Citizenship is the legal relationship that one sustains to a city, state, or country. Paul was a citizen of Tarsus in Cilicia (Acts 21:39), and he enjoyed the privileges of "citizenship" in the Roman empire (Acts 22:28). His citizenship granted certain protective procedures (cf. 22:25), and the privilege of judicial review (Acts 25:11).
The Christian has the right to use the resources of civil government for his protection (Rom. 13:1ff). "Citizenship" is used metaphorically in Philippians 3:20 to describe the heavenly status of those within the kingdom of Christ, the church.
