Altered Identity!

Introduction

What’s in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet. That is my best Juliet impersonation. If only Romeo wasn’t a Montague. Names can be important, but true identity, even more so, including others’ perceptions of who we are. A good name is to be more desired than great riches. Favor is better than silver and gold. The rich and the poor have a common bond.

One thing that ties humanity together, whether rich or poor, is their origin and creator.

And identity matters. Knowing God’s name and his identity is of importance throughout Scripture. It’s critical to properly regarding and serving him. I saw a video this week of a mother who asked her young daughter in the back seat, what’s God’s name? And the child just so matter of factly said, Howard. She asked again, well, what’s God’s name? Howard. How do you know that? She said, Well, our Father who is up in heaven, Howard be his name. And of course, for a child, hallowed, that’s tough for adults, is really the right word there. And there’s a big difference between Howard and Hallowed. Hallowed means sanctified, consecrated, greatly or highly venerated. So what you know about God and the names by which he reveals himself throughout Scripture is very important in your response to him.

A low or light regard for God and His name is spiritually deadly. And Jesus’ identity was so very important to him during his ministry. Who do people say that I am? He wants to communicate to his disciples that he is indeed the Messiah and the Christ and all the implications of that. And as he asked the rich young ruler, why do you call me good? You know, why did you address me as good teacher? And there was a teaching point there for the rich young ruler that I don’t have time to go into this morning, but it has to do with his identity and the importance of it. And as I preached just recently, Jesus has a name that is above every name. And that name must be respected, and at his name, every knee shall bow.

And every tongue will ultimately confess that he is exactly what the New Testament proclaims. That he is. But what about you? What about your good name? And the point of this morning’s sermon is that the way you see yourself in Christ is perhaps more important than you thought. Scott sang some songs in that vein. I’ve really entitled this lesson, Who and Who Am I in Christ? Altered Identity. It sounds like a sci-fi show, doesn’t it? Altered identity. But this is better than any sci-fi show. This is who and what we become in Christ. And the seeds of this sermon started several years ago around a dinner table in Fort Worth, Texas. Preachers get fed a lot. And in gospel meetings, which we don’t hold those anymore, in gospel meetings, you get the opportunity on several occasions to eat with members and sometimes in their home.

And I didn’t, I can’t remember everybody who’s ever had me for a meal. Usually I’ll say, I’ll say, they look familiar. Oh, yeah, I’ve been in their home maybe 10 years ago. But sometimes things happen that you sort of remember, and I’ll never forget the conversation. In fact, I’ve been in their home since then. It’s the Leadbetter family. And Mary probably wouldn’t appreciate me mentioning her name from the pulpit this morning. She’s a very humble individual, but she doesn’t have to know about it, right? But I want to mention her name because she said something I had not heard before. And she had written all kinds of notes. She showed me her little book. She’d written all kinds of notes about it and challenged me and wanted to know what I thought about her idea.

1. Christians Are Not Called Sinners

And I’ve been thinking about it for a number of years. I think I preached on it when I came back. I have no idea what I said in that sermon, but I thought, hey, let’s revisit this concept again because I have some new thoughts. And her point was that in the New Testament, Christians are not called sinners. And that’s the way she stated it. And the reason why that struck me is that you hear that referenced a lot in our assemblies, in the way we pray, we talk about ourselves as sinners. And I’m not, okay, if you’ve ever done that as one who has led in assemblies, I know how tough this is. I’m not going to tell you’ve done anything wrong. I’m just going to tell you there’s a bigger picture here.

And so the question was are there any passages in the New Testament that refer to Christians as sinners? And I gotta tell you, there’s not much. In James 5, verses 19 and 20. The reason why I had to switch Bibles because over time, James 5, 19 and 20 got torn out of my Bible. So I had to get a Bible that had these two verses, the last two verses of James. Maybe that’s what happened to the end of the Gospel of Mark, people think. But in James 5, verse 19, my brethren, if any among you strays from the truth and one turns him back, okay, this is one who has been in Christ, who is no longer walking as they should, let him know that he who turns a sinner from the air of his way will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.

That’s the verse that popped into my head when she asked the question. But again, this is talking about someone who is no longer walking as a Christian, who has once again adopted a path of sinfulness. And is somewhat generic in that turning a sinner from the air of his path would be true of one in Christ not walking the right way, and also one outside of Christ. It’s somewhat generic. Our business is to turn sinners from that path, so that we can save souls from death and cover a multitude of sins. But beyond this text, you won’t find a lot. Her concern and mine is that if we see ourselves as a miserable lot of sinners, that perhaps that has a negative impact on our behavior.

