Pathway #3: Grasp Who You Are

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Picture in your mind one of your favorite places to walk—a place that is very familiar to you. You know all the spots where you have to watch your step. Maybe there is a bench to sit and rest a bit or a special place to see a sunrise or a sunset or a beautiful view. You would be able to describe that walk to someone who has never been on it. Your description would give that walk an identity. In our world, identity drives everything about life—where you live and how you travel. For every Christian, knowing your spiritual identity is even more important. How you see yourself as a person directs how you live out your faith walk. In this article, we will concentrate on “how you see yourself.” In the next one, we will talk about the “how to live it out” part. Pathway #3 is this: Grasp Who You Are. You need to know who you are as a Christian. This is post #4 in our “Joyful Walk” series.

Listen to this post as a podcast from our Pathways to a Joyful Walk Bible Study:

In our series so far, we covered why a Christian life is called a walk in the Bible and God’s promise for a joyful walk. We said that Pathway #1 is “Start with Knowing Jesus Christ.” This is a required pathway to have a joyful walk because you can only experience real joy through knowing Jesus. This is a walk with someone you love and who loves you. Once you have that brings so many blessings and benefits to you. All of those are wrapped up in a package called your identity in Christ.

Identity drives everything about life.

In our world, identity drives everything about life. Everyone reading this has at least one official document identifying who you are. Birth certificate. Passport for travel between countries. Driver’s license for your own country or state. Or maybe you have a student ID that lets you eat lunch in the campus cafeteria.

Identities tell us who we are, where we live, how and where we can travel. Our identity drives what we can buy with our finances and qualifies us for employment. That is why it is devastating to have it stolen! Has that awful experience happened to you?

For every Christian, knowing your spiritual identity is even more important. How you see yourself as a person directs how you live out your faith walk. You need to grasp who you are as a Christian.

You need to know who you are as a Christian.

Read these beautiful words in 2 Corinthians,

For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all (that’s Jesus), and therefore all died. And he died for all that those who live (believers in Christ) should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again. So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! (2 Corinthians 5:14-17)

Trusting in Christ gives you a new identity.

If you are in Christ, that means you have trusted in Christ as your Savior. From that very moment, you are made a new creation and given a new identity. It’s like the Witness Protection program offered here in the United States to those who put their lives in jeopardy by testifying against dangerous criminals. The witnesses get a new identity and all the details that go along with it. New name, new background, new address, new career. Sometimes new looks. They can never go back to being what they were before they testified.

That is who we are in Christ. We each have a new spiritual identity. But the world is not going to validate your new identity. From a worldly point of view, you and I are the same old stinkin’ persons. All that baggage is still dragging around our necks. And the world does things to punish us, like credit scores and memories of all that we have done wrong in the past.

But every Christian is a new creation with a wonderful new identity. And there are wonderful perks to discover about our new position in life. You need to know who you are as a Christian.

You are set apart from the world as God’s saint.

Paul referred to this identity change at the beginning of his letter to the Roman Christians. The Holy Spirit inspired him to write this,

Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle and set apart for the gospel of God… And you also are among those … who are called to belong to Jesus Christ. To all … who are loved by God and called to be his holy people … (Romans 1:1, 6-7)

When Paul wrote that he was set apart, the word he used there means to be set apart from the world and dedicated to God for His purposes. That is an identity change.

Then, Paul went on to say that every believer likewise belongs to Jesus Christ, not to the world. Belonging to Jesus Christ means you are loved by God and called to be His holy people. Other translations use the words “saint” or “holy ones.” All of those are translating a Greek word meaning set apart or separated from sin and dedicated to God for His purposes.

All believers are called “saints” based on our faith in Jesus Christ. You as a saint are identified by position, what God declares to be true about you. Every believer is one of God’s saints, totally loved and accepted by Him. You are considered a saint of God by His declaration, not because of your behavior. Some influential Christians have been titled “Saint” through the years as an honor for their service to God. But this in no way negates the truth that every believer is a saint in God’s eyes. You and I are no longer common run of the mill human beings. We have a new identity—one of God’s saints.

You are set free to live a radically new kind of life.

Chapters 3, 4, and 5 in the book of Romans describe how your faith in Jesus Christ sets you free from your previous sin-stained existence to enjoy a new life. God also knew that your ability to live out this freedom depends upon your understanding of who you are as a believer in Jesus Christ. So He directed Paul’s writing.

Throughout the letter to the Romans, Paul asked and answered questions he anticipated his readers were thinking. That is how he started out chapter 6 when he asked this,

“…Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase?” (Romans 6:1)

In other words: “If our sinfulness makes God’s grace look so wonderful, then why not go on sinning so God can dish out more grace? Won’t that make Him look good?”

Continuing in Romans 6:2, Paul basically answered with: “To think that way is ridiculous and illogical. Don’t you know who you are?“ Read what the Holy Spirit gave him to say:

By no means! We are those who have died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. (Romans 6:2-4)

The New Testament teaches that believers in Jesus Christ get a new life with a radical new identity, something we never had before. No one before Jesus’ resurrection ever had this new identity! Do you realize that? And this new identity sets us free to live a radically new kind of life, a joyful life. But not knowing our identity enslaves us to shoddy thinking and behavior, robbing us of our joy.

