Identity in Christ pt 1

In our day and time the concept of identity is a VERY big deal. It is a way of asking “Who are you for?” And so many times it is a way to divide people and create barriers to being united and together with others.

Identity is at the core of our being. How we “define ourselves” is core to our psyche.

This is not new. It has been explored by philosophers, psychologists, theologians, the legal profession, etc for centuries. Everyone is on a search for “who they are.”

And into the midst of this comes Jesus. Who also seeks to give us an identity. But unlike everyone else, Jesus has something to say about our identity. Not enough.

If we were “enough” Jesus would never have had to come, much less die. In fact, the very fact that Jesus comes and dies is an indictment of all of us- that we needed someone to do something for us that no matter how we “define ourselves” we could never have been.

Enough.

Paul writes very eloquently about this in 1 Corinthians 6:9-11. And we are going to return to this passage often these next few weeks.

Look at it with me.

Paul uses a common ANE technique- the vice list- to hammer home a point to the church in Corinth, where anything goes and often did.

1 Corinthians 2. The Shame of the Righteous Taking Disputes before the Unrighteous (6:1–11)

Paul follows with a warning of deception and a vice list comparable to 5:10–11.

You are defining yourself by the wrong things. You are not the people you once were.

1 Corinthians 2. The Shame of the Righteous Taking Disputes before the Unrighteous (6:1–11)

Instead of “becoming what they are” the Corinthians are “behaving like they were”

You are not “Christians who steal” or who “get drunk” or whatever else. You are defined no longer by your sins. You are defined by ME.

1 Corinthians 2. The Shame of the Righteous Taking Disputes before the Unrighteous (6:1–11)

Barrett comments, “Paul is not writing in merely literary or in imaginary terms, but addressing the greatest of miracles, a church of redeemed sinners, won from their old lifestyle by the power of God.” Similarly Morris: “The tremendous revolution brought about by the preaching of the gospel comes out in the quiet words, And that is what some of you were

So for the next we are going to explore our identity. Who does Jesus say we are? Any how does that mean we should live?

Turn with me to Romans 5:6-11.

To start off, Paul reminds us of where we met Jesus.

We were weak and ungodly.

Romans (1) Peace and Hope (5:1–8)

Paul wrote to the Galatians that God sent his Son “when the time had fully come” (

Let’s unpack those 2 words really quick:

Weak is referring to our war against the flesh. We were not winning. We were getting our butts kicked. We were losing and losing badly and permanently.

Why is that?

Because our default nature is to sin. From the beginning. We are born that way. We may all sin differently. but we all sin. So when we start going in on someone else’s sin, we might as well get a big old mirror and hold it up to ourselves.

As a result of that weakness, we were “ungodly.”

That means our sin had separated us from God. We were not in any way possible able to please God- our sin was not washed out by our actions and nothing could fix that. Someone still had to pay for that sin.

So look at verses 7-8.

This is why Jesus comes. To pay for our sins and lead us to God through His sacrificial example of love- by dying for people who are in open rebellion against Him.

Romans (1) Peace and Hope (5:1–8)

The remarkable thing about the death of Christ was that it took place “while we were still sinners” (

When Jesus dies, no one is forgiven. But when Jesus dies, He opens the door for ANYONE to be forgiven.

(Thief on the cross)

Romans (2) Reconciliation (5:9–11)

Reconciliation is a personal relationship; it cannot be a unilateral action on the part of God alone. He has provided forgiveness for all people through the once-for-all death of his Son. Only when that forgiveness is accepted by faith is the compact completed and reconciliation takes place. God’s part is finished; our part is a matter of individual decision.

We didn’t have any part in our salvation. Jesus did the work. We get the benefit.

So that gets us to the first point of our new identity- FORGIVEN.

Romans (2) Reconciliation (5:9–11)

The first premise is that we have now been declared righteous by virtue of the shedding of Christ’s blood (the greater). Since that is true, it is far more certain that we will be saved from wrath by him (the lesser)

and what that means is this: We STOP defining ourselves by our SIN and start defining ourselves by our SAVIOR!

Romans (2) Reconciliation (5:9–11)

Not only is the power for deliverance available through Christ but through him we “[continue to] rejoice.” He is the one who made our reconciliation with God possible. At the heart of God’s redemptive plan stands one solitary figure—Jesus Christ, his Son, our Savior. Through his death he has made it possible for those who believe to receive forgiveness for their sins and enter into an eternal relationship of joy with God the Father.

Jesus does not look at you as your sin, He looks at you as someone He has redeemed, so stop seeing yourself through old eyes and start seeing yourself as HE sees you- FORGIVEN!

Look at verses 9-10.

Paul uses 2 words here to describe our forgiven state:

Justified- called righteous- in an instant- a judicial pronouncement

Reconciled- returned to favor- we are back where we were before sin- in right relationship- in this case with the Creator and Sustainer of the universe

And all this occurs because of Jesus. He does this. Not us. Look at these verses:

by His blood

saved by Him

by the death of His Son

by His life (resurrection)

Forget “Just Do It” He DOES it!

So what then us our response. How do we respond to being called “forgiven?”

Look at verse 11-

We rejoice- we experience joy and we respond in worship.

We receive from Jesus and we put back into Him all that we have in response to all He has done.

Church let me ask you today- what do you call yourself? What is your name?