I know there is none who is righteous, no not one. Romans chapter 3 and verse 10. As one said about that text, insert your name here. It is why you need the gospel. More on that as we go on. It is a quotation from a Psalm of David in Psalm 14. But Romans 1 through 3, the first three chapters of Romans are simply making the argument of our undone condition without the grace and mercy of God. And because Jew and Gentile all have concluded under sin, we were all in need of the work that Jesus did on our behalf. Thus, people should respond adequately, turn Godward, and turn submissively for salvation. As Neil Anderson said in his book, The Bondage Breaker, man lacks the necessary attributes to determine his own destiny.

We have failed in the pursuit. We have failed in the pursuit even since our entry into Christ as his people. Thus we are in need of what Christ provides on our behalf. And yes, it is true that we should never forget from whence we came.

When I speak of Christians in relation to this term sinner, I am not suggesting whatsoever that we should forget our not so glorious past. One of the reasons why people discontinue the walk that they should have in Christ, they quit adding to their faith such things as knowledge and moral excellence and love, the things we read about in 2 Peter chapter 1, is because their memory is forfeited. They have forgotten the purification of their former sins. I am not suggesting at all that you forget about your past. Or as Paul would say of himself, the other passage that came to mind that day, sinners among whom I am chief. Well, there you have it. There you have it. There’s someone who is in Christ who said, I’m a sinner, a sinners, I am chief.

But he says, I have received mercy. I have been given a remedy for my condition. He says in 1 Timothy chapter 1. So let me sum this point up by saying, if we are going to focus on the fact that we are a miserable lot of sinners, you and me, you bunch of sinners. I’m hanging out with a bunch of sinners today.

2. Justified in Christ: Our New Identity

And may fail or struggle to know the victory over sin that Jesus intends for us. We may end up living up to the moniker, or might I say living down by continually referring to ourselves as sinners, as sinners, as sinners. Just something to think about as I make the following points. Romans chapter 3, as we continue reading, there is none who is righteous, no, not one. There is none who does good. But that’s not where this story ends. In Christ, Jew or Gentile, recipients of the grace and work of Jesus Christ, having responded submissively for salvation, they have now reclaimed what is lost. They have become justified. Leon Morris. I just gotta say, when I when I heard Caleb Schmidt come up and give a talk on this text in Romans chapter 3, I thought young people don’t usually delve into some of the weightiest stuff of scripture.

As Leon Morris called this text the single most important paragraph ever written.

Through redemption, I am redeemed. Through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus, verse 26. For the demonstration I say of his righteousness at the present time, that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus Christ. It is true that our path, our past is that of sinner, but no more. We have found justification in Christ. We have been made just because of him and in him. And that is our new state. That is our new identity. Our identity in Christ is not sinners. That’s who we were. You were once dead in your trespasses and sins. I want you to notice this in Ephesians chapter 2. He speaks of this in the past tense. That’s not where you are now.

You were dead in your trespasses and sins, in which you formerly walked in a way that works in the sons of disobedience. That’s not who we are. Indulging the desires of the flesh by nature, children of wrath. It was terrible. Sure. But God, I love that. But God, I have it underlined in my Bible. What a contrast. Here we go. But God, rich in mercy, rich in love. When we were dead in our transgressions. He made us alive together with Christ. We have been raised up with him to sit in heavenly places in Christ. That’s Mary’s point. Well, it doesn’t mean that present stumbling is not important, for we all stumble in many ways. James says in James 3 and verse 1. It doesn’t mean that we are somehow not in a severe spiritual battle with a very formidable foe because we are.

3. A Chosen Race, a Royal Priesthood

Priests serve the purposes of God. That’s who we are in Christ. How you ought to see yourself. I have a sinful past. That’s true. I am completely dependent upon Christ for my hope and my salvation and my identity in Christ. But now I am a priest of God set apart, cleansed for his special services. We come to him as living stones. And beyond that, he would go on to say, You are a miserable lot of sinners. Wait, no, that’s not what he said. You are a chosen race. He’s not denying occasional problems with sin. Stumbling. Thoughts that are less than what they should be. You are a chosen race. A royal priesthood. A people for God’s own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him, His name, the excellencies of Him who called you out of darkness and into His marvelous light.

You were once not a people, but now you’re the people of God. You had once not obtained mercy, but now you have obtained mercy. And then he makes the appeal.

