Friday, November 25, 2011
Is our idenity in Christ 'Legal Fiction' ?
This is a re-post. I am working thru some of the issues surrounding Forensic Justification now, and thought re-posting this would be timely.
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"Let's be honest with ourselves. None of us consistently experiences himself or herself as perfectly holy and blameless in Christ. Therefore, none of us lives out this truth consistently. Our lives are too often characterized by a real, ongoing, and sometimes losing battle with sin. Though we may make valiant attempts at the "try harder" solution, to some degree we still experience ourselves and live as though what the New Testament says about us is false.
What are we to make of this? How are we to reconcile the reality of our sinfulness with what Scripture says is true about us? One common way this is dealt with is by claiming that all the incredible things the New Testament says about the believer's identity in Christ is true positionally but not actually. According to this view, when Scripture says that we are in Christ, that we are holy and blameless before the Father, it is speaking only about how the Father sees us, not about how we actually are. It is sometimes said that God looks at us "through Jesus filters." He refuses to see our sin, though we are, in fact, still sinners.
Though there is certainly some truth to this view—believers are placed in a new position before the Father—there is also some serious error. The central error is in failing to realize that the position believers are placed in before God determines who they really are. God's Word determines reality as much in the believer's life as it did in the creation of the world (Gen. 1:3—26; 2 Cor. 4:6). When God speaks, reality is created] So, if God says we are holy in Christ, we are holy in Christ! Hence, there is simply no basis for making a distinction between what God says is positionally true about us and what is actually true about us.
Nor is there anything in the New Testament to suggest such a distinction. When Paul said we are "in Christ," he never qualified it He wrote as though what he said about the believer was unequivocally true. He never made any distinction between what God sees as real and what is real. He never spoke about the perfect righteousness that God gives to the believer as being in any sense fictional.
Thus, however we explain the fact that our behavior doesn't conform to what God says about us, we can't qualify what God's Word says about us. What God says is absolutely true. This is why Paul could motivate believers to live a certain way by appealing to their identity in Christ. He called us to live consistently with who we truly are.
Our True Identity and Our Experienced Self-Identity
If we truly are righteous in Christ Jesus, why should Paul need to remind us to live righteous lives? If we are new creations and have a new nature (2 Cor. 5:17), why do we still struggle with sin? If I am filled with God's Spirit, the Spirit of love, joy, and peace, why do I yet struggle with a lack of love, joy, and peace?
The puzzle is not to be resolved by distinguishing between the way God sees us and the way we actually are but by distinguishing between the way we actually are and the way we experience ourselves. Though our true identity is established by God -when we trust in Christ, our experienced self-identity—the way we habitually see and experience ourselves—remains largely intact. In terms of how we see and experience ourselves, we are yet largely controlled by the pattern of the world.
You see, God doesn't destroy who we are with all of our memories, our habits, or our past associations when he re-creates us in Christ Jesus. He rather seeks to transform all of our memories, habits, and past associations on the basis of our re-created identities. As we all know from experience, this takes time. We do not automatically see and experience ourselves as we truly are in Christ. Therefore, to some extent we continue to think and act as though what is true about us in Christ were not true.
It is important to see that our ongoing problem with sin, despite our new identity in Christ, is not really with our behavior. This is but a symptom of the problem, not the problem itself. Thus, the "try harder" solution that addresses only behavior completely misses the point. The problem is with the experienced self-identity that brings forth the behavior. "As he thinks in his heart, so is he" (Prov. 23:7 NKJV).
More specifically, the problem lies in how we view ourselves, how we define ourselves, how we experience ourselves, and thus how we live out our identity in Christ. Our perception is always to some degree colored by the pattern of the world—that system of life that is under the deceptive influence of Satan. The problem is that we have internalized messages from our upbringing, culture, past experiences, and our own rebellious ruminations that are not true but that continue to influence us, even after we've received our new identity in Christ. When we fail to view ourselves as though what God says about us in Christ is true, we often think and act according to what Paul called our "old self" (Eph. 4:22), our self "in Adam" (1 Cor. 15:22), or simply "the flesh" (Rom. 8:6-7; Gal. 5:16-17).
The result is that our true identity as defined by God conflicts with our experienced self-identity, inherited from the pattern of the world. When God said, "Let there be light" (Gen. 1:3), there was light automatically, because in the beginning there was nothing to oppose God's voice. Yet when God says, "I declare you to be holy, spotless, infinitely worthwhile, and lovable in my sight," there is a false identity in place that resists this divine word and that has to be confronted. Because we habitually thought and lived as our old selves before receiving our new identity, God's proclamation of who we truly are in Christ must overcome our old self-identity that we continue to experience.
This is why the true identity we have in Christ is not automatically experienced in our hearts and expressed in our behavior. It is why there is a discrepancy between what God says is true and what we habitually experience as truth. This is also why there is a discrepancy between what we ought to do, given our true identity, and what we in fact do because of our experienced self-identity. It is why there is an ongoing battle between the Spirit and the flesh (Gal. 5:17).
It Is Predestined!
Thankfully, God promises us that the battle will come to an end. Because God's Word is true and creates the reality it communicates, it is certain that believers ultimately will be conformed to the image of Jesus Christ (Rom. 8:29). The light certainly will overcome the darkness, and the truth will eventually swallow up the lie (John 1:5). Until that time, however, we are in process. God calls us his children, for that is who we truly are (1 John 3:1).Yet this is not perfectly manifested at this time because of the ongoing influence of the pattern of the world in our minds. Therefore, John added, "What we will be has not yet been revealed . . .. When he is revealed, we will be like him, for we will see him as he is" (1 John 3:2).
Our true self-identity in Christ will someday be perfectly manifested."
