In John 8:44, Jesus told the Pharisees:

You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. Whenever he tells a lie, he speaks from his own nature, because he is a liar and the father of lies.

Wow, that was not a very loving or respectful thing to say to these Jewish leaders who knew and kept the Law better than most anybody else in Jerusalem … or was it? He did not say that to Zacchaeus, the tax collector, who was cheating people – or to the adulterous lady thrown at his feet. But, then again, these Pharisees were spreading lies about Him and trying to influence all other Jews to reject Him. So Jesus was just revealing who they “belonged to.” He was not condemning them because they were already condemned – just like everyone else before Calvary. And why is that? Because every human is born in Adam.

Jesus made it clear in Luke 7:28 concerning John the Baptist: I say to you, among those born of women, there is no one greater than John. Yet the one who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he.

Why is that? Because John was also in Adam. It is still true for anyone “born of a woman” today. In the Big Picture God which sees from, there are only two possibilities because there are only two Kingdoms.

So, Jesus was actually revealing the seriousness of the “spiritual disease” that everyone is afflicted with. It is the most loving thing He could do for anyone – including the Pharisees. Being spiritually dead to God by being in Adam is an eternally fatal disease. Jesus came to accomplish on Calvary what was necessary in order to offer a “cure” for the entire human race. In other words, Jesus was kind enough to tell the Pharisees – and us – who we spiritually belong to – the devil – so that we can realize our desperate need for Him as our Savior.

So, again, in the Unseen Realm, who you are – your identity – is determined by who you belong to. If you are still in Adam, you belong to your father, the devil. If you are reborn of God, you are in Christ and, therefore, belong to Christ in Father-God. You are who you are according to your spiritual parentage.

Stolen Identity

We hear a lot today about “identity theft.” It is a pernicious crime that can threaten our security – if we let it. But it is nothing new. It started in the Garden of Eden when Satan robbed Adam of his identity through deception. In God’s eyes, Adam was superior to Satan, enjoying direct fellowship with God and Eve in a perfect world that He created for them, not for the angels. God formed Adam from the dust of the earth, breathed life into him, and formed Eve from Adam’s rib. God’s ultimate plan for them (and for us) was to come into God’s family by eating of the Tree of Life.

Adam lost that privilege when he foolishly chose “death” – spiritual separation from his Creator – instead of the Tree of Life – Jesus. But fortunately that was not the end of the salvation story but just the beginning of a four-thousand year journey. That set the stage for Jesus, the Last Adam, who provided a second chance for mankind to receive what Adam rejected – a new spiritual identity in Jesus and, consequently, enjoy everlasting Life with Father-God. But this time, it was rigged in our favor. This time, becoming in union with Jesus through rebirth is not based on our performance but faith in what Jesus did for us on Calvary.

So the question of “Who Are You” (your identity) boils down to “Whose Are You?” Are you still under Satan’s ownership in Adam or are you a reborn member of God’s royal family, made possible by believing in Christ Jesus and receiving His Finished Work on Calvary? There are other ways that ask the same question. “Are you still a sinner and, therefore, a member of the Kingdom of Darkness?” Or are you a reborn saint who sometimes still sins, but who is now …

 … giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. For He rescued us from the kingdom of darkness, and transferred us to the Kingdom of His beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of (all) sins, Colossians 1:12-14.

So “Whose Are You?” is about your “being” rather than about your “doing.” Most people are deceived into believing/thinking that their identity is based on some combination of their performance, their appearance, their status and/or their potential. That is because we are trained by this fallen world system to evaluate and categorize ourselves and other people in that way.

But that is a myth that discounts the truth of the Unseen Reality that is more real than this Seen Realm which we are birthed into, according to Jesus’ revelation to Paul in Corinthians 4:17-18. That is why each of us must be reborn of God to “see” and experience relationship with Him in the Unseen realm that He created for us – heaven. His gift of Faith enables us to see the way God sees – which is the revelation that true Realty is found only in Christ, Colossians 2:17. (NIV)

Religion, defined as “man’s attempt to reach and please God by ‘doing good and avoiding evil,”’ is actually perpetuating the lunacy of eating from the forbidden Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. In other words, it is focusing on “morality” instead of on the Tree of Life – Jesus. God warned Adam not to eat of the “Morality Tree” because it would cause his “death” – a spiritual separation from “Goodness” Himself. So now, all humans are either “of Darkness” or “of Light in the Lord” if reborn. Again, one’s acceptance and approval by God is based only on being His child through rebirth by faith, not on one’s imperfect efforts to reach Him or to please Him, Ephesians 2:8-10.

To state the obvious again, the heresy of believing that your “doing” determines your “acceptance by God” comes from mentally mixing the opposing terms of the Mosaic Law Covenant of your “works” with the New Covenant gift of total Grace – Galatianism. You can’t get blood out of a rock and peach trees do not reproduce monkeys. Sinners in Adam can’t produce “good fruit” in God’s eyes. Only saints in Christ can bear “good fruit” by the life of the Holy Spirit living within and through us. That is one of many reasons Jesus sends Him to live in the new spirit-self of every reborn saint, Galatians 5:22-23.

