Dead Men Have No Rights
by: Darren Smith

Are we dead to sin and the world as scripture teaches or do we continue to hold tightly to what we see and what we hear?

This is a question the Body of the twenty-first century must ask. We should all stand back, and take a long, hard look at our walk with the Lord.

If we are dead why do we live within the boundries of the world system? Why does the world and all it offers continue to hold us under its power? Colossians 3:3 says for you have died and your life is hidden in Jesus the Christ with God. Do we realize the power this should unleash in all our lives? If we are dead we no longer have rights. A dead man cannot be offended, you can't kill a dead man, he is already dead.

The problem with the Church today is we have failed to recognize that we are dead and continue to live, holding onto this world with all of our strength - feeling we are entitled to most of what the world has to offer and if we don't get what we think we deserve then we are offended.

In Philippians 4:11 Paul states that he had learned to be content in whatever state he found himself - whether well fed or hungry. Paul could speak with conviction because he had become dead to the world.

Verse 13 tells us "I can do all things through Jesus the Christ who gives me strength."

Once dead to this world the sense of entitlement passes away, along with our old nature, and the reality of our eternal inheritance takes hold.

Inheritance from the Lord is far greater than entitlement from the world.

One of the saddest things our culture has done is increase the sense of entitlement. Entitlement programs have convinced people to trust their government instead of their God. There is little difference between the bondage of today and the bondage of Egypt that the Hebrews were under? When God took them out, at the first sign of trouble they wanted to go back.

Get out of Egypt, but most importantly, get Egypt out of you, and remember:

"If then you were raised with [the] Christ, seek those things which are above, where [the]Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God." Colossians 3:1-3