Jesus I know, and Paul I know,but who are You?

Leon ♦ September 16, 2011 ♦ 9 Comments

It is vitally important to know who we are in Christ.  If a person were locked in a jail cell for years, and someone came and unlocked the cell door for them, and they did not believe that the door was unlocked, the freedom that they had obtained would be of no effect. It is the same way with a Christian. If we accept Christ and receive his Holy Spirit, but continue to live as though we did not,  the power of God dwelling inside of us, likewise has little or no effect.

John 8:31-33³¹Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed;³²And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.

Jesus said that if we continue in his word, we would know the truth and it shall make us free.

John 17:16-18¹⁶They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.¹⁷Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.

God’s word is truth, and by it we begin to see who we truly are in Christ. The New Testament is written in a large extent, to help us understand who we are as Christians. Jesus explains that we are one with Him and the Father.

John 14:20 ²⁰At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you.

The Holy Spirit that dwells inside of us, is God. It is the same as Jesus and the Father, and that Spirit working through us, can do anything. 

Philippians 4:13 I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.

1John 4:17 Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world.

Once we know these things and understand them, then we should begin to behave and act differently. We need to open the unlocked jail cell, and not continue to behave as if it were still locked.

James 1:22-24 ²²But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.²³For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass:²⁴For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was.

The word of God is a mirror, that we look into to see who we are in Christ. Once we have looked into that mirror, we must remember what manner of man or woman we are, and begin to act accordingly.

2 Peter 1: 8-15 ⁸For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.⁹But he that lacketh these things is blind, and cannot see afar off, and hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins.¹⁰Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall:¹¹For so an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.¹²Wherefore I will not be negligent to put you always in remembrance of these things, though ye know them, and be established in the present truth.¹³Yea, I think it meet, as long as I am in this tabernacle, to stir you up by putting you in remembrance;¹⁴Knowing that shortly I must put off this my tabernacle, even as our Lord Jesus Christ hath shewed me.¹⁵Moreover I will endeavour that ye may be able after my decease to have these things always in remembrance.

In this short section of Peters second epistle he uses the word remembrance three times. He knew that he did not have much time left on this Earth, and wanted to make sure that those he was writing to remembered who they were, and what it meant to be a born again son of God.  This brings me to a story in the book of Acts. It points again to the importance of knowing who we are in Christ. Several Jews had witnessed the amazing power that was being demonstrated by the apostles and decided to try it for themselves.

Acts 19: 13-16 ¹³Then certain of the vagabond Jews, exorcists, took upon them to call over them which had evil spirits the name of the LORD Jesus, saying, We adjure you by Jesus whom Paul preacheth.¹⁴And there were seven sons of one Sceva, a Jew, and chief of the priests, which did so.¹⁵And the evil spirit answered and said, Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are ye?¹⁶And the man in whom the evil spirit was leaped on them, and overcame them, and prevailed against them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded.

Notice that the evil spirit said to them he knew Paul and he knew Jesus but who were they? And it does not record that they gave any answer. It is important to know the answer to that question. I am __________ son of the living God!