Our Identity in Christ

God created us to be His childrento have our spirits united with His Spirit. But we go
through this world, even as Christians, trying to live our lives in our own strength. We forget that
Christ lives in us and that we can live victoriously in His transforming power. Knowing your
identity in Christ will transform your mind and life!

Truths that Transform:

1. My image bearing is restored!
God created each of us, Christian and non-Christian alike, to be image bearers of Him. This
gives each person value and dignity. Our sin comes as a dividing wall to keep us from fully
recognizing who we are as Gods children. When we become Christians, not only do we bear
Gods image, but Christs Spirit unites with ours.
Then God said, Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule
over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the
earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground (Genesis 1:26).
2. I was dead, but now Im alive!
When we commit our lives to Jesus in faith and repentance (which means turning 180
degrees around), our old self dies and we have a new life. WOW! Look at who I am:
I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The
life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave
himself for me (Galatians 2:20).
Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new
has come! (2 Corinthians 5:17).
As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to
live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of
the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. All of us also
lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and
following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of
wrath. But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us
alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressionsit is by grace you
have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the
heavenly realms in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 2:1-6).
3. In Christ we have a completely new identity.

When we become Christians, God gives us a new identity. It could be called the In Christ
identity. Our skin color and our race havent changed, but the core of our being has. We are made
newwe are Gods people! We are free from the guilt of sin, completely forgiven, dead but
more alive than ever before, a royal priesthood.
But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging
to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness
into his wonderful light. Once you were not a people, but now you are the people
of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. Dear
friends, I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world, to abstain from sinful
desires, which war against your soul (1 Peter 2:9-11).
4. How do we deal with sin?
We listen to the Spirits conviction when sin bears its ugly head in our lives. Confess it, and
celebrate Gods forgiveness and get on with the victory!
If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and
purify us from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9).
Sin wages its war against me. My identity is no longer sinner. It is saint, washed in the
blood of Jesus, but there is still a battle between our new identity and sin.
We know that the law is spiritual; but I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin. I do
not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do.
And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. As it is, it is no
longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. I know that nothing good lives
in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I
cannot carry it out. For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not
want to dothis I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no
longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it. So I find this law at work:
When I want to do good, evil is right there with me. For in my inner being I delight
in Gods law; but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging
war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at
work within my members. What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from
this body of death? Thanks be to Godthrough Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I
myself in my mind am a slave to Gods law, but in the sinful nature a slave to the
law of sin (Romans 7:14-25).
As we understand that Christs Spirit lives in us, we realize our complete victory over sin in
our lives through Him.
So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature.
For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit and the Spirit what is
contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do
not do what you want. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under law
(Galatians 5:16-18).

Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions
and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit (Galatians
5:24-25).
When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a
sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole
house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that
separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy
Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them (Acts2:1-4).
5. Guilt-free living!
We dont have to struggle with guilt anymore. Praise God! Guilt is one of Satans tools to
keep us from living victoriously. A healthy sense of conviction of sin from the Holy Spirit is
good, but once we have confessed it we can live thankfully in Gods forgiveness.
Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus
(Romans 8:1).
Did you hear that? Say it a few times: NO condemnation. Let it sink in. Once you have
confessed your sin, move on! We are set free. We learned already in the grace lesson, this does
not mean we have a free ticket to sin why would we want to live with the destructive
consequences of sin? Sin destroys.
Just because there is no condemnation does not mean we can just go out and sin more
because our sins are forgiven. No, because of Jesus sacrifice, we dont want to live lives that
displease Him or bring bondage in our own lives.
What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By
no means! We are those who have died to sin; how can we live in it any longer?
(Romans 6:1-2).
6. The fruits of the Spirit.
Did you know that all the fruits of the Spirit listed in Galatians 5:22 are available to us? We
can ask God to live out what He has already put in us. Then we can be more aware of His
presence and fruits in our lives.
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness,
faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law
(Galatians 5:22-23).
Sometimes people say, I need more joy, but the fruit of Jesus Spirit is joy and He lives in
us. Abide in Him and let His joy be your joy. The same is true of the rest of the fruits. For
example, instead of trying on your own strength to be more patient, focus on your relationship
with Him and let the fruit of His Spirit live through you. Its hard to believe that the living God
lives His life through us, but what an amazing truth to guide us each day!

Allow your mind to be transformed. Think about what each of the following things mean and
begin to live by them:
1. I am free from sin, guilt and condemnation. I see the battle going on in me, but now I
know that I am in Christ and I am washed in His blood! My clean heart doesnt depend
on me being good enough because I cant do it. I depend on the fact that I am washed in
Jesus blood.
2. I dont have to let Satan play his guilt games with me any morelust, greed, pride, etc.
Confess them to Christ and thank Him for His grace, and then move on.
3. I am under the Lordship of Christ. To win the battles in life, I daily submit to Him.
4. I am a chosen person, a royal priesthood.
5. Christs fruits are in mejoy is in meI need to remember who I am and submit to His
joy, love, peace, etc.
6. I dont ever have to doubt if I am a believer. Remember the day of your conversion or
recommitment to Christ, or set this day as a day to remember and dont let those doubts
drag you down.
7. Consider the old self dead, and live in victory!
8. Christ is in all of me, not just in my heart. Start looking at people with an In Christ
perspectiveremember who they really are.
So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view (2 Corinthians
5:16).