Do you know your rights? As a child of God, you have legal spiritual rights, but you have to know what they are to exercise them!
If you are a citizen of the United States, you have certain rights, which are outlined in the Constitution and called “The Bill of Rights.” As long as you obey the laws of the land, you are in right-standing with the United States government.
The same thing is true with God: As a believer, you are a citizen of the kingdom of God, and you have a right to everything in the Kingdom. There is a covenant between Jesus and God, signed in Jesus’ blood, which provides these rights for you. If Jesus is your Lord, then you are in right-standing with God—you have the righteousness of God. You have a right to everything God has.
In life, people are willing to fight for their rights—what belongs them. They put forth a big effort to make sure they get what is rightfully theirs—an opportunity, a personal belonging, a raise, a promotion. But, in spiritual things, they tend to just roll over and give up.
When you accepted Jesus as your Savior, you received rights and privileges you did not have before, because you became heirs to His promises (Galatians 4:1-7). You have legal rights in the spiritual realm, but you have to take your place and exercise them!
Believers all over the world are learning their rights. They are becoming more and more aware of their position as children of God and joint heirs with Jesus (Romans 8:17).
If you’re ready to take your place and walk in the benefits that belong to you, here are seven rights you have as a child of God.
1. You Have the Right to Be Free
“Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed.” –John 8:36 (NKJV)
When God created man, He gave him the gifts of life, dominion and free will. Why did He give us free will and not just force us to be righteous? Because God didn’t want robots or servants. He wanted a family. That’s why the right, the privilege and the power to DECIDE has been left by God in the hands of men.
You have the right, for example, to decide where you’re going to spend eternity. You have the right to choose life or death, blessing or cursing. You have the right to choose heaven or hell, and God will back your decision. Most of all, you have the right to be free.
Satan will try to convince you that you can’t choose to be free. But, let’s not forget for a moment that he is the father of lies. So, which are you going to choose?
LIE: You have no choice but to be condemned, sick, addicted, depressed and living in lack. You should feel guilty about your past and everything you’ve done wrong. You’ll never overcome it. You aren’t righteous.
TRUTH: If the Son makes you free, you have the right to be free. Free from sin, shame, guilt and condemnation. Free from your past, free from addiction, free from depression. Jesus took it all from you. You are free indeed!
If you choose to believe the lie, and you don’t contend for your right to be free, you’ll be locked in a cell. Only, this cell has the key available in the lock because you don’t belong there—you’ve already been set free. All you have to do is turn the key and walk out—straight to freedom. Straight to victory.
2. You Have the Right to Be Healed
“By His stripes we are healed.” –Isaiah 53:5 (NKJV)
When it comes to the rights provided by the government, we may have to fight for those rights at times. But with God, you don’t have to fight for the right to be healed. No. Jesus has already dealt with that.
You are a son or daughter of Abraham and you should be healed today! Jesus broke the power of the curse that came on Adam, and if you’ll exercise your authority in Christ Jesus by His Name, His blood, His Word and His resurrection, as a joint heir with Him—then that curse does not have any right or authority over you.
God wants His people well, and the way you can be well and stay well is to find out what God says in His Word concerning your healing and concerning your right to be well.
To walk in your right to be healed, you’ve got to totally sell out and dedicate your life to what God says. Make the Word first place and final authority. God’s Word works. Receive your healing and stay healed!
Read this prophecy by Kenneth Copeland given on Aug. 19, 2016 about your rights.
3. You Have the Right to Prosper
“And God will generously provide all you need. Then you will always have everything you need and plenty left over to share with others.” –2 Corinthians 9:8
People have the idea that spiritual things are separate from material things. That isn’t true. Spiritual laws govern material things. A Spirit (God) created all matter.
So, the laws of prosperity will work for anyone who will meet the biblical requirements to walk in them. God has always promised, “If you are willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the land” (Isaiah 1:19, NKJV). While there are qualifications for increase in prosperity, it already belongs to you, and you have a right to call for it!
Why does God want us to prosper? Not only so that we might enjoy life abundantly, but so we will do something about the poverty in the rest of the world. The gospel not only gives people hope in the Kingdom to come, but it gives them hope in the here and now!
What does it mean to prosper? It means you have the right to live a long life on the earth. You have the right to have joy and peace. You have the right to live in a safe and beautiful home, drive a reliable car, be steadily employed at a job where you are promoted and paid well. You have the right to enjoy healthy relationships and to bear children.
You have these rights because you are redeemed, saved and joint heirs, with Jesus, of the promise of prosperity given to Abraham. Abraham was lacking nothing. He was blessed with abundance in every area. That’s also your inheritance. That’s your right as a child of God.
4. You Have the Right to Never Fear Again
“For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, ‘Abba, Father.’” –Romans 8:15 (NKJV)
Do you have any fear in your life? Right off, you may think you don’t. But, do you worry about anything? Are you afraid of getting sick, getting fired or losing a loved one? Are you afraid people are talking about you behind your back? Are you afraid of what your future looks like?
