The Believer’s Identity in Christ

 "For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive." I Corinthians 15:21-22

"Or don't you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life." Romans 6:3-4

Chosen by God

Ephesians 1:4

For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight.

(are you in Christ? 'There is therefore now no condemnation for you.')

Saved by grace

Ephesians 2:8-9

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9 not by works, so that no one can boast.

(are you in Christ? you HAVE been saved. Past tense. You have eternal life now. He did not save you partially, He saved you completely. Accept it in faith.)

God is  satisfied

1 John 2:2

and He Himself is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for those of the whole world.

(Christ did not atone for (cover ) sins. Christ TOOK AWAY sins. Propitiation took place.)

Reconciled to God

Romans 5:10

For if, while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life! 

(forgiveness of sins did not happen because you ask God for it. while we were enemies of God, that means, while we were sinners, God reconciled us to Himself.)

Redeemed

Ephesians 1:7

In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace

(in Christ you HAVE forgiveness. It is part of your identity. Stop asking for what you already have and start thanking Him for buying you back with precious blood)

Freed from the Law

 Romans 7:4

So, my brothers and sisters, you also died to the law through the body of Christ, that you might belong to another, to him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit for God.

(are you in Christ? then you are dead to the law and are now alive in grace. There is a huge difference between law and grace. One brings life and the other brings death. (Romans 8:2)

Totally forgiven

Colossians 2:13

When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, 

(are you in Christ? Then God has forgiven all your sins. That is the only way you could have ETERNAL life)

Totally cleansed

 1 Corinthians 6:11

And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.

(This passages starts out by pointing out the identity of unbelievers, then Paul says that that is what you (believers) WERE. Notice the tenses Paul uses here. Very important to 

to understand that as a believer, you have been washed by the blood of Jesus Christ, you have been set apart and in the eyes of God it is just as if you never sinned.

Titus 3:5

he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit,

Made holy and blameless

Colossians 1:22

But now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation

(what a wonderful statement from God through Paul to us. God reconciled us to Himself through Christ to present us to Himself without blemish. Remember what also was 

without blemish? The lamb used for sacrifices in the Old Testament, and The Lamb who was crucified on a cross. Our identity as believers is one of no accusation, no blemish

set apart.

Hidden with Christ in God

Colossians 3:3

For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God.

Clothed with Christ

 Galatians 3:27

for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.

Sealed in Christ

Ephesians 1:13-14

And you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of his glory.

Given Christ’s righteousness

 2 Corinthians 5:21

God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

(the great exchange; God did not only take away all your sins but He gave you something in place of that sin, He gave you His Righteousness.)

Romans 5:17

For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God’s abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ!

Justified 
( Just as if you have never sinned)

Romans 3:23-24

for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.

Safe from the wrath of God

 Romans 5:9

Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him! 

Made at peace with God 

Romans 5:1

Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,

(We will never experience  peace with God until we come to rest on the peace of God)

Freed from condemnation

Romans 8:1

Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus,

(The Law is what brings condemnation. In Christ we are free from the Law)

Sanctified- made holy 

Hebrews 10: 10

And by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.

(‘sainthood’ is not something that happens after you die and a bunch of men decide to make you a saint but it is something we have in Christ, here and now)

 1 Corinthians 6:11

And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.

Made perfect forever

Hebrews 10: 14

For by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy.

Totally accepted 

Romans 15:7

Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God.

Translated out of darkness into light

Colossians 1:13-14

For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, 14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

Ephesians 5:8

For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light 

From death to life 

John 5:24

“Very truly I tell you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be judged but has crossed over from death to life.

Ephesians 2:1,4-5

As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, .......But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. 

Born again 

1 Peter 1:3

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,

Indwelt by the Holy Spirit 

 Romans 8:9

You, however, are not in the realm of the flesh but are in the realm of the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, they do not belong to Christ.

Made into a temple of the Holy Spirit

1 Corinthians 6:19

Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own;

Made into a new creation 

2 Corinthians 5:17

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!

 Ephesians 2:10

For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

Made children of God 

John 1:12-13

Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— 13 children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.

Adopted into God’s family 

Romans 8:15

The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.” 

Galatians 4:4-5

But when the set time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, 5 to redeem those under the law, that we might receive adoption to sonship.

Made heirs of God 

Galatians 4:7

So you are no longer a slave, but God’s child; and since you are his child, God has made you also an heir.

In fellowship with God 

1 Corinthians 1:9

God is faithful, who has called you into fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

I John 1:3

We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ.

Made into a holy and royal priesthood 

Revelation 5b-6

1 Pet. 2:5,9

you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house[a] to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ....

But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.

Given total access to God

Ephesians 3:12

n him and through faith in him we may approach God with freedom and confidence.

 Hebrews 10:19-23

Therefore, brothers and sisters, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, 20 by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, 21 and since we have a great priest over the house of God, 22 let us draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water. 23 Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful

Made complete 

Colossians 2:9- 10

For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, 10 and in Christ you have been brought to fullness. He is the head over every power and authority.

