Rights

God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under law, to redeem those under law, that we might receive the full rights of sons (Galatians 4:4-5).

All people are sinners—every one of us says and does things that break God’s laws and provoke His anger.  But we don’t like having restrictions placed on our behavior, by God or by anyone else.  In fact, we are quite willing to argue that we have the right to do as we please.  We have the right to live free and make ourselves happy. 

The problem with such thinking is that it can easily lead to sinful behavior.  Take freedom of speech for example.  If you believe you have the right to say whatever you want, you can spread hurtful gossip, tell bigoted jokes, insult anyone who disagrees with you, and feel no guilt for causing pain with your words.  Or what about the right to be happy?  Gays and lesbians argue that to be happy, they need the option to get married to each other.  Some argue that to be happy, they need legal access to marijuana or other controlled substances.  Plenty of men and women say that abortion must be an available choice so an unwanted pregnancy does not interfere with their happiness.  And let’s not forget the right that guarantees freedom of religion.  Many individuals insist that what they really need is freedom from religion, that their rights are violated by crosses in cemeteries, prayers at public events, Bible reading over the airwaves.  Getting hung up over your rights can become an excuse to sin and feel that your behavior is perfectly justified.

In reality, we have no rights.  God does not owe us anything.  We have ignored His authority, flouted His rules, taken His love for granted or snubbed it altogether.  We stir up trouble of one sort or another every single day, by doing something wrong or letting opportunities to serve the LORD slip away unused.  This is how we repay the Creator who gave us life, who puts a roof over our heads, food on our plates, friends and relatives to hold us tight? We have absolutely no right to treat God the way we do. 

Nevertheless, the Almighty sent His Son to change our relationship with Him.  Christ did this by taking the burden of punishment for our sins upon His mighty shoulders. Through this undeserved act of mercy, we are adopted into His family and given full rights as His children.  We have no right to sin but thanks to Jesus, God has every right to forgive us.