13 Glorious Truths About Who We Are in Christ

Many secular blogs advise us to tell ourselves we are amazing, there is no one like us, that we should love ourselves, be grateful for ourselves, that we are special and we matter. Or in the words of Stuart Smalley we should tell ourselves, “I’m good enough, I’m smart enough, and doggone it, people like me.”

Years ago, I heard a Christian teacher say pretty much the opposite. That he thought of himself as “the worst of sinners.” He quoted the apostle Paul:

The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost. 1 Timothy 1:15

This teacher regularly told himself “I am the foremost of sinners,” to help him be humble. But is that how believers are supposed to think of themselves? When Paul referred to himself as “the foremost of sinners” he was talking about himself before Christ saved him.

In context (1 Timothy 1:13-17) Paul said that though he had been a horrible sinner, Jesus had been perfectly patient toward him and saved him. So everyone, no matter how horrible a sinner could have hope that Jesus can save them. But Paul was not saying that his identity as a Christian was “the foremost of sinners.”

So who are we in Christ? How should we think of ourselves after Jesus saves us?

Should we think of ourselves as “the foremost of sinners?” Here are 13 ways the Bible describes who believers are. Here are 13 “I am’s” that are true of us:

I am a new creation

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. 2 CO 5:17

I am reconciled to God

All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; 2 CO 5:18

I am a child of God

For in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith. Galatians 3:26

God is now my Father. I am part of God’s family. I am no longer an outsider.

I am no longer a slave of sin

We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. Romans 6:6

I am forgiven of all my sins

Bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. Colossians 3:13

I am washed, sanctified and justified

And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God. 1 Corinthians 6:11

Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Romans 5:1

I am the very righteousness of God

For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. 2 Corinthians 5:21

For as by the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous. Romans 5:19

I am at peace with God

Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Romans 5:1

I am being transformed into the likeness and glory of Christ

And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit. 2 Corinthians 3:18

I am a joint-heir with Christ

And if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him. Romans 8:17

I am chosen and loved by God

Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience… Colossians 3:12

I am gifted by God to serve others

As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace: 1 Peter 4:10

I am destined to look upon the face of Christ and someday be like him

Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. 1 John 3:2