How justification, reconciliation, and regeneration affect my identity
In this week’s discussion question, we are asked to discuss the one implication of the objective doctrine of justification by faith that is most subjectively meaningful to us in our personal relationship with the Lord Jesus. We are to discuss a topic that is deeply meaningful to us personally.
I became a born-again follower of Christ in the summer of 1995 when I was 34 years old. For a substantial part of my Christian life (what I refer to as my time in the spiritual desert), I grew up under the teaching that we believers are nothing but dirty, rotten sinners saved by grace. I must say the concept never seemed right to me, but I remained silent when it was taught, as I never bothered to study the matter for myself. Shortly after being introduced to the Exchanged Life Counseling model and its underlying theory in early 2020, I began asking myself the question, “Am I a saved sinner or a saint who still sins?” I have learned from my studies over the past year that this is not just a matter of semantics. Knowing what I know now, to think so would be a disastrous error. It actually makes a considerable difference in my Christian walk whether I identify with one or the other.
I have to start out by being clear about one thing. Romans 3:23 tells us that “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”[1] Psalm 14:3 states that “All have turned away, all have become corrupt; there is no one who does good, not even one.” Romans 7:21-24 reads, “So I find this law at work: although I want to do good, evil is right there with me. For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; but I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me.” To settle the matter, 1 John 1:8 says that, “If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.” The Scriptures make it quite clear that we believers still sin. I do not dispute this. However, that is not my issue. The issue is, do I identify with being a saved sinner or a Saint who sins?
The answer lies in Paul’s writings. The apostle states, “if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: the old has gone, the new is here” (2 Corinthians 5:17). We are told to “put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth.” He encourages his readers to “put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator” (Colossians 3:10). From these verses we can see that we are new creations and have been given a new heart … a new nature. That new nature leads to a new identity. Paul emphasizes that we are no longer to identify ourselves as sinners, but rather, as Saints (see Romans 7:1, 1 Corinthians 1:2, Ephesians 1:1, Ephesians 2:19, Romans 8:27).
Needham makes a clear distinction between justification, reconciliation, and regeneration. I am judicially and positionally righteous and completely forgiven and accepted by God. Furthermore, Romans 5:8-10 tells me that I am not just justified but reconciled to God. These are positional changes for sure. However, there has not only been positional change for me, as I have been changed inside. I have been regenerated. Regeneration necessarily changes how I view myself and my outlook on life. My response to temptations and my unique fleshly living patterns is now gloriously different. As Needham points out, appropriating this truth is what leads us to “finding true victory” in our Christian walk.[2]
Needham’s illustrations on pages 68 – 71 were profound. David, the protagonist of the illustrations, when confronted with his temptation declares, “I’m born again! I am a ‘partaker of the divine nature.’ As such, my essential nature is ‘dead to sin and alive to God.’ Even though my fleshly feelings are saying one thing, I, as his divine workmanship, am saying the opposite. Sin is not my friend but my hated enemy.” Once he understood and appropriated this truth, David found himself to be free … free to express who he most deeply is.
After reading Chapter 3 in Needham’s book, I have solidified my belief that I am a Saint. Needham expresses it well when he writes, “This new identity is not on a flesh level, but on the deepest level of one’s innermost self. The miracle is more than a judicial or positional act of God. It is an act so actual that it is right to say a Christian’s essential nature is righteous rather than sinful.”[3] He concludes, “If you have received Jesus Christ as Savior, God says that in the deepest sense of personhood, you are not a sinner – no matter what you have been told, no matter how much you feel the pull of sin.”[4]
Chapter 3 from David Needham’s book has contributed greatly to the development of my biblical concept of justification, reconciliation, and regeneration. I believe that I am now better equipped to articulate the concepts to a counselee and continue to incorporate those critical concepts into my life.
[1] Unless otherwise noted, all biblical passages referenced employ The Holy Bible, New International Version (Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1984).
[2] David C. Needham, Birthright: Christian, Do You Know Who You Are? (Sisters: Multnomah Press, 1999), 70.
[3] Ibid., 72.
[4] Ibid., 67.