To abstain from fleshly lusts, which wage war against the soul. Oh, the battle is real. Sin is still significant. Sin can still be your undoing, as we saw in James chapter 5, but that’s not your identity in Christ. Instead, the way that we ought to see ourselves are described in these terms that are used over and over and over again in Scripture. We are chosen. We are birthed by God into a new sphere and realm. We are saints, like the term priest. We are joint heirs. What’s not to like about that term? We are God’s friends if we do what he commands us. I’ve got a sheet that has a hundred of those things that I’m going to put out in the foyer. All the things that are spoken of our identity in Christ.

You can pick one up as you leave. If we run out, I can make more.

So many times the word beloved is used. We saw loved in two times in Ephesians chapter 2. We are citizens. Our citizenship, we have a place, we have papers. We are citizens of a better country. We are complete in Christ. We are sealed by the Holy Spirit of promise. We are more than conquerors, and the list goes on. We are qualified. That sounds good. I’m in. I’m qualified to share in the inheritance of the saints in life. This is the short list of who we are. That the New Testament is continually reminding us of in regard to our identity in Christ. Redeemed. His child and forever I am. I know I shall see the King in His beauty. And so I affirm to you that we have solutions and not hopelessness.

4. My Occasional Failure Is Not Final

The threat of sin and our propensity toward it are none the less real.

Practice of sin. And I don’t believe God’s people are doing that. I think sometimes in the way we speak and in the way we pray, that we suggest to people that Christians are sinning all the time. I don’t believe that’s the case. I think I know all of you well enough to know that is not the case in your life. To admit to the problem of stumbling and the issues that we have to deal with in our spiritual warfare is not to suggest that we’re stumbling every day or all the time. In fact, we better not be. But my occasional failure is not final. And failures perhaps in a number of areas. I think that’s what James chapter 3 and verse 1 is dealing with.

We stumble in many ways. He’s not saying that we’re stumbling all the time, but there are a number of areas where we may struggle. Just the application of love in relationships is an ongoing pursuit, is it not? The proper regard for another person. I mean, things happen and we react. And sometimes we don’t react very well. We don’t react lovingly. You tell me someone who is practicing love 100% of the time, and that person and I need to have a conversation. I want to know their secret. And we stumble with our tongue in many ways. That’s the next verse in James chapter 3. And so we got to give a lot of work in that area because, as I’ve said so many times, the distance between a thought and a word is so very short.

It’s so very small. Something pops into your mind and kaboom, there it is. Wait. You can’t get it back. It’s out there, it’s done. You said it now. So we’ve got to learn to exercise controls. Proverbs writes about that. The Proverbs of the New Testament, James writes about that. And if we’re able to control our tongues, if we would expend some significant effort in that area, you will be able to control the whole body as well. You will have the mechanisms, the tools to know success in other areas. But the point is that our aims are higher than they were before. The management of thoughts and molding them after Christ is not an overnight process. We come up out of the waters of baptism to walk in newness of life and snap the fingers, we’ll never struggle again.

That has not been my experience or yours. Molding ourselves after Christ and setting our affections on things above and not on things of the earth is going to be a lifelong process and pursuit. All of that is true. Learning to complain less and trust more. As I suggested to you last week. Must be an ongoing pursuit as well. As on the wondrous thought I dwell. Christ lives in me.

And I’m not suggesting that I should change the title, but any kind of self-image that we have in Christ that is appropriate is based on what he did and the fact that he’s living in me. So when I say build a healthy self-image, I’m really saying build a healthy self-image. That’s what I’m doing with this lesson. Instead of seeing ourselves as sinners and living down to that, let’s instead change the way we view ourselves, that we are in this high and lofty and elevated position because of Christ. We have an altered identity. Thanks to Christ. Listen to this. We need positive affirmations, not negative assessments. Are you awake? Did you get that? We need positive affirmations, not negative assessments. Thank you. And so to wrap this up, as we sang, in Christ alone, insert 1 John here.

5. This Is the Victory: Confidence in Him

Like all of it, really. Because 1 John is talking about what it means to walk in Christ as he talks about having Godward thinking and appropriate thinking toward God, who he is, his identity, which is a large part of the book, and also purity in thought and behavior and in your attitudes toward others. That’s really all that’s going on in 1 John over and over again. These cycles keep repeating. Thinking about God the way that you should, walking in purity after the likeness of Christ, and regarding others and treating others the way they should be treated. And if you get those things going on in your life, then your identity in Christ is all that he intended for it to be. And so he says, this is the victory that overcomes the world, even our faith.

