The Citizen of Zion

Psalm 15 – A Psalm of David.

1O LORD, who may abide in Your tent?
Who may dwell on Your holy hill?
2 He who walks with integrity, and works righteousness,
And speaks truth in his heart.
3 He does not slander with his tongue,
Nor does evil to his neighbor,
Nor takes up a reproach against his friend;
4 In whose eyes a reprobate is despised,
But who honors those who fear the LORD;
He swears to his own hurt and does not change;
5 He does not put out his money at interest,
Nor does he take a bribe against the innocent
He who does these things will never be shaken.

I have often reflected on this Psalm and I have in recent days begun to break it down for a possible set of sermons if I ever get the chance to preach again. It is a lot more work than people would like to indicate to be a citizen of God’s kingdom. People like to make it easy to ‘get saved’. Accepting Christ is not a magic formula with a free pass to heaven for simply praying prayer and crying a few tears of sorrow over sins. Salvation involves a change of citizenship. Citizenship implies civil responsibilities of the citizen to his new country.

Unfortunately, too many view salvation as a single event and not a lifestyle of citizenship in a new country. They trust the event and not the new relationship formed with the Father through Christ and the Holy Spirit. They place their faith in their prayer of salvation rather than the giver of salvation. Citizenship in the Kingdom of God is rarely the issue in such cases. It also does not help that many Christian leaders seem to promote the idea of event based salvation and have turned away from the idea that a person is a transformed new creature in Christ.

In a recent conversation with a fellow believer, he highlighted a problem that we teach our children to behave according to the rules of the Bible and then they become frustrated that they cannot uphold the standard we teach and that they fail to see others live this standard. I submitted to him that the problem is that we do not teach our children that the main issue is not their behavior, but their transformation into disciples or Christ and citizens of God’s kingdom. We focus to much on the ‘dos’ and ‘don’ts’ and spend very little time teaching our children what it means to be ‘born again’ and a new creature in Christ. We create the impression that it is merely a question of their own will to do the right thing. Nothing could be further from the truth because if this were so then Romans 3 could not be true. The law is insufficient when written on tables of stone; only the law of love written on a person’s heart can change a person sufficiently enough for them to be obedient to God. Only by being born again can a person be changed enough for genuine love to guide them and only by emphasizing that this is life transformation not religious ritual

No citizen of any country will behave properly if they do not share the ideals of that country. Ideals are not shaped by simply saying I am a citizen and signing a card; a person’s heart, the very seat of their passions, be must be changed and then behavior follows. A person who loves their country will act accordingly. The person who truly loves God will obey him out of personal transformation not outward obligation. But if salvation is reduced to a few ‘repeat after me’ sentences and a membership card it makes me wonder if a person has had a genuine chance to be reborn in Christ.

It is only when genuine transformation takes place that a person can live the life a citizen of Zion is called to live. A life that reflects Psalm 15.