Who are we as Christians? (Sept 16)

So...who are you? How do you answer that question? Is it what you do, is it what you drive, is it where you live, is it your bank account, is it your race, is it the group to which you belong? Who are you?

Some churches and campus ministries that I’ve been involved with insist that our fundamental identity is a sinner. No matter what we do, say, or believe, we will always be nothing more than a sinner. I’ve seen despair set in for some devoted Christians who feel caught in never being anything more than “a sinner.” They feel there’s no hope in overcoming their sins. Now, this is true: we are sinners; we miss the mark all the time, and can’t do any better by our own efforts. But is that the whole story? Is that our whole identity?

Some of us have read 1 Corinthians, but most of us know that it was a case of “Christians Gone Wild.” There were some crazy things going on in the church in Corinth (stuff that would make the ‘church ladies’ blush). Nevertheless, when Paul is writing to this church, he calls them “saints.” The Greek word for a saint is hagios, which means “holy one.” So even though the Christians in Corinth are sinning like it’s going out of style, they are still “holy ones.”

Christians everywhere are “holy ones,” even when we fall short of God’s glory. You and I are “holy.” Why? When God looks at us, he sees Christ, because we are “in Christ.” We are being remade. We are a “new creation!” This means we can live a new life with a new primary identity, “saint.”

Who are we? We are “holy ones” loved by God, forgiven through Jesus Christ, and empowered in the Holy Spirit!

Stoops

[We read Romans 3:21-24 and Rob Bell’s Velvet Elvis, pages 138-143, for this study.]