Summary Post: A Guide to Understanding Your Identity in Christ
As I am learning to express what I am learning into words (that hopefully benefit you!), it’s good to pause and reflect on where we’ve gone so far. I hope this is helpful, especially if you have stumbled in through a blog post.
When I first started this blog, my desire was to explore how we “walk in a manner worthy” of the gospel to which we are called, an endeavor that I still hold to today. My desire is to focus on “connecting the dots” between Scripture and life so that what we learn in God’s Word is fleshed out in how we think, structure our days, and relate to others.
For the past few months, I have intentionally been trying to write posts that, when put together, form a more substantial discussion on a topic of importance in the Christian life—three very basic issues of Christian identity,. I have taken my inspiration from Michael Emlet’s excellent book Saints, Sufferers, and Sinners: Loving Others as God Loves Us. as the framework for my thoughts.
Understanding this personal status before God, our “vertical” relationship with Him made possible through the Christ and soaking in it daily, is the “North Star” that sets us up to view the world rightly, spend my days wisely, and love others generously.
When our lives with God is oriented so that it revolves around Him as our central focus (instead of ourselves), it allows us to live and relate “horizontally” properly as well. The “vertical” precedes the “horizontal.” Who He is impacts who I am and what I do.
Because this is a foundational understanding of the Christian life, especially for those who desire to live their lives in service to Him, I wanted to spend some time focusing on these three aspects of being a saint, suffererer, and sinner. Wrestling with these key ideas and internalizing them in our own hearts then allows us to help other believers too.
Before I move on to build on these ideas, I thought I’d take some time to offer this bonus post that puts these together as a guide. Each of these posts lay the basic groundwork for understanding the concept, and then shows how those ideas translate into ministry applications, whether at home or in our neighborhoods, churches and abroad.
I hope these will help you as you connect the dots from your own life of faith and serve the Lord as you speak to others.
Who I Am As a Saint
When we accept God’s offer of forgiveness, we are brought from death to life. Our identity is completely renewed and changed. We become new creatures—we become saints. This, Emlet asserts, is our most foundational identity.
No Longer Orphans: What It Means to Be a Saint: What does it mean to be a saint? Six truths to remember.
Thinking Rightly About Our Sainthood: A definition of saint—and it is not about self-esteem.
Growing Into Our Sainthood: The hard work of sanctification to become in reality what we are positionally.
Helping One Another Grow as Saints: How to walk with those who don’t act like saints…or doubt they are one.
Who I Am as a Sufferer
Despite being changed in the most fundamental aspect of our identity, we still live in a broken world that still remains in sin, among people who still sin. This means that we will all experience suffering all our days here. However, the good news is that for those in Christ, we have a Friend who has not only experienced this suffering but walks with us through it right now.
Challenging Our Assumptions About Suffering: Identifying and challenging four false assumptions about suffering.
Three Truths About God We Need to Remember in Our Suffering: Instead of focusing on the “why” of our suffering, we need to focus on the “Who.”
Our Responsibility in Suffering: We always have a choice in our suffering; we are not victims. How we can respond well in times of suffering.
Before You Speak to Someone Who is Suffering: Learning to understand our own suffering prepares us to help others who are likewise suffering. Thoughts on how to walk with others through their hard seasons in life.
How to Speak to Someone Who is Suffering: We have all experienced being on the receiving end of unhelpful “help” in our own sufferings. How not to do the same for others in theirs.
Who I Am as a Sinner
Not only are we saints that suffer, we are saints that still sin. Though being a saint means we are no longer mastered by sin, it doesn’t mean it no longer exists. The battle to revert to our old ways remains. Suffering may be the pain that comes from outside us; sin is the pain that comes from within.
Overcoming Sin: Understand the Battle of Our Lives: Our new identity as saints will battle against the sin that still dwells within our flesh. Understanding this helps us keep persevering in the sanctification process.
Inviting God In: The Beginning of Change: Because sin is a breach in our vertical relationship with God, all our efforts to change, to move away from sin, must begin with restoring that relationship.
Drop by Drop: How God Changes Us: Responding rightly to God in our own sin involves responding with godly grief, repenting, restoring fellowship with Him, and then replacing the old with the new.
Humble Help: How to Help Sinners Grow as Saints: Though we are still in process ourselves, God still calls us to help others who struggle with sin. This we do, compelled by the love of Christ.
What’s Next
Thankfully, God has given us His Word as a guide. It helps us understand who we are, how to handle hardship, and guides us into our transformation from sinner to saint
And yet we often treat His Word as an encyclopedia of solutions instead of a Story that reframes and reshapes how we look at life. We view it as a list of do’s and don’ts to obey and follow instead of a love letter of a Bridegroom to His Bride as He anticipates their marriage.
In the next few months, we’ll take a deep dive not only in appreciating God’s Word, but understanding how we can live by it in our own lives—and as we walk with others through theirs.
