Who am I in Christ?

[Christsfreeservant]

2 Corinthians 5:17-21 ESV

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”​

It is very popular in today’s Christian culture here in America to hear people talk about “Who I am in Christ.” Largely I hear this spoken in regard to people professing faith in Jesus Christ but who are still living in deliberate and habitual sin. And to alleviate the guilt, even while they are engrossed in sinful behaviors, they are being told to claim who they are in Christ, as though how they live has nothing whatsoever to do with who they truly are.

But just because a fish calls itself a donkey, it does not make itself a donkey. And who we are, in reality, is not who or what we claim to be, but who or what we are in practice, in reality, not just in the imagination. And “in Christ” is not who we are just because we claim it with our lips. For example, I can go around claiming to be an accountant, and I can claim all the attributes of an accountant for myself, but if I am not an accountant, just claiming it with my lips does not then make me one.

So, what does it mean to be “in Christ”? To be “in Christ” requires that we have been crucified with Christ in death to sin and raised with Christ to walk in newness of life in him, no longer to live as slaves to sin, but now as slaves to God and to his righteousness. And it requires that we now walk according to the Spirit, in practice, and no longer according to the flesh, and that sin is no longer our practice, but that righteousness and obedience to our Lord are now what we practice. For if sin is what we practice, and not obedience to our Lord, we don’t know God, and we do not have eternal life in him.

And to be in Christ requires that we continue in these walks of faith and obedience to our Lord until our Lord returns for his bride. For our salvation is progressive, and it will not be complete until our Lord returns for his bride and he takes his faithful ones to be with him for eternity. So to be in Christ is to remain in him, steadfast in faith and obedience to our Lord. It does not mean we live in absolute sinless perfection (1 John 2:1-2) but that we are walking in holiness and in righteousness in obedience to our Lord and not in deliberate and habitual sin. For if sin is what we practice, we will not inherit eternal life with God.

[Matt 7:21-23; Matt 24:9-14; Lu 9:23-26; Rom 1:18-32; Rom 2:6-8; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-14,24; Rom 12:1-2; Rom 13:11; 1 Co 6:9-10,19-20; 2 Co 5:10,15,21; 1 Co 1:18; 1 Co 15:1-2; 2 Tim 1:8-9; Heb 9:28; 1 Pet 1:5; Gal 5:16-21; Gal 6:7-8; Eph 2:8-10; Eph 4:17-32; Eph 5:3-6; Col 1:21-23; Col 3:5-17; 1 Pet 2:24; Tit 2:11-14; 1 Jn 1:5-9; 1 Jn 2:3-6,24-25; 1 Jn 3:4-10; Heb 3:6,14-15; Heb 10:23-31; Heb 12:1-2; Rev 21:8,27; Rev 22:14-15]

So, be very careful about claiming to be something and someone you are not, in reality. For claiming to be a sheep doesn’t make you one. Being born of God and of the Spirit and then living like a sheep is what makes you one. So, if you are still living in deliberate and habitual sin, and if righteousness and obedience to our Lord are not what you practice, then according to the Scriptures you are not one of the Lord’s sheep, and what you are being taught as truth is not the truth that is in Christ Jesus.

“But that is not the way you learned Christ!— assuming that you have heard about him and were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus, to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness” (Ephesians 4:20-24).​

So, what does it mean to be “in Christ”?

• Crucified with Christ in death to sin (Rom 6:3-7)​

• Raised with Christ to walk in newness of life (Rom 6:3-7)​

• Dead to sin and alive to God (Rom 6:11)​

• Obedience to Christ leading to righteousness (Rom 6:16)​

• Set free from law of sin and death (Rom 8:2)​

• Walk not according to flesh but according to Spirit (Rom 8:1-17)​

• Minds set on God’s Spirit (Rom 8:1-17)​

• Debtors, not to live according to the flesh (Rom 8:12-13)​

• By the Spirit put to death deeds of the flesh (Rom 8:13)​

• A new creation: the old gone, the new come (2 Co 5:17)​

• Crucified with Christ; no longer I live, Christ in me (Gal 2:20)​

• Faith working through love (Gal 5:6)​

• Faithful in Christ Jesus (Eph 1:1)​

• In Christ might be to the praise of his glory (Eph 1:12)​

• We are his workmanship, created for good works (Eph 2:10)​

• Truth in Christ – put off old self, put on new self (Eph 4:20-24)​

• Not living in sin, not making sin practice (Gal 5:16-21; Eph 5:3-5)​

• Suffer for the sake of the name of Jesus (Php 1:29)​

• Have same mind and attitude as Jesus (Php 2:5-8)​

• Saved by Grace and called to holy calling (Eph 2:8-9; 2 Tim 1:9)​

So, don’t just claim it, live it! And if you are not living it, then please don’t claim it. For that is hypocritical to claim what you are not. For we are what we do, not who we claim to be, and not just who we think we are. So be true to who you say that you are.

I Will Lift My Eyes

An Original Work / December 12, 2012
Based off Psalms 121-125

I will lift my eyes to my Lord Most High.
My help comes from Him, who saved me from sin.
He will not let your foot slip, and He who watches will not sleep.
Our Lord watches over you, and your life He will keep.
I will lift my eyes to my Lord Most High.
My help comes from Him, who saved me from sin.
I give thanks to Him.

I will lift my eyes to my God in heav’n.
I look to the Lord. My sins, He’s forgiv’n.
Because of His great love for us, He made us alive with Christ.
Through the kindness of our Savior, He gave us new life.
I will lift my eyes to my God in heav’n.
I look to the Lord. My sins, He’s forgiv’n;
My home, now in heav’n.

Praise be to the Lord, who is on our side.
Our help found in Him. He gives peace within.
Those who trust will ne’er be shaken. God will supply all we need.
Our Lord has done great things for us. He’s our friend, indeed!
Praise be to the Lord, who is on our side.
Our help found in Him. He gives peace within.
I can count on Him.