Identities of a Christian Pilgrim in a Fallen World, Part 1

"I give names in hope and prayer that my sons will become what their names imply. But God has the right and the power to cause anyone He names to become what the name implies. The names He gives are sure indicators of the destiny of those He names."

- John Piper, "I Am Who I Am".

"At the beginning of the 19th century, most obituaries made some mention of the character of the deceased. ... But by 1990 [a person's occupation] had become the key means by which a person was identified. This substitution of function for character is a unique mark of how the modern world now understands personhood."

- David F. Wells, God in the Wasteland; quoted in Tullian Tchividjian, Unfashionable.

"From now on, we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do it no longer."

- 2 Corinthians 5:16.

In my personal Bible studies over the past year or so, I have been asking myself, "What does the Bible say a Christian is? How can I express characteristics of all Christians in terms of 'I am [fill in the blank]' statements?" Originally setting out to find 100 "identities" in the New Testament, I have found over 150 in a search that has also spanned Psalms and Proverbs and called back to my mind other passages in the Old Testament.

I do not intend this to be an exhaustive list; and although my Reformed Baptist tendencies shine through in a few of the statements, I have tried to focus on and elaborate on areas where Biblical Christians from many denominations will find common ground. Some of these are not automatic "identities" but goals to work toward as a Christian. They are not organized by topic or passage, but only in the order that I thought of them. I'll continue to flesh these out and post these in many parts until the series is done, though I will probably take breaks during my upcoming trip to the Philippines and as I get ideas for more immediate writing.

1. I am a stranger in a strange land. Many people start to describe their identity based on the country of their birth. As a Christian, my identity properly begins with my standing in Christ. He transcends all boundaries built by man. Man's countries are strange places to me, since wherever I can go in this world, many people live as though God never gave them a law to obey. Ultimately, my citizenship is in heaven. And, unlike immigration processes in this world, my eternally permanent residency there will be certain. "Lord, I would not [want to] be a citizen where Jesus was an alien. ... My heart burns within me by the way when Thou dost speak to me. And though I be a sojourner, I am far more blessed than those who sit on thrones, and far more at home than those who dwell in their ceiled houses." - C.H. Spurgeon. (1 Peter 2:11; Philippians 3:20)

2. I am chosen for God since before time began. God has spent redemptive history gathering for Himself His elect - all those who repent of their sins and believe on Him alone for salvation. And He is not subject to their whims and fancies. He chose His sheep before the foundation of the world. He calls them; they hear His voice, and they come to Him. "Predestination we call the eternal decree of God, by which He has determined in Himself, what He would have to become of every individual of mankind. For they are not all created with a similar destiny; but eternal life is foreordained for some and eternal death for others. Every man, therefore, being created for one or the other of these ends, we say he is predestinated either to life or to death." - John Calvin. (Ephesians 1:4; John 10:27)

3. I am saved for the glory of God. He has chosen to glorify Himself by saving me by His grace, which I can testify in my life is completely unmerited favor. Yet He is glorified when He says that He can save an idolatrous wretch such as I. He operates for His own sake and has no reason to give His glory to anyone else. "God is the one Being in all the universe for whom seeking His own praise is the ultimately loving act. For Him, self-exaltation is the highest virtue. When He does all things 'for the praise of His glory' as Ephesians 1 says, He preserves for us and offers to us the only thing in all the world which can satisfy our longings." - John Piper, "Is God for Us or for Himself?". (Isaiah 48:11; Ephesians 1:11-14).

4. I am given a specific mission on this earth: to make God's name great in every area of my life. This includes both obvious spiritual activities, such as prayer and worship, and the common things of everyday life, such as work and leisure time. God, by His sovereign design, made the common tasks of life and work necessary. We ought not to regard these as barriers to ministry or other more preferable activities. "God is pursued as I play with my son and we talk. / As we play hide and seek, God is seeing my heart. / There's no separation in places where He wants worship. / From my church to my work, God calls me to service. / So I serve Him." - Dillon Chase, "The Pursuit". (1 Corinthians 10:31)

5. I am passing through this world, not here forever. Human bodies aging over time and dying only prove that God has created our earthly bodies as temporal and mortal. The fact that God has allowed us to be aliens in strangers in a world where Biblical Christianity is not popular merely reinforces that we do not have a home on this planet. Instead, we look forward to the eternal "home of righteousness". "Heaven is not here; it's There. If we were given all we wanted here, our hearts would settle for this world rather than the next. God is forever luring us up and away from this one, wooing us to Himself and His still invisible Kingdom, where we will certainly find what we so keenly long for." - Elisabeth Elliot. (Romans 6:12; 2 Peter 2:13)

