As I sat in church today I was
struggling internally. I struggled with the realization that we have only been
taught half of the gospel.
Names play a very important role in
our lives. They can be prophetic declarations that define our identity. If you
were called “stupid” when you were young, you probably didn’t grow up thinking
you were very smart and thus didn’t fare well in school. I’ve met people who’ve
been told they were “useless” or “you piece of good-for-nothing” by their
parents, then struggled with self-confidence their whole lives.
*We respond to our environment according to the way we see
ourselves. Words spoken to us become names that we carry in our hearts. These
names paint a portrait of us in our imagination and become the lenses through
which we view our world.
There are several name changes in
the Bible – “Abram” to “Abraham”, “Jacob” to “Israel”, “Simon” to “Peter”. Why
were their names changed? To release
them into their destinies. “Abram” meaning “exalted father” was called to
be the “father of many nations” (Abraham); “Jacob” meaning “trickster” became
the father of Israel after his name changed to “Israel” which means “a prince
of God”; Jesus changed Simon’s name to “Peter” which means “rock” and said “upon this rock I will build my church”
(Matt. 16:18).
*It is so important that we live by our God-given names and not by
names that tie us to bondage.
*Before we received Christ we were called “sinners.” We
were professionals; our name was a job description. We were prone to sin. When
we received Christ we became “saints.” Paul makes this clear in his
letters to the believers because he called them saints. Here are a few
examples: “To all who are beloved of God in Rome, called as saints”
(Rom. 1:7a); “To the church of God, which is at Corinth, to those who have
been sanctified in Christ Jesus, saints by calling” (1 Cor. 1:2a);
“Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, to the saints who
are at Ephesus and who are faithful in Christ Jesus” (Eph. l:l).The word
saint means, “holy believer.” You can’t be a sinner and a saint at
the same time. How is it possible to be prone to sin and still be a holy
believer?
*The word “sinner”
implies that we are prone to do wrong. If we believe that we are sinners, we
will sin by faith! “For as [a man] thinks within himself, so he is”
(Prov. 23:7). Like Jacob, trapped in deception by his name, if we still believe
we are sinners, we will be unable to access the grace to live as a saint and
will still try to perform good works in order to merit forgiveness. It is not
our nature to sin anymore. First John 3:7-9 says,
Little children, make sure no one deceives you; the one who
practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous; the one who
practices sin is of the devil; for the devil has sinned from the beginning. The
Son of God appeared for this purpose, to destroy the works of the devil. No one
who is born of God practices sin, because His seed abides in him; and he cannot
sin, because he is born of God.
We are Christians; it is not our nature to do wrong. Our very
nature has been changed. Now we are actually saints; righteousness is part of
our new nature and it is natural for us to glorify God. Our old man is buried.
We need to stop visiting our tombs and talking to our dead, old man.
*If we’ve been taught that
after receiving Christ we are still sinners, we will struggle with trying to do
the right thing because we have put our faith in our ability to fail instead of
His work on the cross! We can spend the rest of our lives living under the
curse of our old name “sinner,” or like Israel, we can receive our
new name that has the power to alter our very DNA. We are Saints, holy
believers, and Christians, which means we are “little Christs”! When
the Father looks at us, He sees the image of the Son He loves.
We are not sinners saved by grace, we are SAINTS
sustained through grace!
*Excerpts from
“The Supernatural Ways of Royalty” by Kris Vallotton with Bill Johnson
