Identity as Saint

Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, To the saints who are at Ephesus and who are faithful in Christ Jesus: (Ephesians 1:1)

We like to consider our identity as being “who we are” as opposed to “what we do”, but this is a false dichotomy. One’s identity is made up of multiple facets. It includes our character traits or nature, our personality or dispositions, our physicality, our relationship in connection to others or roles, and what we are about or purpose. I can say I am a father and that is part of my identity. I can say that I am a man and that is part of my identity. I can say that I am a writer and that is part of my identity. However, the word “identity” does connote something core and essential about us rather than something that is temporary and superficial. My daily job may or may not be part of my identity depending on whether it is part of my purpose or calling in life or if it is only a way to make meet my financial needs.

Paul reveals a deeper quality to things that are part of our identity – they are God ordained. Paul was an apostle. He did not create this role for himself nor did he create within himself the skills needed to fulfill that role. Apostle was something that Paul was all about; it consumed his time and attention. While he did not chose this for himself, he embraced it. His chosen profession had been what we would call a prosecuting attorney for the Sanhedrin but he left that behind when he realized what God’s plan for his identity entailed.

As I read this, I wonder if Paul is alone in having such a designation from God. More precisely, does God have a particular role set aside as part of my identity? If we jump down a bit in the scripture, we find the answer:

For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them. (Ephesians 2:10)

Every one of us can declare, I am _____________, a(n) ______________ of Christ Jesus by the will of God. Now, you may not yet be able to put a quantifiable title in that second space, but it exists. Part of the unfolding of the mystery God has for us is this aspect of our identity. We do not need to fret, though, as He reveals to us our calling. This is because He gives us the more crucial aspect of our identity just a few words later.

Paul declares as confidently that he is an Apostle, that his audience are saints. I am a saint. You, if you have received Jesus as your Lord, are a saint. You can definitively state, “I am _______________, a saint of Christ Jesus by the will of God!” Does this sound odd in your own ears? Do you find it hard to recognize your identity as saint? Part of this struggle comes from a misunderstanding of what a saint is. Most think that a saint refers to someone who has extraordinary piety and who has done amazing things for the Kingdom of God.

Instead of a designation for someone who does much good, the word saint means one who is “set apart”. Rather than being an exalted position one achieves by exceptional morality, it is a position you are placed in by the Father. We cannot even take credit for choosing this identity; God willed it. Through Jesus, you are set apart as a holy priest or priestess for God (see 1 Peter 2:5).

Being a saint and knowing it is not merely for our own encouragement. The recognition of this aspect of one’s identity calls out of us a particular response. The response of embracing the reality that “I am a saint” is that my thoughts and actions conform more and more to those of Christ. We do not transform our way into becoming a saint; being a saint causes a transformation to occur within us. Therefore, to live the full and effective life God desires, you must acknowledge your identity as a saint. As He reveals the more specific purpose and calling that is your identity, embracing that role will also call forth the response of stepping into it.

I am not finished wringing every drop from this one verse. In fact, it is still sopping with living water. In my next post I plan to explore more about what this verse reveals about our identity and why it matters.

Ephesians: First words

Recently I have been listening to a tremendous expositor of scripture, Martin Lloyd Jones, and this has birthed a desire in me to read passages of scripture in a deeper manner so as to glean even greater understanding of the grace and majesty of God. This is not just an intellectual fascination, but the draw is to deepen my relationship with Him through Jesus by an ever more intimate knowing Him.

To that end, I have delighted in finding a treasure trove in verses that I previously read as a mere formality or rote greeting:

Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, To the saints who are at Ephesus and who are faithful in Christ Jesus: (Ephesians 1:1)

First, a little context would be helpful. Every single one of the epistles (as opposed to the gospels) of the New Testament of the Bible were written to people who were part of the Christian body of believers. If all that was involved in experiencing a fulfilling and effective walk of faith was encapsulated in that moment when one first surrenders and receives Jesus as Lord for the forgiveness of sin, then the authors of those epistles would not have wasted so many words on encouraging and instructing believers, but would have written more testimonies and arguments to convince unbelievers.

We often get out of whack in the church by going to one of two extremes. Sometimes we become focused on evangelizing the lost to the exclusion of building up the body of Christ. This results in a lot of flash and flare with impressive numbers of “salvations”, but there is a dearth of depth. The evidence of this happening is when the growth of active participants within the body is not commensurate with the numbers of people making some sort of profession of faith. The other extreme is such a focus on the growth and edification of church members that we become a holy huddle. This results in lots of pot-lucks and bible studies but few actual transformations from darkness to light; from death to life.

Paul puts the proper emphasis this way:

So then, while we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, and especially to those who are of the household of the faith. (Galatians 6:10)

He recognizes that a mature body of Christ followers is attractive to those who are lost, hurting and seeking hope. A mature body of believers embrace their respective identities in Christ and by extension of that, cannot help but give evidence through word and deed of the great news of Jesus in their lives. Evidence of a church that has reached this sweet spot of doing good to all, but especially their own people is that non-Christians come, see, receive AND become vibrant participants in the church where they are fed and grow.

