Today Kwan Porter and I continue our conversation on identity. It has been building up our spirits and reminding us of who we are.
The law is our tutor to lead us to Christ so that we would embrace our identity in Him. However, if the law is not handled properly it actually works against our identity in Christ.
Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount refers repeatedly to the standard of the law and each time He raises the standard. He goes on to say in Matthew 5:20, “That unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.”
The question that tends to come is, “How am I going to do that?” And therein lies the problem. We begin to focus on what we must do instead of on what He has done.
Jesus is actually trying to lead us to realize that we can never do enough. Jesus promised an answer to those who are hungry and thirsty. He said, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.” (Matt. 5:6) We become satisfied when we embrace Him and He transforms us and makes us righteous.
To make it clear, when Jesus said, “Your righteousness must exceed that of the scribes and Pharisees.” He was referring to Himself. When He said, “Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.” He was referring to Himself. He wants us to put our faith in His finished work – the 100% unfailing perfection of Jesus.
We don’t give Jesus our 97% so He can fill in the 3%. We bring all of us to Him, which accounts for 0% of our righteousness. He provides all 100% of the righteousness we receive, become, and are.
This is a faith walk. To believe what God says about us requires faith. God speaks identity in us and over us through His written word and the Holy Spirit. Romans 10:17 says, “Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God. I need to understand who I am because my doing flows out of my being. I am a human being, not a human doing.
I Peter 1:16 quotes Leviticus 11:44 and says, “Be holy, for I am holy”. It is a promise before it is a command. It’s a promise of who He is and always will be, “I am holy.” In addition, it is a promise of who He longs for us to be in Him.
It’s not something you are to do, it is something you are to receive. Listen to what He says. He says, “Be holy.” Jesus doesn’t say, “Act holy.” He says, “Be holy.” He says, “Be perfect.” It’s a place of being. It’s a promise to receive that I am perfect because I am in Christ. He is perfect. Therefore I am perfect. It’s a faith walk just to believe that and then after that my works will follow that.
The “works” that remain are actually fruit that remains. They flow out of who we are, from abiding in Him. We multiply who we are. We multiply out of our identity. In Genesis Adam spoke and named each animal out of its essence, its identity, and then each multiplied after its own kind.
For the longest time my identity and emotional stability was based on, “Did I get that right? Did I do that right?” How I felt about myself was based on outward appearances. It was about the doing.
But I am perfect in Christ. I am holy. It is my identity. Yes, I sometimes do very unperfect things. Yes, I sometimes do very unholy things.
This week we invite you to press in. See what God’s word and the Holy Spirit have to say about you. We are on this journey together.
