Question 1

What belongs to God?

Accepted Answer

Deuteronomy 10:14-16“Look, the highest heavens and the earth and everything in it all belong to the Lord your God. Yet the Lord chose your ancestors as the objects of his love. And he chose you, their descendants, above all other nations, as is evident today. Therefore, change your hearts and stop being stubborn.”All Creation belongs to God. Moses declared this truth when he reminded Israel that God had chosen them as the immediate object of his love so that he might someday bless the whole world with salvation (see Genesis 12:1-3). Moses called on Israel to respond to this truth by fearing the Lord.Psalm 24:1The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it. The world and all its people belong to him.The whole earth belongs to God, and we should be good stewards of all he has entrusted to our care. This psalm invites us to join one another in welcoming and affirming God’s lordship over our world and over our lives.Acts 17:22-24Paul, standing before the council, addressed them as follows: “Men of Athens, I notice that you are very religious in every way, for as I was walking along I saw your many shrines. And one of your altars had this inscription on it: ‘To an Unknown God.’ This God, whom you worship without knowing, is the one I’m telling you about. He is the God who made the world and everything in it.”God can claim ownership of the universe because he made it. Paul wisely pointed out that the men of Athens already knew they might have neglected a divine being that deserved their worship; he declared the same basic point in Romans 1:19-20. Atheism becomes most tempting when we realize that if there is a creator God, he can hold us accountable to his expectations for us. The fear of being held accountable is a major reason humans resist recognizing that we all belong to God.

Question 2

Why is it important to feel like we belong somewhere or to someone?

Accepted Answer

Deuteronomy 33:27The eternal God is your refuge, and his everlasting arms are under you. He drives out the enemy before you; he cries out, “Destroy them!”Note the three benefits in this verse related to belonging to God:He provides protection (“refuge”).He provides support (“under you”).He actively defends (“drives out the enemy”).Twice we are reminded that these benefits are permanent (“eternal” and “everlasting”). We live in rebellion against God when we seek to find these benefits in any other being, system, or idol. Acknowledging God as God leads to a life of purpose and direction.Psalm 73:23-24I still belong to you; you hold my right hand. You guide me with your counsel, leading me to a glorious destiny.When we voice to God our awareness of his ownership, we are also reminding ourselves who is really in charge. The sense of security described in these verses flows not only from the intimacy of belonging and having our hand held but also from hearing God’s instructions from his Word (“counsel”) and rejoicing in the ultimate direction and destination of our lives. Make these phrases a starting point for prayer as you seek a greater awareness of God’s involvement in your life.Romans 1:6You are included among those Gentiles who have been called to belong to Jesus Christ.Paul’s most substantive letter was written to a church made up of both Jews and Gentiles. In the early decades of Christianity, there were tensions over what would be required of Gentiles to be considered followers of Jesus. Throughout his Epistle to the Romans, Paul confronted both Jews and Gentiles with the biblical truth that God has always considered all humanity to be candidates for inclusion in his family. Ethnic and cultural identities were never meant to determine who could and could not be God’s children.

Question 3

What does God do for those who belong to him?

Accepted Answer

Deuteronomy 28:9-10“The Lord will establish you as his holy people as he swore he would do. Then all the nations of the world will see that you are a people claimed by the Lord, and they will stand in awe of you.”God decided to communicate universal lessons to humanity through the nation of Israel. He made the choice to speak to and through Jewish people, and ultimately to become a Jewish person himself. God made Israel his own in a grand gesture to teach humanity about his gracious acceptance. Like Israel, all of us are unworthy of God’s acceptance, for we are all sinners and easily enslaved to worldly things. What awesome news it is that we can belong to the Lord God, the Creator of the universe!Isaiah 26:19Those who die in the Lord will live; their bodies will rise again! Those who sleep in the earth will rise up and sing for joy! For your life-giving light will fall like dew on your people in the place of the dead!“Life-giving light” is a picture of God’s resurrecting power. Belonging to God is an eternal relationship—one not only for this world but also for the world to come. The grave is not the last chapter of our lives, but merely a transitional one.John 15:12-15This is my commandment: Love each other in the same way I have loved you. There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. You are my friends if you do what I command. I no longer call you slaves, because a master doesn’t confide in his slaves. Now you are my friends, since I have told you everything the Father told me.We more fully understand how to love others because we have the example of Christ’s love for us. The fact that we belong to Jesus compels us to love one another. As friends of Jesus, we are responsible to love all our fellow believers. The challenge before us is to take seriously Jesus’ commandment to lay down our lives for one another.

