Living A New Identity: Discover your Identity in Christ


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It’s easy to become a Christian and think you’re just going to be free from all the stress, anxiety, and worry that has always plagued you. But the reality is this doesn’t happen overnight for most people (although God can do anything!). The Bible is full of scriptures promising freedom in Him. The only way we can truly experience the free life God has for us is by recognizing who He created us to be in Him. We now have a new identity in Christ. Once we realize who we are, we can start living the victorious, free life God has for us.

Proverbs 31 Woman

My husband and I didn’t meet until we were nearing 30. We were both pretty confident in what we wanted in a spouse so when we met, we didn’t waste a lot of time. We dated quickly, married quickly, and got pregnant quickly. So I went from a single woman to a married woman to a mom in a short amount of time. I naively expected I would naturally fall perfectly in line with the Proverbs 31 woman. Proverbs 31 describes a woman who works to help support the family as well as keeps the household together, is full of strength, wisdom, and kindness, never partakes in idleness, and her husband and children praise her – all while not sleeping. Trying to work full time, take care of the household, and take care of a new baby had me feeling like I was treading water, just barely keeping my head above it. Add not sleeping on top of that and all that kindness was gone, leaving little for my husband and sons to praise. I think as women/wives/mothers, we place these expectations on ourselves for perfection – to achieve the Proverbs 31 woman – out of our own sheer will power and strength. Then we find ourselves disappointed and feeling like failures when we can’t live up.  Maybe you don’t have a desire to be a Proverbs 31 woman, maybe instead you are driven to achieve success in a career or even a hobby. We live in a culture where working hard gets you where you need to go. It results in good things, so the harder you work the more you think you deserve to receive – more recognition, more money, more prestige. This same attitude is many times brought into our walk with the Lord as well. If we work harder at being “good”, He will somehow love and bless us more.  But is that truly satisfying or impressive to God?

Our feeble attempts to try to be holy, do good things, and live a “right” life in our own strength are actually achieving the opposite in God’s eyes. It is saying the Gospel isn’t enough – His grace isn’t enough. This is what Paul was encountering when he wrote to the Galatians. He saw how quickly they were deserting the true Gospel they had received from him earlier. He saw that they were listening to false teachers who were convincing them that through works of the law they could somehow satisfy God.  But those works of the law were not pleasing to God, just like our striving to be the perfect woman/wife/mother/employee/child of God aren’t either. We realize as we work hard to fill in this chasm between us and God that no matter how hard we try it doesn’t seem to work, things don’t seem to get better. All we’re left with are feelings of defeat, failure, and depression. The lies that God could never love us and we could never be enough begin to dominate our thought life which in turn begins to affect our actions. The cycle is brutal, ugly, and hopeless. And is exactly where Satan wants us to be. It says in John 8:44, Satan is the father of lies – he will take things that seem good and manipulate them. He will do anything to try and damage our relationship with God and keep us from knowing the truth. So what is the truth? And how do we stop this painful cycle?      

Identity in Christ Scripture
Dead to Sin

The first thing we need to understand is what we died to.

What does it mean when it says “I have been crucified with Christ (Gal 2:20a)”? When we identify with Christ after becoming believers, we are identifying that what He accomplished on the cross is true in our lives too. So what did Christ die for on the cross?

 The main thing we think of when we think of Christ dying on the cross is that he died for our Sin.

We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin.  For one who has died has been set free from sin. Romans 6:6-7

As a result of Christ’s sacrifice, we have been set free from sin. We are free from the bondage of this sin condition that has ruled our lives up until we enter into our relationship with God through Christ. This is the sin that entered into mankind in the Garden of Eden with Adam and Eve partaking of the forbidden fruit. It lied to us, programmed our minds to operate in a way that satisfied our own flesh and desires. Even to these earthly, temporary pleasures we have died. 

And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. Galatians 5:24

John Gregory Mantle wrote, “There is a great difference between realizing, ‘On that Cross He was crucified for me,’ and ‘On that Cross I am crucified with Him.’ The one aspect brings us deliverance from sin’s condemnation, the other from sin’s power.

