Our Identity Is in Christ

1Thessalonians 5:23 (NLT) says, “Now may the God of peace make you holy in every way, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless until our Lord Jesus Christ comes again.” If God tells us that we are to keep all parts of us blameless, then we have no choice but to believe that it is absolutely available to do so. We must take note that 1Thessalonians 5:23 sheds light on how beautifully and masterfully God has created our beings. Genesis 1:26 affirms that God created us in His image. Just as He is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, we are three-part beings as well. We are spirit, soul, and body. Our human-spirit should not be confused with God’s Holy Spirit. They are not the same. Our human-spirit is our true identity, and one of the reasons that humanity is in a world of trouble is because most have chosen to let their physicality define who they are.

Over the past few decades, many Christians have been slowly changing their beliefs regarding what is pleasing to God and what is moral in His sight. Some have rejected these changes, because they believe, and correctly so, that God’s morality is unchangeable and timeless. There are many people that refuse to believe the devil is influencing their beliefs. Because of this blinding and dark influence, they are being prompted by the enemy to justify and accept things that are completely opposite of God’s truth and standards. Keeping the minds of people focused on pleasing their physical desires instead of nurturing their relationship with God is one of the enemy’s most common tricks.

Romans 8:6-7(NLT) tells us, “6 So letting your sinful nature control your mind leads to death. But letting the Spirit control your mind leads to life and peace. 7 For the sinful nature is always hostile to God. It never did obey God’s laws, and it never will.” I’ve been in plenty of circles where groups of people identify themselves as Christians, but they don’t believe the devil exists, and they don’t believe God’s Word when it comes to sin. They believe that under God’s grace, people can do whatever they want to do, and Heavenly Father is okay with it. This is not the truth. Our sinful nature are the attitudes, thoughts, confessions, conversations, and deeds that do not represent God’s nature.

Galatians 5:19-21(NLT) says, “19When you follow the desires of your sinful nature, the results are very clear: sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures, 20 idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division, 21 envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and other sins like these. Let me tell you again, as I have before, that anyone living that sort of life will not inherit the Kingdom of God.” Some people will look at this passage and think, “Some of these things are a lot of fun.” For them it is important to know that God doesn’t want to make our pleasure any less. Quite the contrary. He wants our joy to be full, and it can’t get that way by gratifying the flesh and doing only what the physical body craves.

Doing only what the physical body craves is our old nature. It is the one we had before we accepted the Lord Jesus Christ and repented of our sins. 2Corinthians 5:17(NLT) says, “This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!” When we were born-again, the soul was not made new again, and neither was our body. Accepting Jesus Christ as Lord means that we have received a spiritual new birth. Our human-spirits were dead to God, but because of Christ, they are made alive. 1Corinthians 15:45(NLT) says, “The first man, Adam, became a living person. But the last Adam—that is, Christ—is a life-giving Spirit.”

After we have become new creations in Christ, God’s Holy Spirit comes to live inside the deepest part of us, in our human-spirits. The Holy Spirit will comfort, teach, lead and guide us to all truth. The Spirit is not an “it”, he is a person—more of a person than you or I could ever be, and he communes with our human-spirit continually. An important aspect of the Spirit’s occupation is to produce His fruit in us. Galatians 5:22-23(NLT) says, “But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things!” 

Many believers today are experiencing huge challenges in life—challenges like they’ve never experienced before. God is not punishing us, because love doesn’t punish. In many cases we are still blind to how sin is affecting our lives and how the enemy is using it to continue to keep us blind. Jesus Christ has brought us into the light. He tells us to wake up and strengthen what remains. We can’t do this ourselves, but God’s Holy Spirit will help us. James 4:7 tells us to submit and humble ourselves to God, and to resist the devil and he will flee. We must make a decision to honor our truest, highest self in Christ by doing the things that nurture our souls and bring us closer to God. When we do this, God promises that life will be sweeter as the Holy Spirit helps us to remain anchored in God’s Word.■

Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.

Scripture taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

“Our Identity is In Christ” by Alexandra Copeland. Copyright © 2020. All rights reserved. All praise and honor to God through Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior.