Identity 2 | I Was

We are continuing a series here at Cross Connection through the book of Ephesians, which we're calling "Identity." We are considering the questions of who we are in Christ, and today we're looking at the topic of who we were before Christ and how that has been transformed by Jesus. So, open your Bibles to Ephesians chapter 2 and follow along with us.

Every worthwhile philosophy or worldview should answer four basic questions. As we considered last week, they should, if they're worth their salt, answer the question of identity: Who am I? The question of origin: Where did I come from? The question of destiny: Where am I going? And the question of purpose: Why am I here?

In this series that we're doing here at Cross Connection called "Identity," we are considering those questions from the Scriptures, specifically from the book of Ephesians. It is our conviction here at Cross Connection that the Bible presents the most compelling and coherent worldview. In other words, the Bible answers those questions better than any other philosophy that is out there. That is the position and conviction we have here at this church.

In fact, that song we just ended with is really the creed that forms the basis for our belief, our worldview, and our philosophy. When we make those statements, "I believe in God the Father, I believe in Christ the Son, I believe in the Holy Spirit; our God is three in one. I believe in the resurrection that we will rise again, for I believe in the name of Jesus," we see that the philosophy and worldview that is the most compelling and coherent grows out of that.

As we opened last week in Ephesians chapter 1, we began with the question of identity: Who am I? Paul, from the opening words of Ephesians, addresses that and looks into it.

Identity is important. We considered together last week that our identity, what I refer to as our "I am," affects our activity. It influences the things that we do and the way that we live. Our lives should be transformed and changed by who we are in Christ, by our identity and our position in Him.

Many people think that their identity is actually defined by or springs from their activity. A lot of guys know that this is the case. As I mentioned last week, when you listen to two guys meet for the first time, one of the initial questions that will be asked is, "So, what do you do for a living?" Typically, the response will come in the form of an "I am." For example, "I am an architect," "I am a construction worker," or "I am a teacher." We often build our identity from our activity.

However, the Scriptures reveal something quite different. I think that Paul addresses this when he introduces himself in Ephesians chapter one. The very first words are, "Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God." Prior to his conversion, Paul identified himself by what he did, his heritage, and his origins. After his conversion, he began to identify himself by who he was in Christ.

Before this transformation, Paul based everything about who he was—his identity—on the things that he did. We saw this in Philippians chapter 3, verses 5 and 6, where he identifies his activity. He describes himself as a zealous, righteous, and law-abiding Pharisee. Paul drew his "I am," his identity, from the way that he lived his life. He was passionate about his faith, his heritage, and his upbringing. He was zealous to keep the law, and under the law, he was blameless. He lived among a sect of religious individuals called Pharisees, and that was his identification until he met the risen Lord.

When he encountered the incarnate "I am" on the road to Damascus, as described in the New Testament book of Acts, everything about Paul's life changed. In fact, you could say that Paul had an identity crisis.

Because he came in contact with the eternal "I Am," the man who had dictated all the things of his own life—who believed he was the master of his own destiny, the captain of his own ship—came to a pivotal moment in his conversation with the risen Lord. He asked, "What do you want me to do?" This marked a transformation. It was as if Paul was handing the keys over to the Lord, saying, "Okay, it's yours. You drive. You take over. What do you want me to do?"

Three days later, Jesus announced to Paul what He wanted him to do. He said, "You are going to be my chosen one, sent to take the gospel to the Gentiles, to the unbelievers." From that point on, everything changed. Paul became an apostle; that word means "a sent one" of Jesus Christ by the will of God. It was God's plan, God's design, His decision that Paul would fulfill this mission. We see a drastic transformation take place in Paul's life, which we call conversion.

Not only did this transformation occur in the Apostle Paul, but it also affected the Ephesians, the recipients of the letter Paul is writing. He addresses them in Ephesians chapter 1, the second half of verse 1, as "the saints." This term serves as a word of identification for those who are in the city of Ephesus and faithful in Christ Jesus.

There is a clear separation between their identification, their identity, and their activity. Many people, both in the church and in the world, identify themselves by their activity, particularly their religious activity. They believe that their religious rituals define their identity as saints or as holy individuals. However, the Bible teaches something completely opposite: we are saints not because of our activity, but because of the activity of Jesus and what He did on the cross.

When a person puts their trust and confidence in Him, that person is made a saint. From the position of being a saint springs a different kind of activity—a transformation in the way they think, respond to others, talk, and live their lives. There is a drastic transformation that takes place.

We are saints today if you're a Christian. If you've put your trust in the activity of Jesus on the cross, that His death on the cross takes care of the punishment for your sin, the penalty for your sin, then through Him, you and I receive a new identity. From that springs a new kind of activity.

Now, Paul, in the remaining verses that we looked at in Ephesians 1 last week, verses 3 through 14, addresses that not only do we gain a new identity in Christ, but with that new identity come new rights, new privileges, and new glorious things that we gain. It's something like if a person immigrates to this nation. Sitting here today, there are some of you who did immigrate to this nation, and at a certain point in your life, you became a citizen, maybe of the United States. When you became a citizen of this country, your identity changed. You tell people, "I'm an American. I'm a citizen of the United States." As a result of becoming a citizen, you are now afforded new rights and new privileges that were not yours before you identified as a citizen of this country.

The Apostle Paul says in the book of Philippians that Christians are citizens of another country; we are citizens of heaven. We have kind of a dual status, a dual citizenship, if you will. As a citizen of heaven and as an adopted child into the family of God, we have rights and privileges that are ours, which were not ours when we were not identified in Christ.

In Ephesians chapter 1, verses 3 through 14, Paul describes at least ten things that are gained to us now that we have our identity in Christ. He says that we are blessed with every spiritual blessing, that we are chosen and predestined, that we are adopted, accepted, redeemed, and forgiven. We have been given revelation of God's mystery, an inheritance, and an eternal future. All of those things are ours as those who are identified in Christ.

When there is a conversion, when you move from identifying yourself by what you've done and how you've accomplished things in this life to identifying yourself in Christ through the grace of Jesus Christ, when that conversion experience happens, all of these things are yours. You are entitled to them, lock, stock, and barrel. In every possible way, they are yours.

Accepted, redeemed, forgiven, and given revelation—all of that is ours in Christ because we are citizens of heaven. We discovered last week that all of these things are according to grace. It's not by our own effort; it's not by anything that we have ever done or will do. It is according to the grace of God.

Ephesians chapter 1, verse 2 states, "Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ." The basis of all of this is the grace of God. We will see that a little bit more as we continue in our study here in Ephesians chapter 2 today.

In Ephesians chapter 2, we move away from our identity and shift to a different subject. Look, if you will, at Ephesians chapter 2. We are going to read the first 10 verses. I’m going to ask you to stand with me. Ephesians chapter 2 is near the end of your Bibles, right after the book of Galatians and just before that wonderful book of Philippians.

Ephesians chapter 2, verse 1: Paul writes, "And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience. Among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lust of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and we were by nature children of wrath, just as the others.

But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses and sins, has made us alive together with Christ. By grace you have been saved, and He raised us up together and made us to sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. That in the ages to come, He might show the exceeding riches of His grace and His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.

For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.

God, I pray that Your word, which is living and powerful, would become alive to us today and that by Your word we...

We would recognize fully our identity, and in finding who we are in You, we would see a clear distinction between who we were before that conversion and the transformation that I experienced. Lord, may it be effectual in our lives and evident in the way that we live.

So, God, use Your Word by the power and work of Your Holy Spirit to transform us by the renewing of our minds, that we would bring glory, honor, and praise to You—not just when we gather corporately in a place like this and sing songs of praise that direct our worship, but daily, wherever we are. It should be evident that we are Your people. We ask this in Jesus' name, and all God's people agreed and said, "Amen." You can be seated.

I'm sure you saw it as we were reading through the text in Ephesians chapter 2, especially the opening three verses of the section that moves from "I am in Christ" to speaking about who we were before that transformation, before that conversion took place.