Not knowing your identity enslaves you.

Most Christians throughout the past 1700 years or so mainly knew they could have their sins forgiven and go to heaven when they died. And, even then, they weren’t sure of that. The information about who they were as believers got lost in 2 things:

Illiteracy of the Bible through a lack of education and knowledge of what it actually says, and
Bondage to poor teaching that one has to live by the church’s rules to maintain God’s acceptance—any church.

About 500 years ago, Martin Luther and other faithful believers who followed him rediscovered this identity treasure by reading and studying the Scriptures. But over time, that teaching was replaced once again by emphasis on just getting your sins forgiven so you could go to heaven when you die with the addition that you had to live by certain “rules” to maintain that salvation. People were in bondage once again to illiteracy of the Bible and poor teaching.

The last 50 years have seen a great Grace Awakening. Thank you, Jesus. Teaching about our new identity in Christ is everywhere in bookstores, on the radio, and on the internet. Yet, I venture to say that most believers still have no idea what their new identity is and all the benefits that come with it.

Do you? Could you list them off the top of your head? And, if you and I don’t know who we are, how will we know we’ve been set free to live a different kind of life?

As a college student, I had faith that Jesus was who He said He was and died on the cross for the sin of the world. But I was illiterate in the Scriptures. No one explained to me what my new identity was, just that I should do good works. So I pursued being a good “Christian” girl and achieving whatever awards for goodness were available to me. My identity was based on what “I” could achieve and what “I” considered to be good. So I became enslaved to book learning, perfection of certain standards, and achieving awards to maintain my value and my worth. It was an impossible task, and I often messed up.

Have you experienced that kind of bondage? Maybe not to achievement, but perhaps to something else?

Identity drives everything about life—especially spiritual life. And just saying, “I am a Christian” does not communicate much to you or anyone else if you don’t know what it means.

How you see yourself directs how you live out your faith walk. You must know your identity. You can know your identity in Christ. And knowing your identity sets you free. Do you want to be free?

Knowing your identity sets you free.

Then, let us begin by knowing who you are. First and foremost, you are in Christ. The Bible tells us 130 times that believers are “in Christ.” That must be pretty significant. What does that mean?

From God’s point of view, there are two kinds of people in the world —those who are in Adam and those who are in Christ. There is no middle ground.Who you are “IN” determines your identity and your options for living.

Everyone born on the planet is born in Adam. We inherited his sin nature. Sin is somewhere in our DNA. Scientists have not found the gene for it, but it is there. If someone ever found it, I bet all of us would sign up for elective surgery. Get that thing out of there!

I was born in Adam. But now I am in Christ. How did I get to be in Christ? Somebody died. Actually, 2 somebodies died. Jesus died for my sin, and the Bible says that by my faith I died with Him. I don’t feel dead. The same is true for you. So what happened?

You are “dyed” with Christ.

In Romans 6, the Bible tells us what actually happens to believers.

Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death…. (Romans 6:3)

The Greek word translated “baptized” or “baptism” came from the process for “dyeing” cloth. For us, the Spirit does the dyeing—with Jesus—not with water or a color. Water baptism is a picture of what the Spirit does to us, but there is no mention of water in this passage. According to Acts 1:5, John baptized with water, but Jesus baptizes with the Holy Spirit. That is much more significant with far greater effects. Listen to this podcast to learn more about Spirit Baptism.

When you believed in Jesus Christ as your Savior, you were immediately baptized into Christ. You were dyed with Christ. D-Y-E-D. When God looks on you and on me, He sees Jesus. We have been dyed with Christ. But wait, there is more!

You are “fused” with Christ.

Continuing in Romans chapter 6,

For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly also be united with him in a resurrection like his. (Romans 6:5)

The Greek word translated “united” literally means, “to make to grow together, to fuse.” Being united with Christ, therefore, means that you become fused together with Him.

Consider items that are fused together such as fabrics or welded metal. The purpose of the fusing is usually to create something stronger, thicker, and holding together better than the original items. That happened to you and to me. We are fused with Christ. That cannot be undone.

At your moment of fusing with Christ, you are no longer on your own, but Jesus’ transforming life-giving power now lives in you. You are now connected to the King who has supreme power and authority. Your life is stronger and fulfills a greater purpose than what you could have done before the fusing.

John Wesley, the 18^th century Methodist preacher, said this, “Never think of yourself apart from Christ.” You are continually fused together with Him and can live to enjoy the benefits of being in Him.

Make a fist with one hand to represent you. Now cover that fist with your other hand to represent Christ. You are “in Christ.” That is who you are.

You can live to enjoy the benefits of being in Him.

The moment you believe, the old self that was born in Adam died. A new self with the same body but a new interior started life as a new person with a new nature and a new inheritance. This radical new identity means that you can never go back to being in Adam. You will always be in Christ. Always!