We have been given everything 

Ephesians 1:3

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ

2 Peter 1:3

His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness.

The Exchange Life: What about 1 john 1:9?

The Exchange Life: What about 1 john 1:9?

What about 1 john 1:9?

What about 1 john 1:9?

"If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness."

Do we have to ask God for forgiveness every time we sin?

In my opinion a lack of basic understanding of the finality of the Cross of Jesus Christ is what causes this confusion of forgiveness.

The death / sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross resulted into two major things.

1. It took away the sins of the world. Don't let that pass you by, He did not cover sins but took them away.

2. His death ushered in a New Covenant.

One of the things we miss in Christendom is that God does things differently from us.

His ways are not our ways and His thoughts are not our thoughts.

According to the bible, what is God's way of forgiving sins? It is and has always been through sacrifice.

In fact, the law requires that nearly everything be cleansed with blood and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness. (Hebrews 9:22)

The writer of Hebrews then goes ahead in Hebrews 10 to talk about the sacrifice Jesus made of Himself and concludes with this verse.

Then he adds, “Their sins and lawless acts I will remember no more.” And where these have been forgiven, sacrifice for sin is no longer necessary. (Hebrews  10:17,18)

There are numerous passages in the New Covenant that talk about the death of Jesus Christ having taken away the sins of the world, one time and forever.

·        And by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.( Hebrews 10:10)

·        But he has appeared once for all at the culmination of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of himself. (Hebrews 9:26)

·        He did not enter by means of the blood of goats and calves; but he entered the Most Holy Place once for all by his own blood, thus obtaining eternal redemption.( Hebrews 9:12)

·        The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God. (Romans 6:10)

·        That God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people's sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. (2 Corinthians 5:19)

These are just some of the passages of the New Covenant (there are more) which state that Jesus' sacrifice on the cross was for propitiation of sins. His sacrifice did not cover sins for a while but took them away forever.

God concluded this New Covenant in Hebrews 8:12 "For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more."

 So with all this evidence, when you come across a passage like 1 John 1:9, the only passage of its kind in the New Covenant that talks about asking God forgiveness, should that not raise a red flag in your mind?

A lot of headache would be avoided if or when we come to understand that the entire bible is written for us, but not every verse is addressed to us or written about us.

 In 1 John, the last living Apostle was addressing a concern that was brought to his attention about the church in Ephesus; a group had crept into that city and was corrupting the minds of the believers. This group was called the Gnostics.

1 John 1:9 is in response to 1 John 1:8 "If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us".

The Gnostics were claiming that sin wasn't really sin, it was just an illusion. Do you as a believer in Christ claim that you have no sin? Do you as a believer possess The Truth (Jesus Christ)? Why then do you think that John was addressing you in this verse?

 The same writer, Apostle John, goes further in 1 John 2:1 to address believers; "My dear children, I write this to your so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have an advocate with the Father - Jesus Christ, the Righteous One."

  So what about 1 John 1:9?

The only sin that will be held against us is the sin of unbelief (John 16:9), so think about the cross when you ask for forgiveness from God. Do you believe that Jesus Christ accomplished what He came to do on the cross?

In my opinion, asking God for forgiveness is more of a sin than the sin you are asking God to forgive you of, because it is a clear sign of unbelief in Jesus Christ and what He accomplished on the Cross.

So the next time you kneel down to confess your sins, why don't you confess what God has done first before you confess what you have done? If you confess what God has done you will come to the same conclusion that I have. That God was in Christ reconciling the world to Him; in Christ, not counting our sins against us. He does not remember your sins, so which sins are you asking Him to forgive?

The other thing I want to talk about is sin itself. Most if not all of the people who hold onto 1 John 1:9 claim to be believers in Jesus Christ. These are people who claim that they have been saved and they have eternal life.

We have so watered down sin, that the true consequence of sin has been lost in all these religious practices.

According to the bible, the consequence of sin is death (Romans 6:23).

 So according to people who hold onto this verse, every time they sin, they lose their eternal life and after they confess and ask God for forgiveness and God somehow forgives them, they regain their ETERNAL life.

Do you truly see how ridiculous that sounds? Eternal life lasts forever or it is not eternal. And the life we have in Christ is eternal not because of what we do, but because of the eternal consequences of the cross.

We must rest in the finished work of Christ instead of trying to improve upon it. If not, like the Israelites who because of unbelief never entered the Promised Land, most of us, saved, born again, Christians will die in the desert and never enter our Promised Land (Jesus Christ and His finished work)

1 John 1:9, confession booths, asking God for forgiveness will never take away your sins. Only the cross of Jesus Christ and the sacrifice that He made of Himself 2000+ years ago would. Put your trust and dependence in what He did, not in what you through religion are doing.