TRANSFORMING LOVE (GOD CHANGES YOUR IDENTITY, PART 2)

CHAPTER 5

PART 2

GOD CHANGES YOUR IDENTITY

“.a new creature…” (2 Corinthians 5:17)

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YOU HAVE BECOME NEW

God completely cleaned your identity slate and now you are redeemed from the old sinful identity, its affects, and its consequences. ^“Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers;” (1 Peter 1:18 KJV). You have become anew

How do you become anew? Earlier, I mentioned how all creation was created in God’s “image”, but became corrupted and marred by sin (Genesis 1:26-27).

In other words, the spirit is dead.  As said before, when you blow up a balloon it is full of air, but if you let the air out, the balloon becomes deflated. The balloon is still available, but is now useless or dead until someone fills it up again.

DEFLATED

Every single person is spiritually dead or deflated until Jesus fills them. Your spirit or “spiritual balloon” per se becomes immediately inflated making you a new creation in Christ. Without God’s Holy Spirit you are spiritual dead or deflated. God is life and anyone separated from God is “…dead in trespasses and sin” (Ephesians 2:1 KJV).

INFLATED

Like a balloon can be refilled with air again, spiritual death can be reversed when you accept salvation by faith in Jesus Christ. God can make you spiritually “alive together with [Christ]…” (Colossians 2:13 ASV).

There is nothing you can do on your own to be restored to God’s original created glory or reverse spiritual dead; only God can fill your spiritual balloon (Titus 3:5).

I’m using a deflated ‘spiritual balloon” to offer an imagery only of how God’s original image became spiritually marred through the fall.

Man, became void, deflated, or emptied of the Holy Spirit. However, when you became a new creation in Christ, your “spiritual balloon” was inflated or filled again and “…old things ….passed away…”

ROMANS 12:1

You have been restored to the image of God with the inflating or filling of your “spiritual balloon” with the Holy Spirit. However, your thinking is not automatically renewed, that’s why God tells you to “…be transformed by the renewing of your mind….” (Romans 12:1 KJV)  

Your old thought patterns, emotions, habits, identities, and behaviors are still there, but are no longer solely in control over you. 

Your spiritual balloon is filled and ready to help you walk in the newness of live. This is done by exercising your faith and believing in your new identity in Christ.

Because of your “fixed perception” of self, accepting God’s love and your new identity is difficult. Too often, believers struggle for years, trying to evaluate themselves – as new creations - through the eyes of their long time “fixed perception”. Operating from the old identity causes the believer to experience more defeat then victory.

YOU ARE BAD

After years and years of the fixed message, like in our example for instance, that “…you are bad…,” it’s hard to believe in God’s personal love or new identity for you individually.  Your “perception of self” is loaded with a mental folder full of beliefs that are now strongholds against the new identity.

The mental software system has stored your “perception of self” folder with negative esteem. This “perception of self” folder is all you have ever known and therefore, your evaluation of self was fixed before Christ. But now God says, “….the old things are passed away...” (2 Corinthians 5:17 KJV).

YOU ARE A NEW CREATION

You are a NEW CREATION, which means a response of God-given faith to God’s Word is the only way to reprogram your identity.

Every time you respond by faith to God’s truth about who you are NOW, you are rejecting your old identity. “For in him we live and move and have our being [identity]. As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are his offspring” (Acts 17:28 NIV).

The Holy Spirit starts working to enable you to be transformed to the image of God’s Son and your new identity. “But ye are not [identified] in the flesh [anymore], but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his. And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness” (Romans 8:9-10 KJV).

Therefore, believing you are a new creation becomes an exercise of faith. Just like you accepted Jesus by faith; accepting your new identity by faith is the same kind of response.

NEW IDENTITY

When you described yourself, in the past, you may have made negative statements such as “ I am mean” “I am weak,” I am prideful” “I am ugly,” “I am bad,” “I am poor,” “I am dumb,” “I am an addict,” “I am a cheater,” “I am sexually immoral,” or any of a number of identities.

You have the right to identify yourself any way you choose. However, when you become a “child of God” your identity changes automatically and your description of self is based on God’s Word.

YOUR NEW IDENTITY IN CHRIST

Why? “Now ye are the body of Christ, and members...” (1 Corinthian 12:27 KJV). You are “right now” God’s offspring and  “…in him [you] live, and move and have [your]  being(identity, reality)….” (Acts 17:28 KJV). You now describe yourself based on God’s description of you in his Word.

In the above example, the person learned to evaluate themselves as “bad,” but reads this scripture, “…There is therefore now no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus…” (Romans 8:1 KJV).  This verse conflicts with the fixed perception “you are bad.”

However, the scripture informs them that when you belong to Christ; there is no more condemnation. If there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus, then the message “you are bad” no longer applies.

COMPLETELY CLEAN AND ANEW

Believers are completely cleansed from ALL sin, past, present, and future, which leaves them free to identify as holy “in” Christ. “…And the God of peace himself sanctify you wholly; and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved entire, without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Faithful is he that calleth you, who will also do it…” (1 Thessalonians 5:23-24 KJV).

NO CONDEMNATION: YOU'RE ANEW

There is, “…now NO condemnation…” (Romans 8:1 KJV). As a saved, sanctified, and justified believer, you are a brand new creation and thus the old identity message “you are bad” is no longer true. You can trust God to keep you cleansed and holy. “... [For He]… hath delivered [you]… from the power of darkness … (Colossians 1:12-13 KJV).

 EXCERPT FROM THE CHAPTER 

"GOD CHANGES YOUR IDENTITY" FROM THE

BOOK TRANSFORMING LOVE

BY PENSACOLA H JEFFERSON
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