And perhaps one of my favorite verses in the New Testament.

Who have put their hope, their trust, their confidence, their daily walk, everything is aimed at Christ. They believe in who he is and what he can do and what he is yet to do. Those who believe in the name of the Son of God, in order that you may know. This is why I’ve written, in order that you may know that you have eternal life. And this is the confidence which we have before him. That if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us and whatever we ask, we know that we have the request that we have asked from him. So I’m going to ask you an important question.

Are you going to heaven? I would ask you to raise your hands, but I’m not going to do it because some of you who would will feel reluctant to do so. Because I think we want to be humble. We want to appear humble, and that’s a good thing. But humility doesn’t mean, as one said, I believe Brent posted this, humility doesn’t mean that you’re always looking for a rock to crawl under because you feel unworthy to do anything. Humility is a competence properly placed. When I raise my hand and say, I’m going to heaven, no one can pluck me out of his hand. That doesn’t mean that once they’ve always saved this true. That’s not what that means. That means there’s no power strong enough in this world.

There is no governor, no president, no nothing. Who can take away my relationship with God? I’m the only one that can do that.

No one can pluck me out of his hand. And when I say I am confident of going to heaven, my confidence is in him and what he is able to do. Not my perfection. My perfection has been a problem. But his perfection is everything.

Are you going to go to heaven? I’m not going to ask you to raise your hand. But when I ask this question again, I want a response.

Hebrews 10. We have need of endurance. Just got to stick with this. So that when we have done the will of God, we will receive what was promised. Do not throw away your confidence. Remember that verse 35? Do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward. That’s not a confidence in me, it’s a confidence in him. And then verse 39. We are not, don’t shrink back. I know that’s possible, but that’s not who you are. We are not of those who shrink back to destruction, but of those who have faith to the preserving of the soul. And this is it. Jesus is wondering this. When the Son of Man comes, whenever that is, when his accounting takes place, will he find faith in the earth?

Will you be a person of faith at that time? Trusting in him. You concerned about your salvation? I know I’ve gone through a lot of texts. I’m at the end of this. Psalm 139. I love Psalm 139. Pray David’s prayer, please. Pray it daily. Search me, O God, and know my heart. Try me and know my anxious thoughts. You have any of those?

You think God can try your heart?

And see if there be any hurtful way in me, David said. Oh, there were hurtful ways at times in David’s life. We’re studying them. Things were less than what they should have been at times, even for David. And see if there be any hurtful way in me and lead me. Lead me, Lord. Lead me. In the everlasting way. Acts 26. What is this message of salvation all about? To open their eyes that they may turn from darkness to light, and from the dominion of Satan. That’s where we were, the dominion of Satan. We’re not there anymore in Christ. We have turned from that to God in order to receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who have been sanctified by faith in me. Okay, I’m wrapping this up.

6. The Ultimate Identity: A New Name

A lot of passages, but I got to do one more thing. Identity. Altered identity in Christ. What are you focusing on? How do you see yourself? Do you realize that’s what the letters to the seven churches all end with? Every one of them. Every one of them. Let me show you four verses really quick. The ultimate identity. Look at this, Revelation 2 17. He who has an ear, this is to the church in Pergamum. To him who overcomes, I will give him some of the hidden manna. I’ll tell you, that’s going to be good. And I’ll give him a white stone. That’s probably going to be really good too. And a new name written on the stone, which no one knows. But he who receives it.

You’ll have a special, unique identity and relationship with the king. That’s an awesome verse. To him who overcomes. I will not erase his name from the book of life. You can get your name erased. But you keep struggling, fighting, serving, you overcome, your name doesn’t get erased. I will confess his name. This is one of mine. This is one of my children. I will confess his name before my father, and the angels are gonna hear it too. Verse 11. Don’t let anybody take your crown. Revelation 3 and verse 11. He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of my God. There’s status and identity. I will write upon him the name of my God. We will share God’s identity. In the name of the city of my God, that’s Zion.

Conclusion

The new Jerusalem which comes down out of heaven from my God and my new name. He who overcomes, I will grant to him to sit down with me on my throne, reigning with the king. As I also overcame and sat down with my father on his throne. If that’s not your identity, you need to get on board right away. Become his child, become one of his chosen. Find redemption in Christ and justification. Just if you’d never sinned by the cleansing blood of the reigning. Let’s stand and say. No I don’t