As we go through this section in Ephesians chapter 2, we realize this point: conversion makes your "I am" your "I was." Whatever you identified yourself as before you came to Christ, before you put your trust and confidence in Him, the "I am" that you experienced in that past life becomes your "I was" when you become a follower of Jesus Christ. When a lost sinner—this is how the Scriptures describe the person who does not know Jesus—is found by Christ and made a saint by Christ, their identity changes. Their "I am" pre-conversion becomes their "I was" post-conversion, and there needs to be that change.

In these verses, Paul describes our pre-conversion condition. He describes who we were, what we were like, and what our "I am" was before we met Jesus. He begins by saying we were dead (Ephesians chapter 2, verse 1). Look at it there.

He made alive those who were dead in trespasses and sins. If you're a Christian today, prior to putting your faith in Christ, you were dead. Even though the person who does not believe in Christ may feel alive, the Bible says that they are, in fact, dead—dead in trespasses and sins. Furthermore, the person who is not a Christian, when they look at a Christian, often thinks that the Christian experience is one that is dead. Many of you remember this before you put your faith in Christ. You would see people who were involved in the church, who read the Bible, and who perhaps didn't do the things you were doing. They didn't go out and party; they didn't experience the same things. You thought you were living, and you said, "Man, those people aren't living." How many of you remember being in that position? Many of you do.

For the non-Christian, the non-follower of Jesus, the Bible describes them as being dead in trespasses and sins. They look at the Christian and say, "No, that's dead; that's not living." They feel alive; they think that they are really living it up. But don't miss that the feeling they experience—the feeling of life and truly living that the lost sinner experiences—is fleeting. It is passing away.

The author of the Book of Hebrews speaks to this in Hebrews chapter 11. You can turn there if you'd like; it's just a few books to the right of the Book of Ephesians. In Hebrews chapter 11, those of you who have been around the Bible for a while know that Hebrews 11 is described by many as the Hall of Faith. It lists faithful people who lived prior to the coming of Jesus and how they lived. One of the people described there is that great man of God named Moses.

We all have some understanding of Moses, but he had a very interesting life. When he was born, there was a decree given by the political powers of the day in Egypt, in the nation where he was born, that every male child born to a Hebrew family was to be cast into the Nile River. Technically, Moses's parents obeyed that ruling because they did put Moses into the Nile River. However, they made provision for him to survive that event, so they put him into an ark, as the Scriptures say, a small little vessel.

The compartment was strategically placed so that the little thing would float to where Pharaoh's daughter would be bathing in the Nile. When she found Moses, she drew him up out of the water. That's what his name, Moses, means: drawn up from the water. She took him into her family, this little toddler, this little infant of the Hebrew people.

From his youngest days, Moses grew up in a household of privilege. He had everything that people would seek for, both in his day and in our day: privilege, sufficiency, and security. He was growing up among the one percent, that which so many Americans are striving to attain. He had it all. Yet, at one point in his life, the author of the book of Hebrews describes how he came to a recognition that, although he had all those things, there needed to be a change.

In Hebrews chapter 11, verse 24, it states, "By faith, Moses, when he became of age, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter." He renounced his privileged position, which would seem foolish to a person living among just the trappings of this world. He chose rather to suffer affliction, as noted in verse 25. This decision must have seemed like absolute lunacy; he must have lost his marbles in every way to choose to leave the position of privilege and to suffer affliction with the people of God rather than enjoy the passing pleasures of sin.

The King James Bible refers to it as the pleasure of sin for a season. There are indeed pleasures in sin, but they are only for a season. For the sinner, salvation spells the end of those pleasures, and so salvation looks like death because it appears to be the loss of all those things. Choosing rather to suffer affliction looks like absolute foolishness.

Paul, in the New Testament, in one of his letters to the Corinthians, says that the aroma of Christ, the scent of Jesus, is life to those who are saved. However, to the person who does not know Jesus, it is death leading to death. It looks like choosing rather to suffer.

Affliction with the people of God is a significant choice. In choosing to suffer affliction with the people of God, there is a recognition that whatever pleasure you might enjoy or have in this world is passing, temporary, and fleeting. It is just for a season. The pleasure of sin perishes, and those who pursue its pleasures perish with it.

