A new citizenship … What do you need to receive it?

 

By: Mónica Carvajal

 

A few days ago, after almost nine years of marriage, I received my husband’s nationality: I am finally a citizen of the United States of America. So, happy Fourth of July everyone!!!

A person can obtain American citizenship if he or she is born in the United States; at birth in another country as the child of American parents or grandparents (or if you have been adopted before age 18); or through a process of naturalization (when you marry an American citizen or have lived legally in the US and meet certain requirements).

As a Colombian I am allowed to have dual citizenship, but I can say with certainty that I have three.

I received the most valuable, important and crucial citizenship of all a little more than ten years ago. I did not have to meet a series of requirements, fill out an application, study for an exam or prove that I am “a person of good moral character, who obeys the law or that I have an attachment to the principles and ideals of the U.S. Constitution….”

On this July 4^th, I think it is a good opportunity to share with you how you can obtain the most important and essential citizenship on this earth and for eternity…I am talking about a heavenly citizenship.

Let’s start…

As human beings, we cannot obtain our heavenly citizenship by our good works (Romans 3:12, Isaiah 64: 6a), by our morality (Judges 17: 6), by our obedience to human or divine laws (Romans 5:19), for being Jews or Gentiles (Romans 10: 12-13), or for simply being human beings, because “as it is written, there is none righteous, not even one; There is no one who understands, there is no one who seeks God.” (Romans 3: 10-11)

As you just read, by nature we are not interested in obtaining a heavenly citizenship. The Bible says that all humans, without exception, “have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23), and that the desires of our hearts are in a constant enmity against God because of sin, because, as we read in Ephesians 4:18, “we have been darkened in our understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in us, due to the hardness of our hearts.”

So, if a person does not seek God, God is the One who looks for the person. We do not go to God and ask Him to help us fulfill the requirements to be citizens of the kingdom of heaven; He comes to us and invites us to accept the free offer of salvation and new life; He provides the only requirement needed for the transaction to take place: the death of Christ on the cross. He accepts us as His children, adopts us in His family and changes our hearts.

How do we prepare to receive the new citizenship?

Although there is only one requirement to receive it, we must be prepared to accept it, and this preparation includes certain aspects that we need to recognize, understand and accept before we can become citizens of the kingdom of heaven.

We need to recognize that we were born in sin (Psalm 51: 5), that we are under the dominion of the kingdom of darkness (Colossians 1:12), that the wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23), that only One person without sin can be our intermediary, the perfect sacrifice before God and the only way to the Father (Romans 5: 8, John 14: 6), that Christ died for our sins, that He was buried, and that He rose again on the third day (1 Corinthians 15: 3-4). Finally, we must repent and believe in the gospel (Mark 1:15).

Once we have understood and accepted this, the process of the new birth to receive our heavenly citizenship is set in motion.

How does it happen?

As we read in John 3, when Jesus spoke to Nicodemus He told him that unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God; he who is not born of water and of the Spirit, cannot enter into the kingdom of God; and that which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.

When we are born in a country we are citizens of that country through birth; when we are born of Colombian, Spanish or Americans parents, etc., we automatically receive their citizenship. However, according to the Bible, to receive our heavenly citizenship we must be born of God. It is not something we inherit from our parents, or that our children inherit from us if we are Christians. It is not something we can receive by being married to a believer or something we can ask simply because we live on this earth.

We can only receive our heavenly citizenship if we are born again…if we are born of God. It is a citizenship that God grants to all persons who confess their sins, repent of them and believe in His Son Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. It is a personal transaction that can only be carried out when the person confesses with his mouth that Jesus is Lord, and believe in his heart that God raised Him from the dead, for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation (Romans 10: 9-10).

When we do this confession of heart, the new birth about which Jesus speaks in John 3:3 is carried out, and we become God’s children and citizens of heaven right away (Ephesians 2:19), giving us the privilege of being adopted into His family. In this way, as John 1:12 says, “All who receive Jesus and believe in his name have the right to become children of God.”

In other words, the only condition to be saved and to receive our new citizenship and all the privileges and responsibilities that it entails, in a complete and official way, is our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and His redemptive work on the cross, His death and His resurrection; we can only receive our heavenly citizenship through the new birth that provides the basis for our adoption as children of God and thus gives us the privilege of being citizens of the kingdom of heaven.

We receive the certificate of our new birth from God Himself, because, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of our salvation—having also believed, we were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise (Ephesians 1:13) and, the “Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God.” (Romans 8:16)

We can never lose this certificate, because we can never lose our salvation. It is a gift from God and it is irrevocable (Romans 11:29, John 10:28-29). Neither we can renounce to it, since we are new creatures (2 Corinthians 5:17), although certainly we can renounce any other citizenship. This transaction is final and absolute and is guaranteed by God Himself (2 Corinthians 5:18-19,21).

Unlike the American citizenship, there is not an age limit for our adoption. We can receive it at 8, 15, 30, 50 or 100 years and regardless of the age at which we receive it, we will enjoy its privileges and we will have to respond with obedience to our responsibilities as citizens from the beginning.

Summary
As you can see, a heavenly citizenship is the most valuable treasure that any person could have: a direct passport to eternal life and to the presence of God, the result of the mercy and the grace of God in the life of everyone who believes, since “God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together…For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.” (Ephesians 2: 4-9)

So, when you have finished reading these words, if the Holy Spirit has worked in your heart and you have received the gift of faith and salvation, you are no longer stranger and alien, but you are fellow citizen with the saints, and a member of God’s family (Ephesians 2:19), and your citizenship is in heaven (Philippians 3:20).

Next week we will review the responsibilities and privileges of the new citizen of heaven to understand how this new citizenship impacts your life on this earth and for eternity.

God bless you
See you soon