Who Are You Now?

By Tammy Lacock

“Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ.” (Philippians 3:8)

In this week’s podcast, Warren Litzman, once again, emphasizes the importance of the Apostle Paul’s gospel as the final gospel, the gospel for us today. Paul was the only man raised up by Christ Himself to deliver this gospel, that of Christ literally living in every believer, and he tells us over 146 times in his epistles. He also tells us how we must go about living our new life in Him.

In Philippians 3:8, the Apostle Paul tells of his identity crisis after coming to the revelation of Christ as his new life. He considers his old life — all that he thought he was — garbage compared to knowing Christ as his new life. His old life died with Christ on the cross (Galatians 2:20). He’s not a changed man now, but an entirely new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17). He’s born again! (1 Peter 1:23; John 3:3).

As believers, sooner or later we have the same identity crisis. Once the mystery is revealed to us, of Christ living in us, Paul tells us that the problem we now face is in our minds. What God did in our spirits, joining us to Christ in one spirit (1 Corinthians 6:17), we now have to catch up in our souls, where our minds reside. Our minds hold on to the identity of who we were. We will now need a radical mind-change if we are to start living our new life in Christ.

The problem with religion is that it is dedicated to correcting our old lives. By Christ’s death on the cross, Paul says, our old lives died, too. We no longer need to correct our old lives because we are now brand-new creations in Christ. We arose with Him to an entirely new life. He is our new life, and our identity is now Christ. God’s plan all along was not to make us better but to put another life in us, Christ’s life.

Now as we live our new lives in Christ, Paul says, our minds must be continually renewed in our daily walk so that we may express Him. Even more, he tells us many times, to give our minds over to Christ (Philippians 2:5; 1 Corinthians 2:16; Ephesians 4:23). By the help of the Holy Spirit, whose purpose now is to teach us of Christ in us and comfort us as we grow up in Him, we can start to live who God created us to be. He created us to be complete in Christ. He doesn’t see us at all by who we think we are. He sees Christ, who now lives in us. We are made righteous by Him. He is our strength, our peace, our joy, our wisdom, our very life now. Our new identity is Christ.

Paul wanted nothing more than to know Christ. His old identity died with Christ on the cross, and all He wanted was to know Him as his new resurrected life.

Warren tells us, through Paul’s epistles, that the key to Christianity is not going out and being a better person but knowing now God’s plan of putting Christ in us and giving our minds over to Him. He is our life now. He is our identity. May we get to know Him as our life, more and more every day!