Moses came to a place in his life, as Hebrews chapter 11 describes, where he recognized that, yes, this is pleasurable and enjoyable, but it is going to go away. It is temporal. The life that you gain in Christ is not temporal; it is eternal. Therefore, it is not foolishness to give up the trappings of the pleasures of sin, choosing rather to suffer and not enjoy those passing pleasures to gain that which is eternal.

All that is in this world will pass away. Those who lay hold of the things of this world and invest their lives entirely in those pleasures will pass away with them. The prophet Ezekiel stated in Ezekiel chapter 18, twice, because it is very important: "The soul that sins shall die." Not only Ezekiel, but the Apostle Paul in Romans chapter 6, verse 23, says, "The wages of sin is death."

Then, in Galatians chapter 6, verse 8, the Apostle Paul states that he who sows to the flesh, who invests himself purely in the things of this world, will reap corruption. He emphasizes this more decidedly in Romans chapter 8, verse 13: "If you live by the flesh, you will die." If you live after the things of this world, you will die with the things of this world because those things are temporal.

Although the life of Christ may appear to spell death to the sinner, it is, in fact, life eternal. It is not temporary. So today, if your identity is found in Christ, then point number two is true of you: I was dead in sin; I am alive in Christ. If your identity today is in Christ, then I was dead in sin; I am alive in Christ.

Pre-conversion, we were dead in trespasses and sins. That's the first statement that Paul makes here in Ephesians chapter two. The second one follows immediately after that. Before our faith in Christ, we were dead in trespasses and sins.

We also see in verse two that we walked according to the pattern of Satan, in disobedience and opposition to God. Before your conversion, you walked in or according to the pattern of Satan, in disobedience and opposition to God. Look at Ephesians chapter 2, verse 2, in which you once walked, past tense, according to the course of this world. It's not a unique walk; everybody in the world walks this walk according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience.

We were directed, before we put our faith in Christ Jesus, by the wrong spirit to do wrong things in disobedience and opposition to God. Now, of course, the person who is walking according to that course thinks that they are dictating the plan and directing their life. But that's not what the Scriptures say. The Scriptures give us revelation; that is, they give us insight into the actual truth. Although the person who's not walking with Jesus, according to the course of this world, thinks that they are the captain of their own ship, directing their path through the night, they are actually directed by another spirit—the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience.

So, they are directed by the wrong spirit to do wrong things in opposition and disobedience to God. Let me clue you into this truth if you don't already recognize it: standing in opposition to God is dumb. This is simple. Standing in opposition to God is dumb. It would be like standing strongly against a tsunami or a tornado, and that doesn't even begin to scratch the surface of how foolish it is to stand in opposition to God.

It's standing in opposition to the one who is eternal when you are temporal. It's standing in opposition to the creator when you are the created one. It's standing in opposition to the one who has all power when you are weak and insufficient, even though you might think yourself strong. Every single one of us today, who do not know Christ, once walked according to the course of this world, according to the pattern.

Directed by the way of the enemy and being carnally minded positions one in opposition to God. Romans 8:7 states that this mindset makes you at enmity with God. It places you in a position of being against Him. Not only does the Apostle Paul address this in Romans chapter 8, but the Apostle James also speaks to it in James 4. He says that whoever makes himself a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. The word "friend" here translates to "lover of."

I realize that the Bible does direct us that God so loved the world and that we should love the world. However, that kind of love for the people of the world is not the same as the love of the world that James refers to in James 4:4. He who makes himself a lover of the things of this world, the passing pleasures of sin, positions himself as an enemy of God. They choose to stand in opposition to Him.

In 1 John 2, John states that all that is in this world is the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life. All of these desires will pass away. The person who longs for, loves, and follows after these things sets themselves in opposition to the Almighty God; they are enemies of Him.

