The Gospel & Your Identity[i]
Incredibly Wealthy Slave
In Colonial US the story is told of a wealthy plantation owner who died and left an exorbitant inheritance of $50K to his chief of slaves. The money was deposited in the local bank in the slave’s name, and several months passed without the slave making any draw on the money. Finally the banker called the slave to remind him that this huge wealth of money was available to him in his own account at the bank, and when he finally convinced the man that this wealth was indeed legally his… the slave meekly asked, “Then do you think it possible for me to have 50 cents to purchase a bag of cornmeal?” This man was living in severe poverty while at the same time possessing a great fortune beyond his understanding!
The Blessed Beggar
I got off at the Pennsylvania depot as a tramp, and for a year I begged on the streets for a living. One day I touched a man on the shoulder and said, “Hey, mister, can you give me a dime?” As soon as I saw his face, I was shocked to see that it was my own father. I said, “Father, Father, do you know me?” Throwing his arms around me and with tears in his eyes, he said, “Oh my son, at last I’ve found you! I’ve found you. You want a dime? Everything I have is yours.” Think of it. I was a tramp. I stood begging my own father for ten cents, when for 18 years he had been looking for me to give me all that he had.[1]
To grasp an understanding of who we are in Christ, we first must know who Christ is and what the message of the gospel has to offer. “It [The Gospel] is the key to all doctrine and our view of our lives in this world. Therefore, all our problems come from a lack of orientation to the gospel. Put positively, the gospel transforms our hearts and thinking and approaches to absolutely everything.” [2]
Consider Paul’s thoughts about the power of the Gospel when faced with the myriad of problems of the Ephesian culture which included the occult, magic, pagan worship and moral decay:
Ephesians 1:17-19
that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, [18] having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, [19] and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might
Ephesians 2:4-10
But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, [5] even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— [6] and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, [7] so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. [8] For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, [9] not a result of works, so that no one may boast. [10] For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.
Ephesians 5:1-2
Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. 2 And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.[KK1]
the Gospel’s power holistically transforms the human heart.
· Blind people are made to see (2Cor.4:4)
· Lost people are found (Lu.19:10)
· Ignorant people gain wisdom (Eph.4:18)
· The Noetic Effect of Sin is stripped of its crippling power (2Tim.3:8; Tit.3:3, 2:11)
· Enemies of God are now invited to the Lord’s Table and the Marriage Supper of the Lamb (Rom.8:7-8: Col.1:20; Rev. 19:16-19)
· Dead people are given eternal life. (Eph.2:1-2:12)
God’s Definition of who you are, (your identity) is foundational to being able to glorify God
Key points to remember about your identity
1. Truly Born-Again believers…
a. …have their sin-debt and record erased (Col.2:14), therefore guilt need not be a nagging presence in your life. “Guilt for a believer need only last as long as it takes to confess it to God and embrace the grace found in the forgiveness and cleansing of the Gospel (1Jn.1:3-2:2). However, believers also grow in their hatred of sin and love for righteousness (Ps.97:10-12) and desire to have Christ formed in their hearts and lives (Gal.4:19; Col.1:27-28; Eph. 4:12-16)
b. …have all of the Righteousness of Jesus Christ imputed to their “account”. You therefore have great hope and confidence knowing that God “sees” Jesus’ righteousness as your own. God does NOT define who you are based on your own merit (Rom.2:20-25).
c. …all this is a GIFT OF GOD, (Eph.2:1-9), a complete work of God (Jn.3:3-16) without regard to your own weakness and failure.
2. Love (towards God and towards others) is responsive in its nature. You can’t lecture yourself toward a greater love. Your love for God will grow in response to your knowledge of God and the Gospel (2Pet.1:3-11). This comes with time. Growth is a result of passive “beholding the glory of the Lord” in Christ (2Cor.3:18) as well as from active mind-renewal by reading, studying, memorizing and meditating on God’s Word (Rom.12:1-2).
3. Sanctification is not achieved merely by human effort, (e.g. self-directed anger, penance, hard work, etc.), nor is it realized by obsessing over sin, failures and guilt. Sanctification is a work of the Holy Spirit (2Cor.3:18), energized and driven by love (Jn.14:15; 1Jn. 4), joy (1Jn.1:3) and “walking in the light” by confessing sin and fully embracing forgiveness because God “is faithful and just to forgive you” (1Jn.1:7-10). Sadness and self-hatred cannot bring about God-honoring obedience… only love, joy and believing the Truth (Rom.4:3) will do that.
4. You can only be empowered to do good because of this amazing truth that everything regarding your salvation has already been accomplished for you in Christ!
1 John 4:9-16
9In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. 10In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. 11Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 12 No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us. 13 By this we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit. 14And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. 15Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. 16So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us.
Luke 7:47-48;
47Therefore I tell you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven—for she loved much. But he who is forgiven little, loves little." 48And he said to her, "Your sins are forgiven."
Galatians 5:6;
6For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything, but only faith working through love.
2 Corinthians 5:14-15;
14For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one has died for all, therefore all have died; 15and he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised.
04/26/2019
[1] J. Wilbur Chapman As quoted by John MacArthur, Ephesians: New Testament Commentary, page 111
[2] Dr. Timothy Keller, The Centrality of the Gospel.
A comment about this quote from Dr. Keller-You might push back on this statement; however Dr. Keller is NOT saying that your cancer is due to your lack of understanding the Gospel. What he is saying, is our lack of understanding and embracing the Gospel is what causes us problems as we respond to the cancer or any other difficulty in life.
[i] Originally from Bringing the Bible to Life TRACK I, Session 3
[KK1] All scriptures are from ESV
Kent Kloter
