Christ-Like Actions || Who I Am || Week 3

Welcome back to our “Who I Am” series. This series is about learning our identity in Christ. Last week, we looked at four titles we can claim in Christ that remind us that we are a part of God’s family. We said: 

• I am a joint heir with Christ.
• I am God’s child, born again of the incorruptible seed of the Word of God, who lives and abides forever.
• I am born of God.
• I am a new creation in Christ.

This week, we will look at four more titles we can claim in Christ that remind us to act like Christ. 

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The first title we’ll discuss is this: I am a believer, and the light of the Gospel shines in my mind. 

2 Corinthians 4:4 says this: 

4 Satan, who is the God of this world, has blinded the minds of those who don’t believe. They are unable to see the glorious light of the Good News. They don’t understand this message about the glory of Christ, who is the exact likeness of God.

Let me also share 2 Corinthians 3 for context: 

3 If the Good News we preach is hidden behind a veil, it is hidden only from people who are perishing.

We see the context of Satan hiding the good news from those who are perishing. What does perishing mean in this context? Paul seems to be referring to those who will lose the chance at eternal life. I’m not 100% confident in this accuracy, but it makes sense based on my understanding of the concordance I used and the context of this chapter and letter. Paul says that Satan had blinded those who didn’t believe in God. Satan has confused them about Christ’s message and the Gospel’s understanding. They are kept in the dark and will never understand what they miss out on. John says something about this in John 12:39-41. It says this:

39 But the people couldn’t believe, for as Isaiah also said, 

40 “The Lord has blinded their eyes and hardened their hearts – so that their eyes cannot see, and their hearts cannot understand, and they cannot turn to me and heave me heal them.” 

41 Isaiah was referring to Jesus when he said this, because he saw the future and spoke of the Messiah’s glory.

Believers in John’s time, and even Isaiah’s time, wanted evidence of Jesus being the Messiah. In response, God hardened their hearts. It wasn’t a case of God preventing them from intentionally believing that Jesus was God. God just confirmed their belief. It’s wild to think about. God didn’t create circumstances for people not to be able to believe in who Jesus is. God created their reality to affirm the choices they made. I’ve talked about before how God is all-knowing. God knows the paths of all decisions we make that are right, wrong, or indifferent. He solidifies our future based on our decisions, whether it aligns with him or not or even believe in him. God is still guiding paths for all people, and if God can harden our hearts, God can also soften them. It’s next to impossible for some people to get into a relationship with God based on their choices. Others lead a rough life and are ready for a change. The critical factor in this is the intentional decision. I’m not here to make you have a relationship with Christ. Neither is your pastor, Sunday School teacher, nor any other spiritual mentor or guide. You have to be the one to agree to try in the relationship with God. You have to agree to believe and then have faith that the light of the Gospel will shine in your heart and mind.

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The second title we’ll discuss is this: I am a doer of the Word and blessed in my actions. 

James 1:22 and 1:25 says this: 

22 But don’t just listen to God’s word. You must do what it says. Otherwise, you are only fooling yourselves. 

25 But if you look carefully into the perfect law that sets you free, and if you do what it says and don’t forget what you heard, then God will bless you for doing it. 

Gaining information about the Bible, the Scriptures, and the story that gets told is only half the battle. We also need to put into action what those teachings are in our lives. If we don’t, we’re just foolish. Solomon says in Ecclesiastes 12:12: 

12 But, my child, let me give you some further advice: Be careful, for writing books is endless, and much study wears you out. 

We can study all we want, but studying tires us. We won’t put these things into action because we’re too warn out gaining the knowledge. Let’s focus on the perfect law that frees us. What law is that? James is referring to the law of Jesus. Jesus reminds us in the Gospels to love God with all of who we are and to love each other as Jesus loved us. If we do that and don’t forget the Bible’s teachings that support this law, then God will bless our actions. What does bless mean in this context? To be happy. God will be happy if we do these things and share this happiness with us. 

This law shows us a true reflection of our character. It shows us our sinful condition and allows us to seek forgiveness and change our ways. When we become saved by God’s grace and acknowledge that our salvation frees us from the control of our sin, we will recognize that we aren’t following our selfishness anymore. 

Matthew 7:21 says this:

21 “Not everyone who calls out to me, ‘Lord! Lord!’ will enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Only those who actually do the will of the Father in heaven will enter. 

Jesus doesn’t hold knowing him in high regard. He celebrates that you’re a follower of him, don’t get me wrong. There are verses in the Bible that talk about how angels in heaven celebrate and party when a non-believer changes their ways. Yet, those who claim belief won’t get into heaven. Those who believe AND do the will of God will enter. Those who follow God’s perfect law, learn how to do that from scripture, and act it out. They will enter heaven. Jesus wants us to do what’s right, not just say what’s right. 

Romans 8:2 says this:

2 And because you belong to him, the power of the life-giving Spirit has freed you from the power of sin that leads to death.

The Holy Spirit was present when God created the world. The Holy Spirit is the power that resides when a person comes to believe in Jesus. The same Holy Spirit that was present in both situations resides in you today and frees you from following a sinful life. The Holy Spirit gives us the strength, confidence, wisdom, and ability to follow God’s perfect law and do the things that come with that. 

James 2:12 says this: 

12 So whatever you say or whatever you do, remember that you will be judged by the law that sets your free. 

Yes, we have freedom in Christ. That does not mean we get to do whatever we want whenever we want. The freedom that we have still comes with a standard. God will judge us based on the perfect law we’ve discussed. This law isn’t a long list of rules we must follow. This law sets us free. We can carry out this law with joy and willingness because of our love for God and the power we carry from the Holy Spirit. 

