Our identities are very important to us; they influence how we see ourselves and even how we live our lives. As Christians, the key issue for us is our identity in Christ Jesus. When we got born again, our identities changed; they went from being rooted in Adam to being rooted in Jesus. This means that although we came into this world as sinners because of what Adam did, God now sees us as justified and righteous because of what Jesus did.

When Christ came to live in us, He renewed and transformed our lives and made us new creatures in Him. The old things that we associated with as sinners have passed away, and new things have come into being. We’re spirits possessing souls and living in physical bodies. Our sinful spirits are dead; in their place are spirits that are as perfect and holy as Christ, so we can therefore truthfully say that the sinner is dead.

There’s no such thing as “a sinner saved by grace;” if we believe this, it’s a sign that we need to renew our minds. We are no longer sinners. It’s God’s will that we have new life but, to truly embrace our new lives, we need to change the way we think. God doesn’t want us to be conformed to this world, but to instead be transformed by the renewal of our minds, that we might prove what His good and perfect will is for us.

The transformation we’ve undergone as tri-part beings is complete and total, because when God changes us, He changes every part of us. Our new lives allow us to claim benefits such as peace of mind and holiness that we didn’t have with our old lives. The God of peace sanctifies us wholly, so that our spirits, souls, and bodies are preserved blameless. We can count on Him because He’s faithful in His promise to us of new life.

Prayer:

God, when we accepted Your Son as our Lord and Savior, we exchanged our old sinful spirits for spirits as perfect as Yours. Thank You for giving us new life and making us as holy as You. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Scriptures:

Romans 5:14-19

2 Corinthians 5:17

Romans 12:2

1 Thessalonians 5:23, 24