(9) Who Are You?

Who are you? You could answer that question a variety of ways. I might say, “I am a human being, not an animal.” Or, I could think in terms of my ancestry – Swiss-German-English. By birth and nationality I am American. I also could think of the fact that I have permanent residency in the Bahamas. And beyond that, I have lived nearly ½ of my adult life outside the U.S. So who am I?

But all of this is insignificant compared to my identity as a believer and Christ follower. I am a Christian. What does this mean? Paul describes it in the book of Romans.

We know that our old sinful selves were crucified with Christ so that sin might lose its power in our lives. We are no longer slaves to sin. For when we died with Christ we were set free from the power of sin. (Romans 6:6-7 NLT)

As Christians, we have been saved from sin. Many times we think of this as being saved from the penalty of sin – we are saved from Hell. But this is only part of the story. In Romans 6, Paul is trying to make an entirely different point. He is focused on salvation from the power of sin and the presence of sin in our lives now. As a Christ-follower, I am free from sin’s dominating power and I should be growing in victory over sin and personal holiness.

But this is exactly why I get discouraged with myself at times. I recognize these truths but I also see sin in my life. I see myself repeat the same sins over and over again. I feel enslaved to sin at times. And so, I recognize my failure and I can get discouraged with myself and my failure. Unless I remember who I am in Christ.

I must have a firm grip on the righteousness I have in Christ and rest in that right standing before God. But, it is critical that I don’t become comfortable and complacent in my sin just because my standing before God is settled. My standing before God as perfectly justified in Christ does not mean I can be tolerant of sin in my life.

Victory over spiritual discouragement is not just a matter of resting in the righteousness of Christ, it is also a matter of growing in daily victory over sin in my life. It will do me no good to ignore my daily sin and determine to focus exclusively on the right standing I have before God in Christ. This is not the path to victory over sin or spiritual discouragement. Yes, I must cling to who I am in Christ, perfectly righteous, but all the while I must tenaciously pursue personal, practical holiness each day.

But how do I walk in victory over sin? Paul gives us the key.

Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 6:11 NKJ)

We are dead to sin. Sin is powerless over us. We have a new power to live in victory over sin. But, we must believe this. We must take account of this truth and count on this to be true in the way we live. This is the first step toward daily victory over sin and the resulting spiritual discouragement. It is a matter of believing the truth that I don’t have to sin and it is a matter of making right choices.

Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its desires, and do not present your members to sin as instruments to be used for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who are alive from the dead and your members to God as instruments to be used for righteousness. (Romans 6:12-13 NET)

Because we have died to sin with Christ, sin has lost it’s power over us, and we can make the choice to live in victory over sin. This is the result of God’s continuing gift of grace. We can say “no” to sin every time. It is always our choice. Always. We must choose to say “no” to sin and “yes” to God. This is our daily battle.

Next:  (10) You Are Not Alone