Let’s start here: You have the right to never fear again. Ever. God didn’t give you a spirit of fear—He gave you a spirit of power. When you’re empowered, you don’t fear. Fear isn’t natural, and it isn’t responsible. It’s nothing but torment (1 John 4:18). And Jesus didn’t come so you would be tormented—He came to give you dominion, authority, peace and perfect love. What does perfect love do? It casts out fear—permanently.
Jesus came to break the power of that bondage! How? By stopping the force of fear. Praise God! There is not one thing in Satan’s bag of tricks that the Word cannot overcome. So, don’t pay him any attention!
Smith Wigglesworth once told a story about waking in the night and feeling the presence of evil in the room. As he looked to the foot of his bed, he saw the devil standing there trying to instill fear in him. But instead of responding in fear, he said, “Oh, it’s only you,” then turned over and went back to sleep.[1]
That’s how we need to treat the things of the devil. He’s powerless as long as we refuse to open the door to him through fear. You don’t have to act on fear. You don’t have to practice fear. You don’t have to talk fear. Give it no place. If you sense it rising up within you, stop right then and take authority over it in Jesus’ Name and cast it out.
And you have been given a right by God to step over into that supernatural place. You have authority over demons, and you have a right to take your stand in the unseen world of the supernatural—the realm of the Spirit of God. You have a right to never fear again.
5. You Have the Right to Have Peace
“The Lord will bless His people with peace.” –Psalm 29:11 (NASB)
We were just talking about being free from fear—so how is having peace any different?
True peace doesn’t come from the absence of trouble; it comes from the presence of God. The Hebrew word for peace, shalom, means “completeness, wholeness, peace, health, welfare, safety, soundness, tranquility, prosperity, perfectness, fullness, rest, harmony, absence of agitation or discord; to be complete, perfect and full.
There is a story of an art gallery that asked for paintings illustrating the idea of peace. The one that stood out most was that of a scene with a small tree branch bending over a rushing waterfall. On the branch sat a small nest with a bird sleeping inside. That is a great picture of the God kind of peace.
You have a right to have peace like that, even when serious trouble comes (Isaiah 26:3). How? Enter into peace by spending time praising God and resting in the truth of His Word. As you put your complete trust in Him, you will experience peace in the midst of even the most challenging circumstances.
Learn How to Fight for Your Spiritual Rights here.
6. You Have the Right to Use the Name of Jesus
“And this is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ.” –1 John 3:23 (NIV)
We have a commandment to believe on the Name of the Son of God. To believe on His Name is to put demand upon His ability. The mighty, powerful Name of Jesus is available to you. But, you must become aware of your right and privilege to use it.
The Name of Jesus is the key to heaven’s storehouse. It can do anything that Jesus can do. According to Philippians 2:9-11, everything in existence—heaven, earth, under the earth—will bow its knee and confess with its mouth that Jesus is Lord. The Name of Jesus is the Name that is above every other name.
You are in the family of God, and you have the right to the use of the Name of Jesus. When you pray in the Name of Jesus, you have the right to expect your heavenly Father to answer because you have not prayed in your own name—you have prayed in Jesus’ Name. His righteousness (right-standing with God) is yours!
7. You Have the Right to Always Triumph
“Now thanks be unto God, which always causeth us to triumph in Christ.” –2 Corinthians 2:14 (KJV)
Always triumph. Did you know to expect that? That doesn’t mean you live a life without trials, though. A triumph, or victory, comes after a battle. We’ll face battles, but we are always supposed to win. Always. There is no defeat for those who are in Christ Jesus. So, when Satan tries to hurl things at us, Jesus has already provided the victory. But we have to contend for it.
How can you exercise this right?
You have the right to ask God anything according to His will and expect it to be done for you. You have a right to your healing, redemption and victory. You have a right to pray. You have a right to your Father’s fellowship.
You have the right to resist Satan and to expect him to flee. In all things.
Jesus came to earth and gave Himself as a sacrifice for sin to buy back your rights. Once you receive Him as Lord of your life, all the rights and privileges God originally intended for you are restored.
But you are the one who has to exercise those rights!
You see, the devil is an outlaw, and even though Jesus has taken away his authority and he has no legal right to kill or steal from the children of God, he’ll do it anyway…as long as we let him get away with it.
You must enforce his defeat by speaking the Word of God in faith. Act on His Word now. Speak triumph and victory over every situation in your life, according to His promises. Then refuse to back off that demand. Resist the devil with all you’ve got. He might fight you for a while, but sooner or later, he will have to flee from you!
Now that you know your rights as a child of God, you can walk in freedom, healing and abundance. You don’t ever have to fear again, you can have perfect peace, you can use the Name of Jesus, and you can triumph every day! Knowing your rights is the first step to taking everything that belongs to you. You have the right to be victorious!
[1] Albert Hibbert, Smith Wigglesworth: The Secret of His Power (Harrison House, 1982, 1993).
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