The Bible: It's All About Jesus
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If you were asked to identity yourself you would probably get some sort of ID from your wallet. There is bound to be something in there that describes you. If it was a policeman that asked for your ID, he would use it to compare against a database of criminals. A guard at your work place would want to know you are employed by that company. That's the point of asking to see your ID –it's to determine what and who you associated with.
Do you have a problem living up to what God expects of you in your Christian life? No matter how hard any of us try to do what the Scriptures say, the Christian walk continues to be impossible. So there must be an answer to how we should live –and there is! But surprisingly, it is not about what we do or how we do it. Rather, it's about who we are –our relationship with God.
The new you won't have all of your attitudes or actions immediately changed to be like Jesus. However, learning who you are "in Christ" is the real starting point for growth. You already know all about the old you –you have lived with yourself all of your life and no doubt learned to hate that sin-controlled flesh. So there is no point in analyzing it any more. The law gives power to sin –to your old self. But the new you has no relationship to the law and therefore sin has no control over you. You are free to let the Spirit express Himself –through love– to those around you.
Understanding the spiritual things can be difficult so water baptism is a marvelous one act play demonstrating how a new believer becomes a new creation "in Christ." It recreates the death, burial and resurrection for us –describing what our spirit has experienced. When we are immersed in the water, it covers us totally –there is nothing we can do that isn't affected by the water. Christian life is much like being immersed in Jesus. He affects every part of our life.
God told Adam that if he ate the forbidden fruit in the garden, he would die. Up until that time Adam and his wife lived in the presence of God. But when death came –spiritual death– God no longer lived with them. "Spiritual life" is being present with God. "Spiritual death" is being separated from Him. Since the fall, every person has been born into the world with a natural tendency to not trust God –it's our inherited sin nature. For every one of us, that sin nature has led us into sin with its inseparable penalty –spiritual death.
The standard or book of rules (the law) that God provided for us to measure ourselves by was taken away when we became believers "in Christ." Jesus Christ fulfilled every bit of the law leaving none of it for us to even attempt to keep. The law was given to us to lead us (our spiritual being) to Him –not to use as a standard to live by. On the other hand, the flesh (which is contrary to the Spirit) enjoys the law –it revels in it. Of course, it's also very selective in choosing which part it likes. Regardless, that old relationship to God –through the law– is gone.
The new you won't have all of your attitudes or actions immediately changed to be like Jesus. However, learning who you are "in Christ" is the real starting point for growth. You already know all about the old you –you have lived with yourself all of your life and no doubt learned to hate that sin-controlled flesh. So there is no point in analyzing it any more. The law gives power to sin –to your old self. But the new you has no relationship to the law and therefore sin has no control over you. You are free to let the Spirit express Himself –through love– to those around you.
Your relationship to God is no longer based on what you do; it's based on who you are –the real you. It's time to quit trying to be pleasing through your own efforts and let that new you take over.
God doesn't expect you to be obedient in following the rules –the Ten Commandments– anymore. He wants you to know how much He cares for you so that you can live a life of peace, contentment and compassion in response to His boundless love.
Let's See Your ID Please
If you were asked to identify yourself you would probably get out some form of ID. There is bound to be something you carry that describes you –your physical description and probably your relationship to other people or an organization. You might have a driver's license; an employee badge; a debit or credit card; a library card; a union card; military dog tags or a law enforcement officer's badge. Those are but a few of the many types of IDs we take with us almost everywhere we go. My main two are a driver's license and a badge to get into and around the buildings where I work.
One of the greatest fears we people have is that of losing our identity. Identity theft is a common topic in the news these days. It even shows up as an attention getting headline on credit card advertisements. When someone uses our name, account numbers and passwords, they can take everything we own and make life miserable. I don't know how many times I've gone looking for a misplaced purse or billfold after leaving them behind at a restaurant or store. The whole time my stomach was filled with anxiety about what could happen if it was picked up by the "wrong person."
On TV and in print, there are advertisements about safeguarding against this kind of theft. Those ads are for services to monitor credit reports –to detect fraud– and for insurance plans –to pay for credit card misuse.
As important as our identity is in regard to finances and possessions, there is an even more important identity based on who and what we are –rather than what we physically own. Here's an example. When a man is asked to describe himself, he will typically respond by saying what he does for his work; he's an engineer, or carpenter, or auto mechanic, etc. It's the first thing he talks about when he's around other men. On the other hand, a woman identifies herself by her relationships with her family and others; she's a mom, a daughter, a wife, a friend ... And that's usually a part of what she talks about with other women.
