6. Why identity matters

Some of the most important—and controversial—claims of the Bible are about our identity before God. Our identity as children of God is important, because it reveals who we are and—more importantly—whose we are.

Identity and inheritance

In an age where culture sets us free to claim and proclaim our own identity, scriptural truth is more important than ever. In Romans, Paul offers homosexual acts as a symptom of a world descending into spiritual darkness. He states that sex between men and sex between women is “contrary to nature” in a way that offends God. In First Corinthians, Paul includes homosexuality in what is called a “vice list,” which means a list of deeply ingrained sins that separate us from God:

Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor men who have sex with men nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. 

—1 Corinthians 6: 9–10

This is very strong language. It’s strong against all the sins it lists. Strong against same-sex sex acts, yes. But also strong against people who worship stuff, who run off with another person’s spouse, who steal, or who live lives without generosity. Strong against folks who drink their way through life. Strong against people who make a profession of taking verbal pot-shots at others. Strong against those who cheat others for a living. All these people, Paul says, will not “inherit the kingdom of God.” He’s talking to believers. He’s telling followers of Christ within the Corinthian church that the way they live their lives rebuffs the gift of grace Jesus has offered them.

These had to have been chilling words for the Corinthians. No doubt many wondered how God’s grace could possibly fit in. Was Paul saying that anyone who has ever done any of these things is beyond God’s grace? No, because he is not referring to sinful actions—even many sinful actions—but rather sin that is so entrenched in a person that it has become a way of life. Is there a difference between a person who gets drunk and a drunkard? Paul seems to think so. Or what about a person who cheated once on their taxes versus someone who cheats others for a living?

When we look at it this way, we see that Paul was worried about sinful habits and patterns that deny the power of the Holy Spirit in our lives. These were unrepented sins that had come to define a person’s livelihood, or way of life, or leisure time. Some of the Corinthians had identified with these sins to the point that their identity in Christ was being overshadowed. Did it mean they were at risk of losing their salvation altogether? Paul didn’t go that far, but he did seem convinced that identification with sin can ruin our walk, literally wreck us like a sailing ship against jagged rocks. All the things he listed—theft, slander, drunkenness, sexual immorality—can block the sanctifying power of Christ’s sacrifice in our lives. And that’s something no true follower of Christ should ever want.

Identity and sin

So what does it mean to identify with sin? To understand what Paul was saying about homosexuality, we have to look at what he was saying about sin in general. He definitely was not talking about being tempted to sin, or slipping into sin, or struggling against sin. He was talking about being given over to sin.

Look at the language Paul uses in his letter to the Romans, when he is talking about the destructive power of sin in the world:

Just as they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, so God gave them over to a depraved mind, so that they do what ought not to be done. They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; they have no understanding, no fidelity, no love, no mercy.

—Romans 1: 28–31

Paul wasn’t picking on one group of people here. He was calling out those who “did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God.” This included believers. So yes, it’s possible even for a believer in Christ to wander down a path of darkness, away from God and His provision, thinking God is walking alongside when He is not.

This radical perspective on the destructiveness of sin helps us understand a few specific things about same-sex attraction, such as how we should view it, and how we should not:

• First, same-sex sexual temptation does not turn a person away from God. Temptation is a precarious thing, because it means our flesh is pushing back against the the Holy Spirit. But temptation itself isn’t sin. It wasn’t sin when Jesus suffered it for 40 days in the desert, and it’s not sin when you or I experience it. Being tempted is human. It's how we deal with the temptation that counts. Do we give in to sin and let it lead us someplace dark that God won’t go, or do we fight back and stay in the light?

• Second, same-sex sexual acts do not turn a person away from God, either. Perhaps even many homosexual acts do not turn a person away from God. What turns a person away from God is more than simply doing it: it's identifying with the sin, refusing to repent from it, building one’s life around it, going out of one's way for it, making a sport of it, chasing after it, and making a comfortable space for it.  

There’s a huge lesson here that all Christians need to slow down and hear. Our identity matters. Who we think we are and say we are matters. How our actions connect with the way we live matters. How we live our lives matters. Knowing who we are matters. Knowing who we aren’t also matters.

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!

—2 Corinthians 5: 17

Who God says we are

All humans long for identity, and if we don’t feel we have an identity, we will usually create one for ourselves. But we don’t need to look inward or sit on a mountaintop to discover the truth about our identity, because God already tells us who we are:

One way we know identity matters to our walk with God is because Satan constantly tries to manipulate our sense of who we are. He went after Jesus over who he is too. When Jesus was wandering in the desert by himself, Satan twice identified him by his title—the Son of God—yet did so questioningly:

"If you are the Son of God..."

—Luke 4: 3; 9

Jesus did not fall for this provocation, because just a few days before, he had been told by God Himself that he is the Son of God:

And the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.”

—Luke 3: 22

The Adversary comes after each of us the same way: attacking not what we’ve done wrong but who we believe we are. Our sense of identity is always most fragile after some moral failure. We make a blunder and our first thought is, "Oh, I am such a bad person!” Or: bad father, bad mother, bad husband, bad wife, bad son, bad daughter, etc. This self-talk blurs the facts of our identity, and the Adversary knows that if we claim these things for ourselves often enough, we will soon believe them and act as if they are true. The Adversary knows he can unplug us from our God-given identity by rewiring it.

The new creation

We need to take seriously who we are and be protective of who we are. God will help us, yes, but as followers of Christ, we must believe that what God says about us is true and trustworthy. Our identity as Christians must be premised not on a feeling or sense, but rather on what we know is true. Paul writes:

So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!

—2 Corinthians 5: 16-17

Following Christ brings about a change in self-perception built on what God has done, not on how we feel. This isn't easy, since human beings are swayed by emotions and feelings. But we are instructed to heed the wisdom God offers, even when it is at odds with what we feel:

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding.

—Proverbs 3: 5

After all, our feelings can be confusing or fickle:

Even in laughter the heart may ache, and rejoicing may end in grief.

—Proverbs 14: 13

And they can be downright misleading:

The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?

—Jeremiah 17: 9

We are to give God’s Holy Spirit the final word when it comes to the truth about who we are, as revealed through Paul:

In him you were also circumcised with a circumcision not performed by human hands. Your whole self ruled by the flesh was put off when you were circumcised by Christ, having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through your faith in the working of God, who raised him from the dead.

—Colossians 2: 11-12

We are to accept this new beginning not as cute symbolism, but as a lifeline. That means we must actively relinquish any old self-perceptions that don't line up with the truth about us as regenerated followers of Christ:

Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.

—Philippians 3: 12-14

For discussion:

1. Do you struggle with identity in some way, either in the world or as a follower of Christ? How do you manage these struggles?

2. Look again at the list of "WE ARE" statements above and their corresponding scriptures. Have you ever questioned any of these truths about you as a child of God? How has God interceded to reassure you?

3. Which of the "WE ARE" statements do you find most comforting? Explain why.

4. Which feelings or emotions do you find it especially difficult to override with the truth about who and whose you are? Why do you think this is?