Teach Me The Bible
What are the benefits and privileges of being a Christian?
The benefits and privileges of being a Christian are, principally, union with Christ, adoption by God into His family, Christian liberty, a spiritual right to the sacraments of the new covenant, the fellowship of all Christians, and the resurrection of the body.
Union with Christ.
The purpose of all that Christ did was that Christians might be united with Him and live together with Him (1 Thessalonians 5:10):
- They were crucified with Him (Romans 6:6);
- They were buried with Him (Romans 6:4; Colossians 2:12);
- They died with Him (Romans 6:8; 2 Timothy 2:11);
- They were made alive with Him (Colossians 2:13);
- They were raised with Him (Colossians 2:12; 3:1);
- They are made co-heirs with Him (Romans 8:17);
- They are to suffer with Christ (Romans 8:17);
- They are to share in His glory (Romans 8:17);
- They will reign with Him (2 Timothy 2:12; Revelation 20:4).
The union is like that of a Head and a Body:
- Christ is the Head of the Body, the Church (Colossians 1:18), and Christians, like the many limbs and organs in a single body, constitute the one body of Christ (1 Corinthians 12:12);
- Christians are meant to grow up in all things into Christ, who is the Head (Ephesians 4:15).
- Christ is the Head of the Church, as the husband is the head of the wife (Ephesians 5:23);
- Christians are promised to Christ, as a pure bride to her bridegroom (2 Corinthians 11:2; Ephesians 5:25-27; Revelation 21:9).
The union is like that of a husband and wife:
Christians will be with Christ forever
The union is like that of a foundation to a building:
- Christ is the rock upon which we are built (Matthew 16:18);
- We become part of God's spiritual building or house, as we are joined to Christ, the chief cornerstone, through faith (Ephesians 2:19-22; 1 Peter 2:4-7).
The Holy Spirit brings Christians into their living relationship and union with Christ, and there can be no such experience without the Holy Spirit (Romans 8: 9, 11).
It is through being in Christ that God gives us every possible spiritual benefit (Ephesians 1:3).
Adoption by God into His family.
Before the creation of the world God chose Christians in Christ to become His holy and blameless children, to live within His constant care (Ephesians 1:4, 5).
God's love has caused Him to bestow upon those who receive His Son the right to become His children (John 1:12, 13; 1 John 3:1).
Christians receive the Spirit of adoption, so that they are rightly able to cry, 'Abba, Father!' (Romans 8:15-17).
As God's children, Christians share His treasures, and all that God gives to His Son belongs to them as well (Romans 8:17).
Christians wait for the redemption of their bodies that will mean that at last they have entered into their full rights as God's children in Christ (Romans 8:23).
The whole creation may be described as waiting in eager expectation to see the wonderful sight of the children of God coming into their own (Romans 8:19).
Christian Liberty.
Christ came to proclaim freedom for captives, and release from darkness for prisoners (Isaiah 61:1, 2; Luke 4:18, 19). When Christ sets us free, we are free indeed (John 8:32, 34, 36; Galations 5:1).
Christ sets us free from the fear of death (1 Corinthians 15:55-57; Hebrews 2:14, 15).
Christ delivers us from that slavish attitude of fear that so easily can characterize life without God (Romans 8:15).
Christ has redeemed believers from the curse of the law's condemnation, by Himself becoming a curse for them when He was crucified (Galations 3:13): no condemnation now hangs over the head of those who are in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:1).
The burden of all the Jewish ceremonial is removed through Christ (Acts 15:10, 11; Galations 5:1).
Christ makes us free from slavery to sin (John 8:32, 34, 36). Though Christians once used to be slaves to sin, having now wholeheartedly obeyed the form of teaching to which they were entrusted, they have been set free from the service of sin, and have become the servants of righteousness (Romans 6:17, 18).
Christians' freedom, however, is not a freedom to do evil, but a freedom to serve God (1 Peter 2:16).
Christians are freed from the bondage of the law, but it remains a rule for them of life and holiness: God puts His law within Christians and writes it upon their hearts (Jeremiah 31:31-34).
Christians are not under law, but under grace (Romans 6:14).
The law is not nullified or undermined by the insistence on faith; rather it is given its proper place (Romans 3:31).
A spiritual right to the sacraments of the New Covenant.
