(41) Use Your Rights for God's Glory

The climax of Scripture tells of how God laid aside his right for our salvation. The sovereign Lord looked beyond his own interest to the interests of others. He humbled himself in the most demeaning way possible to secure new life for lost sinners (Phil. 2:4–8). Though justice was completely on his side he willingly endured the cross and its shame. If Jesus had stood on his rights no one could be saved. And Scripture calls us to imitate him and provides countless examples of those who laid down their rights for the cause of the kingdom of God.

Because of the sacrificial calling of the Christian life it isn't always easy to know how we should use our rights. Acts 25 is a great help. The chapter is all about Paul's appeal to Caesar; the first half of the chapter builds up to the appeal and in the last half local leaders scramble to properly accommodate the appeal. Let's use Paul's appeal to better understand how to use our rights as believers.