“Therefore if any man is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.” 2 Corinthians 5:17
In his bestselling book, Victory Over the Darkness, Dr. Neil Anderson stated, “No one can consistently behave in a way that is inconsistent with how they perceive themselves.” This is because acting contrary to one’s self-perception creates internal conflict. No one likes to live in a state of conflict. This inner conflict is resolved when one reverts back to the behavior that aligns with one’s self-perception. So, it is essential that we know who we really are.
Humanistic psychology defines people based on their behavior. For example, if I attend an Alcoholics Anonymous group, I would be expected to introduce myself in this manner, “Hi, my name is Robyn, and I am an alcoholic.” This is a statement of identity that is completely based on an addictive behavior. The truth is that my behavior does not define who I am at all!
Our human identity comes from being born into the human family. Acting like a human does not make me a human; being born a human is what makes me a human. Spiritually, we are born into Adam’s family; in other words, we all have a human nature infected by sin. (See Romans 7). When Nicodemas asked Jesus how a person can go to heaven, Jesus said that unless a person is born-again, he can’t see heaven. This confused Nick, but Jesus was saying that all humans were born into the wrong family and that the only solution is to born again into the right family….His family. How can this happen? It only happens by faith in Jesus and His death for our sins and His resurrection that proved the power of His blood to pay the penalty for sin. Before being reborn, all people are sinners by virtue of being born into Adam’s family. After being reborn by faith into Jesus’ family, believers are saints because Jesus gives us His nature. Now, this does not mean that we always do the right thing, but it does mean that we are set apart as holy unto God. He is the One working to conform us into the image of Christ, and He will be faithful to complete this work in us. He has made our natures new and given us His identity!