Identity in Christ - part 2

Identity in Christ - part 2

BY Argie Simonis  

Previously we discussed what it meant to be born again, that in our spirits, our hearts are changed. We used 2 Corinthians 5:17, which says, "Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new." 
We began to see that when we are born again, a total transformation has taken place in our spirits, and the only way to understand that is through the Word of God. We can't perceive it through external things, and we can't perceive it through our emotions, because that is in the soulish realm. But in the spirit part of us, there is a total transformation.
Let me use a few scriptures which show the things that took place when a person received Jesus into their life. 
Ephesians 4:24 says, "Put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness." When a person is born again, their spirit becomes righteous and truly holy. The righteousness that the Bible refers to here is not our own righteousness but the one we received from God by faith in Christ. In other words, we are in right standing with God. God is pleased with us not based on what we have done foer Jesus but what Jesus has done for us and it has been offered to us as a free gift.

Ephesians 2:10 says, "For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works."
God created us with a plan and a purpose. "For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, said the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end." Jer 29:11 
If we know who we are in Christ, it is much easier to walk in our calling and work with God to get to the finish line, to the "expected end" that He has prepared for us. 

Ephesians 1:13 says, "After that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise." 
The word "sealed" here can have 2 meanings, which I believe they are both true. The word seal can have the meaning of a stamp. An aproval, or a validation, or an authentication stamp. And this is correct, because the moment we accept Jesus as our Lord, we become His. We belong to Him and we were purchased for a very high price! 

As for the other meaning, imagine a woman who puts fruit into a jar and then puts paraffin over it to make it airtight and to keep all impurities out. This is how God sealed you so when you were born again, you received a new spirit, and sin does not penetrate your spirit. You have a new identity that lays into your spirit and not on your body or your emotions. For you to have relationship with God, you have to fellowship with and worship Him based on who you are in your spirit not in your flesh. You have to relate to God based not on what you do in the physical realm, not what you think in your mind, but by who you are in the spirit based on what He has done for you. 
That is the spirit part of you and you have to worship God in spirit and in truth. You have to stand in this identity of who you are in Christ!