The many aspects of your new identity

Your new identity in Christ contains at least 35 characteristics of identity. God is not a vending machine, parceling out these benefits one at a time. No way! You receive all of these at the moment of your salvation because you are in Christ.

Wouldn’t it be great to carry an ID card with your new identity on it to remind you of your identity in Christ?

Download “The Believer’s Identity in Christ” that lists the facets of your identity in Christ. Fill out the ID card and keep it in your wallet or somewhere you will see it often to remind you of your real identity now.

Here are just a few:

You have permanent forgiveness of your sins—past, present, and future (Colossians 2:13-14).
You have peace with God, no longer an enemy because of your sin (Romans 5:1).
You are safe from God’s wrath against all sin (Romans 5:9).
You are reconciled to God and have an open relationship with Him (Romans 5:10).
You are freed from condemnation, judgment and punishment (Romans 8:1).
You are given Christ’s righteousness (2 Corinthians 5:21). This is called “the Great Exchange.” We give to Him all that we were—spiritually dead guilty sinners—and Christ gives us all that He is—resurrected life, righteousness, and acceptance. Because of this Great Exchange, …
You are completely loved and accepted by God (Romans 8:38-39 and 15:7).

You can know and speak your identity.

By the way, our identity is not sinner saved by grace although that is a condition true about us. My identity is this: I am Melanie, in Christ, a Child of God and one of God’s saints, totally accepted and loved by Him.This is who I am.

The same is true about you, dear believer. Now, read it aloud, filling in your name:

I am __(your name)__, in Christ, a Child of God and one of God’s saints, completely accepted and loved by Him. This is who you are!

God gives you these because of His love for you.

Take that into your mind and heart. Grasp this. What God does to give you and me a new identity with all these wonderful benefits is His choice, not ours. They are unconditional. They are God’s gifts based on His love for you. The burden of performance is upon God—not on me, not on you. That is why knowing this is the pathway to a joyful walk. Anybody excited about this? How about a hallelujah? Thank you, Jesus! Amen!

That was such a relief for an achievement-oriented person like myself. At the age of 19, I was introduced to God’s grace through a campus ministry at LSU. When I was informed that I could have a relationship with Jesus Christ not based on my works, the burden of performance just rolled off my shoulders. My grades actually went down, but I did not collapse because I had a new identity and purpose in life. I was then, and still am not, who I used to be.

And if you have responded to God’s grace and have a relationship with Him through faith in Jesus Christ, you are not who you used to be, either. Doesn’t that give you joy? But wait, there is more…

Knowing your identity sets you free from the world’s point of view.

You can know your identity. And, knowing your true identity sets you free from the world’s constraints and expectations. You are set free from your past. You are set free from the garbage that others feed you about your failures.

Here is the contrast between the world’s lies about you and God’s truth about you (Adapted from Dr. Timothy Warner, Resolving Spiritual Conflicts and Cross-Cultural Ministry, Freedom in Christ Ministries, 1993) :

The world says: You are still a sinner because you sometimes sin. God says: You are my saint who sometimes sins.
The world says: You get your identity from what you have done. God says: You get your identity from what I have done for you.
The world says: You get your identity from what people say about you. God says: You get your identity from what I say about you.
The world says: Your behavior tells you what to believe about yourself. God says: Your belief about yourself directs your behavior.

How you see yourself directs how you live out your faith walk—whether your faith walk will be a joyful one or not.

Our Graceful Living Bible Study and Graceful Living Today Devotional will teach you more about your identity in Christ.

God commits Himself to make your life match who you are in Christ.

No matter how long I have been walking with the Lord, in lots of ways my behavior and thoughts just do not look like Jesus. I bet yours don’t, either. God knows this about us. That is why we need to understand His promise in Philippians chapter 1. This is the promise…

being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. (Philippians 1:6)

God commits Himself to complete His work of salvation. That is called sanctification. Jesus’ transforming power in you is continually working to match up your daily life with who you are, with what God sees when He looks at you in Christ. That is His part. What is your part?

You have a part in making your life match who you are in Christ.

Know and believe who you are—by faith, even when you cannot see it in yourself. That is the “how you see yourself” part.
Yield to Jesus’ transforming power working in you. That is the “how you live it out” part. We will talk about that in the next blog.

Dear reader, how do you see yourself? In Christ? Or as another one of the billions of humans walking around on this planet? Know who you really are. Ask the Lord to help you see yourself as He sees you and to help you grasp the absolutely amazing gift you have through your faith in Jesus Christ.

To have a joyful walk, you need to start with knowing Christ (Pathway #1), bask in the grace of God (Pathway #2), and know who you are as a Christian (Pathway #3). Pathway #4 is “Choose Whom You Will Serve.” That is the next article in the “Joyful Walk” series.

Let Jesus satisfy your heart with joy so that your daily walk with Him will be a joyful one.

Learn more about having a rewarding spiritual life through our Pathways to a Joyful Walk Bible Study (6 lessons).

Related Resources:

Image credit: photo by John Newton, accessed at flickr.com (8162179887_0c6797557b_o.jpg).