Number 99                                                                               
March 6, 2005
Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth
not to be ashamed rightly dividing the word of truth. II Timothy 2:15

Who Are We?
by Jack Northart

Most people identify themselves in the world by various means. Many identify themselves by the clothes they wear or the car they drive. Others identify themselves by the career they have or the church they attend or the house or neighborhood that they live in. Some identify themselves by the good deeds that they do or the donations that they give. Just about everybody identifies with some activity that they do or possessions that they have.

When it comes to being a Christian, this reality still holds true for most people. Most make a determination as to what it takes to be a "good" Christian. They attend a certain church with a certain minister. They belong to a certain society that performs a certain function that makes them feel good about themselves. They have confessed this or that, or been water baptized this way or that way or not at all. They give to a good cause, or raise money for a particular charity. They associate with a certain group of people, but never with another group. They send their kids to a particular school because it is the "best" school for Christians. They pray a certain way, or kneel a certain way, or talk a certain way that is never considered contrary to their norm. Perhaps they never lose their temper or never wear certain clothes.

The list could go on. However, this is all backwards to being a Christian. Christianity is not what we do, but what God has done through His Son, Jesus Christ. All you had to do initially was one thing:

Romans 10:9,10
That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.

God gave His only begotten Son so that we could have everlasting life. He raised Jesus from the dead. We had absolutely nothing to do with that. Our responsibility was to simply believe it and make him lord in our life. At that moment, something fantastic happened. God saved us and made us His sons. We were born again of incorruptible seed and our future is eternal.

I Peter 1:23
Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever.

I John 3:1,2
Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not. Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.

This is our identification now. We are God's children. We are His children because He is our Father. We have His seed born within us. We cannot change this seed anymore than we can change the seed we were born with physically. In this new birth, we are who we are because of what God has made us to be. We have now taken on the identification of our Father. We now have His spirit within us, making us a threefold being of body, soul and spirit.

God is spirit. Spirit cannot be examined by the five senses of seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting or touching. This does not make it any less real. The proof of the presence of God's spirit within, is available by way of the manifestations of the spirit, spoken of in I Corinthians 12.

I Corinthians 12:7-10
But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal.

For to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom; to another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit; To another faith by the same Spirit; to another the gifts of healing by the same Spirit; To another the working of miracles; to another prophecy; to another discerning of spirits; to another divers kinds of tongues; to another the interpretation of tongues:
Being His child doesn't make us a moral person. It does, however, give us abilities, rights,
privileges and responsibilities. It is up to us to identify these things and identify WITH them.

II Corinthians 2:14
Now thanks be unto God, which always causeth us to triumph in Christ, and maketh manifest the savour of his knowledge by us in every place.

God always causes us to triumph in Christ. The reason that most Christians do not feel that they always triumph is because they have not identified themselves with God this way. They feel that they have to prove themselves worthy to be triumphant. Perhaps they feel that they have not done enough good to be triumphant. This verse does not say that we have to do anything to triumph in Christ because God is the One that causes us to triumph.

Romans 8:37
Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.
For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

We are more than conquerors through him that loved us. Furthermore, nothing can separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus. "Yes, but.." is the reply most Christians have to all of this. They feel that there is still more that they have to do to be more than a conqueror, and that there are so many things that can separate them from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus. "Yes, but..." must be eliminated from our vocabulary if we are to claim our new identity in Christ. It is not what we do, but what God has done.

We are God's children, not because of all of the things that we feel we have to do to obtain sonship, but because of all He has done for us. It's time to recognize this and identify with who we really are.