“Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.” (Philippians 2:5-8 ESV)
There is much talk these days on the subject of discovering who we are in Christ. But is it all biblical? No, it isn’t! Much of it is not. Much of it is based in the flesh of human beings, and it is not consistent at all with the teachings of the Scriptures. For it is based in this idea that if you make a profession of faith in Jesus Christ that you are automatically now “In Christ,” and therefore you now have all these blessings from God bestowed upon you, regardless of how you live. For the teaching is often self-centered, not God-centered.
So, because you made a profession of faith in Jesus Christ, they teach you that God has now given you a new identity. And they comb through the Scriptures, and they pull out many characteristic traits of what it looks like to be “in Christ,” but they are mostly all on the side of what God does for us, i.e. they are his promises to all who truly are “in Christ.” But what they leave out are God’s requirements of us for us to be “in Christ.” They leave out all the “If” clauses and all the conditional phrases regarding being “in Christ.”
And then they stamp this new identity on you, regardless of whether or not it is true about you. Like I can say all I want that I identify as an elephant, but that doesn’t make me an elephant, does it? We can’t just “name it and claim it” and therefore it is true if it isn’t true. Our true identity is who we are truly in character, mind, and behavior, not just who we claim to be. Like we don’t have forgiveness and salvation of sins and eternal life with God just because we claim it, but only if we die to sin and walk in obedience to God.
And our identity in Christ is not about improving our own self-image. It is not about us gaining a new way of thinking about ourselves. It is not about thinking better of ourselves than we used to think. And it is not about claiming for ourselves a list of “who I am in Christ” if that is not who we truly are. For all of God’s promises to us in the Scriptures have conditions that we must meet for those things to be true about us. Just saying or reciting them do not make them come true if they are not true about us.
And this is not all about what Jesus did and does for us. We don’t become something we are not just because Jesus gave his life up for us on that cross to put our sins to death with him. Yes, it is true that we can only be “in Christ” because of God’s love and grace to us, and because of Jesus’ sacrifice on that cross for the sins of the entire world. We can’t even believe in Jesus to be Lord and Savior of our lives unless God the Father draws us to Christ, i.e. unless he persuades us to die to sin and to follow him in obedience.
So, if you are following a list of promises of God so that you can claim your “identity in Christ,” make certain that the list is biblical, and then read all those Scriptures in their full context to learn what God requires of you in order for those promises to be fulfilled in your life. For they are not based on a profession of faith in Jesus Christ, but on a walk of faith in Lord whereby we deny self, die daily to self and to sin, and we follow our Lord in walks of obedience to his commands in holy living, by his grace, in his power.
For, by genuine God-persuaded and God-gifted faith in Jesus Christ, our old self is crucified with Christ in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we will no longer be enslaved to sin. So we are not to let sin reign in our mortal bodies to make us obey its passions. For if sin is what we obey, it leads to death. But if obedience to our Lord and to his commands is what we obey, it leads to righteousness and to sanctification, and its end is eternal life with Christ, our Lord. Obey sin = death. Obey God = life.
So, we who profess faith in Jesus Christ are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh, but while claiming who we are in Christ. For if we live according to the flesh, we will die. But if by the Spirit we are putting to death the deeds of the flesh, then we will live. For it is all who are being led of the Spirit of God who are the true children of God, not all those who claim who they are in Christ. It is all whose lives are surrendered to the Lord to do his will who are daily putting sin to death, by the Spirit, and who are walking in obedience to our Lord in holy living – only by the grace of God.
So, if we want to claim who we are in Christ, we must literally be “in Christ” by genuine faith in him which dies with Christ to sin and now lives to God and to his righteousness. For if we claim to be in Christ, in fellowship with him, but while we walk (in conduct, in practice) in sin, we are LIARS. And if we claim to know God, but while we do not obey his New Covenant commandments, in practice, we are LIARS. For it is whoever practices righteousness who is righteous. But whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, and he has not been born of God. He is not “in Christ.”
[Matt 7:21-23; Lu 9:23-26; John 10:27-30; Acts 26:18; Rom 2:6-8; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-14; Rom 12:1-2; 1 Co 6:9-10,19-20; 1 Co 10:1-22; 2 Co 5:10,15,21; Gal 5:16-24; Gal 6:7-8; Eph 2:8-10; Eph 4:17-32; Eph 5:3-6; Col 1:21-23; Col 3:1-17; Titus 2:11-14; 1 Jn 1:5-10; 1 Jn 2:3-6,15-17; 1 Jn 3:4-10; 1 Pet 2:24; Heb 3:1-19; Heb 4:1-13; Heb 10:23-31; Heb 12:1-2]
Not I, but Christ
By Ada A. Whiddington / A. B. Simpson
… I no longer live, but Christ lives in me… (Galatians 2:20 NIV)
Not I, but Christ be honored, loved, exalted,
Not I, but Christ be seen, be known, be heard;
Not I, but Christ in every look and action,
Not I, but Christ in every thought and word.
Not I, but Christ to gently soothe in sorrow,
Not I, but Christ to wipe the falling tear;
Not I, but Christ to lift the weary burden,
Not I, but Christ to hush away all fear.
Christ, only Christ, no idle word e'er falling,
Christ, only Christ, no needless bustling sound;
Christ, only Christ, no self-important bearing,
Christ, only Christ, no trace of “I” be found.
Not I, but Christ my every need supplying,
Not I, but Christ my strength and health to be;
Christ, only Christ, for spirit, soul, and body,
Christ, only Christ, live then Thy life in me.
Christ, only Christ, ere long will fill my vision,
Glory excelling soon, full soon I'll see;
Christ, only Christ, my every wish fulfilling,
Christ, only Christ, my all in all to be.
Oh, to be saved from myself, dear Lord,
Oh, to be lost in Thee,
Oh, that it might be no more I,
But Christ that lives in me.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U7YZcDHu42M
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