Do you know you are a stranger in this world? The Lord Jesus in the matter of paying of taxes made a telling statement for every child of God to live by, that is if we understand what He was saying to Peter.

And when they were come to Capernaum, they that received tribute money came to Peter, and said, Doth not your master pay tribute? He saith, Yes. And when he was come into the house, Jesus prevented him, saying, What thinkest thou, Simon? of whom do the kings of the earth take custom or tribute? of their own children, or of strangers? Peter saith unto him, Of strangers. Jesus saith unto him, Then are the children free. Matthew 17:24-26

The Lord further affirmed this in John 17:14-16.

I have given them thy word; and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil. They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. John 17:14-16

There is a second level distinction espoused by Apostle Paul in Ephesians 2:19-22, which defines a stranger as someone you’ve never known nor ever met, even though you are born in the same country, of same nationality; while a foreigner is someone from another country than your nationality. So amongst Israelites there are strangers, just as in the nation of the redeemed of the Kingdom. Now there other Gentiles will be foreigners, hence anybody who lived amongst the Jews but is from another nation or ethnicity is a sojourner or foreigner.

In the restoration initiated by the Lord in the Crucifixion and Resurrection, these distinctions are removed by the grant of common citizenship based on John 3:16. Detribalised, de-ethnicised, inheritors of the same promise and destiny. Not backward looking but forward looking. All fellow citizens, saints of the household of God, having been grafted into the same vine, the basis of Paul’s contention that in Christ there is neither gentile nor Jew (Gal. 3:28-29). In Christ, all are united and distinctions like ethnicity, social status or gender become insignificant in the context of the Christian faith and community. Where you fellowship, have you fostered this:

1. Unity in Christ;
2. Breaking down of traditional barriers of tribes or colour; and
3. Equality in Christ, having access to God’s grace and salvation through faith?

If you are not intentional in pursuit of this, be careful that you are not destroying what Christ has wrought for us and are guilty of Galatians 2:18. Selah

Pastor Afolabi Oladele