2 Cor 5:17
By Rob Parlante

A few weeks ago I got a call from an electronics retail store in California (I live in New Jersey) asking if I authorized a purchase of $5000 worth of computer equipment. My immediate response was no, I don’t know anything about this particular purchase on my credit card. I soon discovered that day I had multiple charges on my credit card that weren’t mine. Some anxiety initially set in, but soon subsided when my credit card company immediately closed the hacked account and issued me a new credit card. All was back to normal in about 2 hours. Someone with evil intentions stole my identity and used my credit card. This is identity theft which seems to be more prevalent today than it did 10 years ago. Someone took over my identity pretending to be me. The credit card company is investigating this illegal purchase and hopefully will make an arrest.

As born again believers we have a new spiritual identity. When we place our faith in Christ’s, death, burial and resurrection for the forgiveness of our sins, we are instantaneously indwelt with the Holy Spirit and become spiritually alive. We are translated from being a Sinner (In Adam) to being a Saint (In Christ). Our new identity is that of a Saint who is spiritually “In Christ”. In scripture there is no special Saint category, all born again believers are described as Saints. A Saint is simply a believer. 2nd Cor 5:17 is a homerun verse describing ones new identity as a Saint in Christ.

2 Corinthians 5:17 (AMP) Therefore if any person is [ingrafted] in Christ (the Messiah) he is a new creation (a new creature altogether); the old [previous moral and spiritual condition] has passed away. Behold, the fresh and new has come!

A born again believer’s new identity never changes and is secure because as the scripture says, the old (In Adam) has passed away and the new creation (In Christ) has come. A Saint in Christ will for eternity always be a Saint in Christ. Being in Christ is a never changing secure spiritual reality. No matter what you do or don’t do, a born again believer will always remain a Saint who is in Christ.

Unfortunately, we have an enemy, the Evil One, who is trying to deceive all born again believers into believing because we sin (we do every day), that this means we are still sinners. The deception goes further with the teaching that a believer has two natures, the sin nature and the new spiritual nature, and the one that we spend time pursuing the most, will result in the corresponding behavior (Good or Bad). From a humanistic perspective, that seems to make sense but is an error. The Evil One propagates this error by influencing believers to view themselves as the same old sinner, with two opposing natures in conflict, even though the spiritual reality is that we have become Saints who are in Christ. Brothers and sisters, the scriptures are very clear on this point, as a born again believer, as a Saint who is in Christ, there is only one new nature. YOU ARE A NEW CREATION. You are a Saint in Christ. You are not a sinner; you’re a Saint who sometimes sins. This good news gets even better, because of your new nature; the power of sin is broken. You now have the power not to sin because you’re a new creation. WOW ! Romans chapter 6 explains this beautifully.

The Evil One is trying to convince you, you are still a sinner, he whispers in your ear, look at the sin you committed today. This is the Evil One way of stealing your identity. This is the Evil Ones version of identity theft. This is spiritual identity theft. He is stealing your identity, like the person who stole my credit card number. He is trying to keep you from knowing what you have become and what you posses because you are now a Saint, who is in Christ.

If the Evil One can keep you believing you are still a sinner, not a Saint who sometimes sins, he has trapped, paralyzed and stagnated you from living a victorious, abundant life Christian life. He has been successful in making you a schizophrenic Christian. This was never Christ’s intention for believers. You are a Saint who is in Christ, and Christ wants to express Himself through you. Pray that the Lord will break the Evil Ones stronghold in your mind, and that the true spiritual reality that you are a Saint, would take root.

If you would like to learn more about the truths described here, come join us at Grace Christian Church, currently meeting at the Freehold VFW, every Sunday at 9:30 am.

In Him, Rob Parlante – Elder / Grace Christian Church