Your Identity in Christ: Forgiven!

We have been thinking about idolatry and how idolatry impacts our lives.  We agree with Calvin who once wrote, “The human heart is a factory of idols.” Now we would like to think a bit about our identity in Christ that helps to provide a solution to our idolatrous hearts.  In other words, we are simply going to look at the gospel message and view it from various angles that help us see who we really are in Christ.

Pastor Viars recently spoke on the topic of “Are you ashamed or forgiven?”  “Forgiven.”  Don’t you love that word?  Isn’t it wonderful to think that my sins, your sins, all those who repent and trust Christ have their sin removed as far as the east is from the west?  Unpacking Zechariah 3 Pastor Viars explains the metaphor used in that text for once being filthy and now being made clean.  In this passage, Joshua is closed with filthy garments.  The meaning of “filthy” is not easy to discern – the word is not used often, but it would appear that this is no ordinary dirt.  Apparently, it is like jumping down into the pit of an outhouse.  My mother would have not even let me in the yard, let alone the house, if I were clothed like that!  But the beauty comes when the angel of the Lord (pre-incarnate Christ???) given Joshua a new set of clothes.  These clothes are clean and pure.  Joshua is not seen as his uncleanness presents him, but as one who is pure.  According to 2 Cor 5:17-21, “we have become the righteousness of God in Him.”   When God sees us, he sees us differently.  What a truth! 

Friend, the solution to idolatry is to be all about Jesus.  I have never been a huge music fan and certainly not a fan of certain kinds of music.  While DC Talk would never rank among my favorites, their song “Jesus Freak” does have a message.  Maybe if we were more fired up about Jesus, without a care about the ramifications of others, and what Jesus is doing to build his church we would have a lot less time to focus on the things we might otherwise worship.  The next blog post will continue this subject by looking at the subject of Freedom in Christ.

Rob Green
Pastor Rob Green oversees Faith Biblical Counseling Ministries. A seasoned counselor, Rob also teaches others how to counsel--through FBCM's training conferences and Faith Bible Seminary's MABC program.