Identity in Christ quote

We are now then crucified or dead to sin’s power.

Dying to Good Works

But I think there’s a little more to it than that. We didn’t just die to our sin condition, we also died to the Law, which in our case would look more like Good Works.

Growing up, I was a middle child to an older sister and younger brother. I fell victim to the Middle Child Syndrome from an early age. I often felt overshadowed and forgotten. I would try to gain attention from my parents by always doing things right and earn their favor. But I never felt like it was enough – if I did get their attention it was just for a moment before my sister or brother did something again to put the attention back on them. As I grew up and started reflecting though, I realized that I had missed it the whole time. My parents had a deep respect and trust for me. They appreciated how I could take care of myself since their attention was often pulled elsewhere. They loved me for me just being me, I didn’t have to try so hard.

I think we do this often as believers. We think that we are saved by grace through faith, but then somehow are required to work for our sanctification or approval of God. That by following the rules laid out and being a good moral person then we somehow can make God notice us, love us, and maybe even give us what we want. But that’s not how it works. He’s always there, respecting us, trusting us, and loving us exactly as we are because of Christ’s sacrifice. Nothing we can do will add or take away from that love. He loves us because He loves us because He loves us – no other reason than that.

yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified. Galatians 2:16

Who We Are Now

Once we begin to understand what we’ve been crucified to, next we can start to understand who we are now.

It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. Galatians 2:20b

What does this mean that Christ now lives in us?

Identity in Christ Scripture

We recognize that we identify with Christ and his crucifixion so we must now identify with him in His life. So we now get to share in the life of Christ.

If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. Colossians 3:1-4

He is now our life and we are with him in glory.

Our old flesh and sin condition have died, and we now have Christ in us so we must be new creations.

We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. Romans 6:4

In Christ, we now have newness of life. We are identified as God’s chosen children.

My husband and I joke that our sons have no hope of being normal. We’re so goofy and quirky, it has to rub off on them. Plus, they were born Byrds. Our genetics are passed down to them. They inherited many of our traits that we’ll see emerge as they develop and grow. They can alter their behavior to try to be more normal than us, but they can never change their DNA.

Receiving Our Inheritance

When we become new Creations in Christ, we are reborn spiritually. We are born into God’s family as his daughter – an heir to His Kingdom. And because Christ is in us, we now start having the attributes of Him showing in our lives.

 And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise. I mean that the heir, as long as he is a child, is no different from a slave, though he is the owner of everything, but he is under guardians and managers until the date set by his father.  In the same way we also, when we were children, were enslaved to the elementary principles of the world.  But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law,  to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.  And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God. Galatians 3:29-4:7

Heir is defined here as a sharer by lot or inheriter; by implication, a possessor. We now inherit all of God’s Kingdom, no longer bound by slavery to the world. Knowing you are now dead to sin and not required to do good works to earn God’s favor and that you now have Christ living inside of you, sharing His life and all of God’s Kingdom with you, how could your life not reflect this?

Identity in Christ quote
Living by Faith

Lastly, we need to understand how our life reflects this.

The life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. Galatians 2:20c

We all live by faith every day. When you get in your car, you have faith it will start and will work properly as you drive to the store. Or when you go eat at a restaurant, you have faith you won’t end up with food poisoning. But what are we putting our faith in during our day to day activities? That’s what makes the difference. We must choose who are we living this life for, and that He is worth putting our faith in.

For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one has died for all, therefore all have died;  and he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised. 2 Corinthians 5:14-15

Living by faith in the Son of God is not only believing God is who He says He is. But also, believing I am who God says I am. Neil Anderson in his book Victory over the Darkness says, “Faith in God fails only when people have a faulty understanding of Him.” The only way we can know God is by spending time with Him. Knowing Him is a direct result of abiding in Him through His Word, spending time with Him in prayer and reflection, and taking steps of faith when He leads. This kind of abiding and faith is only accomplished through the Holy Spirit.