Without any malicious intent involved, these intangible identities can be also lost. It happens when the children leave home and that mom is no longer a mom –or when her husband passes away and she's not a wife anymore. After a man is laid-off or retires, he's no longer recognized as being the engineer, or carpenter, or auto mechanic, or ... These identities become the very purpose of our lives. And their loss can translate into having no reason to continue living.
Still Struggling To Be Good Enough For God?
Of course you have a physical identity –we just looked at a few of them. They are based on occupational titles or relationships with others. And you have proof of those identities contained in your wallet, the baby stroller you are pushing, the bills you owe, or the ring on your hand.
As a Christian you also have a spiritual identity. With that being said, do you have a problem living up to what God expects of you in your daily life? I did, and what a frustrating life it was. (We'll get to what changed as we go on.) No matter how hard any of us try to do what the Scriptures say, the Christian walk continues to be impossible. Its demands are clear: "Love your neighbor as yourself" and "Love one another as Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her." How much did He love the church? You know the passage below from 1 Corinthians 13.
Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails. (1 Corinthians 13:4-8)
We are challenged regularly to love others like He loves us and to do it consistently. Some of the things we're supposed to keep in mind are "Don't let the sun go down on our anger," "Submit to and respect your spouse" and "Obey your parents." The list seems endless –not to mention impossible to live out.
Not only are we "encouraged" to love others like Jesus loves, we are also "encouraged" to live a holy life! I say "encouraged," but the context in which these passages are typically presented, we're guilt driven to live by them.
But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: "Be holy, because I am holy." (1 Peter 1:15-16)
Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect. (Matthew 5:48)
There is no way to measure up to these, regardless of all the "striving" and "denying self" that we can do. A person's outer appearances might look like he's a good Christian –even demonstrating those attributes of 1 Corinthians 13 love, but on the inside there is a totally different life. I've been told (by a very few) that I'm a great person and good influence on them. I wish they could see the inner battles going on to keep up those "good appearances."
The good news is that God doesn't expect His children to live a life of striving to be acceptable in His eyes. He has provided something inexpressibly better for us.
A New Identity
Like the physical identity described by the ID you would have pulled from a wallet or purse and the one I carry around at work, we also have spiritual identities that describe who we are and what we possess in the spiritual realm. I'm sure you've seen the ads on TV and in magazines for weight loss products with the "before and after" pictures of the person who lost a whole bunch of pounds in a short amount of time and now looks great. Well, the Bible contains several "before and after" contrasts of who we were before and who we are after being "in Christ."
Here's a sample gallery of some of those "photos." You were dead but now alive, were lost and now found (Luke 15:24); were dead in sin but now alive to God (Romans 6:11); were in darkness, now a light shining in a dark place (2 Peter 1:19). In 1 Corinthians 6:9-11, there's an exceptionally unflattering set of photos. On the left, in the "before" photo, there are the sexually immoral, idolaters, adulterers, male prostitutes, homosexual offenders, thieves, greedy, drunkards, slanderers, swindlers. The photo on the right side shows a person who has undergone an amazing transformation; it's a photo of us with our new identity. We are now washed, sanctified, justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God. Those are wonderful pictures, but the most disturbing one is found in 1 John 3:10 (read it when you get a chance). It also shows the two pictures –and we all are found in one or the other of them. On the one side are children of God, and on the other are children of the Devil!
When Christ is invited into a person's heart, a metamorphosis begins to take place. God refers to it as becoming a new creation in Christ. It's like the caterpillar changing into a butterfly.
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men's sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ's behalf: Be reconciled to God. God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. (2 Corinthians 5:17-21)
"The old has gone" is talking about the person who stood condemned under the law –dead in his sins. God doesn't count our sins against us anymore because Jesus took them off of us –every single one of them– "He became sin for us." And He paid for each and every one of them –in full– leaving no remaining balance to be paid. "The new has come" describes a new person; one who is in good standing with God –righteous! That's when God put His own Son's righteousness (His goodness) on us. He gave you and me a brand new identity! We have "become the righteousness of God."
The butterfly isn't a caterpillar with wings; it is a new being with a new identity. The caterpillar was known for crawling on the earth with its many feet and eating leaves. The butterfly is known for being able to fly in the air –on wings of beauty and drinking nectar from flowers. That old being is gone and so is its identity. The caterpillar had no part in that process of change; its Creator did it all. And so the butterfly can never be a caterpillar again because God did away with the old creation and made a new creation. That same process of change occurs to every person who is "in Christ."