The first sacrament of the New Covenant is baptism:
- It was appointed by Christ Himself for all disciples (Matthew 28:19, 20; Mark 16:15, 16);
- It is administered in the name of the Trinity (Matthew 28:19);
- It is a symbol of an individual's reception of the gospel (Acts 2:37, 38, 41; 8:12; 16:14, 15);
- It symbolizes repentance and faith in the Lord Jesus (Acts 2:38);
- It symbolizes confession of Christ's Lordship (Acts 19:5);
- It symbolizes admittance into God's family (Acts 2:38, 41, 47; 8:12; 9:18; 1 Corinthians 12:13);
- It symbolizes entry into all the benefits of Christ's death and resurrection (Romans 6:3, 4).
The second sacrament of the New Covenant is the Lord's Supper:
- The Lord's Supper is a proclamation of the Lord's death by words and symbols (1 Corinthians 11:26);
- It was established and commanded by Christ (Matthew 26:26-29; 1 Corinthians 11:23);
- It continually reminds Christians of Christ's sacrifice for them (Luke 22:19, 20; 1 Corinthians 11:23-26);
- By means of it Christians acknowledge their sharing in the benefits of Christ's death (1 Corinthians 10:16, 17; 11:23- 26);
- In it Christians have fellowship with Christ and with one another (1 Corinthians 10:16, 17, 21);
- In it Christians make their thanksgiving to God (1 Corinthians 10:16; Romans 12:1);
- The Lord's Supper is to be continued until Christ returns (1 Corinthians 11:26).
The Fellowship of all Christians.
God gives His people singleness of heart and action (Jeremiah 32:39).
The people of God are one as the Father and the Son are one (John 17:22) - and Jesus' prayer to His Father had this unity as a main petition (John 17:11, 21).
Jesus, the Great and Chief Shepherd, has one flock to which all Christians belong (John 10:16).
The fellowship of believers - sometimes called 'the communion of saints' - arises from Christians belonging to one Body, of which there is one Spirit (Ephesians 4:4).
All Christians are baptized by the Spirit into one Body, whether Jews, Gentiles, slaves or free, and they all have experience of the same Spirit (1 Corinthians 12:13).
Though many, Christians form one body in Christ, and each member belongs to all the others (Romans 12:5; 1 Corinthians 12:12).
The fellowship or communion of believers, therefore, is the sense of identity and belonging we have with all Christians through our common allegiance to the Lord Jesus, the truth (Ephesians 4:13; 2 John 1).
The fellowship Christians have together arises from their fellowship with the Father and the Son (1 John 1:3).
Christians should seek to express their fellowship and union outwardly by avoiding all dissensions among themselves, being perfectly united in mind and thought (1 Corinthians 1:10, 11; Philippians 2:1, 2; 1 Peter 3:8).
This fellowship of all Christians is given practical expression in the fellowship of the local church according to the pattern revealed in the New Testament (Acts 11:26; 14:23; 20:17, 28; 1 Corinthians 4:17; Hebrews 10:25; 13:17).
The Resurrection of the Body.
God does not abandon believers to the grave, but He has made known to them the path of life, which leads to joy in His presence, and eternal pleasures at His right hand (Psalms 16:9-11).
Believers have the assurance of the resurrection of the body through their risen Redeemer (Job 19:25-27; 1 Thessalonians 4:14).
The resurrection of the dead will be the first consequence of Christ's second coming (1 Thessalonians 4:16).
Believers will be made alive through Christ (1 Corinthians 15:22).
Harvest provides a good illustration of the kind of thing that will happen. What we sow is not the body that is to be but only a seed (1 Corinthians 15:37); just as to every kind of creature and thing God has given a particular body, so He has determined the particular nature of the resurrection body (1 Corinthians 15:38-44).
The body characterized by decay, dishonour, weakness, and suited only for this present life, will be raised an imperishable, glorious body, full of power, and perfectly fitted for life in the world to come (1 Corinthians 15:42-44).
The transformation will take place in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye (1 Corinthians 15:51, 52).
The assurance of the resurrection of the body is a tremendous comfort and encouragement to the Christian (1 Corinthians 15:58; 1 Thessalonians 4:18).
And after the glorious event, Christians will be with Christ forever (1 Thessalonians 4:17).