³ Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ,⁴ just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him. In love ⁵ He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will” – Ephesians 1:3-5

Identity theft is a common problem in our country and something most of us will have to deal with at one time or another.  It is not only a violation of our personhood, but the effects can be far reaching from debt, legal defense, damage to credit rating, and affects can prevent one from obtaining credit, real estate, even a new job.  I am dealing with the aftermath of it for the second time in my life and it is quite an inconvenience.  However, put in proper perspective, it must not be understated that the ramifications are temporary, not eternal.  The truth is that if identity theft is a problem in your life, that means that you are one of the top 10% of income earners in the world and probably don’t lose sleep wondering about where your next meal is coming from.  Hundreds of millions of people will go to sleep hungry tonight, without access to clean water, often using a dirt floor as their bed.  That is not to say that the problem is not significant, but we should not lose sight of the big picture.

I say all of that to say this: Identity theft is a huge problem, but not the way we think.  It is the Identity theft of the soul that we must be aware of as children of God.

 

The Enemy comes to steal, kill and destroy (John 10:10).  One of the key areas to attack is our identity in Christ.  In this world, we have three enemies which are the flesh, the world and the devil.  Whether actively or passively, these three work together in ways that target our identity in an effort to distance us from God.  The two primary ways this occurs is through sorrow and pride.

SORROW

In the Hebrew, Satan can be translated Adversary or opponent, but the masculine form of the noun is found 27 times and always translated Accuser.  This is one of the most important things to know about our spiritual adversaries because it is one of the key strategies used to assault the children of God or those who might become children of God.  Shame, Guilt, and Regret are poisonous arrows in the quiver of lies and they are constantly being shot at us.  They come in the form of our thoughts, they come in the form of memories, they come in the words of friends and family, and sadly they often come from the tongues of other believers.  The tongue is a restless evil full of deadly poison.  If you don’t have James 3:4-9 memorized, learn it now and teach others, it will help the church get healthy.

The reason I mark this out is because it is a tremendous weapon that leaves us bruised and battered, feeling worthless, always carrying about our heavy suitcase of shame, guilt and regret, muddling through life shifting our baggage from one tired hand to the other.  The Enemy gets pleasure in pointing out our failures and reminding us of them often, it is the way he assaults grace.  It is a way of playing on a subtle pride in us that wants to do something worthy of grace.  It is a way of confusing feeling of being worthless with being properly unworthy!  It is the way of separating us from God and the community of believers.  This tactics has been the wedge of many wandering sheep who don’t feel worthy to be back with the 99, who are more comfortable being forgotten than back in the fold feeling like everyone is merely tolerating them.  This is the sorrow the enemy wants to ingrain into our perceived identity.

For the sorrow that is according to the will of God produces a repentance without regret, leading to salvation, but the sorrow of the world produces death. – 2 Corinthians 7:10

 

I posted Ephesians 1:3-5 above because it contains a profound truth.  Yes, it is a heavy theological statement that is foundational to many of our doctrines, but there is a practical application of the text that is often missed.  Central to the gospel of grace is that God chose you before time began.  That means that before you ever did anything to cause you shame, before you ever did anything to cause you guilt, before anyone was able to do anything to you to make you feel worthless, God chose you to be His!  If you have been around church for a while, you have probably heard this, but I want you to let it sink in.  This is not just head knowledge, this is the sort of truth that becomes transforming heart knowledge.  This is your identity as a child adopted by God.  God is not the author of confusion, however it is a tactic of the enemy to cloud what God has made clear.  We are children of God before time began, yet we often allow our identity to be altered by experience, by achievement, by personality types, by relationships, by culture and by every other label maker the world wants to throw at us.  We must resist and constantly seek the resolve, pray for resolve to be content in being who God says we are!

PRIDE

Upon finishing his sermon, preacher John Bunyan, author of Pilgrims Progress, was approached by a parishioner who told him, “that was an excellent sermon Pastor.”  To which Bunyon replied, “I know, the devil told me the same thing as I was coming down the pulpit stairs.”

In dealing with pride, Jesus first addressed this in the Sermon on the Mount.  “Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.” (Matthew 5:3).  In this statement, Jesus makes it very clear that the disposition of the soul for every person who will be saved is one of humility which is the opposite of pride.  The word poor that Jesus uses can be interpreted as beggar.  So to further unpack the meaning, we see that to be poor in spirit is to have an honest self-awareness that we are beggars at the door, asking to be let in with full recognition that we have nothing to offer, nothing in us is even available to offer, no merit whatsoever, just the pure mercy of God to allow us in, by His grace and His choosing.

Everyone who is proud in heart is an abomination to the Lord; Assuredly, he will not be unpunished. – Proverbs 16:5

One of the biggest obstacles in the life of any person desiring to be saved is pride.  I am not talking about the brash, arrogant pride that even the world finds offensive, I am talking about the nuances of pride, those thoughts that subtly take root in us to begin a mild distortion of who we are.  These thoughts take root in our minds, nurtured as harmless and eventually give birth to sin.  We begin to grow great admiration for things we are doing, the ministry we are engaged in, the bible knowledge we are growing, the charity work we are doing, and with each thought, surrendering ground in our call to become like Jesus (Romans 8:29).  Jesus spoke to this in Matthew 7:21-23 when He told a group of church goers that He never knew them before sending them to hell.  One thing of great importance about this passage is that those that Jesus addressed respond to Christ in a very human way.  Rather than with a humble spirit, they respond pridefully by listing their credentials and all the things they have done.  Their answer reveals two things, first is that they had placed their faith in the things they were doing rather than the finished work of Christ; second we see that their answer reveals that they have never had a complete shattering of confidence in themselves, no humility, no understanding of being a beggar, completely destitute with nothing to offer.  Instead of responding, “Jesus, have mercy on me a sinner,” they took on the role of the pharisee who “prayed” in the temple and thanked God that he was not like those sinners.  Listing all of their ministry accomplishments revealed their hearts and motives which was to place the things they have done above what Christ has done for us.  This is the most dangerous form of pride because it is cloaked in moral goodness, a true wolf in sheep’s clothing.  Whenever I have the opportunity to serve God, I always have to ask myself what my motives are (Proverbs 16:2-3)?  Is my involvement for the cause of Christ or myself?  Am I motivated by the pursuit of moral goodness? or am I motivated by the pursuit of holiness?  Man looks at the outward appearance, but God looks at the heart (1 Samuel 16:7), so only you can answer that question for yourself.

PROPERLY UNWORTHY

There are too many verses to quote on the problem of pride, but I can tell you to check your motives (Psalm 139:23-24), seek His Kingdom first (Matthew 6:33), manage your thought life (Philippians 4:8), and give thanks every morning!  The truth is that our hearts of darkness have many hidden chambers in which pride and self-righteousness hide out and are kept alive by rationalization.  The best thing for any of us is probably the path of Job, to have much and lose everything.  We can say that things will be okay, but the truth is that there is a profound peace to walk that path and come out the other end and realizing that you are okay.  For some, this process is a gift, for others pure faith is the gift, but whatever the path, we should all be mindful to growing the childlike faith of Matthew 18:3, for that is the genuine faith.  We are not worthless, we are not worthy, but we are unworthy, which understood properly, solidifies our identity and a provokes a response to love by surrender!