Christ: Our identity By JanEgil – Dec. 2014
Many Christians are not living
free and productive lives
because they don’t understand
who they really are…
The apostle Paul always starts his letters by proclaiming
who we are as Christians
Then he goes on to explain how we are to live out the
Christian life
It is not what you do as a Christian that determines who you are – it is who you are that determines what you do
2 Cor. 5:17 – Eph. 2:10 - 1 Peter 2:9-10 -1 John 3:1-2
Get thisREVELATION
But if you see yourself as a child of God who is spiritually alive in Christ, you will begin to live accordingly
The devil don’t want us to understand this principle.
He is trying to get us to believe a lie – that we don’t
have our identity in Christ
The apostle Paul was aware of the devils tactics:
To remind the church of their identity, he called them “Saints”
(believers in Christ or holy ones)
Clearly the term “Saint” is used in scripture to refer to believer
(only), and “sinner” is used in reference to
unbeliever (only)
Either you are a Saint – or you are a sinner,
You can never be a Saint and a sinner at the same time
You can not have it both ways
And you don’t go back and forth
between the two…
“A person that sins without repentance”
(without remorse or feeling sorry for his sinful action)
This is clearly a non-believer / unbeliever
In other words:
If you are sorry for your sinful behavior when you have done
something wrong,you are not “a sinner”
And if you have a clear understanding of what Christ accomplished on the cross,
You will go to Him,You will praise Him,You will thank Him,
…that the wrong you just didalso was included in the sin He
bore on the cross…
And do you know what:
The new testament does not mention one time that
Christians had to ask God’s forgiveness to have
forgiveness.
Not once!!!
Don’t confuse the verb “to sin”with the noun “a sinner”
What you (occasionally) do does not
determine who “you are”
as we mentioned earlier…
Get this:
How about the Apostle Paul talking about himself being the worst of “sinners” ? (1 Tim chapter 1)
This term was clearly describing him in remembrance of what he was before
Christ transformed him
There is wide agreement among the scholars that Paul was not the worst of sinners after his conversion…
It is important for out self-imageto understand who we are
that we are Saints – not sinners.
That we are made Saints by His grace – that we are not sinners
under the burden of the law
Listen closely:
Many Christians are deceived by the devil and dominated by the
flesh…
To constantly be told that you are a sinner
only fastens the devils grip and keeps you in bondage
John 16 tells us:
The Holy Spirit came to convict us (the believer) of our
righteousness….
as a counterweight to Satan – the accuser –
who constantly try to tell us (the believer) that we are
sinning – sinners – no good – worthless and useless…
The more you reaffirm who you are in Christ,
the more your behavior will begin to
reflect your true identity…
In Christ alone my hope is found,He is my light, my strength, my song;this Cornerstone, this solid Ground,
firm through the fiercest drought and storm.What heights of love, what depths of peace,when fears are stilled, when strivings cease!
My Comforter, my All in All,here in the love of Christ I stand.
Verse 1:
Verse 2: In Christ alone! who took on fleshFullness of God in helpless babe!This gift of love and righteousnessScorned by the ones he came to save:Till on that cross as Jesus died,The wrath of God was satisfied -For every sin on Him was laid;Here in the death of Christ I live.
Chorus 3 There in the ground His body layLight of the world by darkness slain:Then bursting forth in glorious DayUp from the grave he rose again!And as He stands in victorySin's curse has lost its grip on me,For I am His and He is mine -Bought with the precious blood of Christ.
Chorus 4 No guilt in life, no fear in death,This is the power of Christ in me;From life's first cry to final breath.Jesus commands my destiny.No power of hell, no scheme of man,Can ever pluck me from His hand;Till He returns or calls me home,Here in the power of Christ I'll stand.
Our identity in Christby JanEgil Gulbrandsen
[email protected] BC, Canada Nov.2014