Citizens of Heaven (Part 2 of 2)

As believers in Christ we are citizens of heaven, we belong to Jesus and that changes who we are today on Truth for Life Alastair bed highlights two benefits that are grounded in the believer's identity in Christ. Is there anything we can do to earn them or lose them.

Our study continues in Philippians chapter 3 in verse 20. When you read first Corinthians 15 which you may do at your leisure to discover that Paul is making the point.

There that Jesus is the second are the last Adam, who has come to do all that Adam did. By the fall, and to do all that Adam failed to do on account of his disobedience. So if you're like he is Adam in reverse undoing what Adam did and regaining what Adam lost and that is the significance of being in Christ, we are all in Adam by nature, but we are only in Christ by faith before you are a Christian believer growing up in your home and your parents told you Jesus died upon the cross for sinners and he lived a perfect life and were accepted on the basis of his righteousness, we just nodded our heads. It seemed like a mathematical formula. It seemed like it.

One of these equations that balance that always has to balance out whatever they're called.

People would sing in Christ alone. My hope is found. He is my light, my strength, my song and we realize we want to fortify lines of what we just said but now when we sing it, it means everything to us because you are in Christ because all of the blessings and benefits that have been accomplished in Jesus have been applied to your life as you have come to trust in Christ and not expose personal testimony is that in chapter 3, you can read it again for yourselves and hold. He says if you want to think about acceptance with God in terms of personal righteousness and a number of you apparently want to put on your hands and say yes then he says I can tell you that I had that covered in the extreme.

If you want to hear my credentials. They are as follows. I was circumcised on the eighth day I was part of the tribe of Benjamin. I was born as a citizen of Israel. I grew up in this way, and so on. And then he says the most remarkable thing, but whatever was to my profit. I now consider loss. Something has happened to this morning. I was thing about this as I drove here and III thought of the song that begins a dancer to mercy alone and then I went and found it and let me just give you a this is Augustine's top lady in the 18 century.

Here is the testimony of somebody who is in Christ who understands that identity.

I dancer to mercy alone of covenant mercy. I say nor fear with you righteousness on my person and offering to bring the terrors of law and of God with me can have nothing to do anything. You are the terrors of law and of God with me can have nothing to do.

All I want to hear the Augustus, you must be one special person you don't fear the judgment of God. You don't fear death. I mean, you're saying that that in Christ alone. Some no guilt in life no fear and death. Where does that come from the terrors of law and of God with me can have nothing to do. My Savior's obedience and blood hi all my transgressions from view. I in Christ.

Therefore, I am viewed in one sense, by God as being as righteous as Christ as righteous as Christ because the only righteousness I have is the righteousness of Christ has nothing to do with what I'm doing everything to do with what he is not. There is no story like anywhere else except in the Bible.

And if you are in Christ today.

If you are a Christian, then, to some degree.

This will be your testimony somewhere along the way, you will be able to explain that by an agency of your parents, your love and your friends, your pastor, a book, a neighbor is somebody you were brought to repentance and faith.

You came to a point where you said I need Christ and you came to trust in him and the Holy Spirit works in you, the miracle of new birth, so that overall what you thought you were doing was just mumbling out a bunch of phraseology.

I admit that I'm a sinner and I need you, and so on, and you walked away from wherever the encounter was in somebody's back garden or in a prayer room or whatever it is he said well who knows what that was about but today you know what it's about because everything changed.

What happened, God regenerates that you you are made new by the Holy Spirit you were united to Christ and as a result, all that Jesus had accomplished on the cross was applied to your life so your identity is entirely in second word is the word security and follows naturally. I think there is a security that emerges from our identity. I've been traveling on largely on my American passport.

But if the line is shorter than I use my British passport and and Sue comes with me and I go with her. It doesn't matter, but we managed to work our way through the shortest line both passports.

I think you're pretty good.

I would one argue that the best passports in the world to have butter up there and with that passport comes all of the benefits and blessings of citizenship is because of the relationship. It is enjoyed with the nation and through the nation. The Secretary of State stamps on the inside of the passport by the bearer of this passport is to be allowed free passage is allowed to go to their destinations allowed to do all of these things all of that is backed by grounded in the fact of our identity so that our security is found in who we are. That is the point of Paul makes and when you think about it is very important because inevitably somebody says what I begun to follow Jesus, but I don't know if I'll be able to keep going well who started the thing off for you.

The answer is God you believe God didn't believe for you but when you look back on it, you go amazing to me that I ever come to trust in Christ and so Paul in Philippians 1. He encourages the folks he says I'm very confident of flag that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ. God began the good work in you and he will bring it to completion.

