Are you a citizen of heaven? How does it affect your everyday affairs? Or does it? Maybe it should. Because if Christ is in you, everything changes.

But if Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christfrom the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also through his Spirit that dwells in you. (Romans 8:10-11 NLT,*)

If you’ve been made right with God through faith in Jesus, the Spirit of God delivers you from your dead life. If you’ve been made a citizen of heaven, he who raised Christ from the dead will raise you on the last day through the Holy Spirit that dwells in you.

Powerful.

Like D.L. Moody, when he knew he was approaching his death, said “Some day you will read in the papers that D.L. Moody of East Northfield, is dead. Don’t you believe a word of it! At that moment I shall be more alive than I am now; I shall have gone up higher, that is all, out of this old clay tenement into a house that is immortal- a body that death cannot touch, that sin cannot taint; a body fashioned like unto His glorious body. I was born of the flesh in 1837. I was born of the Spirit in 1856. That which is born of the flesh may die. That which is born of the Spirit will live forever”.

Death is not the end for Christians.
Death is the beginning for citizens of heaven.

Above all, you must live as citizens of heaven, conducting yourselves in a manner worthy of the Good News about Christ. (Philippians 1:27a, NLT,*)

How should the Good News affect your every day life? If  the Holy Spirit dwells in you, your life is not business as usual. Not because you need to be good in order to be saved. (We can only become citizens of heaven by grace through faith in Christ.) But because you are loved and cherished by God Almighty, you want to love him back. Because you are embraced with more grace than you ever need, you want to honor God with your life.

With the words of Philip Yancey “If we comprehend what Christ has done for us, then surely out of gratitude we will strive to live ‘worthy’ of such great love. We will strive for holiness not to make God love us but because He already does”. And even this striving for holiness happens by God’s grace not by our own effort. With the Holy Spirit living in us, we are becoming what God created us to be: holy like he is.

 

Gracious God,
Your gifts to us are beyond wonderful.
We are so not worthy of your grace.
But we are ever so grateful!
Help us to strive towards holiness.
Change us inside out.
Enable us to live worthy of you.
In Jesus’ name,
Amen

Q4U: Are you a citizen of heaven? How does it affect your life?

Be blessed, my fellow pilgrim, as you live your life in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ!

* [As you might have noticed, I enjoy reading the Bible in different translations and love comparing them. I have started linking the Bible verses to Biblegateway.com so you can easily read (and compare) them in the different versions I’ve used while preparing each post.]

Image courtesy of Kevin Carden, design Mari-Anna Stålnacke. Linking up today with Sharing His Beauty, Unforced Rhythms, Playdates with God, and counting blessings with Ann Voskamp: #1109 Being a citizen of heaven means we live forever!

I always appreciate if you help sharing the blog posts with your friends & followers. So that everyone might know the love of God, receive the grace of Christ, and live in the presence of the Holy Spirit! Thank you! Be blessed now and forever!