Who Am I, Really?

There are, at least, 4 different answers to the question, "Who am I".
1. The person we think we are.
2. The person others think we are.
3. The person we think others think we are.
4. The person we really are.

However, in God's eyes, what we think doesn't matter, it is what He says that matters.

God says we are either 'in Adam' or 'in Christ'.

Those in Adam (those who have not been born again and are unbelievers in the final sacrifice of Christ) are:

Wicked - Genesis 6:5
Evil - Genesis 8:21
Unrighteous - Ecclesiastes 7:20; Isaiah 64:6
Full of evil - Ecclesiastes 9:3
Born sinners - Psalm 51:5
Unclean - Job 25:4
Sick - Isaiah 1:5
Gone astray - Isaiah 53:6 (John 3:3-5)
Unable to change their nature - Jeremiah 12:23
Deceitful - Jeremiah 17:9
Lost - Matthew 18:11
Condemned - John 3:18
Guilty - Romans 3:10-18
Ungodly - Romans 5:6
Dead - Romans 5:12
His enemies - Romans 5:10
Disobedient - Romans 11:32
Sinners - Rom. 5:12
Unable to understand spiritual things - 1 Corinthians 2:14
Spiritually dead - Ephesians 2:1-3
Darkened in their understanding - Ephesians 4:18
Alienated from God - Ephesians 4:18
Do not search after God - Rom. 3:11

This is a nasty list and hard to swallow, right? Most of us do not consider ourselves fitting most of the descriptions above. We may feel that we have sinned or done wrong things but other than that we are basically good. We have been told since infancy that we are 'good' little boys and girls and our only problem is we occasionally do bad things. With this mindset we end up trying to please God by being 'good' more than we are 'bad'. We try to please Him with the old nature of Adam.

The beginning of salvation is believing the truth of what and who God says we are rather than who we think we are.

Who does Jesus say is 'good'? ONLY God is good (Mark 10:18) Therefore, if we call ourselves 'good' who do we claim to be? If we say, 'Oh, so and so is such a good person' what are we saying about them? Are they?

Even the most humanly loving person in the world who does nothing but good to people still fall under the list above. Because our goodness always falls horribly short of what God classifies as 'good'. We always miss the mark. The definition of sin in the Bible doesn't mean doing bad things, it mean missing the mark. Even all the good things we do is still sin because we miss the mark of God's holiness and goodness. Since this is the case, we don't need forgiveness just for the bad things we do, but also the good things we think God will accept. God cannot accept those good things because they fall short of His standard.

The word for sin that is used most frequently is hamartia, missing the mark. Paul used the verb hamartano when he wrote, “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). God's standard for goodness is much, much higher than ours. The statement of the Almighty is that all have fallen so terribly short of God’s required standard. Because people do not see the truth of how high God's standard is for goodness, they began to make their own standard. So even when a person meets the standard set up by humanity, we still fall completely short of God's standard. Even the best of the best of us still fall under the condemnation of the preceding verses. Even if all of our good outweighed the bad, we would still be under the condemnation of these verses. Since even our goodness falls so short of God's standard there is nothing we can do good enough to please a Holy God.

It is only as we begin to see ourselves as God see us that we can even begin to experience salvation and freedom. Only when we get to the point of recognizing, ever so slightly, that we are missing the mark of God's Holiness in everything we do, not just the bad, that we are open to receive God's remedy for our sinfulness.

When we realize there is no hope in ourselves of ever being good enough for God and the impossibility of that happening by our own power are we in the place of receiving hope and salvation. When we 'know' what God says about us we can then turn our trust to the only One who can make a difference. When we turn from hope in ourselves to trust in Christ, we are then placed "in Christ" by God.

Those in Christ have been born again and are no longer in Adam with his identity. They have a new identity and are seen by God as no longer being in Adam but being in Christ. When our identity changes, it changes who we are. We are no longer seen by God as under the previous verses stated but are seen as the following verses state.

Those in Christ are:
Children of God - John 1:12; 1 John 3:1,2
Justified (counted righteous by God) - Romans 3:24
Dead to sin and alive to God - Romans 6:11
Recipients of eternal life - Romans 6:23
Not condemned - Romans 8:1
Foreknown by God (intimate knowledge, fellowship) - Romans 8:29
Called and glorified - Romans 8:30
Sanctified (counted Holy)- 1 Corinthians 1:30
New creation - 2 Corinthians 5:17
Righteous - 2 Corinthians 5:21
Rescued from Satan's power and placed into God's kingdom - Colossians 1:13
Completely forgiven - Colossians 2:13
No longer under the Law - Colossians 2:14
Complete - Colossians 2:10
Perfect (yes, perfect!) Hebrews 10:14

We are also:
Crucified with Christ - Galatians 2:20
Dead with Christ - Colossians 2:2-
Buried with Christ - Romans 6:4
Alive with Christ - Ephesians 2:5
Raised with Christ (in Heaven with Christ) - Colossians 3:1
Glorified and sufferers together with Christ - Romans 8:17

And these do not even cover the ones given in Ephesians such as:
Blessed with EVERY spiritual blessing; Elected; Loved; Predestined: Adopted: Accepted; Redeemed; Given wisdom and understanding; Given an inheritance; Secured by the Spirit; Raised and seated in the heavenlies; Recipients of God's grace and kindness; God's workmanship; United in one body; Given bold access to God.

This is the description of a person born again, this is 'who you are' if you are in Christ. This is how God sees you. But none of these are things 'we' accomplished, nor do accomplish, but what Christ has accomplished for us on the cross and His resurrection. He did it all.

1 Cor. 1:30 But by His doing (it is impossible for us to do this) you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption, 31 so that, just as it is written, “LET HIM WHO BOASTS, BOAST IN THE LORD.”

Learn to see yourself as to who God says you are, not in who you feel or think you are. If you do then you will grow in the Grace of God with confidence and security.