But Jesus is the Prince of Peace. He is the one who comes to bring peace. We saw this in Ephesians 1:2 last week: "Grace and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ." Now, look at Ephesians 2:14. Speaking of Jesus, it says, "For He Himself is our peace, who has made both one and has broken down the middle wall of separation, having abolished in His flesh the enmity, that is, the law of commandments contained in ordinances, so as to create in Himself one new man from the two, thus making peace."

He is our peace, and He breaks apart the enmity, bringing us into a relationship with God once again. If He is your peace today, if you have received the Prince of Peace into your life by faith, then point number three is this: I was an enemy of God; I am His friend and His child. I was an enemy of God; I am His friend.

Ephesians chapter 2, verse 19 says, "Now therefore you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God." If today Christ is your peace, you are no longer strangers and foreigners; you are fellow citizens of the citizenship of heaven with the saints and members of the household of Jesus Christ, the household of God. You have been brought into the family. We saw that last week: we have been adopted into the family and made a part of His kids and His kingdom.

Pre-conversion, we were dead in trespasses and sins. Paul says in Ephesians chapter 2, verse 1, that we were also in disobedient opposition to God (Ephesians chapter 2, verse 2). Thirdly, we pursued the lustful desires of our fleshly mind and were therefore under wrath (Ephesians chapter 2, verse 3). Ephesians chapter 2, verse 3 states, "Among whom, among the children of disobedience, you also once conducted yourselves in the lusts of your flesh, fulfilling the desires of your flesh and of the mind, and we were by nature children of wrath, just as the others."

Again, this is not unique. All of those in the world who have not come to that conversion experience, putting their faith in the finished work of Jesus on the cross, fall under this condition. Those who still identify themselves outside of Jesus conduct themselves in the lusts of the flesh. They are oriented, directed, and dominated by all the appetites of this body. They cannot stop doing those things that are in opposition to God, and therefore they are described as being under wrath, even though they might feel that what they are doing is right.

Don't people today say, "I gotta do what I gotta do. I gotta be me. I just gotta come out and be myself"? In that, they claim they are doing what is right. They say, "I gotta follow my heart." However, twice, because it is so important, the wisest man who ever lived, Solomon, writes in Proverbs chapter 14 and again in Proverbs chapter 16, "There is a way that seems right to a man, but the end of that way is the way of death."

There is a way that seems right to a man, and when you meet a person who says, "I just gotta do what my heart tells me to do. I just gotta follow after that," it is crucial to remember this warning.

The passion of who I am is really who I am. You may say, "I totally understand that; that's the way that you feel." You know what? That's exactly what you should feel like according to the sin nature. However, that way is the way of death; that path leads away from God and is in opposition to Him.

Turn in your Bibles, if you will, to Ephesians. To the left, just a couple of books—three books, actually—to First Corinthians, chapter six. First Corinthians 6:9. The Apostle Paul writes, "Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners—none of them will inherit the kingdom of God." They will not inherit the kingdom of God.

Now, it is exceedingly important that we never miss the next words in verse 11: "And such were some of you." If you're in Christ today, that's past tense. I was those things, and such were some of you. Now you're no longer that. If you're a Christian today, it is not because of your great effort and religious ritualistic behavior, but because of this: "And such were some of you, but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of God." It has nothing to do with your activity that placed you in this position; it is what Jesus did that has brought you from being one who is not an inheritor of the kingdom of God—because of the activity of sinful disobedience in your life—to being in the place of being adopted into the family with an eternal inheritance that does not fade away. That is eternal in the heavens. It's all by the grace and the gracious activity of God.

Is "and such were some of you" the description of your life today? I was that, but I'm no longer that. All of this is according to the grace of God. Again, in Ephesians chapter 2, jump back over there. We have looked at chapter 2, verses 1, 2, and 3. Now, look at verse 4: "But God." I love the "buts" of the Bible. But God.

Who is rich in mercy because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were unlovely? Even when we were dead in trespasses and sins, He made us alive together with Christ. By grace, you are saved. It is by His mercy and by His grace that we inherit this position in Christ. As our identity changes, we find ourselves positioned in Him. I am in Christ; therefore, I was those things.

