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Our identity in Christ has been marred by previous teachings we learned from organized Religion, but God's Word tell us who we really are in Christ Jesus.
What is the believer's identity in his relationship with Christ?
The Bible says when a person prays to receive Jesus Christ in his heart as Lord and Savior, and repents of all sins in his lifetime, he becomes a "believer" in Christ Jesus, a "Christian". He is a believer because he admits the fact that he cannot save himself though his good works and cannot avoid sin through his own efforts and human strength. He believes and trust in Christ's redemptive work in the Cross of Calvary and His Blood is the only way his sins can be washed away and forgiven. Jesus Christ alone.
When a person becomes a Christian, he becomes:
1. A CHILD OF GOD - John 1:12 says:
"To all who received Him, to those who believed in His Name, He gave the right to become children of God."
2. A NEW CREATION - 2 Corinthians 5:17
says "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation, the old has gone, the new has come."
3. GOD'S AMBASSADORS -2 Corinthians 5:20
says "We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making His appeal through us."
4. GOD'S FELLOW WORKERS-2 Corinthians 6:1 says "As God's fellow workers we urge you not to receive God's grace in vain."
5. A TEMPLE OF GOD- 2 Corinthians 6:16
says "For we are the temple of the Living God. As God Himself has said:
'I will live with them and walk with them, and I will be their God, and they will be my people."
6. SALT AND LIGHT OF THE EARTH -
Matthew 5:13-14 says "You are the salt of the earth....You are the light of this world..."
7. GOD'S WORKMANSHIP - 2:10 says
"For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do."
8. A BRANCH OF THE TRUE VINE- John 15:5
says "I am the Vine, you are the branches. If a man remains in Me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from Me you can do nothing.
9. MEMBER OF CHRIST'S BODY (the Church)
1 Corinthians 12:27 says "Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is part of it."
The body of Christ here is the group of believers, the people who were called Christians, and not a building or edifice we call today as a "church".
10. A SAINT - Ephesians 1:1
says "To the saints in Ephesus, the faithful in Christ Jesus..."
and Philippians 1:1 says "To all the saints in Christ Jesus at Philippi, together with the overseers and deacons."
All who believe in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior become saints, they are not the "saints" canonized by any form of religion, but saints because of the indwelling Holy Spirit that works out their lifetime sanctification.
(Titus 3:5-7)
The false teaching that "saints" are people who lived "holy" lives is refuted by Christ Himself when He took the thief at Calvary "to be with Him
in Paradise". Obviously, that thief never had the chance to be "holy" at his last hour, but he became the first
"saint" by organized religion's standards. Logical? Read the Bible.
Believers do not have to die to become one, they are saints because the Word of God says so. We do not "become saints". We ARE saints!!!!
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God bless,
Paul
enjoyed...
Art Sun...
Marion
Georg