6. I am a slave to Christ, not sin. Rather than continuing to worship and serve the creatures of God as I once did, I am driven to obey Christ, the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of His being, Who sustains all things by His powerful word and is sure to sustain me as He sees fit. His commands on me are not burdensome, and obeying them brings me greater joy. Shunning anything of this world that causes me to see Him as less wonderful is not legalism to me, because it ultimately causes me to see Christ as more beautiful and satisfying. "If Christ has died for me, ungodly as I am, without strength as I am, then I cannot live in sin any longer. I must arouse myself to love and serve Him who has redeemed me. I cannot trifle with the evil that killed my best Friend. I must be holy for His sake. How can I live in sin when He has died to save me from it?" - C.H. Spurgeon. "And like a bondslave, you have no will of your own. / Just follow the will of God until you kneel at the throne." - 116 Clique, "It's Yours". (Romans 1:25; Romans 7:25; Hebrews 1:3; 1 John 5:3)

7. I am gazing at the Serpent on a pole. The ancient Israelites had to look at a bronze snake to be saved from the snakes that were killing them. The Son of Man was lifted up on a cross - dying the most offensive kind of death, given at that time only to criminal, non-Roman citizens. There, He died to save me. "Fix your eyes on the cross. And never get beyond it." - Arturo Azurdia, "Cross Eyed Life". "You will need nothing to build strange fires in your oven, if you only catch a glimpse of what He did on that tree." - Paul Washer, "Ten Indictments against the Modern Church in America". (Numbers 21:4-9; John 3)

8. I am continually broken so that God may empty me of myself, conform me to His image, and fill me with Himself. Although unbelievers may also find themselves broken as they go through the struggles of life, they do not experience trials to grow them in their faith because God has not given them repentance and faith. "Just as water ever seeks and fills the lowest place, so the moment God finds you abased and empty, His glory and power flow in." - Andrew Murray. (Romans 8:29)

9. I am pursued by God. I began my life in this world as a lost person - like a lost sheep. I had, possibly, some remembrance of who the Shepherd was, but I did not know where I was supposed to be, how to get there, or where the Shepherd was. He had to leave the ninety-nine found sheep and find me. The ninety-nine found displayed an outward religious veneer that showed themselves as perfect, with no need for a Savior. Yet Jesus found me in my sin - in my great need for turning from that sin and trusting wholly in Him alone - and He granted me repentance and faith and saved me. "He continues his care of the sheep that did not go astray; they are safe in the wilderness. But there is a particular care to be taken of this lost sheep; and though he has a hundred sheep, a considerable flock, yet he will not lose that one, but he goes after it, and shows abundance of care, in finding it out. He follows it, enquiring after it, and looking about for it, until he finds it. God follows backsliding sinners with the calls of his word and the strivings of his Spirit, until at length they are wrought upon to think of returning. ... There is a world of holy angels that are as the ninety-nine sheep, a noble flock; yet God sends his Son to seek and save that which was lost." - Matthew Henry. (Luke 15:7; Acts 11:18; 2 Timothy 2:25)

10. I am a pursuer of God. Called to flee the evil desires that I have known since birth, I must shun this world's natural passions and instead pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace - characteristics of my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Much of this life pursuing God must be a hidden life. "See what a hidden life the life of a good Christian is and how much of it is concealed from the eye and the observation of the world. The most important part of the business lies between God and our own souls, in the frame of our spirits and the workings of our hearts, in our actions that no eye sees except the all-seeing God." - Matthew Henry, Experiencing God's Presence. (Psalm 83:3; 2 Timothy 2:22).

Small Group Lesson: Titus 3:1-11

I tweeted recently that I would not have a new post this past weekend because I was preparing a small group lesson. Earlier this week, I taught my small group from the book of Titus. Here are my notes from the lesson:

Context of the book of Titus:

Paul identifies himself as "a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ" (1:2) and writes this letter "for the sake of God's elect and their knowledge of the truth". He is definitely writing to believers here. He considers Titus, a pastor in Crete, his "true son in the faith" (1:4) and co-laborer in the gospel. Titus, a Gentile, ministered to other Gentiles living in Ephesus, Macedonia, and Crete. He had traveled with Paul to Rome, but they had a shipwreck which forced them to take shelter at Crete. Paul left him in Crete to appoint elders in every town, that there might be churches in every town there. The churches there had significant problems with false teaching (1:10-16). Paul combated this by listing qualifications for elders in chapter 1 and instructions for cross-generational fellowship in the church body in chapter 2.

