The Test of a King
In recent articles I have explained how every believer is called to be a king – to exercise kingly authority and live from the abundant provision of God’s supply.
Paul said those who receive grace and righteousness will reign in life (Rom. 5:17). So the test of a king—your sword in the stone, if you like—is whether you have taken hold of the Lord’s righteousness. If you don’t receive it you won’t reign. You will toil like Adam and curse what God has blessed. Even though you are free in Christ, you won’t live free. You will bear the heavy yoke of manmade religion and become easy prey for the spirit of intimidation. You will come under the demonic control of others.
Something like this happened in Peter’s life.
Dinner for schmucks
Peter had a revelation that Christ died for all people and not just the Jews. This revelation changed him. As he allowed the heart of Christ to be revealed in his own life, Peter began to accept Gentiles even to the point of eating with them.
However, when certain men from James came to Antioch, Peter drew back from the Gentiles in fear. He separated himself because he was unsure of his righteousness. “Am I right? Maybe I’m not. Those Judaizers look the business. They’ve got titles. They’ve got theology and a list of scriptures explaining why I am wrong. I had better listen to them.”
Instead of standing up for the Gentiles like a king, Peter stood with the critics like a schmuck and Paul rebuked him for it (see Gal. 2:11–13).
The strange thing about Peter’s behavior is that he should have known better. God accepts people from every nation and Peter knew this. God had given him a dramatic rooftop vision featuring animals and sheets that somehow made everything clear (see Acts 10:9–28).
But when push came to shove, Peter abdicated his kingly role and took himself out of the game. He feared those of the circumcision group because they were more confident of their self-righteousness than he was of his righteousness in Christ Jesus.
The source of our confidence
Kings are confident and that confidence comes from knowing you are righteous with the righteousness that comes from God.
When you know that God has made you righteous and that he loves you, accepts you, and is well pleased with you, it changes everything. You no longer hang back on the fringes of the kingdom like a fraud and you no longer tolerate the grace-killing lies of religion. You begin to reign. You begin to walk and talk like a child of the Most High. You begin to live out your destiny.
You don’t need to go to King School to become a king. You just need to see yourself as your Father sees you. You need to receive in your heart what he has said, act on it, and leave the results to him.
The gospel declares that in him you are righteous (Php 3:9). As you walk in this revelation, your confidence will grow and you will start to exercise your kingly influence. You will pray less like a beggar and more like a commander.
If someone in your family gets sick, something inside of you will respond, “Not on my watch.” You will rebuke the sickness and appropriate by faith the healing that Jesus paid for.
And after you have seen one or two get healed—after you have killed your lion and your bear—you will have the confidence to start gunning for the giants that terrorize your land.
Then you will be a king indeed.
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Extracted and adapted from The Gospel in Ten Words.
Other articles on Royalty.
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Escape to Reality 
Wow! This is profound. Thank you so much Paul. And btw… did you get taken to heaven to have all this stuff revealed to you, or did THE King come stay at your house? :-).
This is good Paul. Very timely. Thanks for this!
I really am enjoying this series, a lot of it is stuff I’ve been needing to hear recently.
Wonderful article Paul Ellis. Most “Christians” refer to themselves as dirty, rotten, sinners, and lived failed lives.
If you walk in your identity as a saved, beloved, child of God, you’ll live out the best life possible in this fallen world.
We’re in an overwhelming minority of believers, who live, ecstatic, relaxing, peaceful lives, in the restful trust and joyful freedom of Jesus.
Such an insightful explanation of Peter’s thought process that we all can identify with.
Wow, man!! So true, so very true! Thanks Paul!
Once again, your teaching on, “The Test of a King,” has kept me on Jesus’ solid foundation of his abundant grace and his gift of righteousness! Every day, it seems as if I am confronted with writings, titles and posts that are adamantly opposed to the true righteousness we have by faith in Jesus. I love sharing your teachings that I believe are truly setting people free and what are giving more and more who read them a joy they have never known before! Thanks so much! Words cannot express enough how we so appreciate how you have been so wonderfully used by God to help tear down the walls that have kept so many away from knowing the TRUE GOSPEL about Jesus’ love, grace and truth!