Point number four on your outline: I was under wrath; I am under grace. I was under wrath; I am under grace. Post-conversion, everything changes. After putting our faith in Christ, after the identity shifts to being in Him, everything changes by God's grace.

Verses 1 and 5 of Ephesians chapter 2 tell us that the very next thing that comes in Christ after conversion is that we are alive. Verse 1 states, "And you He made alive who were dead." Verse 5 continues, "Even when we were dead in trespasses, He made us alive." By grace, you are saved.

Pre-conversion, we were dead. Pre-conversion, we followed after the lusts and desires of our flesh. Pre-conversion, we were under wrath. Pre-conversion, we were directed by another spirit into doing things that were in opposition to God. We were as enemies. But post-conversion, we are alive.

Secondly, post-conversion, we are with God in Christ. Ephesians chapter 2, verse 6 states, "And He raised us up together and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus." We were dead; we are alive. We were in opposition to God; now we are with God, united back to Him in Christ Jesus.

Thirdly, post-conversion, we are given exceedingly great and eternal riches of grace. After salvation, after conversion, that grace is going to be shown to us for eternity. Ephesians 2, verse 7 says that in the ages to come, that is, in eternity in the future, He might show the exceeding riches of His grace and His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. I love that it says the exceeding riches of His grace. You can't...

Consume them all; it's a renewable resource. His mercies are new every morning. Great is His faithfulness! The exceeding riches of His grace mean that there will never be a time when you come before God, before His throne of grace, seeking grace and mercy, and when you get there, He says, "I'm really sorry, Lou took all the grace just a few minutes ago. I'm tapped out; I don't have any more." He has it. He took it. There will never be that time. In the ages to come, He will be revealing the exceeding riches of His grace and His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.

After we have found conversion in Christ, we are alive. We are with God in Christ, and we have been given exceedingly great riches for eternity.

It's not exactly in this text, but it's true: we are completely new. Second Corinthians chapter 5, verse 17 tells us that if anyone is in Christ, they are a new creation. All the old things have passed away; behold, everything has become new. What does that mean? It means who you were before you met Jesus—whatever sin you committed, whatever disobedience you were involved in, however you opposed God—all of that is gone. The Bible says that He has removed our sin as far as the east is from the west. How far is that? It's a long way, never to be remembered again. I was that, but I am no longer that.

Now, if this is true, then the activity of my life and the activity of your life must express it. It needs to be seen in our lives. If our lives are new in Christ, then the way we live takes on an entirely new characterization. It's a different form of activity. If your life is characterized by the works of the flesh, then although you might feel alive, you are dead.

You may say, "Well, I don't know what the works of the flesh are." Well, it's just a couple chapters over to the left of where you're at in Ephesians chapter 2, because we find it in Galatians chapter 5. Galatians chapter 5, verse 19, and the list that is given here is very similar to what we just saw in First.

Corinthians chapter 6 and Galatians 5:19 state that the works of the flesh are evident and clearly seen. These works include adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like. The Apostle Paul emphasizes that he could go on and on with this list. We know what the works of the flesh are; they are evident. They reflect how we lived before we met Jesus.

The works of the flesh are evident, and I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in times past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God (Galatians 5:21). Even if you prayed the prayer, were dunked in baptism, made a profession of faith, or paid a tithe or two, if your life is dominated by these things, then you are not saved. You need to move from that point to the realization that you were those things, but now you are in Christ, and everything has changed. Everything is different.

We need to reach a point where our lives are dominated by the fruit of the Spirit. The fruit of the Spirit is not merely religious ritualistic behavior—such as praying, tithing, serving, or knocking on doors. That is not the fruit of the Spirit. Look at the very next words in Galatians 5:22: "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control." Against such things, there is no law.

The fruit of the Spirit represents the qualities that should be evident in the life of a person who was once dominated and characterized by the works of the flesh. Now, love, joy, peace, kindness, and self-control are the expressions of their life through the indwelling Spirit of God. These qualities are not something they manufacture; they come from the mere presence of the Spirit of God. Everything changes.

So, point number five on your outline is this: You must have a clear distinction between your past and your present. You must be able to say, "I was," to your current state of "I am in Christ," or you are not saved. If you cannot look back and say, "I was," then you need to examine your faith.

