Understanding Your Rights in Christ: More Than Just Salvation

When we talk about salvation, many Christians think only about being saved from hell. But the truth is, our rights in Christ are all-inclusive. Salvation isn't just one work of redemption—it encompasses so much more. There are tremendous opportunities for God to move in mighty ways in our lives if we simply believe what His Word says and put our faith in the complete work of Christ.

Why Do Christians Miss Out on God's Blessings?

Many Christians suffer unnecessarily. They experience lack, misunderstanding, and confusion about who God is and how He views them. The sad reality is that most believers are praying for things they already have. If we understood how to appropriate what has already been given, we wouldn't keep asking for what's already ours.

The enemy wants to keep us in the arena of our minds—questioning, second-guessing, and thinking there must be more we need to do. But we need to hold the devil in the arena of faith. When challenges come, we must bring them into the arena of faith rather than letting those challenges pull us into the arena of our minds.

Where Do We Find Our Rights in Christ?

If you only spend time reading the Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John), you'll never fully grasp why Jesus came. Many denominations focus their teaching primarily on the Gospels, but it's not in the Gospels where you find who you are in Christ.

It's in the Epistles (Romans through 3 John) where we discover the full, complete work of Jesus Christ. The Gospels tell us about Jesus' birth, life, death, burial, and resurrection—the story of Christ. But the Epistles reveal the meaning behind everything Jesus did.

As you read through the Epistles, highlight every place you see phrases like "in Christ," "by Christ," "in whom," or "in Him." You'll find at least 130 places that tell you who you are in Christ and what you have because of who you are in Christ.

What Is the Difference Between Head Knowledge and Heart Knowledge?

Many people read the Bible and are saved, but they can't grasp the realities of God's Word. They have understanding without revelation—head knowledge without heart knowledge.

Think of it this way: I can believe that a hundred-dollar bill is real, but that hundred-dollar bill will do me no good if I don't have it or use it. That's what the Bible is for many people—a benefit never being used, a million dollars of possibilities that remains just that: possibilities.

Until you personally obtain God's promises for yourself and put them to work, you will not benefit from all that Christ has provided.

Three Essential Rights We Have in Christ

1. The Right of Reconciliation

Reconciliation is the act of restoring our relationship with God. As part of your salvation, you have been reconciled back to God. You have been put in right standing and forgiven in Him. Because of Jesus, God does not see you as a sinner—He sees you through the lens of the blood of Christ.

This is crucial because if you're not in right standing with God, then every time you come to Him in prayer, you'll feel like you have to work on being in right standing first. Many people see God as angry because they can't see themselves the way He sees them.

The difference between reconciliation and redemption is important:

• Redemption is the act of making amends, saving from sin, fulfilling a promise to repay

• Reconciliation is restoring our relationship to God and living in forgiveness

When you made Jesus your Lord and Savior, you were redeemed once and for all. All sin has been paid for in your life. When you sin after salvation, you confess—not to earn redemption again, but because you've already been redeemed.

2. The Right of Healing

God laid on Jesus not only our sin and iniquity but also the physical sickness and disease of our bodies resulting from sin. Jesus bore them all.

1 Peter 2:24 says, "Who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness—by whose stripes you were healed."

This is not a promise of healing—it's a statement of truth. A promise is something waiting for you, but this is a reality that has already happened. The only thing keeping it from manifesting in your life is your faith in it.

Many people say, "I know God can heal" or "I know God will heal," but they're putting healing in the realm of possibility rather than truth. As long as you see it as a possibility, there's always a chance it won't work. But there's no percentage in truth—it's all true.

3. The Right of Blessing

Ephesians 1:3 says, "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ."

Notice this verse doesn't say He's going to bless us, but that He has already blessed us. It's past tense—an established fact, not a changeable principle.

Some of these blessings mentioned in Ephesians include:

• We have been adopted as God's children

• We have redemption through Jesus' blood

• We have forgiveness of our sins

• We have obtained an inheritance

• We have been sealed by the Holy Spirit

• We have been given the same power that raised Christ from the dead

• We have been made fellow citizens with the saints

• We have become a holy temple in the Lord

• We are a habitation of God

How Do We Access These Rights?

All truth in God's Word is based in a finished reality. It's not evolving or establishing—it's complete. Every spiritual blessing in heavenly places in Christ has been applied to those who have faith in Jesus.

A spiritual reality manifests in the natural by faith. Faith is the bridge that brings truth from the spiritual realm into our natural reality. Spiritual blessing produces physical results when activated by faith-filled words and actions.

Life Application

This week, I challenge you to take what you've learned today and begin confessing it over yourself:

"I am in Christ, and Christ is in me. I am one in Him, and He is one in me. I am the habitation of God. His power, His Spirit, His life, His anointing is in me. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. I am healed, I am saved, I am delivered, I am in right standing, I am welcomed, I am loved."

Speak these words of life into existence by faith. It's not a possibility—it's a truth that is yours. Receive it as you speak it, just as you did with salvation.

Ask yourself these questions:

• Am I spending more time asking God for things He's already given me, or am I learning to appropriate what's already mine?

• When challenges come, do I bring them into the arena of faith, or do I let them pull me into the arena of my mind?

• Do I see God's promises as possibilities or as truths that are already mine?

• What practical step can I take today to exercise my faith in one of these rights—reconciliation, healing, or blessing?

Remember, you have a right to redemption, a right to healing, and a right to the fullness of God's power working in you. These aren't just promises—they're truths that are already yours in Christ.