So, all this context is to make it abundantly clear that we followers of Jesus need to invest heavily in discipleship of one another. We need to dive into these divinely inspired words and grow in understanding always with the end of sharing the love and grace God bestows on us with others. I hope then, you will join me for my next post where I dive into what this verse, “Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, To the saints who are at Ephesus and who are faithful in Christ Jesus” (Ephesians 1:1) says about our identity.

Nourishment for the Newborn: Who is this “enemy” I keep hearing about?

Perhaps this describes your thoughts, “I believe in Jesus, but who is this “enemy” I keep hearing about? Folks talk like Satan or demons are really exist rather than some mythical concept of evil and it sounds a little freaky.” This is a tad ironic, though, since believing in Jesus implies by necessity belief in a spiritual reality that we do not commonly see with our eyes or touch with our senses. However, the Apostle Paul makes it clear that Satan and his minions are real:

For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places. Ephesians 6:12

Next in importance to believing that Jesus is the Son of God who is your Lord and Savior, recognizing that there is an enemy of your soul, Satan, is the next most prominent truth to embrace. I talk about Satan’s origins a little in this prior post on pride. The enemy wants to keep you from living fully in God’s plan for you and if he convinces you he does not exist, then his battle is nearly won because he can operate in stealth mode. After all, how many of us would knowingly choose to listen to a demon? And yet, because we are ignorant of their existence, we often inadvertently do listen to them.

This enemy and those spiritual beings that serve him are not abstract concepts; they are real and they hope to deceive you and keep you from living in power and victory.  The enemy’s main weapons against you are subtle lies that sound like truth. We need, therefore, to continually be asking God to reveal His truth to us through prayer and through studying His unchanging word, the Bible.

We should not become overly interested in the enemy. That is as much a trap as disbelieving in his existence. Our fascination, rather, needs to remain fixed on Jesus while we fight the enemies darkness and lies with God’s light and truth.

Spirit of Power: Grounded in love

Love is the centerpiece of this prayer of the Apostle Paul:

Ephesians 3:14-19 “For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name, that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith;and that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God.”

Not only is love the centerpiece of the prayer, but as I read these verses it is the starting point and the end point of experiencing the fullness of God. If love is our anchor point, then we are able to comprehend the full extent and whole expression of the love of Christ. Paul is not talking about an abstract, intellectual comprehension of love. He is talking about an experiential immersion into love. And, since God is love (1 John 4:8 & 16), being immersed in love is being immersed in the fullness of God.

As I contemplate this, I struggle to define what love is. This is no surprise since God defies definition, thus love defies definition. I can do no better than Paul did in 1 Corinthians 13 where he lists what love is and what it is not. I do know that love is not a feeling, though certain emotions do flow from love. Love is not an action, though it is expressed best through our actions. I have heard love defined as “unconditional positive regard” and certainly this attitude results from love and helps grow love. Not of these fully captures love.

The fullest expression of love is in the sacrificial suffering and death of Jesus. I believe that there were many points where Jesus could have chosen a different path; rather, He chose day by day and moment by moment to step into torture and dying for sins that He never committed. He chose this because of love. There was no mathematical formula where He was willing to do it to save a certain number of people. He made this choice for one person. He would have suffered and died if you were the only person He saved. That is love. It is not just the what of the sacrifice, but also the why of the sacrifice that makes this love.

How, then, do we become “rooted and grounded in love”. This is the cool part. We cannot create our own love. Certainly we can develop “unconditional positive regard” towards people, but that is not all that love is. We can spontaneously have warm and also passionate emotions towards someone, but this is not all that love is. In other words, we only approach aspects of love apart from Jesus’ dwelling in our hearts. Being “rooted and grounded in love” is a gift from God Himself: 1 John 14:19 “We love, because He first loved us.”

The starting point of being rooted and grounded in love seems to be abiding in the reality of what Jesus did for us:

John 3:16 “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.”

As your belief in the reality of this grows more and more certain, then your roots are delving deeper. This awareness of His gift of grace is your ground. It really is that simple. As you contemplate and embrace His sacrifice of love, you will experience love being birthed and growing in your heart.

These concepts of “rooted” and “grounded” are meaningful. A tree that has deep roots can withstand strong winds and can endure times of drought. They hold the tree in place and they tap into water far below the surface. So too are we able to withstand winds of conflict when our roots are deep into love. We can thrive even during times of spiritual drought when we are not being watered by our circumstances. Being grounded is also significant. I doubt this refers to the electrical grounding since they did not have metal construction in Paul’s day, so it likely refers to having both feet firmly planted on the ground. Again, this speaks to being solid and firm to withstand the blows life can throw at us.

From this place of being rooted and grounded, we can begin to be immersed in love as we comprehend new aspects and new depths of His love. Simultaneously, false ways we sought love begin to fall away. We can stop striving to be valued for our contributions. Instead, we embrace the truth that we are loved simply because we are – simply because God made us to be love. We can say no to toxic relationship and to damaging ways of relating to others because we no long fear being isolated and alone. In place of that fear, we acquire certainty of our position as an adopted child of God the Father and a brother of Jesus (Romans 8).

In short, we become ever more acutely aware of who we are in Christ and His love fills us. We are released into the fullness of God.