Since the believer is already justified in Christ, he no longer has to fight for his rights.
A believer is a dead man living a resurrected life. Accordingly, Paul expressed the quintessential Christian life:
“I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.” (Galatians 2:20).
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No matter what you go through, a believer can no longer talk of injustice. Injustice does not exist in the language spoken in the kingdom of God. Neither can a believer insist on taking vengeance. To do so is to be in danger of revoking his free pardon.
You can no longer make a case about somebody’s injustice to you and expect satisfaction from retributive justice. Should you insist on satisfaction, God will also insist on satisfaction. A Christian who insists on retributive justice is someone who has simply yet to understand the nature of the free pardon he has received from God.
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Jesus says: “Freely you have received; freely give.” (Matthew 10:8). Therefore, since you have received a pardon, pardon freely.
Let me ask you something. Has God ever taken your side in a quarrel before? Not likely. When two people quarrel, both are in the wrong. You are only right if you do not quarrel. A man can never be justified in the sight of God as a result of something he does or does not do. If he could, then he would have saved himself and it would not have been necessary to depend on Jesus to save him.
It is only what Jesus does that justifies:
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“Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, that we might be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law; for by the works of the law no flesh shall be justified.” (Gal 2:16).
Paul says even when a man’s conscience is clear; it does not mean he is right. (1 Cor 4:4). It is only God who justifies the believer. He never justifies himself.
Let me put it graphically: do not be your own lawyer and do not hire a lawyer to present your case before God. You already have a lawyer: Jesus Christ. If you argue your own case, it means you no longer need the services of Jesus. Without lawyer Jesus, you are automatically guilty. With lawyer Jesus, you can never lose a case.
Many Christians are still trying to get God to be on their side. They want God to take their side in a quarrel. They want God to take their side against their enemies. But please answer me this: “Are you saved?” Then you are already justified. God has already taken your side.
Had it not been for the Lord who is on our side, we would be hell-bound. Some of us, including “yours truly,” would be in hell already. Therefore, relax; God is on your side. Even though you are going through the fire, God is on your side. Even though you are going through the water, God is on your side. Even though you are going through persecution and affliction, God is on your side.
Yes, even though you are walking through the valley of the shadow of death, God is on your side. And if God is for you, who can be against you? Only a demonic fool.
Today, the devil cannot even make a case against you to God as he did against Job. All that was before the cross. Since it is now clear from the beginning that the judge is on your side, then making a case against you would be simply idiotic.
The jury is rigged. There may be twelve men on the jury, but lo and behold, they are all members of your family. The judge Himself happens to be your Father.
The President has chosen a man to be a minister in his cabinet. Then someone makes a case that he is not qualified for the job. But the judge and the jury in the case is the same president who chose the minister and thereby declared that the man was qualified in the first place.
In effect, whoever makes a case against the minister is just wasting his time. He can never win because the same man who elects is the man who justifies. The only thing that can happen is that the accuser might succeed in making the president his enemy. So, understand that whoever God elects is justified, and whoever he justifies will be glorified. The whole process is rigged.
David understood this kingdom dynamic. Given the opportunity twice, he refused to kill Saul, a man who was after his life. When Shimei cursed him while he was fleeing from Jerusalem during Absalom’s coup d’état, David refused to take vengeance.
He noted in the psalms that his enemies hated him without a cause. Nevertheless, he sought peace and pursued it according to the principles of the kingdom of God. He even went so far as to restore what he did not take away. (Psalm 69:4).
Can you tolerate that kind of injustice? That is the requirement of the kingdom of God.
Since the believer is already justified in Christ, he no longer has to fight for his rights. The Lord will fight for him, and he shall hold his peace. (Exodus 14:14).
Take a look at Jehoshaphat’s address to his troops when the combined armies of three enemy nations attacked Judah:
“‘You will not need to fight in this battle. Position yourselves, stand still and see the salvation of the LORD, who is with you, O Judah and Jerusalem!’ Do not fear or be dismayed; tomorrow go out against them, for the LORD is with you.” (2 Chronicles 20:17).
Because the Lord is the believer’s justifier, he sometimes allows himself to be cheated. (1 Corinthians 6:7). Peter, who initially did not understand this kingdom dynamic, soon became its most eloquent advocate after going through the tutelage of the Holy Spirit. He asks:
What credit is it if, when you are beaten for your faults, you take it patiently? But when you do good and suffer, if you take it patiently, this is commendable before God. For to this you were called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that you should follow His steps: “Who committed no sin, nor was deceit found in His mouth”; who, when He was reviled, did not revile in return; when He suffered, He did not threaten, but committed Himself to Him who judges righteously. (1 Peter 2:20-23).
For this reason, Paul also writes that a believer should present his body as a living sacrifice unto God. (Rm 12:1). He notes that for the sake of Christ a believer allows himself to be “killed” (abused) all the day long and to be accounted even as sheep for the slaughter. When a man presents something as a sacrifice, he releases all claims or rights to it. He leaves it to be used solely for God’s glory and honour.
Moreover, the revelation of God is that man is not the enemy of man. The enemy of man is the devil and his cohorts:
For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. (Ephesians 6:12).
The devil simply uses ignorant men to do his bidding. And these men are slaves of sin. They have no choice. They cannot help themselves but do the devil’s bidding.
Since the devil is a spirit, the weapons of our warfare cannot be carnal. We must use spiritual weapons to fight spiritual battles. Therefore, fight the good fight of faith and not the bad fight of the flesh. When it was time to fight the spiritual battle through prayer in the garden of Gethsemane, Peter preferred to sleep. But when the battle was over and they came to arrest Jesus, Peter drew his sword and came to fight the bad fight of the flesh. CONTINUED.
[email protected]; www.femiaribisala.com
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