Titus 3: (ESV)

¹Remind them to be submissive to rulers and authorities,

"them" refers to those who Titus is ministering to in Crete. Crete, in this time, was under the authority of the Roman Empire. So were the recipients of Peter and Paul's epistles, where they were instructed to suffer well for Christ in spite of rulers and authorities (the government - like in Romans) who stood firmly against the truth of God and would even kill them for saying that Jesus is Lord.

to be obedient, to be ready for every good work,

So Titus needs to instruct them to not only submit to these leaders in actions but to use each opportunity they get to do these leaders good. They are not to be Christians whose job is to kick out an oppressive secular regime and put one of their own in power so that they will not be persecuted. Paul, in effect, wants Titus to tell these believers to suffer well for the sake of Christ under the oppressive rule of Rome. This is a practical example of living out Christ's words in Luke 6:28 ("bless those who curse you") and Paul's instructions in Romans 12:14 ("bless those who persecute you").

²to speak evil of no one,

Notice that it says "of" and not "to". "Of" implies that Titus is to instruct the church to not speak evil "about" anyone. This applies to speaking evil to another person or speaking evil about them when they are not looking. Speaking evil robs good works (vv. 1, 8) of their effect on their recipient. It shows an inconsistent walk.

to avoid quarreling,

As Calvin said, there are more ways to fight than with fists and weapons. Quarreling is fighting with words.

to be gentle, and to show perfect courtesy toward all people

Again, Paul permits no loopholes. The Christian is to be gentle and courteous, both characteristics of Christ, to all people, even those who mistreat them and use them for selfish gain.

³For we ourselves were once foolish,

The word "for" implies that this and what follows serves as a justification for the instructions in vv. 1-2. "Ourselves were once" shows that, in the condition of our hearts and our actions, we were once just like the people that were speaking evil of us and doing wrong to us now. "Foolish", according to Calvin, seems to refer to their past ignorance of the gospel.

disobedient,

This is a contrast to "obedient" in v. 1, here describing their former way of life. Unbelief is inherently wayward and rebellious.

led astray,

Tying this into the next phrase, it seems to be referring to an ability to fall to temptation easily, maybe because of a lack of firm rooting in the faith and the body of doctrine.

slaves to various passions and pleasures,

Their desires ruled them. They did whatever felt right (passions) and whatever gave them joy (pleasures) without considering what the Word of God says is right. "Various" refers to the fact that many different desires were ruling them. It was not just a desire for sex, money, power, the praise of men, or anything else. It was a combination.

passing our days in malice and envy,

"Passing our days" means their lives were just passing by with them continuing in these attitudes of selfish motives and wrong intentions (malice) and being greedy or envious because, in the sinful desires of their heart, they were comparing themselves to others.

hated by others and hating one another.

And in that comparison to others, they were competitors against each other. This "hated by others" does not refer to persecution, because the world hates Christians for a different reason: we are not of the world. The test of assurance of salvation of loving the brethren is a test of true conversion because unbelievers cannot love in the way that we can love.

⁴But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared,

God, in His nature, is true love, not love on the surface like this world has. "Appeared" refers not to Christ's appearing to all men (elect and non-elect), but His work that the elect particularly benefit from in the gospel. We are saved because faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God. We must hear the gospel in order to be saved. I would say this refers to the hearing of the gospel and (v. 5) the work of regeneration in us that allowed us to say that we have truly been saved by God. I say this because the "But" stands in contrast to our former ways of life in v.3.

⁵he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit,

His work in us is by His mercy, not by our credentials. We can thus say His election of us is unconditional. He saved us. We did not save ourselves. His justice to us was satisfied in the person and work of Jesus Christ, not in our own acts of self-righteousness which He sees as filthy rags. But He must work in us in regenerating our hearts, turning a heart of stone into a heart of flesh. The regeneration is a one-time occurrence. The renewal is day-to-day. As progressive sanctification takes place in us, we exhibit less and less of the characteristics of v.3.

