Colossians 2:12 - 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.

Paul spoke of our "having been buried with Christ in baptism," in which we "were also raised with Him through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised him from the dead". Our old identity - the things that previously "made us" - has been put to death. Our new identity is "in Christ." We've been raised with Christ to walk "in newness of life" - no longer needing to depend on the "old things" to make us who we are.

Out of some very real incidents in mid-twentieth-century history comes the story that is now modern lore. Many years after the end of World War II, it was discovered that a lone Japanese soldier still occupied a Pacific island, harassing and attacking anyone who ever approached. He was considered a wild man, a crazy hermit of sorts but very dangerous. This fellow had never heard that the war was over, that his side had surrendered. Thus, he lived according to the old reality. He wasn't enjoying the peace coming from his side's defeat. He kept soldiering on, still warring according to his old identity.

Similarly, too many Christians continue living as if the death of sin is ultimately up to them. Or just as sadly, they continue on in sinful patterns of living, not realizing that they are living according to their old nature, not their new. This is why when Paul confronted Peter about his hypocrisy, he said that Peter was "not in step with the truth of the gospel" (Galatians 2:14).  Peter was living as if the "old things" were still in effect and the new things had not come.

If you're a Christian, here's the good news: you're free! Now you can spend your life giving up your place for others instead of guarding it from others, because your identity is in Christ, not your place.

Now you can spend your life going to the back instead of getting to the front, because your identity is in Christ, not your position.

Now you can spend your life giving, not taking, because your identity is in Christ, not your possessions.

All this is our new identity - all because of Christ's finished work declared to us in the gospel.

Helping people live life with Jesus everyday,