Citizens of The 3rd Race, Of a Kingdom Not of This World

Remember, no mortal man can forgive you your sins or be your mediator between you and almighty God. No clergy has any authority, except that which man has tried to usurp from Christ, to stand in for your presence before the Creator. Christ alone is the forgiver of our sins and Christ alone stands before the throne of God on our behalf. If you are truly redeemed by Jesus Christ then you dear brother and sister have direct access to God through our Lord. DO NOT let the traditions of man steal from you the glorious truth that you and I are all "priests" unto the Lord. We have but one authority over us and that is Christ, the firstborn of the new creation. We need to quit living like anything other than members of the 3rd race, which is the resurrected man/woman redeemed by Jesus Christ and restored unto relationship with the Father. We who have called on the name of Christ as our Lord are no longer citizens of this secular, decaying, unloving world. We are citizens of the Heavenly realm who have one King, one Lord, and one purpose. Let us put to death the temporal desires that seem worthy of our human pursuits and instead be unified under Christ to bring into reality the purpose and desires of God.

This is an excerpt from pastor Wang Yi’s Declaration of Faithful Disobedience regarding the persecution of the church in China:

"The goal of disobedience is not to change the world but to testify about another world. For the mission of the church is only to be the church and not to become a part of any secular institution. From a negative perspective, the church must separate itself from the world and keep itself from being institutionalized by the world. From a positive perspective, all acts of the church are attempts to prove to the world the real existence of another world...This is why I am not interested in changing any political or legal institutions in China..."

To put it another way, our primary responsibility and intent as Christians is not supposed to be to make the world a better place. We're supposed to be the better place in the midst of a fallen world. By the way we live among and with one another we are supposed to show what being part of the kingdom of God looks like. This is what will draw men and women to Christ and thereby influence how they live in the fallen world system. As Christ’s body grows through knowing Him, so does the territory of this world that is reclaimed to the glory of God.

"I give you a new command: Love one another. Just as I have loved you, you must also love one another. By this all people will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another" - Jesus (John 13:34-35)

So, it's not by anything we can say, how many salvations/converts we can get, how many laws we can get passed, how big or nice of a building we can have, how passionately we can defend "Christian" principles, etc. which will demonstrate that Christians follow Jesus. It's how believers actively love one another and those in the world around us that will show whom we serve.

The only allegiance Christians are commanded to have in scripture is to the Kingdom of Heaven. And sole, total, undivided allegiance at that. No matter where/in what nation a Christian may reside on this earth, they should live as and feel like aliens and foreigners.