us to be
conformed to the image of His Son. Note that the Word will do nothing until you
act on it. The Word reveals who we really are.
OPERATION OF THE FIVE SENSES (2 Cor 5:7; 2 Cor 4:18)
The senses include hearing, seeing, talking, smelling and
feeling. They are in the physical perception, but the Lord wants us to live by
faith. Physical perception connotes carnality and the bible says they that are
in the flesh cannot please God, Romans 8:6-8. But the New Creation is not in
the flesh but in the spirit. The bible says in 2 Corinthians 5:7 that, “we walk by faith and not by
sight”. You must develop or grow
your faith by hearing the Word of God. Pastor Chris points out in the book “The oil and the mantle”, that whenever a man turns
his eyes to the physical, he loses sight of God and this is what happens to a
lot of Christians.
Faith in Jesus Christ alone is all that we need to live the
Christian life. In the last paragraph of page 26 of the book, it further says “God has called us to live the
life of faith or the walk of faith”.
Hebrews 11:1 says “Now faith is
the substance of things hoped for, evidence of things not seen”. We are not looking out to see something, we
believe because God has said it. 2 Corinthians 4:18 says, “While we look not at the things which are seen, for
the things which are seen are temporal but the things which are not seen are
eternal.
CONCLUSION
A Christian is the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus. He
has the eternal life, which is God’s
kind of life. He has the right to rule, to live and to choose. He has
inheritance in Christ: all things, divine health, prosperity and abundance, and
deliverance. He is the dwelling place of
God.
CLASS REVIEW
What is righteousness and how does one become righteous?
What is eternal life?
Who has eternal life and how is it gotten?
