Many believers are a bit confused as to who they really are in the eyes of God. They base their identity either on what they do for a living or what sin they happen to be trying to over come, like I am a doctor, I am a teacher, I am a wife, or I am a husband. Or they identify with the sin that so easy besets us like , I am a sinner, I am an alcoholic , I am a homosexual, I am an adulterer , I am a thief, I am a prostitute and so forth, you get the picture. So we need to come to terms with who we really are , as a believer what is our identity ? Is who we are , dependent on our behavior or by what we do, or by who we are in Gods eyes?
The whole world has ALREADY BEEN RECONCILED to God through the cross, but does that mean that the whole world is saved right now? If salvation is just a person being reconciled to God then the answer would be YES, but that is not what the Bible/God says salvation is ,does it? No salvation is when a person hears the gospel of Jesus Christ, receives Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior , and believes he died for his sin and has forgiven him of all of his sins, AT THAT MOMENT THAT PERSON'S DEAD SPIRIT HAS BEEN BORN AGAIN! S/He has been reconciled to God the barrier which was sin between God and humanity has been taken away by Jesus Christ who is the bridge between God and humankind.Reconciliation has been accomplished for the whole world through Christ but that alone is not salvation, it is just one half of the equation.The reason God has removed the sin barrier is so that WHOSOEVER will come to Christ by faith can become alive in HIM. The ONLY SIN that will keep a person from eternity with God is UNBELIEF ! John 3:18 states: " Whoever believes in Him is not condemned but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son." To be condemned already means you are ALREADY DEAD! Not because of your sins but because of your UNBELIEF! The Gospel is the announcement of and ACCOMPLISHED FACT!!! GOD'S WORK OF RECONCILIATION HAS ALREADY TAKEN PLACE! It is something God took the initiative to do , nothing we can do or ever do will make it happen.
So if you are a believer and have faith in the accomplished work done on the cross by Jesus Christ you are saved in your spirit. Your spirit which was dead because you were a child of Adam has now been born brand new and you are now a child of God in Christ. Take for instance the caterpillar, it is an earthbound crawling critter, it weaves a cocoon and it becomes totally immersed within it. A wonderful transformation takes place and when it comes out of that cocoon it is now a new creature that is no longer earth bound and flies in the sky. It now views life from a whole new perspective, and in the same way , you as a new creation in Christ must see yourself as God now sees you. It would never occur to you as a butterfly to introduce yourself as a converted caterpillar, no you are a new creature you are a butterfly that is who you are now. So stop seeing your self as a converted sinner, of what ever sin that once held you in it's grips. Although you might not always act as a good butterfly should, you are still a butterfly you will never ever be a caterpillar again, although you can choose to act like one. Even though you still may commit sins, it does not make you a sinner only if you identify yourself by your behavior ,by what you do, but if you identify yourself as God sees you , then you have a whole lot more chances to overcome these sins in your life by the power of your new identity in Christ. The highest motivation to living like the saint you are is found in Eph.5:8: "For you were ONCE DARKNESS, but NOW YOU ARE LIGHT in the Lord. LIVE as children OF THE LIGHT." .....you were once a caterpillar but now a butterfly so live as a butterfly and fly like one! Why should you live as a child of the light? BECAUSE YOU ARE A CHILD OF THE LIGHT! The power you need in your life is in how you see yourself, if you see yourself as a sinner then sinner you be, if you see yourself as a child of God in Christ then that is how you will live your life. The power is in who or what you identify yourself with. If you identify as an alcoholic then that is what you are, but if you identify yourself as a new born child of the living God then that is how you will live your life.
