But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.
1 Peter 2:9-10
If I had a dollar for every time I became downcast when considering who I am (or who I’m not), I might give Bill Gates a run for his money as richest man in the universe. Everything about our culture screams that we are to bemoan our situation, our lack of status, our inability to keep up with the Joneses. And our flesh consents and agrees with our culture. Not to mention that prowling lion just looking to devour unsuspecting humans who will stop at nothing to tarnish our self-perception. The odds are certainly against us in our pursuit of a healthy self identity…or are they?
For those of us who have received mercy, who have been called out of darkness into the marvelous light of Jesus Christ, ought we to be so troubled with our identities? According to Peter, who penned these inspired words of God himself, we ought to have every reason to rejoice in who we are! We are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s own possession! We went from having no status before God to being his people. Christian, you are now an especially valuable creature in the sight of Almighty God!
So what’s the problem? Why is my soul downcast so often? I believe the cause to be an identity problem. I don’t really believe or grasp what is true about me in Christ. If I did, my perspective in regards to circumstances would be quite different, wouldn’t it? Surely if I knew how precious God’s mercy to me is, I would not bemoan, but instead rejoice. I would not wish for something more but would grieve for those who have not received God’s mercy. I would see that I have an abundance of blessing and an assurance of an eternity full of joy and privilege.
While I could continue talking about these things, I had a specific point in mind before beginning to write this. It isn’t just our mood that is at stake when we fail to remember who we are in Christ. Our holiness is at stake. In other words, to fail to believe who I am in Christ will result in an inability to think, speak, and act like Jesus.
What I am proposing is something that I have been wrestling with for a couple of years to understand. By God’s grace, I am beginning to understand it and am starting to apply it faithfully to my life. It’s nothing revolutionary. It’s quite simple. But it has taken me a long time to grasp it in an experiential way that actually transforms how I live.
So here it is: The most important truth for personal holiness is that I am already righteous; I am already viewed by God through Jesus, the perfect, spotless Lamb of God.
I’m no longer convinced that holiness is a virtue to be pursued as much as it is something to receive and hold as true about me in Christ. We can pursue piety through spiritual disciplines, avoiding sensual, worldly pleasures, and a general distancing ourselves from the world. But these behaviors do not achieve holiness. Nothing we do can achieve holiness! To be set apart is not accomplished through human effort.
However, I have come to know him who has delivered me from the domain of darkness and transferred me to the kingdom of his beloved Son. One must be holy to enter into the kingdom of God’s beloved Son. It’s a prerequisite! And since I have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God, there must be some other way that I’ve been transferred.
Obviously the answer is that Jesus not only died for my sins, but additionally his righteous life has been credited to my account and I am now received by God as one who has kept every last aspect of His holy Law, just as Christ actually did.
Here is the exciting realization that God has revealed and is allowing to sink into the resistant soil of my heart: pursuing holiness then is not a matter of getting better, but acting like who I already am.
If I continue to strive after patience, peace, purity, love, humility, and any other Christian virtue as if I have to get better and be more, I will always be striving in my own strength and am assured of failure. John 6 reminds us that the Spirit gives life, the flesh is no help at all! But, if I frequently remind myself of who I am in Christ, by God’s grace, I will begin to resemble my great God and Savior.
When I was growing up, I was harassed nearly every day by mean kids who thought it was fun to laugh about my weight. It wasn’t long before I believed each and every mean thing that they said about me. To this day, I am affected by their words even though I have developed a lifestyle of fitness beyond my wildest imaginations.
In the same way, I can let everyone and everything other than God speak words to me today that contradict and undermine who I am in Christ.
While I don’t have all the answers, I am hereby publicly declaring war against these wicked enemies bent on destroying me by presenting me with a falsified identity.
I am a holy child of God. The heavens cannot contain the glory of my heavenly Father. He looks at me with the adoration with which he looks at Jesus. I have the righteousness of Christ, this alien righteousness that doesn’t just get me off the hook, but earns me a glorious inheritance and an eternal celebration and the envy of heavenly hosts.
I am not holy because I’ve disciplined myself to spend time in the Word of God. I’m not righteous because I have learned how to be humble. I am not unblemished because I have acquired knowledge of God.
I am holy because God has declared me so in Christ.
By His grace, I am beginning to resemble the only One who has authority to tell me who I truly am.
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