Who Are You?

2Cor 5:14-21

“I used to ask God to help me…

Then I asked God if I might help Him…

I ended up by asking God to do His work thru me…” (H. Taylor)

Defining terms can help us understand who we are.

· Soul: usually refers to your mind, will, & emotions… your personality. The soul is therefore your fallen nature, sinful, wicked, & deceitful. (Jer 17:9)

· Heart: usually refers to the center or core of a person. In OT, soul is referred to as heart. In NT, believer’s heart (center/core) is their spirit.

· Spirit: In NT interchangeable with heart. Before conversion, spirit is vacant or dead. When born again, H Spirit begins to reside in believer’s spirit & this union is the new life/heart. (Jn 3:3; 2Cor 5:17; Eze 36:26)

· Flesh: body & soul operating apart from H Spirit… soul-based self, independent of God.

Who are you? Are you both good & bad… righteous & sinful?

· Many Christians believe that at depth of their being they are both good & bad.

· In the realm of appearances there is constant evidence of good & evil in us. We arrive at the logical & apparently valid conclusion that we are both good & evil.

· If we think something is true, even though it is not “above line” truth, it controls us.

· If we believe we’re both, it’ll be impossible to live out union with Christ.

o We’ll focus on ourselves, on getting our act together (suppress bad part).

· Challenge… when it comes to who you are, you must choose what you will listen to:

(1) God’s Word… “above line” Truth

(2) Your thoughts based on “below line” observed appearance & behavior.

· Realm of appearance, although here & now, is false as far as our true identity is concerned.

· Realm of spirit is eternal reality… our spiritual union with Christ is our true identity.

o In eternal realm, you are what you were spiritually born as. (Jn 1: 12-13; 3:3-6)

· At the core of your being (heart) you are not both, only righteous. (2Pet 1:4; 2Cor 5:17,21)

· As a believer, you have died with Christ (Gal 2:20)… evil was erased from your spirit/heart, but evil/sin remains in your soul. (below line)

· Your soul must be renewed because your spirit is only expressed through your soul & body. (Rm 12:2) We have many soul-habits that must be renewed to express our spirit.

· You can not have two masters… you must choose one or the other. (Mt 6:24)

· You may still occasionally sin… but who is your master? Christ is your master, & when you sin you hate it, feel remorse, & ask forgiveness. (Rm 6:6)

· Satan wants you to focus on how you are acting & to identity yourself based on behavior.

· H Spirit reveals truth that birth, not performance, determines identify… we’re God’s child.

· Below the line there are two possibilities… we can do good or evil. However, our identity comes from our spirit union with Christ & we are who God says we are… righteous.

The real you.

· As infants we begin to project a false self to independently get along (get our way, cope)

· False self, or flesh, is a body & soul operating apart from H Spirit… our attempt to independently operate our own lives (as Christians… even for glory of God)

· The unbeliever’s spirit is dead to God, he is dominated by his soul, & gets his direction & validation from the world (seen & temporal). We were all like that (soul-based life) & when we were saved we wanted to change & live the Christian life… but didn’t know how.

· Since our flesh (soul-based) knew how to get along in the world, we often fall back on it to get along in the Christian scene. We have H Spirit but don’t know about Christ living His life thru us, so our mode of operation is same as an unbeliever… self-reliance.

· Anyone in Christ is a new creation… a being that never existed before. (2Cor 5:17)

· Externally you are the same… new life is within.

· God looks at new creation that H Spirit gave birth to… the righteousness of God. (v.21)

· In Christ you have already been made complete (fully mature). (Col 2:9)

o Real you is a new creation… righteous, holy, blameless, & beloved.

· Knowing who you are means there is now no condemnation. (Rm 8:1)

· You are the righteousness of God in Christ… regardless of what you were thinking, feeling, or what you have done… a new creation with no condemnation.

· Spirit wants to build you up & increase your understanding of the life of Christ in you.

· He wants you to see how God already sees you… saint, holy, blameless, beyond reproach.

· Knowing who you are enables you to live with Christ-consciousness instead of self-consciousness. (self-consciousness is to be sin-conscious)

· God wants us to be Christ-in-you conscious, & let H Spirit point out our sin.

o As Spirit directs/convicts, confess your sins (1Jn 1:9).

· Living an external (soul) life is always a temptation… even a religious external life.

· God brings us to difficult circumstances to bring us to place where He is our total life.

· We are spirit beings… & God has chosen to reproduce Himself thru our lives.

· Our real you is who we are at the spirit level… holy, righteous, & blameless.

· Your thoughts, feelings, & behavior may be contrary, but they do not change that fact… only by accepting the real you by faith can you begin to experience its reality.

Father, may we receive the truth that You have crucified our old sinful nature & given us Your righteous & holy nature. We are Your children… Yours alone! As your child, I want to receive understanding of who I am in Christ… I do receive it in faith & want to receive it in experience.