Question 4

When I belong to God, how should I respond?

Accepted Answer

Psalm 34:9Fear the Lord, you his godly people, for those who fear him will have all they need.It is an awe-inspiring privilege to belong to God. The Bible uses the word “fear” to describe what our response should be. When we belong to God by faith, we should honor him and worship him for his love for us and acceptance of us. Until we begin responding to God in this way, we should not think of ourselves as godly, nor should we assume God will meet all our needs.John 8:47Anyone who belongs to God listens gladly to the words of God. But you don’t listen because you don’t belong to God.Jesus confronted people who claimed to have God’s Word but in practice ignored or distorted it. They had a high view of Scripture, but they were unwilling to do what it required. If we claim to belong to God but find no joy in hearing from him or carrying out his instructions, our relationship with God can be reasonably questioned.1 Peter 2:9-10You are a chosen people. You are royal priests, a holy nation, God’s very own possession. As a result, you can show others the goodness of God, for he called you out of the darkness into his wonderful light. “Once you had no identity as a people; now you are God’s people. Once you received no mercy; now you have received God’s mercy.”People who belong to God demonstrate that fact by living out a new identity and a new role in the world. The mercy God has given generates a humble willingness to convey to others God’s mercy, not only by being merciful but also by pointing people to God’s mercy. The role of royal priests in God’s Kingdom is to call others from darkness into God’s light.2 Timothy 2:19God’s truth stands firm like a foundation stone with this inscription: “The Lord knows those who are his,” and “All who belong to the Lord must turn away from evil.”There are no illegal or undocumented immigrants in God’s Kingdom—and there are no natural-born citizens, either. We are all immigrants who have been granted citizenship by God’s grace. That new status leads to a life that increasingly leaves evil and the world’s ways behind. In what specific ways has belonging to God affected your lifestyle?

Question 5

What are the privileges of belonging to God?

Accepted Answer

Romans 8:1There is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus.We all need a sense of belonging, for in belonging we find security and acceptance. When you realize you belong, you feel affirmed, protected, and valued. Feeling accepted gives you confidence to share your deepest feelings without worry of rejection. And when you belong to God, that security and acceptance can never be taken away—it lasts for eternity. The condemnation under sin that prevented your acceptance has been removed by Jesus, who reestablished God’s ownership of you through his work on the cross.Galatians 3:29Now that you belong to Christ, you are the true children of Abraham. You are his heirs, and God’s promise to Abraham belongs to you.The Galatians were under intense pressure to submit to a Jewish religious system alongside their trust in Christ. Paul argued that everything right and godly about the Jewish understanding of God was manifested in Jesus Christ, so those who belonged to Christ could claim an Abrahamic inheritance just as truly as those who claimed a national or cultural connection to Abraham. In fact, God’s promise to Abraham that his family would bless all the nations of the world (Genesis 12:1-3) was partly fulfilled every time Gentiles came to Christ.Galatians 4:7You are no longer a slave but God’s own child. And since you are his child, God has made you his heir.The weight of this verse comes from its reminder that we were once slaves. We were born into inescapable bondage to sin. Our belonging to God by adoption makes us not only children but also inheritors of all God has promised. We have a privileged present as God’s children and a privileged future as God’s heirs.Ephesians 1:3All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ.Once we understand that a “blessing” is a good gift we speak or deliver into someone’s life, we can better recognize the priceless gifts God gives us when we belong to him. The blessings we receive come from our connection to Jesus our Savior and Lord, who gives us the right to become God’s children (see John 1:12) and to live our lives from, for, and in him.Deuteronomy 7:6“You are a holy people, who belong to the Lord your God. Of all the people on earth, the Lord your God has chosen you to be his own special treasure.”The choosing of the Israelites by God was intended to send a message to the world about the goodness of belonging to God. In Christ we receive the fullness of God’s plans for those who belong to him. We receive all the blessings he freely gives to his children. We inherit the family privileges of the Almighty.John 15:19-21The world would love you as one of its own if you belonged to it, but you are no longer part of the world. I chose you to come out of the world, so it hates you. Do you remember what I told you? “A slave is not greater than the master.” Since they persecuted me, naturally they will persecute you. And if they had listened to me, they would listen to you. They will do all this to you because of me, for they have rejected the one who sent me.Suffering for our faith here on earth is a privilege because it shows we belong to God. The world accepts those who belong to it and instinctively rejects those whose ultimate identity is in Christ. Jesus was preparing his original disciples and all those who would ever follow him for the reality that believers should expect from the world the same treatment it gave Christ. God will reward our loyalty with eternal life, in which there will be no suffering.1 John 4:4You belong to God, my dear children. You have already won a victory over those people, because the Spirit who lives in you is greater than the spirit who lives in the world.“Those people” to whom John refers are false prophets who deny the identity of Jesus as God in the flesh. Those people are under the control of a spirit that opposes God. Believers in Jesus must remember they have been given the Holy Spirit, who cannot be overcome and who can protect those who belong to God.