From God's view point, that change from being "out of Christ" (dead) to being "in Christ" (alive) took place instantly. But it takes much longer for a Christian to learn about it –and even longer for him to accept what he has become. Our old identity was very dependent on how our attitudes and actions measured up on God's standard of good and bad works. But our new identity is not based on us –it's based on Him –His grace –His acceptance.
Being In Christ
God must consider it to be very important because those exact words (or ones very similar) are found in the new testament over 170 times.
The transition from being "out of Christ" (in the dark, lost, dead) to being "in Christ" (in the light, saved, alive) can really be a stretch of our understanding. To get us started thinking in terms that we can comprehend, God gave us water baptism. It can be thought of as a marvelous one-act play demonstrating how a new believer becomes that new creation described earlier. When you get time later, take a look at the section about baptism and read more about its significance in Christianity. In the meantime, this passage from Romans chapter 6 describes what happens when we become a new creation in Christ.
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. If we have been united with him like this in his death, we will certainly also be united with him in his resurrection. For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin– because anyone who has died has been freed from sin. Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him. The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God. In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. (Romans 6:3-11)
"Baptized into" means "joined with." When you were joined with Christ Jesus you joined Him in His crucifixion, His death, and His resurrection. The message here is that you took on His identity. It's not a coincidence that the same practice has been a part of marriage from the earliest times. The wife is expected to take on the identity of her husband; she shares everything he is and everything that he possesses –at least that's the way marriage was intended to be. And that's the way it is with Christ and His bride –the church –us.
From Death To Life
God told Adam that if he ate the forbidden fruit in the garden, he would die. Up until that time Adam and his wife lived in the presence of God. But when death came –spiritual death– God no longer lived with them.
"Spiritual life" is being present with God. "Spiritual death" is being separated from Him. Since the fall, every person has been born into the world with a natural tendency to not trust God –it's our inherited sin nature. For every one of us, that sin nature has led us into sin with its inseparable penalty –spiritual death. "There is no one righteous, not even one;" "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." (Romans 3:10b, 23)
But because God is so compassionate and gracious, He calls us to come to Him so that He can restore us to eternal life. That life can only be found in Jesus, His Son. The rest of that Romans 3 passage goes on to say that we "are justified freely [declared innocent of all wrong doing –of all sin] by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus." (Romans 3:24)
In John 3, Jesus described how a person receives that new life.
In reply Jesus declared, "I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again." "How can a man be born when he is old?" Nicodemus asked. "Surely he cannot enter a second time into his mother's womb to be born!" Jesus answered, "I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. (John 3:3-6)
Jesus told Nicodemus, a prominent teacher, that he had to be born again to see the kingdom of God. Nicodemus was puzzled and asked what He meant. Obviously a person couldn't pass from his mother's womb a second time.
Jesus declared that a person must be born both of the water and of the Spirit. He went on to explain that flesh (a physical being) gives birth to flesh (another physical being). And Spirit (the Holy Spirit) gives birth to spirit (a person's human spirit). Everyone is first born through the mother's sac of water into physical life. The second birth is through the Holy Spirit into spiritual life. These are the baptisms into life.
When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ. (Colossians 2:13)
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 transgressions– it is by grace you have been saved. (Ephesians 2:4-5)
Apart from Jesus, we are all spiritually dead and once this life on earth ends we will continue on eternally dead (separated from God forever). But "in Christ," you and I began our spiritual life here on earth and it will continue into the hereafter without even a pause!
Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God's wrath remains on him." (John 3:36)
Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death. (Romans 8:1-2)
Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. (Romans 5:1-2)
We have eternal life because there is no condemnation waiting for us. We have been declared innocent of all wrong doing –we have been justified. All because Jesus was condemned to death in our place. His death allows us to live –to be present with Him and the Father for eternity.
The Old Is Gone
The standard or book of rules (the law), that God provided for us to measure ourselves by, was taken away when we became believers "in Christ." Jesus Christ fulfilled every bit of the law leaving none of it for us to even attempt to keep.
When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, having canceled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it to the cross. (Colossians 2:13-14)
This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. (Romans 3:22-24)
In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace that he lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding. (Ephesians 1:7-8)
The thing that separated us from God was sin with its inseparable partner –death. The purpose of the law was used to make us aware of our sinfulness. It condemned us so that we could then recognize our condition: Dead and in need of life!
Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death. (Romans 8:1-2)
For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in sinful man, in order that the righteous requirements of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the sinful nature but according to the Spirit. (Romans 8:3-4)
Jesus is the single source of eternal life. Since you and I are "in Christ," there is no condemnation (death sentence) awaiting us. The law has been fully met in us. How? Because we already know that we deserve death –we're guilty as charged– and the penalty was completely paid.
