Why Rightly Divide? 3. To Understand Our Identity in Christ

When we rightly divide the word of truth, then we also come to understand our identity in Christ. Once we know what the gospel is that saves today (1 Cor 15:1-5) and have believed it, and we understand that we are not in Israel's program and that we are not "spiritual Israel," we can now fully understand who we are in Christ individually as well as who we are corporately as the "one new man", the Church the Body of Christ.

Our identity in Christ includes us being
• A new creature in Christ Jesus (2 Cor 5:17)
• A member of Christ's body, made up of other members with Christ as our head (1 Cor 12:27)
• Completely identified with Christ (Phil 3:9)
• Dead to sin/the flesh (Rom 6:11)
• Dead to the law/religion (Col 2:13-14)
• An ambassador for Christ with the ministry of reconciliation (2 Cor 5:18; 20)
• Seated with Christ in the Heavenly places (Eph 2:6)
• Accepted in God's Beloved (Eph 1:6)
• Completely forgiven (Col 2:13)
• Complete in Christ (Col 2:10)
• Hid with Christ in God (Col 3:3)
• Delivered from the wrath to come (1 Thess 1:10)

Understanding your identity in Christ changes everything. Once you understand your identity, you can serve God by allowing Christ to live in and through you as a believer.

We also come to understand that though we are a new creature in Christ, our old man hasn't changed. Our flesh will NOT be changed until the rapture when we receive our glorified bodies and will never sin again. For now, we are to reckon our old sin nature to be dead, and then choose to walk in newness of life (walking in the Spirit instead of after the flesh).

Understanding our identity requires us first being fully established in the grace doctrines taught in the book of Romans. Then, we are to study the rest of the Pauline epistles as well to be fully edified, or built up, in sound grace doctrine. From that point on, we can study all of the rest of scripture with an understanding of rightly dividing the word of truth and our identity in Christ. 

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