Why is that because the righteousness the right standing before God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe the righteousness comes through faith in Jesus to all who believe that God's acceptance office God's declaration about us doesn't depend on our accomplishments or our endeavors, but upon Christ's accomplishment and Christ's endeavors and that once and for all completed life and death and resurrection is not only the basis of the Christians identity. But as the ground of the Christian security every so often you make a purchase. Whatever it might be my by a tie ticket outside the shop.

You walk down the street you take it out to have another look at it when you're having a coffee and you go. I think this is a miserable time going to take it back your white sister you will, why don't you just look at the receipt and you look at the receipt and all the dreaded words on the bottom. No exchanges, no refunds are stuck with it unless you want to give it to your uncle for his birthday.

The transaction is been affected and there's no way out from the negative side, that's disappointing, but from the positive side, which is the nature of the gospel is fantastic. What Jesus has accomplished on the cross and affected for lies in applying it to our lives is final and complete. He's not going to back out. It is an inviolable contract. It is an inviolable covenant.

There is no rescinding of no exchanges nor reversals.

That's why it is so wonderful when you get to Romans chapter 8 and you read these glorious words, there is therefore now no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus to them that are in Christ Jesus, why is there no condemnation. Still, I feel condemned I feel ashamed that was a bad thing.

I did that was a bad thing. I said of course.

And it wasn't a needs to be repented of but it didn't alter your standing with God didn't alter your identity even move three seats down in the classroom. Like when you were a primary school and you filled in the report and you are no longer third top of the class XVIIth in the class why because of your performance.

It doesn't work like that because all of our identity is in Jesus flow you say one my going to do when my pastor condemns me when it rears its ugly head. When out of nowhere, something jumps up and says I can believe you did that said that where that whole when our present disappoints us and disappoints the people around us and we know when we know ourselves to be miserable or when our future paralyzes us and makes us fearful when you do that. Where is security only in Christ.

Only in Christ. That's why we sang what we sang being down my battlefield sword for the fight.

Jesus goes out as our champion in the way that David went out before the armies of Philistines. Remember, and he goes out, not simply as David the shepherd boy but he goes out as David, the representative of Israel and that's why when he defeated Goliath and chopped off his head. All of the Army swarmed behind and declared their enjoyment of the great victory that David had accomplished. It was a picture of what Jesus would do that he would straight out onto the battlefield with the evil one that he would dislocate him that he would deal with them, he would put them out in the garbage. Waiting for final collection at all who are in Christ come behind in the champion of Jesus ever say he is he is our victory. He is our battlefield. The answer is that our identity is found in Christ and our security is found in looking away to Christ. It is in the reminder of what we are in Christ that serves as a constant defense against our slipping back into what we are by nature he got that it is the reminder of what we are in Christ that serves as the defense mechanism against slipping back into what we are by nature as a Paul that's the argument Paul uses is not. He says, given that you are in Christ, do you mean to tell me that you would engage in this activity.

He doesn't give them a long list of rules and regulations to try and protect them from that which may be in violation of the law of God know he simply reminds them of what they are. You are in Christ all of the benefits of Jesus reviewers all apply to your life. Therefore, it is not impossible for you to act in this way, but it is incongruous and it is the very incongruity orbit which of course alarms is, and we understand it and that is why the Westminster confession of faith tells us that the Christ Christians were involved in a continual and irreconcilable war Romans chapter 7 works it out there. We are aware of the fact that we are a mess and so on. And where do we look what we look to Christ, who by his dad bore the penalty of our sins by his life and in his resurrection didn't simply bring us back to square one back is aware in the Monopoly game of life back to back to zero to start again. That wouldn't be very good would it all that happened was that we we got all our all our bad stuff cleaned up and you got a clean sheet and then you had a go at it on your own what confidence would I have that in the time that I've now got from getting a clean sheet to finally handy in my sheet I will make a complete mess of the whole sheet oh confidence I have that now, having had my past all dealt with my future's going to be any better than my past was how do I have any confidence that when I stand before the examination. I will have nothing to say, the answer is the same.

It is in Christ and what the theologians referred to as the active righteousness of Christ that since we are in Christ all of his keeping of the law. All of his perfect obedience.

All of his absolute life is our life he led for all who are in Christ Gratian matron who died in 1 January in 1937, was a professor at Princeton and then a founder Westminster seminary and writing to his dear friend, the late Prof. John Murray days before his death he sent Mario telegram and the telegram simply read dear John, I am so thankful for the active obedience of Christ.

