Identity

The scriptures are loaded with verses about identity, and for the believer identity is the most important thing to grasp.  We are, according to the Bible, new creations, born again, a royal priesthood, adopted heirs of God, and so on.  The gist of the Gospel is that Jesus came to restore our identity as children of God, and that if we believe in him and his sacrifice we will be made whole, new, Christlike.

There is (thankfully) a growing sense of the importance of identity within the Church.  I am hearing more preachers refer to identity as an important aspect of spiritual development.  It makes sense that this is the case, because how far were we ever going to get if we didn't first figure out who we are?  Instead of forcing the old theology of self-improvement onto the backs of the unworthy - the "sinner saved by grace" perspective - we're waking up to the fact that we are righteous in God's eyes.

When we recognize that as believers we are righteous, our perspective changes.  Instead of dirty old me trying to get clean, I realize that I am clean and I need to just stop getting dirty.  Instead of putting the onus on myself to improve, I give the glory to Jesus for making me perfect in spirit.  You see, the problem is that for too long we have believed that shame leads to repentance, when the Word of God tells us differently.  "The goodness of God leads you to repentance," Paul says in Romans 2:4, not shame or guilt.  For too long we have believed that the Holy Spirit comes to convict us of our sins when the opposite is true.  The enemy Satan comes to convict us of our sinfulness.  The Holy Spirit of God comes to convict us of our righteousness.

This then is the struggle with identity, the push and pull of the flesh and the spirit.  "The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak" is what Jesus said concerning temptation.  The spirit in us which has been made perfect is willing to recognize our righteousness; the flesh that is not perfected is weak in this regard and is always ready to brood on its own sinful nature.  And to which are we called to live?

"There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, who walk not according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit." - Romans 8:1

We are called to our identity in Christ, the perfection of our spirit; yet it does us little good to realize our identity in Christ on the one hand, and hold onto our old identity on the other.  This is what many of us do: we grab hold of this truth of who we are in Jesus and set it alongside the half-truths and lies we hold about who we are, and we go along our merry way dragging all of it behind us.  Think about what this does to someone; it's schizophrenic.  We proclaim our new identity in Christ ("I'm a saint saved from sin."), but hold tightly to our old identity in the flesh ("I'm a sinner saved by grace.").  If you walk around like this long enough, you and everyone you know will be confused about who you are.

It is a struggle to walk in your identity in Jesus.  You may be a new creation, but you have a long memory; getting over the old is not as easy as quoting scripture.  But can I just say that this struggle should be primary in your life?  If you are going to war for anything you've been promised by the Lord, go to war for your identity, because everything else will follow that.