The Power Source – The Holy Spirit

The Holy Spirit is the key here. It is only out of the Holy Spirit’s leading, strength, and faith that we are able to do anything worthy of God. The Holy Spirit is how Christ lives in us and is always available. When we stop striving out of our own strength and flesh and start resting and abiding in the Holy Spirit, God is glorified and we find true peace and satisfaction. He doesn’t want us to live life alone. He has given us His Spirit to live inside of us. How would that change your viewpoint on every day? If you were always consciously aware of God living inside of you.

Identity in Christ scripture

You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you. Romans 8:9-11

And when we are aware and make every effort to seek Him in every decision, it takes the pressure off of us. It is no longer about our performance, it’s all about God’s glory.

When my husband and I were preparing to begin our journey towards missions, we encountered trials. My husband got very sick and had to quit his job. I found out I was pregnant unexpectedly. I felt like we should just give up on missions and just try to make it day to day. But my husband had great faith he would be healed and we would get to still go serve the Lord. So he prayed, and we prayed. I struggled to believe it would ever get any better as things seemed to get worse and worse. But Kevin never stopped believing. He had to hold onto the hope of Christ that lived in him. Eventually, Kevin started slowly getting better. And better and better. And then it was time for the baby to be born. So we prepared to go to our training school with a new baby and the chance that Kevin could get sick like that all over again. I had many doubts, but I borrowed some of Kevin’s faith. We got the house ready to sell, and within a day we had a full asking price offer. We got the car ready to sell and within two days of listing it, it was sold. Many other things fell perfectly into place during that time too. I know it was a way God was confirming in both Kevin and I’s hearts that this was the right path. If it wasn’t for Kevin’s faith and hope in the Lord, relying on the Holy Spirit and trusting in God’s promises though, we wouldn’t have gone. I was inspired by him during that time, and I praise God every day for bringing us out of that pit and bringing us into a place of service to Him. Having faith in God isn’t always easy. Most of the time it’s not. But with the Holy Spirit’s help and the decision to trust, it is always fruitful.

Finding Hope in Who We Are

Through understanding what we’ve died to, who we are now, and how our life reflects this new creation, we can break the cycle of pain, disappointment, and exhaustion. We can have hope again. The striving can cease. The grace of God can prevail. We can finally rest in the confidence of being a chosen daughter of God purely for His joy and pleasure and not because of anything we did or could do. But I don’t think this change of living a freed life will happen instantly. The worries and fears of this world will still try to choke us and burden us again under this yoke of slavery. Satan will continue to throw his fiery darts so we forget the goodness of God and give into our fleshly responses and desires. But as we discover more about who God is and who He says we are now, the easier it becomes to live out of faith that it is actually true. The more we rest in and rely on the Holy Spirit, the more our actions become less about us proving ourselves and more about us desiring to glorify God above all else.

When I was growing up I had a dog named PB that thought she was a cat. You see, my uncle’s mom had picked her up off the side of the road where she had been abandoned when she was only a few days old. She took her home and began to care for her. But the only other pets she had inside the house were a lot of cats. So PB grew up learning how to be a cat. She would give herself baths by licking her paws then her ears. She would try to purr. She would sit aloof and not play or do any normal dog like things. When my uncle’s mom died, we took PB in. We didn’t have any cats or other dogs, just her. But we treated her like a dog, even though she acted like a cat. We encouraged her to play, gave her dog treats, and taught her to walk on a leash. Eventually over time, all the cat like tendencies in her were gone and she was just a regular dog that loved to play, dig, and bark.

Identity in Christ quote

As we abide in the Holy Spirit and allow Him to speak who we truly are over us, we will begin to believe it. When we begin to believe it, our minds will begin to change. Then our actions will follow. No longer will we feel compelled to be the perfect mom/wife/sister/Christian. But we will be content in our identities as daughters of Christ and will joyfully serve Him. So I urge you mommas, take time to know and trust Him. It is only there your satisfaction lies.

In this post, I talk about some of the resources that have helped my husband and I find our true identities in Christ. And here you can grab your free identity in Christ list printable.

What lies have you been believing about who you are?

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