(Taken from "Seeing Is Believing by Gregory Boyd html tags my own)
*****************************
"Let's be honest with ourselves. None of us consistently experiences himself or herself as perfectly holy and blameless in Christ. Therefore, none of us lives out this truth consistently. Our lives are too often characterized by a real, ongoing, and sometimes losing battle with sin. Though we may make valiant attempts at the "try harder" solution, to some degree we still experience ourselves and live as though what the New Testament says about us is false.
What are we to make of this? How are we to reconcile the reality of our sinfulness with what Scripture says is true about us? One common way this is dealt with is by claiming that all the incredible things the New Testament says about the believer's identity in Christ is true positionally but not actually. According to this view, when Scripture says that we are in Christ, that we are holy and blameless before the Father, it is speaking only about how the Father sees us, not about how we actually are. It is sometimes said that God looks at us "through Jesus filters." He refuses to see our sin, though we are, in fact, still sinners.
Though there is certainly some truth to this view—believers are placed in a new position before the Father—there is also some serious error. The central error is in failing to realize that the position believers are placed in before God determines who they really are. God's Word determines reality as much in the believer's life as it did in the creation of the world (Gen. 1:3—26; 2 Cor. 4:6). When God speaks, reality is created] So, if God says we are holy in Christ, we are holy in Christ! Hence, there is simply no basis for making a distinction between what God says is positionally true about us and what is actually true about us.
Nor is there anything in the New Testament to suggest such a distinction. When Paul said we are "in Christ," he never qualified it He wrote as though what he said about the believer was unequivocally true. He never made any distinction between what God sees as real and what is real. He never spoke about the perfect righteousness that God gives to the believer as being in any sense fictional.
Thus, however we explain the fact that our behavior doesn't conform to what God says about us, we can't qualify what God's Word says about us. What God says is absolutely true. This is why Paul could motivate believers to live a certain way by appealing to their identity in Christ. He called us to live consistently with who we truly are.
Our True Identity and Our Experienced Self-Identity
If we truly are righteous in Christ Jesus, why should Paul need to remind us to live righteous lives? If we are new creations and have a new nature (2 Cor. 5:17), why do we still struggle with sin? If I am filled with God's Spirit, the Spirit of love, joy, and peace, why do I yet struggle with a lack of love, joy, and peace?
The puzzle is not to be resolved by distinguishing between the way God sees us and the way we actually are but by distinguishing between the way we actually are and the way we experience ourselves. Though our true identity is established by God -when we trust in Christ, our experienced self-identity—the way we habitually see and experience ourselves—remains largely intact. In terms of how we see and experience ourselves, we are yet largely controlled by the pattern of the world.
You see, God doesn't destroy who we are with all of our memories, our habits, or our past associations when he re-creates us in Christ Jesus. He rather seeks to transform all of our memories, habits, and past associations on the basis of our re-created identities. As we all know from experience, this takes time. We do not automatically see and experience ourselves as we truly are in Christ. Therefore, to some extent we continue to think and act as though what is true about us in Christ were not true.
It is important to see that our ongoing problem with sin, despite our new identity in Christ, is not really with our behavior. This is but a symptom of the problem, not the problem itself. Thus, the "try harder" solution that addresses only behavior completely misses the point. The problem is with the experienced self-identity that brings forth the behavior. "As he thinks in his heart, so is he" (Prov. 23:7 NKJV).
More specifically, the problem lies in how we view ourselves, how we define ourselves, how we experience ourselves, and thus how we live out our identity in Christ. Our perception is always to some degree colored by the pattern of the world—that system of life that is under the deceptive influence of Satan. The problem is that we have internalized messages from our upbringing, culture, past experiences, and our own rebellious ruminations that are not true but that continue to influence us, even after we've received our new identity in Christ. When we fail to view ourselves as though what God says about us in Christ is true, we often think and act according to what Paul called our "old self" (Eph. 4:22), our self "in Adam" (1 Cor. 15:22), or simply "the flesh" (Rom. 8:6-7; Gal. 5:16-17).
The result is that our true identity as defined by God conflicts with our experienced self-identity, inherited from the pattern of the world. When God said, "Let there be light" (Gen. 1:3), there was light automatically, because in the beginning there was nothing to oppose God's voice. Yet when God says, "I declare you to be holy, spotless, infinitely worthwhile, and lovable in my sight," there is a false identity in place that resists this divine word and that has to be confronted. Because we habitually thought and lived as our old selves before receiving our new identity, God's proclamation of who we truly are in Christ must overcome our old self-identity that we continue to experience.
This is why the true identity we have in Christ is not automatically experienced in our hearts and expressed in our behavior. It is why there is a discrepancy between what God says is true and what we habitually experience as truth. This is also why there is a discrepancy between what we ought to do, given our true identity, and what we in fact do because of our experienced self-identity. It is why there is an ongoing battle between the Spirit and the flesh (Gal. 5:17).
It Is Predestined!
Thankfully, God promises us that the battle will come to an end. Because God's Word is true and creates the reality it communicates, it is certain that believers ultimately will be conformed to the image of Jesus Christ (Rom. 8:29). The light certainly will overcome the darkness, and the truth will eventually swallow up the lie (John 1:5). Until that time, however, we are in process. God calls us his children, for that is who we truly are (1 John 3:1).Yet this is not perfectly manifested at this time because of the ongoing influence of the pattern of the world in our minds. Therefore, John added, "What we will be has not yet been revealed . . .. When he is revealed, we will be like him, for we will see him as he is" (1 John 3:2).
Our true self-identity in Christ will someday be perfectly manifested."
(Taken from "Seeing Is Believing by Gregory Boyd html tags my own)