No hope without it. I am so thankful for the active obedience of Christ. No hope without it. Was he said well in a radio broadcast address that very subject. I'll give you a brief quote about our final word and will be through listen to this. Those who have been saved by the Lord Jesus Christ are in a far more blessed condition then was Adam before he fell Adam before he fell was righteous in the sight of God, but he was still under the possibility of becoming unrighteous right those who have been saved by the Lord Jesus Christ. Not only are righteous in the sight of God but they are beyond the possibility of becoming unrighteous in their case, the probation is over. It is not because they have students successfully.

It is not over because they themselves have earned the reward of assured blessedness which God promised on condition of perfect obedience, but it is over because Christ has student for them.

It is over because Christ has merited for them. The reward by his of perfect obedience to God's law. That's why Augustus talk lady can write what he writes the terrors of lawn of God with me can have nothing to do well just one word concerning our dignity where it is our dignity lie in Christ Jesus. All of our dignity so the dignity that attached to their identity and their security then have a right to do with whether Paul was writing to somebody who read it as a doctor or somebody who read it as a soldier somebody who read it as a homeowner or someone who read it as a slave because all of them recognized that there dignity was found in their identity and their identity was found in the Lord Jesus Christ to see how amazing this is. It allows no basis for division no basis for division on the strength of race, color, education, finance, school tie, whatever all the things that are mechanisms for identifying ourselves and who are you why most women will hold all rule or really very nice. Who are you is what I do. But who I miss I'm I'm a sinner saved by grace.

No, no reason for us to be divided no reason either for us to be defeated.

We know who we are.

We know what we're like I have told you before to quote Dick Lucas that if you knew what I was really like it would never listen to me preach and if I knew what you were really like. I probably wouldn't preach to you, where failure and sin and of shame and of disgrace. But that is not the whole picture that is not the completed story. I am by God's grace in Christ.

On what basis are you planning to stand before God, what are you going to offer on the day that he ask you to give an account.

I suppose you can get rid of every bad thing you've ever done you can eradicate what you going to offer in your defense, where you where if you were going to see the king. Would you where if you were going to see the present spent a long time. When she you might even look at all the watermen say, you know, there's nothing that I can go in there and even my best stuff looks like not so good. What if he came out of his chambers said here I have a role for you to wear where this is the story of the gospel that on our best day when we polished up all our dudes. All our best endeavors to make ourselves acceptable before God or Frank Wishon. We have no basis upon which to approach and unless he would give us a robe of righteousness from God through faith in Jesus to all believe to all who believe. So go out and enjoy today go out and rejoice in the privileges of freedom, democracy, American citizenship, and everything else but do not go out and spend an nanosecond assuming that those freedoms and those benefits and on knowledge and intellectual knowledge of what I have just told you is equivalent to those truths being applied to your life through personal faith and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ, I beseech as though God were making his appeal through my very mouth be reconciled listening to Alistair Begg on Truth for Life. Alister will be back in just a minute to close with prayer so please keep listening. We learned today that all the benefits we enjoy as believers come to us as a result of our faith in Jesus Christ, not because of anything we have done that.

There's nothing we can do to earn God's saving grace. The Bible tells us that grace is a free gift for those who believe you'd like to know more about how you can receive God's gift of salvation. We invite you to visit Truth for Life.org/the story there you'll find a helpful video presentation that explains the gospel message again. Visit Truth for Life.org/the story note do you find yourself amazed as you stop to think about all. Jesus has done for you. We could spend a lifetime trying to grasp the extent of his love. The apostle Paul understood that correct when he wrote to his friends at Ephesus. He encouraged the believers.

There and he prayed often for them, boldly asking God to help them grow in their understanding of God's love for them.

How can we learn to pray like that let's the topic of the book were recommending today. You may have heard me mention it already. The book is called pray big and it's written by Alister Paul pray big because he believed in an all-powerful sovereign God, a God who does what he says he'll do and the truths that shape Paul's prayers can motivate us to pray big, we invite you to request your copy of the book pray big it comes to you with the corresponding study guide and both are yours by request. When you give a gift of any amount The image in the app or call us at 888-588-7884.

Now here's Alister with the closing prayer father, thank you that you have made so wonderfully available to us this great and glorious good news. Thank you that it turns on it on his head. All of our notions every religious idea about acceptance with you when we reach the end of all of our endeavors. We find there stands. Christ forgive his Lord when we's have stayed away from you because we think were so good that we don't need a Savior help us when we think were so bad that you would never be our Savior, hear our prayers that are price come to you for your son's sake on them about Lapine. Hope you enjoy your weekend and are able to spend time worshiping with your local church. Join us on Monday as Alister begins a new series from the book of Philemon and challenges us to do something radical. The Bible teaching of Alistair Begg is furnished by Truth for Life learning prolific