So, am I saying it does not matter to God if we do good or evil – defined by some Law system here on earth? Well, first of all, what Law system are you going to follow to make sure you are “doing good and avoiding evil.” The “go-to system” for most Christians today is still the morality-based Ten Commandments. But if you already read the Post that presents “The Eight Harsh Realities of the Law,” you know now that it 1) actually arouses sin in us and causes death, 2) was never given to Gentiles by God, and 3) is now obsolete for all Believers, Hebrews 8:13.

And you also now know that the answer is not in following a “system” at all. Jesus did not follow Moses but the voice of His Father and the Holy Spirit living in Him – and we have the same option. Christianity is a living relationship with Father-God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit. “For the Law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus has set me (all Christians) free from the (Mosaic) Law of sin and death,” Romans 8:2. Could Jesus’ revelation to Paul be stated any clearer?

This phrase “the Law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus” has three aspects to it. The “law of faith” is believing, receiving and learning just how much God loves you – the “law of His eternal Love for you” that He wants you to enjoy. Then, abiding consciously in Father-God, who you are now “one with,” sets you free “in the law of Liberty” from the “requirements” of Mosaic Law-based thinking and living. In the Book of Galatians, Paul condemns the Law-based heresy of the Judaizers who mixed Jesus with Moses. In Galatians 5:1-6, he summarizes his argument against following Moses and replaces that with the three “get to” laws of the New Covenant – faith, love and liberty in Christ.

So, back to the same question. Am I saying it does not matter to God if I do “good or evil?” First, He is not personally “offended” when I choose to follow my flesh instead of His Spirit, who is now “in union” with my new spirit-self. But He wants me to live victoriously over the inferior world system, my flesh and the devil, just as He did, Romans 5:17. He offers all believers His inheritance and His “abundant life” that He purchased for us at Calvary.

All of God’s blessings flow from Jesus’ Finished Work and the resulting Divine Exchange of His nature for ours, 2 Corinthians 5:21. This miracle makes us legally entitled to all His many benefits and good will towards us because we are His favored children. What is true for the Man Jesus, is now true for all those who are in Him.

Our newly-created nature is now the true identity of every reborn saint because we now belong to and are in Christ. Now, your “doing” is to flow from your New Being, in Him. It is a “Be do Be do Be” dance with Jesus, your new Husband, rather than a “Do be Do be Do” endurance test on a gerbil wheel with Moses to earn and maintain God’s favor. We no longer have to “do” to try to gain God’s acceptance and approval and worth like religion and the world tries to do. Rather, because we are now “reborn of God,” we can invite and yield to the Holy Spirit to produce His fruit through us as part of the “Jesus Tree” family of Fruit Bearers.

“Have to” or “Get to”

So in John 13:34, Jesus said “I am giving you a new commandment, that you love one another, just as I have loved you.” In Ephesians 4:32, we read “Be kind to one another, compassionate, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you.”

If you read these two verses with your old ”Moses glasses” on, you will think this is what you have to do to “stay right with God.” If you read these two verses with your new “Jesus glasses” on, you will know they are a “get to” invitation to live life as Jesus did through being immersed in the same Holy Spirit who He was baptized into.

Note: neither of these two verses come from the obsolete Big Ten. Keeping these “perfectly” is even more impossible than keeping the Big Ten. Instead, these verses reflect the post-Cross revelation of Jesus’ New Covenant Life in Romans 8:2 that states “For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the (Mosaic) law of sin and of death.” So these verses are not another “have to” command from a demanding Master. Rather, they are invitations to living His life of freedom – in and through Christ Jesus by the Holy Spirit’s enablement.

It is one thing to regularly drink a refreshing glass of sparkling water. But far better yet is relinquishing yourself to the power and flow of the mighty “River of Life” – the Holy Spirit who lives in you – who wants to lead and guide you into all truth, John 16:13. We have that option when reborn of God – which is how Jesus lived on earth.

It is the life of freedom in Christ that Jesus inspired Paul to describe in Romans, Chapter Eight. The Holy Spirit lives in us to produce godly fruit through us that we can’t produce by ourselves. And, when you belong to Him, it is the divinely logical thing to trust and rely on Him the way Jesus learned to do. After all, He is wiser, stronger, more faithful and dependable Helper than anyone else – including you. And God loves you more than you can love yourself – with an unselfish, endless love, revealed through what Jesus did for you on Calvary! He bought you with the price of His own, Divine Blood.

So you are His and He is Yours, to abide in forever as our faithful New Covenant-Keeper. So relax in and consciously abide in and enjoy this personal relationship with Father-God as His beloved child. You are as holy, righteous and perfect in your new, inner spirit-self as your new Father is. You are “one in spirit” with who you belong to, John 17:20-23 and 1 Corinthians 6:17!