Knowing and understanding your spiritual identity

It was a tough job, but someone had to do it.

God called him to it, and he was determined to do it as long as he could.

He didn't let his past stop him, and he didn't let his circumstances dictate how he did it. In fact, it seems like who he “used to be” and his current circumstances seemed to spur him on even more. 

He wasn’t afraid, because he knew who he was. God had changed his identity from one who persecuted Christ (Acts 9:1-5) to one who knew he had been crucified with Christ (Galatians 2:20).

The apostle Paul wrote his epistles to encourage believers, but even more importantly, to remind them of their new identity in Christ Jesus. He wanted to make sure they remembered that they were changed individuals. They were no longer the same as before, no longer answering to the names people used to call them, and no longer bound by their past behaviors. As a faithful minister of the gospel of Christ, he was determined to remind disciples to focus on heaven rather than earthly things (Colossians 3:1–3), and above all, to embrace their identity in Christ Jesus.

Paul’s words remain impactful today, because we, too, are living in a time where men, women, and children who call themselves Christians are being swayed by the popular culture. More than ever, we need to heed the warning he gave the Colossians: “See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy or empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ” (Colossians 2:9).

As Christians, it is imperative that we know and understand our spiritual identity, especially as we live in what Dr. Nicole Massie Martin calls “a crisis of identity.”[1] She notes that we are living in “a world that is becoming less Christian.” Coupled with the chaos of economic upheavals, mass pandemics, and lost people searching for and creating their own gods, society is now a perfect breeding ground for temptation.  Martin continues, “And when we don’t know who we are, we will go any place, we will follow anyone, and we’ll do just about anything to get a quick fix.”

Despite the state of the world, we must remember our true spiritual identity and have the faith to live in it, accordingly.  The anxious, self-centered focus of those around us should not cause us to waver in our faith in Christ or in our identity in Him.  Instead, we should remember that He told us we would overcome these things through Him. Yet, some of us still doubt—or dare to even deny—both Him and our connection to Him.

God’s Word is clear about who we are:

• We are adopted sons and daughters of God.  (John 1:12; Romans 8:15–16; Ephesians 1:5) Adopted children are chosen by parents who have compassion for their helpless state.  God loved us that much, while we were still sinners (Romans 5:8).

• We are new creations in Christ. (2 Corinthians 5:17) Our adoption through the work of Christ on the cross made us completely new, bringing dead beings to brand new life (Ephesians 2:1, 5).

• We are joint heirs with Christ. (Romans 8:17; Galatians 4:7) Our adoption also afforded us an inheritance, because now we are alive with Him, raised with Him, and are seated with Him in heavenly places (Ephesians 2:5–6).

• We are declared righteous. (Romans 3:21–26) We have been justified and saved from God’s wrath, no longer enemies but completely reconciled! (Romans 5:8-10)

• We are living in resurrection power. (Ephesians 1:18–20) The same power that raised Christ from the dead also enables us to live righteously and do the works God has ordained for us to do (Romans 8:10–11; Ephesians 2:10).

• We are members of His family. (John 14:18) Jesus promised not to leave us as orphans, and He didn’t. He sent His Spirit, and through His Spirit, we are now able to call God our Father! (Romans 8:14–15)

We must learn to embrace our family of fellow believers so that we can grow together according to the plans and purposes of God to build His kingdom.  Our identity is strengthened when we work in tandem, because doing so builds us up individually as we build each other up as a unit.  Our growth and maturity remind us that we are no longer irreverent, illegitimate children, “tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes”(Ephesians 4:14). Instead, we are sons and daughters united in heirship to fulfill the work of God’s kingdom (Ephesians 3:6, 10).

Our crisis is not a matter of mistaken identity.  Instead, it is perhaps a matter of ongoing misunderstood identity. Many of us don’t fully understand who we are in Christ Jesus and therefore do not embrace it.  Not knowing and understanding who we are leaves us open to lean to our own understanding (Proverbs 3:5–6), or as Paul put it, “irreverent babble and contradictions of what is falsely called ‘knowledge,’” that causes some to swerve from the faith (1 Timothy 6:20–21).

Like the apostle Paul, let us be diligent to remember who we are in Christ—and live accordingly.

[1] Remember Who You Are | Dr. Nicole Massie Martin | Baptist Grove Church, https://youtu.be/Baqmg4qArm4?si=aFt9YvMANdMWpycE