Thank you, Rhonda. Yes, it is so important to be rooted and established in Christ’s righteousness.
Problem with this post is that everybody has a stable disease that will eventually cause everyone to die. Only a couple of people did not. So how do you deal with that with regards to healing? Some illness is always the cause of billions of deaths.
So how will you exert this kingly power upon your parents, your grandparents? Are you sure you feel good about the words you wrote above?
Sincerely
Scott, caregiver to my wife of 37 years battling pancreatic cancer for 12 months now. God may heal her, and yet if she is not healed, he will overwhelmingly conquer the suffering of this life in the next. I am a fan but this is a problem of youth Paul, when you begin to preach theory that has worked exactly for no one as of this date!
Hi Scott, I’m sorry to hear about your wife, but ill health is no excuse for trusting in your own righteousness – which is what the article is about.
You totally avoided the question Paul. So your grandparents and parents will not die because of trusting in the righteousness of Christ which has been imputed into us? So you and your family will not ever get ill? This is what I think you are saying. And you get cute and cheeky in your response to me claiming I’m making an excuse to be self righteous? Come on?
Just trying to keep the discussion focused on the topic at hand. The article above is about our righteousness in Christ. Walking in his righteousness is the test of a king. Healing everyone you meet is not the test.
Making unwarranted assumptions about what I believe and then mocking those assumptions only makes you look foolish. Have I buried love ones? Yes. Have I prayed for the sick and seen them miraculously healed? Also yes.
Firstly and above else, I’m sure everyone blogging on E2R earnestly wants relief for you and your wife and has bowed their head to seek our Father & His Son on your behalf. I believe we’d be passionately united in this desire?
Secondly, when Christ ‘appointed twelve to have power to heal sicknesses and to cast out demons’ (Mark 3:14&15) would you say He was waisting His time because in your words, ‘all of these people would ultimately die of stable diseases’ or is there another explanation?
I believe His other explanation: ‘The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly’ (John 10:10). I’ve lived the non-believing life as a Christian and it was worse than death, in fact I’d rather have died and got it over with to be honest. But now I’m living the believing life, and while there are still as many issues to overcome usually on a daily basis, I am getting more and more acclimatized to leaving the effort of doing it ‘more abundantly’ to Him!
I don’t know how abundant I’ll get before I leave this flesh suit behind, but at least I know that I’ll be ‘of good age’ because ‘He is Faithful that promised’ and that whatever classification of death you wish to ascribe to my departure, I’ll have enjoyed the second half of my life a good deal more than the first! 🙂
(btw the ‘empirical’ evidence suggests that the majority die from heart failure which you call ‘disease’ – i do not)
Father, if there be any other way, please remove this cup from me, nevertheless your will not mine.
Reckon self dead to sin thanks to Son’s done work for you too.
To be in troubles here on earth to turn to Father by Son’s done work for you, one can say okay, I see I get to go through this trouble as well as others do too.
To say thank you in all things, to say, I do not know how I will get through, but I will somehow, thanks to Father of risen Son for me to walk new in forever. Because of Father and Son’s mercy given me and the entire world of people born in flesh and blood from man and woman getting together for each one of us here today to be saved as well.
The story of Peter, tells the story of flesh nature, first birth here on earth under the similitude of Adam and Eve
So be dead to flesh and blood, and alive to Father by Son for you to be this given you for free,
Thank you for this piece Brother, of our deliverance in the risen Christ given us to us by Father in Son that is risen where new life is at in Spirit and Truth forever. AS I am still learning this truth
Just to stand in thanksgiving and praise even in any and all adversities that have come upon me or others as well as might still happen, for all works out to Father and Son perfect view for each of us to stand in no matter what. Kind of like a Job, are we all a Job, to not deny God also?