The subject of who we are in Christ is a question that all Christians should know both individually and collectively. I would like to teach on this subject as I continue my series in decision making. You might ask what knowing who you are in Christ has to do with the decisions you make? The simple answer is truly knowing who you are in Christ helps you in your decision making in life. When Christians do not know who they truly are in Christ, they will begin to believe lies on who they are. These lies will either come from the enemy or the world.
Back when Jesus came to start His ministry on earth there was a false belief that people had that John the Baptist was either greater than or equal to Jesus. Isaiah 40:3-5 (NKJV) tells us, “The voice of one crying in the wilderness: “Prepare the way of the Lord; Make straight in the desert A highway for our God. Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill brought low; The crooked places shall be made straight And the rough places smooth; The glory of the Lord shall be revealed, And all flesh shall see it together; For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.””. This is prophesying that there will be a forerunner of Jesus Christ. If we look into John 1:19-28 (NIV) “Now this was John’s testimony when the Jewish leaders in Jerusalem sent priests and Levites to ask him who he was. He did not fail to confess, but confessed freely, “I am not the Messiah.” They asked him, “Then who are you? Are you Elijah?” He said, “I am not.” “Are you the Prophet?” He answered, “No.” Finally, they said, “Who are you? Give us an answer to take back to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?” John replied in the words of Isaiah the prophet, “I am the voice of one calling in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way for the Lord.’” Now the Pharisees who had been sent questioned him, “Why then do you baptize if you are not the Messiah, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?” “I baptize with water,” John replied, “but among you stands one you do not know. He is the one who comes after me, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie.” This all happened at Bethany on the other side of the Jordan, where John was baptizing.” In this example John the Baptist knew who he was in Christ, he knew he was the forerunner of Christ. He could have believed lies on who he was in Christ, but he did not he stood firm in who he truly was in Christ.
When one becomes born again in Christ their past is gone and new things have come. The process of old sinful habits going away is not an overnight fix, it is a process. 2 Corinthians 5:17 (ESV) reminds us, “Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.”. Once we are born again, we must put our best effort forth in living our life according to what God commands, and not to what the world says is the way to be. If you are struggling with an addiction to sin or are in a bad relationship you are in seek God on helping you with that. I would even encourage you to seek advice from another Christian. We as Christians should not be too quick to judge each other so critically, but we should help guide each other in our weaknesses. 1 John 2:29 (NKJV) reminds us, “If you know that He is righteous, you know that everyone who practices righteousness is born of Him.”.
I would also like to touch upon the subject of the belief of ‘once saved, always saved’. I have asked God to lead me to some scriptures in my studies to use on teaching on this matter. People can assume once saved always saved by how they interpret scriptures, and with how many scriptures they read. Jesus told us in John 10:28 (NKJV), “And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand.”. Jesus did say no one can snatch us out of His hand, but can anyone put themselves outside of Jesus’ hand? I think we can answer that by looking at John 15:6 (NKJV) which Jesus said, “If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned.”. So yes, someone can put themselves outside of Jesus’ hand. Therefore, we must know who we are in Christ. We must know the promises we have in the Word of God. One of the most important things we have in Christ is everlasting life. John 3:16 (NKJV) tells us, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”. So, what are you doing with your salvation, are you walking in your salvation with true faith, and making efforts to improve? Or are you abusing our salvation from the precious Blood of Jesus Christ? We all have a choice on this, God gave us a free-will. Jesus told us in John 15:5 (NKJV), “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.”. I want you to really evaluate what fruit you are bearing. Are you only bearing good fruit on Sunday mornings, or are you bearing good fruit 24/7?
Colossians 1:21-23 (ERV) tells us, “At one time you were separated from God. You were his enemies in your minds, because the evil you did was against him. But now he has made you his friends again. He did this by the death Christ suffered while he was in his body. He did it so that he could present you to himself as people who are holy, blameless, and without anything that would make you guilty before him. And that is what will happen if you continue to believe in the Good News you heard. You must remain strong and sure in your faith. You must not let anything cause you to give up the hope that became yours when you heard the Good News. That same Good News has been told to everyone on earth, and that’s the work that I, Paul, was given to do.”. Let’s think about this scripture… I would have to paraphrase this scripture myself as, “Before we each accepted Christ, we were in sin, which is evil and against what God wants in our lives. We have become Children of God, through what Jesus Christ did on the cross. Jesus did this for us so we could present ourselves to God as holy. This will happen IF you continue to believe in, walk in, have faith in, and not let anything get in your way with your relationship with Jesus Christ.”. Notice both the scripture and my paraphrasing of it have a conditional word on it, and that conditional word is “IF”. The condition is we must walk in faith and remain in our faith and not let anything get in the way of our relationship with Jesus Christ. Our relationship with Jesus Christ is what makes us branches on His vine, and we know what happens when we don’t abide in Christ from John 15:6, we are thrown into the fire and burned. I have an illustration I have made of the condition in Colossians 1:21-23.
It is not only important to know who we are in Christ by knowing what the word of God says, but also by what fruit we are bearing. We must also know if we are truly abiding in Christ, or if we are letting something get in the way of our relationship with Jesus Christ. I challenge you to truly evaluate who you are in Christ based off what the Word of God says and determine if you are truly abiding in him. Also, examine your life for anything that could be hindering your relationship with Jesus Christ. It is so important to be sure and aware of how the decisions we make impact our identity in Christ.