StudyGrowKnow

My New and True Identity

September 1, 2026 at 1:21 PM Leave a comment

When I was born, doctors looked below my waist and announced “It’s a boy!” They did not assign a gender to me. I was born a male and remain a male to this day. This is my actual physiological identity. I’m a man and even though both men and women have forms of estrogen, progesterone and testosterone, the measurement of those three hormones remains distinct and separate for men and for women because of the way God designed a man and a woman to be similar but different when He first created. Trying to adopt new words into the mix today does not change what God originally did and intended.

The other day, I read a brief article about an LGBTQ+ “pastor” of an obviously progressive church, who states he is “non-binary.” That means he does not necessarily see himself as male or female, though he considers himself lesbian. Non-binary can also mean floating between genders and not being dead set on one in particular.

It was interesting to hear him remark about the eunuch in Acts 8:26–40. He noted with a straight (or was it “non-binary”) face that this particular incident is God’s approval on…wait for it…transgenderism. His point being that he believes the eunuch had attempted to change genders and still, God blessed him through water baptism.

The amount of disconnect with, not only the actual Bible but historical facts is unbelievable. The reason eunuchs were created was for one reason only. Here are the folks at GotQuestions.org explaining it for us:

A eunuch is a man who has been castrated for the purpose of trusted servitude in a royal household (see Esther 1:10; 4:4; and Daniel 1:9). A king would often castrate his servants to ensure they would not be tempted to engage in sexual activity with others in the palace (specifically, the royal harem) or to prevent their plotting an overthrow (eunuchs were incapable of setting up a dynasty of their own). Eunuchs have been employed in many civilizations, including the Ancient Middle East, Ancient Greece and Rome, China, Korea, and Thailand. Jesus mentions them in Matthew 19:12.[1]

Clearly, it had zero to do with a person wishing to change their gender and they probably never even thought of that way back then. Castration was done for expediency and political reasons. A man who had been castrated would no longer produce testosterone or sperm. Therefore, he could not impregnate anyone and literally lost the desire to do so. Beyond this, the man who becomes a eunuch via castration becomes far less inclined to overthrow things politically. If you search the ‘Net, you’ll find numerous so-called pastors who broach this Acts 8 subject from the perspective of transgenderism.

I say all that to help us understand that everyone has an identity they are born with; an actual God-given identity. Many today prefer to ignore it in favor of something else that they want to fit over that God-given identity. If born a man, they might want to become a woman or maybe they prefer to believe they are “between” genders, not knowing exactly where they fall. The fact that they have female or male anatomy seems not to matter these days because we are told by them that everything is a construct of society.

The unfortunate part with all this is that even within Christendom, too many Christians lack a full understanding of the identity they now possess because they are in Christ. They come to a point in their life where they believe what the Bible teaches about Jesus. Among those beliefs is the belief that no one gets to the Father except through the Son (John 14:6). Too many people don’t like hearing that because it is restricting. People want to believe that God is so loving that any way they find (or create) to get to God will work. Jesus cancels that belief in one sentence.

Beyond this, even after a person becomes a Christian, a believer, they often fail to more fully comprehend the actual new identity they now possess by being in Christ. This results in generally two types of Christians in this world. One type might try to live a righteous life by doing the things that they believe God would have them do. They may find a struggle here in doing those things, which may often leave them frustrated and even exhausted or irritated. The other type of Christian seems to have an easier time doing what is glorifying to God in their lives. For the most part, they exude a confidence in God and His ability to reform their character into the character of Jesus. Things seem to come more naturally to this second type of believer who much more naturally does what God wants them to do.

The difference may not look that noticeable on the outside, but if we could see into each of those types of believers’ hearts, we would likely see a huge difference in their motivation. The first one struggles and focuses on doing the right thing even though they may not feel like doing those things that much or often. The second one seems empowered to live a righteous and even holy life without too much effort, stemming from the condition of their heart and the understanding they possess.

So, what is the difference between the two types of believers that causes this huge difference in the way they perceive their walk before the Lord? It all boils down to their understanding of the new identity they have in Jesus, since they received salvation.

When an unbeliever becomes a believer, we know according to Scripture that numerous things occur. Most understand that the moment they receive salvation through believing in Jesus and His life, death and resurrection on their behalf, God grants immediate and ever-lasting forgiveness for all their sin; past, present and future while they live on this earth. So forgiveness is a large part of the picture because that forgiveness opens the door to fellowship with the God of Creation. Our sin (nature) closed that door tightly. Only through Jesus are we given access to God in fellowship and that fellowship will be as deep as we want it to be depending on how we approach Him and His Word.