The world says we need a better or more positive self image of ourselves and they say that is what will bring you success, and it is true to some extent. We need to stop defining who we are by our failures, the TRUTH is what Gods says about you and I as believers in Christ, that is the only TRUTH there is. According to God there are only 2 identities mentioned in the Scriptures, IN ADAM and IN CHRIST. All of humanity are naturally born IN ADAM and the consequences of that identity is by nature DEATH! we are already dead as far as God is concerned! So what does it take for any person to go to JUDGEMENT AND CONDEMNATION? NOTHING! We are already condemned when we are born, we have no hope.That is the inheritance given to us by our earthly first parents who passed on the sin nature/diseased gene to all their off spring we are all born dying until we finally die. So when you believe in Jesus you changed who you now identify with, you no longer are in ADAM but now in CHRIST, AND WHO AND WHAT HE IS NOW YOU ARE in your spirits. So your identity is not based on your behavior, but your identity in Christ. So you don't need a good or positive self image you need a Proper Self image and one that comes from God's word. The believers true identity in Christ is the Central issue to experiencing the real Christian life! The truth of the matter is that now as a believer in Christ that God sees us as totally acceptable and righteous in His sight right NOW! Not because of what we do, but because of what Christ has done for us. We don't need many lives to become perfect, there are not enough lives to ever be perfect in Gods eyes, just one will make us perfect and that is Christ's Resurrected life in us.
What many failed to understand about Christianity is that Christianity is NOT A SELF IMPROVEMENT PROGRAM! It is not A REFORMATION PROJECT, it is A RESURRECTION FROM THE DEAD! IT IS A NEW LIFE , we exchanged our old worn out life for Jesus Christ's life and His life now becomes our own. We give Christ all that we were , sinners , guilty and dead, and Christ gives us all that HE IS , a resurrected life, of forgiveness, righteousness and acceptance! We have been made perfect, in our own eyes, no ,never! According to our right behavior? Never! We have been made perfect in God's eyes by Christ! and that is an awesome and wonderful gift. So are we now perfectly mature, NOPE That will not happen until the resurrection when we receive our new glorified bodies to go along with our already resurrected perfect spirits that we already now possess. When we are saved our spirits have been born again, they are brand new but our souls and bodies have not been. We have to constantly renew our minds/souls to Gods perspective from this point on and it is a lifelong process. As long as your spirits live in your body you will wrestle with the desires of the flesh and you have to with time learn to make the right choices to avoid unnecessary temptations. But over time the Lord will renew your mind with His truth, that will bring your emotions and desires in line with who we really are, a new creation in Christ, Your daily decisions then are to apply Galatians 5:16" But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desires of the flesh."
The goal of a Christian's life is NOT TO QUIT SINNING! no matter who tells you this, it is not what the goal of a Christian is.Christ did not come to improve the flesh, he came to execute it and to give us a new life! Trying to clean up your life is merely returning back to the law which is an exercise of futility! God's love working within our hearts deals with us on a level that neither the law or self discipline can ever reach.
Faith , there is no power in faith itself! The real value of faith is found only in it's object and God is it. You can't have great faith, but you do have a great God! You only need to have enough faith to take God at His word! The size of one's faith is not important, what is important is the will of God. You and I are not responsible for producing the Christian life. We are not even able to produce the Christian life , ONLY CHRIST CAN DO THAT! Our responsiblity is to maintain a dependent, receiving attitude, the same attitude that was available in Jesus' life when he walked the earth. It is Christ that will produce the life and the fruit in our lives. The truth of the matter is that God has ALREADY DONE IT ALL! in Christ!There is NOTHING left to do. God does not need our abilities, He is the only able one! He needs for you and I to be AVAILABLE to what God wants to do IN US. The power for us is to know that the word of God is our authority and the only standard for truth. The renewing our our minds is looking at ourselves and our circumstances from God's perspective, by doing so , it brings light into all our circumstances. The true power in our Christian life is not how much we study, or what we do, it is who we are now from God's point of view, let us begin to see ourselves in the light of Gods word which is that we are now IN Christ and as He is so are we , GOD will always see Christ life in us forevermore, and therein is the power we need to live our lives today.
Gods blessings on you!
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