⁶whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior,

"Whom" is the Holy Spirit; "He" is God the Father", and "Jesus Christ our Savior" is the means the Father used to save us. This is all of the Trinity acting as one God in three separate persons in one verse. Think about "richly". It means we have no idea how blessed we are with our salvation through Jesus Christ. "Poured out" also highlights the great extent and value of this work. The Father could have just forgiven our sins. But He has declared us "not guilty" and allowed us to enjoy all sorts of spiritual blessings in Christ.

⁷so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.

The hope of eternal life is not past or present grace, but future grace. Our inheritance in Christ, made possible by God's mercy and His work in saving us, is that we have certain hope in eternal life. It is certain because we are not hoping in the accomplishments of ourselves, which are subject to inconsistency and never meet God's standards anyway, but in the finished and perfect work of Jesus Christ.

⁸The saying is trustworthy, and I want you to insist on these things,

"The saying" is v.7. "Insist on these things" means defend them before your churches where you minister and before men. Do not bend on this gospel.

so that those who have believed in God may be careful to devote themselves to good works.

Paul's motivation for telling Titus to insist on these things is so that the churches where he ministered - and he assumes the church consists only of believers - would live out their faith.

These things are excellent and profitable for people.

"These things" refers to sound doctrine rooted in the true gospel. This does a true church consisting of real believers a lot of good.

⁹But avoid foolish controversies, genealogies, dissensions, and quarrels about the law, for they are unprofitable and worthless.

These are all referring to side issues which pale in importance to the core doctrines of the faith. Genealogies were a particular problem in their day; people in that time, even Gentiles on Crete, had been giving allegorical and mystical interpretations to "he begat him". "Dissension" refers to stirring up controversy. "Quarrels about the law" refers to people making dogmatic statements about things that Scripture does not state clearly. In Judaism there are many commentaries on the Torah which have significant doctrinal weight. They deal with "here is what you should do in this very specific situation". In effect, it adds more law on top of the law. False teachers were also involved in using the law for their own gain by making assertions about it.

¹⁰As for a person who stirs up division, after warning him once and then twice, have nothing more to do with him,

This is similar to how Corinth was to deal with the immoral brother, but without bringing this matter before the whole church. We are to treat such a person as a pagan and an outcast (Matthew 18:17). Warning someone twice emphasizes the seriousness of the warning. The warning means: tell them that they are in sin and if they continue down this course the results will be destructive. The "person who stirs up division" refers to someone who seeks to divide the Body of Christ by attacking historic Christian doctrine. The true church is united, but it must be pure by not allowing strange doctrines (in their day, the circumcision group who said people needed to be circumcised in order to be saved) to infiltrate it and over time, cause it to no longer stand for the truths that set it apart as Christian.

¹¹knowing that such a person is warped and sinful; he is self-condemned.

"Warped and sinful" refers to the condition of the person's heart. "Warped" means "twisted" or "perverted"; "sinful" refers to his persistent sin of rejecting the truth. The Greek word translated "a person who stirs up division" is the word from which we get our word "heretic", but in that day it referred to making a choice. This person is stubborn in their choice and not willing to submit it to the Word of God.

Application:

1. As Martyn Lloyd-Jones said, following Christ means "leaving yourself outside." This is not something that the natural man can do. God must work this in us.

2. v.3: From time to time, a Christian will fall into sin or struggle with it for an extended period. Realize that this stems from what you were before the Lord saved you. Fight to live out not your inborn identity, but the identity that Christ has given you.

3. v.3: Most sins come from envy (v.3), which has covetousness as its root. Desire God above all selfish ambition, and covetousness will become less of a problem.

4. vv.6-7: Think often of the significance of your salvation. Thank God for it in worship and prayer, and use it as a motivator for you to discuss the gospel with others, both nonbelievers and other believers. There should never be a time when we find the gospel insignificant and look for other things in Christianity (or psychology or sociology, etc.) to prop up our faith.

5. v.8: Defend the gospel. It is under constant attack from nonbelievers and, perhaps more than that, from fake Christians and misguided believers who think that something else is the gospel.

6. v.9: If you are in a disagreement with someone, consider the importance of the issue that you disagree about. Many Christians tend to fellowship well with another Christian until they happen upon one point of disagreement. Then their fellowship can turn bitter and they can even lose their friendship as they talk about that one issue at length. Also, see if your position is really in line with Scripture or if you have just been arguing based on feeling.

7. v.10: He is writing to a pastor. Most of us are people in the congregation. Have we ever been the person that stirred up division? If so, we need to repent and look at others in light of how God sees them.