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. (John 3:16)

For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “The just shall live by faith.” (Romans 1:16-17)

And it shall come to pass That whoever calls on the name of the Lord Shall be saved.’ (Acts 2:21)

In response to the Philippian jailer who was guarding Paul and Silas, he asked the question, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” in Acts 16:30. Paul’s response was, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.” (Acts 16:31). Salvation is received solely by faith, because of God’s grace and the work God the Son did on our behalf. No other religious institution can claim that about their leader, whoever it is, whether Muhammad, Joseph Smith, Charles Taze Russell or anyone else. Only Jesus claimed to be the path through which we can come to God the Father. While some might be tempted to think these men started denominations (with the exception of Muhammad), what they actually created are cults, because they seriously distort the teachings of the Bible to their own ends.

We also know that once salvation is received, believers gain eternal life, which can never be removed from us. This is often referred to as “easy believism,” which gives the impression that all one has to do is believe in Jesus and eternal life is granted. This is certainly the position of the Bible. At the same time, believers are supposed to understand that once salvation is received, our sins are completely forgiven and God labels us fully justified before Him, not based on what we have done, but on what Jesus has accomplished on our behalf, then we enter into a lifelong process of growth called sanctification. This sanctification is where the rubber meets the road as the Holy Spirit who indwells each and every believer promotes the type of change and growth within so that more and more, our characters become much more like Jesus’ character.

Sanctification requires a type of partnership between the believer and the Holy Spirit. We are supposed to do the things that God reveals in His Word so that growth can occur. At the same time, the Bible tells us that Jesus is not only the Author of our salvation but He is also the Finisher (or Perfector) of our faith as well (Hebrews 12:4). In essence, God is responsible for getting us from Point A to Point B. Our job is to cooperate with God moving in our lives and not resist the Holy Spirit’s work.

So why do some Christians seem to struggle and never appear to gain any real ground, while other believers seem to have a more natural affinity to living the Christian life? Those in the latter group seem more content, happier, blessed and seem sure of their standing before God, while they also are often extremely grateful for what God has done for them. The former group lacks the inner joy and peace that those within the latter group possess. By the way, this is often mistaken for a lack of the “second blessing,” which is argued to be the baptism of the Holy Spirit. However, as soon as a person becomes a Christian, they are literally baptized into the Body of Christ. The difference between the two groups of believers here is not a needed baptism, but a need for greater understanding of the believer’s identity and position in Jesus. The more it is comprehended and embraced, the more He is able to move in and through us to accomplish His will, for His glory and for our growth.

I’ve been trying to deal with this subject in several previous and recent articles here that highlight the differences between each group. The bottom line is that the main difference is in how believers understand their identity in Jesus. Beyond receiving salvation, which grants us forgiveness and justification before God, part of our identity in Jesus is that we are fully adopted into God’s family and we are now joint-heirs with Christ, and children of God (Galatians 3:26; John 1:12). Our lives are now hidden in Christ; the old is completely gone and the new has come (2 Corinthians 5:17) and we are now declared fully righteous before God (2 Corinthians 5:21). We are literally no longer “foreigners” before God, but specifically we are part of His family (Ephesians 2:19).

John says we are literally called the children of God (1 John 3:1). Peter tells us we are a holy nation, a special possession, a royal priesthood (1 Peter 2:9). There is so much to being a child of God through salvation, that it requires us to contemplate it a good deal of the time. We need to study His Word to allow the Spirit to illuminate our thinking, which will transform the way we think and free us to live lives that please God without the struggles we often face when doing things in our own strength.

We all know how much easier it is to hang around people you like. You find it’s a good fit, that you aren’t struggling to perform and can be yourself. You just are and being around them brings more out of you in a good way, whether it’s a close friend, a relative or a spouse. If you really care about the other person and more fully enjoy their presence, doing things with them and for them is very naturally occurring.

As believers, we need to spend time focusing and even meditating on the fact that we have a completely new identity in Jesus. We are not who we were before we believed in Him. We are different people now that we are believers. It is our job to begin to understand what our new identity in Jesus actually means and what it accomplishes within us. This cannot happen by simply thinking about God. The Bible needs to be our guide and if we are not in the Bible regularly, we will fail to more fully comprehend the truth about God and the reality of our new natures. It doesn’t come by accident or osmosis. It happens when we regularly apply ourselves to the reading, study and even memorization of His Word.

[1] https://www.gotquestions.org/Ethiopian-eunuch.html

Entry filed under: Atheism and religion, christianity, Religious - Christian - Prophecy, Religious - Christian - Theology, salvation, sanctification.