Question 6

Can I belong to God and the world at the same time?

Accepted Answer

Matthew 6:24No one can serve two masters. For you will hate one and love the other; you will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and be enslaved to money.You cannot belong to both Christ and the world because their purposes are so different. When you belong to the world, you will pursue worldly pleasures, which are self-indulgent. When you belong to Christ, you will pursue godly acts that are in conflict with the world. There is no dual citizenship with the world and Christ.

Question 7

No one wants to be alone. But as a believer, why do I belong in fellowship with God’s people?

Accepted Answer

Romans 12:4-5Just as our bodies have many parts and each part has a special function, so it is with Christ’s body. We are many parts of one body, and we all belong to each other.If we are in fellowship with God, we belong in fellowship with God’s people. Belonging to God makes us part of Christ’s body, the church. When each part of the body works together, the body functions as it should. Even if we might not always feel that we need the rest of the body, this passage reminds us that the rest of the body needs us.1 Corinthians 12:18-22, 26-27Our bodies have many parts, and God has put each part just where he wants it. How strange a body would be if it had only one part! Yes, there are many parts, but only one body. The eye can never say to the hand, “I don’t need you.” The head can’t say to the feet, “I don’t need you.” In fact, some parts of the body that seem weakest and least important are actually the most necessary. . . . If one part suffers, all the parts suffer with it, and if one part is honored, all the parts are glad. All of you together are Christ’s body, and each of you is a part of it.When we actively participate in Christ’s body, we not only have the privilege of carrying out our roles on behalf of other believers, but we also receive care and support from them that we cannot supply on our own. While we never give up our individuality as members of Christ’s body, we can increasingly experience the benefits of healthy connections with our fellow members during both good times and difficult circumstances.Ephesians 4:15-16We will speak the truth in love, growing in every way more and more like Christ, who is the head of his body, the church. He makes the whole body fit together perfectly. As each part does its own special work, it helps the other parts grow, so that the whole body is healthy and growing and full of love.If you are part of the body of Christ, then when you are absent the body is missing the “special work” God’s Spirit has equipped you to do. As we participate in Christ’s body, we will become more and more like him in our individual lives, but we should also see this transformation occur in our corporate life as we live out the gospel in a dark world.Philippians 2:1-2Is there any encouragement from belonging to Christ? Any comfort from his love? Any fellowship together in the Spirit? Are your hearts tender and compassionate? Then make me truly happy by agreeing wholeheartedly with each other, loving one another, and working together with one mind and purpose.Here are at least five personal benefits that we receive because we belong to Christ: encouragement, comfort, fellowship in the Spirit, tenderness, and compassion. But notice that these benefits should always lead us toward agreeing with each other, loving one another, and working together. We won’t achieve these things by our own efforts; the source is the Holy Spirit’s working in and through Christ’s body.

Question 8

How can I be sure I belong to God?

Accepted Answer

1 John 2:3-5We can be sure that we know him if we obey his commandments. If someone claims, “I know God,” but doesn’t obey God’s commandments, that person is a liar and is not living in the truth. But those who obey God’s word truly show how completely they love him. That is how we know we are living in him.Doubts about the reality of our relationship with Christ come from at least four sources: our failures, the world’s accusations, Satan’s whispers, and God’s Spirit. God sometimes allows the first three in order to keep us growing, humble, and aware of our complete dependence on him. But when God himself leads us to question our relationship with Christ, he may be interrupting our mere pretense of faith or warning us that we have strayed from him and need to come back. In any situation, our awareness of and concern over our relationship with Christ indicates that God is at work in our lives. If you find that you are growing in your obedience to God, you may be confident that your love for him is genuine. How cautiously confident are you about your love for God?1 John 3:10We can tell who are children of God and who are children of the devil. Anyone who does not live righteously and does not love other believers does not belong to God.Our obedience to God reflects our love for him and our belief in him. Since we are human, we cannot obey God perfectly all the time. We stumble and sometimes fall even as we are making real progress in our life of faith. What God looks for is a desire to always please and obey him, and he asks for our best efforts to do so every day.