Who You are Today

Most of us would agree that once we accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior, our spirit is changed in an instant and we have eternal salvation.

But what if we sin after receiving salvation? Is God mad at us? Does that change who we are?

To answer that question, let’s visit the book of 1 Corinthians.

Corinth was a church of people who had received salvation, but then had some issues. They got drunk during communion, one member was sleeping with his father’s wife, they were suing each other, etc. Needless to say, there were a few problems. And the apostle Paul wrote to them about it:

“Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you.”

-1 Corinthians 6:9-10

It’s interesting that Paul said, “such WERE some of you.” Surely, Paul meant, “such ARE some of you.”

But Paul wasn’t trying to get them to identify with their old ways of living (their flesh). He was reinforcing who they truly were in Jesus. He continues in verse 11:

“But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God.”

We, like the Corinthians, may fall back into doing some of the sinful things we used to do. But those actions don’t define us. It has never been about what we do, but about what Christ has done for us.

Jesus took stripes on the cross so we could be completely washed clean of sin. Just like Paul said, God now calls us washed, justified, holy, and righteous.

That is who you are today and who you forever will be.

And if that is how God—the Creator of the universe—identifies us, who are we to say otherwise?

Listen as Pastor Mark explains more on “Who You are Today.”