He paid it all and there is nothing remaining for us to pay. We have absolutely no sin left unpaid! There is no longer any sin that can separate us –in any way– from God. (You might want to read the section on 1 John 1:9, "The Christian Bar of Soap".)
The New You Has Come
The new you won't have all of your attitudes or actions immediately changed to be like Jesus. However, learning who you are "in Christ" is the real starting point for growth. You already know all about the old you –you have lived with yourself all of your life and no doubt learned to hate that sin-controlled flesh. So there is no point in analyzing it any more.
The law gives power to sin –to your old self. But the new you has no relationship to the law and therefore sin has no control over you. You are free to let the Spirit express Himself –through love– to those around you. It is being free from the law that you are able to begin to experience freedom from all the religious bondage that exists in the Christian realm. Read these Scriptures closely and carefully consider your new identity.
And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God. (1 Corinthians 6:11)
And by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. (Hebrews 10:10)
Since that time he waits for his enemies to be made his footstool, because by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy. (Hebrews 10:13-14)
But now he has reconciled you by Christ's physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation (Colossians 1:22)
For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, and you have been given fullness in Christ, who is the head over every power and authority. (Colossians 2:9-10)
Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God. (Romans 15:7)
You have been set apart from the rest of the world. You have been washed, sanctified and justified. From God's perspective, you are now holy! He created you –that new creation– with a purpose. Here's that passage once again that describes God's purpose for you in this world –it's why you have been set apart.
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men's sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ's behalf: Be reconciled to God. God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. (2 Corinthians 5:17-21)
You have a ministry –it's not a mystery for you hope to learn about some day. The ministry you have is being God's ambassador –telling others "in Christ" that they have been set free from the law of sin and death. He doesn't count men's sins against them. God has reconciled them to Himself –taken away their debt –removed all the roadblocks. They too, now have the righteousness of God!
Your New Relationship with God
Your relationship to God is no longer based on what you do; it's based on who you are. You used to be dead; the new you is alive. You used to be a sinner; now you're a saint. Even more importantly, your new relationship to Him. Please read the passages below very carefully. They define how He sees you –what He thinks of you –who you are to Him.
I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master's business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. (John 15:15)
Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God– children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband's will, but born of God. (John 1:12-13)
So you are no longer a slave, but a son; and since you are a son, God has made you also an heir. (Galatians 4:7)
To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood, and has made us to be a kingdom and priests to serve his God and Father– to him be glory and power for ever and ever! Amen. (Revelation 1:5-6)
What did you do to deserve all of this? Nothing! You have been saved because of God's undeserved love.
For if, when we were God's enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life! Not only is this so, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation. (Romans 5:10-11)
While we were still enemies with God –before we even went seeking Him– He took down the barriers that stood between Him and us (our sins) through His Son's death. Upon accepting what He provided –His Son's death, burial, and resurrection– We became: His friends, His children, His heirs, and His priests.
In Summary ...
Being "in Christ" makes us united with Him in every way. We are heirs, brothers and children with Him. We are perfect in our Father's eyes. But are we grown up –mature– in every way? Of course not! We all make mistakes every day when interacting with others in the world –and even with other Christians. Because God redeemed us and made us blameless and has forgiven us forever, we should want even more to be what God intended us to be. There is a passage in Hebrews which talks about people who ought to have grown up.
We have much to say about this, but it is hard to explain because you are slow to learn. In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God's word all over again. You need milk, not solid food! Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil. (Hebrews 5:11-14)
There are two things that God desires for each of us to do: First, accept his free gift of salvation; then, become a grown-up, mature Christian. As the passage in Hebrews 5 above states, He doesn't want us to remain infants all of our lives.
Since God was so gracious to give us such a great gift, complete with a matching new identity, let's make every effort to live a life that is worthy. The term "worthy" means worth something; in this case it means something of value to God!
As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. (Ephesians 4:1-3)
Whatever happens, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ. Then, whether I come and see you or only hear about you in my absence, I will know that you stand firm in one spirit, contending as one man for the faith of the gospel (Philippians 1:27)
For you know that we dealt with each of you as a father deals with his own children, encouraging, comforting and urging you to live lives worthy of God, who calls you into his kingdom and glory. (1 Thessalonians 2:11-12)
Now, live like the new creation you are! Rather than serving yourself in what you do, consider others to be more important than you are. And since "the only thing that matters is faith expressing itself through love" (Galatians 5:6), then doesn't it make sense to honor the One who made you?
And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and joyfully giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light. (Colossians 1:10-12)
He doesn't require or demand you to live a valuable life. A valuable life is what you live in response to what He has already done for you.