The Right to Become

But as many as received him, to them he gave the right to become God’s children, to those who believe in his name: (John 1:12, WEB)

There is a difference between sneaking into a house and being given a key. Many of us relate to God as trespassers, always half expecting to be caught and told to leave. We come to him after a fall the way you would return to a place you know you are not welcome, moving quietly, ready to be turned away, apologizing before anyone has even spoken.

John describes something that undoes this posture. He writes, But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God. That word right is striking. It is not a favor granted grudgingly; it is a standing, an authority to belong. When you received Christ, you were not put on probation. You were given the right to become a child of God, and rights are not revoked because you had a bad night.

Notice too that word become. God is not finished with you. Being his child is both a settled fact and a thing you are still growing into, and the growing does not threaten the fact. You are learning to live as who you already are, and the stumbles along the way are part of a child growing up, not evidence that you were never in the family at all.

A trespasser has no claim and can be removed at any moment. A child holds a right that was placed in his hands by the one who owns the house. If you feel like an intruder in your own faith today, standing at the edge of the room as though someone might ask you to go, remember that you hold a right that was given, not earned, and that no fall can hand it back. Come in. The door was opened to you on purpose, and it was not opened by mistake.