Message by Larry Thacker Jr from July 14, “Do You Know Who You Are?”
Who are you? It’s a simple question that may have a very complicated answer. If we don’t know each other, I might simply be asking your name. If we do know each other, you might find the question invasive, offensive, or both, but it is a question we all need to answer for ourselves. The way we perceive ourselves will affect the choices we make, and the way we react to people and circumstances around us. Much about who we are may change as we mature and experience life, but there are some things that should never change.
We all begin life as sinners. The Bible is pretty plain about that (Romans 3:10,23.) Every one of us would be without hope if Jesus had not paid the price for us. But we know that He did, and at the moment we give our hearts to Him, we are reborn. We have become, as Paul put it in 2 Corinthians 5:17, new creations.
Why, then, do so many Christians still refer to themselves as sinners? Paul writes in Romans Chapter 6 that we are dead to sin. Howe can we be dead to sin and still be sinners? No one honestly believes he stopped committing sins at the moment of salvation. In fact, the more we come to understand what it is to live a holy life, the more of our own sins we discover. We will struggle against the desires of our flesh as long as we inhabit these earthly bodies. But when Jesus becomes our Lord, we get a new identity, and that is not as a sinner, but as a saint.
It is important for us to internalize this truth, because it will strengthen our ability to withstand temptation. If you think of yourself as a sinner, you will be more likely to come to an accommodation with sin. If it’s who you are, then what’s the use of fighting it? We are defeated before we even join the battle. But if we think of ourselves as saints, sanctified not by our own effort but by the blood of Jesus, we can stand firm against the attacks of the enemy and the perils of living in a fallen world. Do you know who you are?