1 Peter 2:16 says this: 

16 For you are free, yet you are God’s slaves, so don’t use your freedom as an excuse to do evil. 

We’re free, yet we are slaves? Yes. We’re free from the long list of laws that give us a bunch of “haves” and “have nots” required to follow God. Yet, God calls us to follow his perfect law. A standard comes with being a Christian, and that standard is good. Loving God and loving neighbor are good things we can always do. If what God calls us to do is good, we are not to use this freedom to do evil. The Book of Judges is full of stories of people who believed they were doing things for God and yet always did things that were “right in their own eyes.” Make sure the standard we follow comes from God and Scripture alone. 

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The third title we’ll discuss today is: I am a partaker of His divine nature. 

2 Peter 1:3-4 says this: 

3 By his divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life. We have received all of this by coming to know him, the one who called us to himself by means of his marvelous glory and excellence. 

4 And because of his glory and excellence, he has given us great and precious promises. These are the promises that enable you to share his divine nature and escape the world’s corruption caused by human desires. 

We receive God’s divine nature and are called on to share this divine nature with others. God’s gifted us everything we need to live a life that honors him. We often feel overwhelmed by the many choices of deciding how to live life, yet we can relax knowing that God has provided. Because of who God is and his grand promises, we can share our blessings with others. We don’t have to do what the world says we should do.

1 Peter 2:9 says this: 

9 But you are not like that, for you are a chosen people. You are royal priests, a holy nation, God’s very own possession. As a result, you can show others the goodness of God, for he called you out of the darkness into his wonderful light. 

In the Old Testament, people like you and me couldn’t go to God directly. We had to share our prayers with a priest, and they would take our prayers to God on our behalf. Because of what Jesus did for us, we can go directly into God’s presence without fear. We can go directly, and Jesus also calls us to invite others to come to him. It’s the task of the Great Commission that Peter talks about here. It’s part of what we do as Christians. When we partake in God’s divine nature, it includes sharing it with others. It’s the “love others” part of God’s moral law. 

2 Corinthians 7:1 says this:

1 Because we have these promises, dear friends, let us cleanse ourselves from everything that can defile our body or spirit. And let us work toward complete holiness because we fear God. 

Paul is encouraging the Corinth church to continue the necessary work at maturing in their faith. We’ve discussed how God provides many options to help us live godly. It’s a Christian’s responsibility to make the right choices to live that life. Part of that includes ensuring we’re not doing things that wear down our bodies and spirit. What does that look like? Well, what things do we, as humans, do that harms our body? I think about how we overindulge in things that help “cure” the stresses of life. We might drink a lot to help numb the frustrations and hurts of life. We might smoke cigarettes or joints to help calm our nerves. We might down a pint of ice cream when we’re depressed. We do things that can be harmful to the body to help ease the pain of whatever we’re going through. I’m not here to cast judgment. We should consume everything in moderation. When we overindulge, our bodies can suffer, and our spirits can’t heal. Paul says we should switch gears, lean on God to help us through those things and work alongside God to help us because as Christlike as possible. 

James 1:27 says this: 

27 Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means caring for the orphans and widows in their distress and refusing to let the world corrupt you. 

In James’ time, the orphans and widows had minimal means of economic support. Unless their family members would help care for them, they had to beg, sell themselves as slaves, or starve. The church was fulfilling God’s moral law by caring for these people. Now it may not be orphans and widows today. It may be veterans, people experiencing homelessness, immigrants, or another group of people looking for refuge. It could also be youth and children that come from broken homes that are looking for a place of safety and refuge themselves too. We share God’s love with them by caring for them physically, emotionally, and spiritually. We must commit to doing good like this regardless of what the world tells us. The world might tell us that immigrants are nothing but drug dealers, gang members, or something else, but they’re human. The world might tell us that our youth is crazy, chaotic, and not worth putting effort into, but they’re human. Jesus taught us not to listen to what the world says but to what he says. Jesus was always around people who the world de-valued, but “the healthy don’t need the doctor, but the sick do.” (I think I paraphrased it wrong, but you get the gist of what I’m saying.) Doing these things is what it means to partake in God’s divine nature. 

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The last title we’ll examine is this: I am an ambassador for Christ. 

2 Corinthians 5:20 says this: 

20 So we are Christ’s ambassadors; God is making his appeal through us. We speak for Christ when we plead, “Come back to God!” 

What does it mean for us to be ambassadors? It involves representing and supporting a specific cause. I see a lot of influencers that are ambassadors of specific brands where they say supportive things and try to sell us on that product or cause. As Christ’s ambassador, we must tell the world they can be united with Jesus and live a peaceful life. One of the ways we can do it is by sharing our testimony with others. We can share how we came to know Jesus and have a relationship with him. Doing this plants the seed of Jesus in their minds, and we have to trust that God will do the work needed to help them understand who God is. One of these days, I need to share my testimony with you guys. I believe, or at least hope, I’ve shared bits and pieces of my testimony with you, but I’m unsure if I shared it in full. Comment down below if you’d like to hear that. 

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Let’s wrap up the third week of our new series. We examined four statements we can claim as a follower of Christ that remind us of how to live a Christ-like life. Here they are again: 

I am a believer, and the light of the Gospel shines in my mind.

I am a doer of the Word and blessed in my actions. 

I am a partaker of His divine nature.

I am an ambassador for Christ.

I encourage you to go through this week and say one each during your prayer time or to yourself in the mirror and see how your mood and day change. If you do this, let me know how it went down in the comments below or message me on the Bible Study Vibes Facebook page. 

Next week, we’ll look at four more statements we can claim as a believer in Christ from the understanding that we should no longer sin. Until then, stay blessed.