Here’s another sample chapter from my new writing project on our new identity in Christ. Here’s a short clip from the text:

When Jesus wrote to the church at Sardis, he promised those who overcome temptation, “I will never blot out his name from the book of life, but will acknowledge his name before my Father and his angels” (Revelation 3:5). Ancient cities recorded their citizens’ names in a registry. Upon their death, city officials would blot the citizen’s name from the registry.

Some evidence suggests ancient cities would remove a citizen’s name if they found him guilty of a crime. In the first century, persecutors would brand unwavering Christians “political rebels” and strip them of their citizenship. But Jesus offered them something no earthly authority could strip away, citizenship in God’s everlasting kingdom.