That conversion experience hasn't happened yet, and my exhortation is to put your faith in Jesus Christ and receive the salvation that is freely given by His grace. When a Christian describes their journey by saying, "I was that, but now I am this," what is that story called? A testimony. It's not a trick question; a testimony is exactly what it is. They say, "I was that, I'm not that anymore; I am this now."

The problem is that too many Christians live their entire lives consumed with what they were. They can't move on from that and never get over it. They can't seem to lay it aside, even though Jesus has forgiven them of it. Even though He has removed their sin as far as the east is from the west, all they ever talk about is who they were. They feel guilty about it, they're depressed by it, and they can't move on. I'm here to tell you today, if that's you, that you are a new creation in Christ. I am in Christ by the grace of God, and I am what I am by the grace of God. His grace toward me was not in vain, but I labored.

Finally, post-conversion, we find this important truth in verse 10. After you've been saved, we are His workmanship, created for good works. Ephesians 2:10 states, "For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them."

I mentioned this last week, and if you were here, you know it. Point number six on your outline is homework for you to think about: Do you have an "I was but" statement? On the back of your sermon guides for Servants Sunday, we want you to step into the good works that God prepared beforehand for you to walk in. We want to give you an easy on-ramp to do that, an easy opportunity to do that.

In the back of the sanctuary, stand there by Mike at the table. There are these seven cards; there are also some in the lobby and some at the connection point. We are saying, "Hey, we want you to begin to step into the good works that God prepared beforehand for you to walk in." Now, I want you to know that serving on the Refresh Team is not the full embodiment of the good works that God has prepared beforehand for you to walk in, but it might be the first step. You won't begin to experience and enjoy the good works that God has prepared beforehand until you take that first step. It might be to help on...

The refresh team might be to help on the parking team, the greeting team, the hospitality team, the connection point, the security team, or the usher team. These are all in the back, and I want you to take one of these cards, whether you're serving or not. If you're not serving, especially take one of these cards, put your name on the back of it by faith, and include your phone number and email address if you have one. Sign up for a service.

I just want to let you know that it says "Service One, Two, and Three." In March of this year, we're going to three services on Sunday morning, starting March 8th. It's not very far away. First, second, and third service—so you'd be signing up to serve at one of those services. Take one of these by faith, sign your name, and even if you think, "I don't know if I can do that," by God's grace, you can. You never really see the empowering of the Spirit until you step out by faith to serve Him.

We are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works. If you have an "I was" today, but your "I am" is in Christ, then you have a purpose to serve the Lord. This purpose glorifies God, and you are further sanctified. To a greater extent, you experience satisfaction in Christ. I was, but I'm no longer that; I am made new, completely new by Christ. That's the experience of the Christian. If you don't know that experience today, we want you to know it before you leave this place.

I want to give you an opportunity to do that. As the worship team comes back, let's stand, and we will close in prayer and with a song.

Father God, I thank You that we have the testimony of the Scriptures, the exhortation of Your Word that is living and powerful to bring us into a right and correct understanding of who we truly are. Lord, because of Your grace, we can be made new. We thank You for the salvation that comes by Your grace and through our faith in You. We just saw here in Ephesians chapter 2.

Verse 8 states, "For by grace are you saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast."

If you've been trying in your own effort to make yourself new, to get rid of the old deeds of the flesh by your own strength, and you've not yet yielded to the all-sufficient grace and power of God, maybe you've never done that, or you've fallen away from the simplicity of just faithfully following Him.

I want to give you an opportunity this morning to step back into that place of identification with Him or to do it for the first time. If that's you this morning, and you've not put your faith in Christ for salvation but you want to move away from who you were to who you can be in Christ, as we're praying, would you just lift your hand up high wherever you're at?

Praise the Lord! I'm going to trust that we're all completely new. That means that we're going to have a lot of servants. God, we praise You for Your great grace, and we ask that You would enable us by Your grace to be witnesses of You in all that we say and do. We thank You for the new identity we have in You. We praise You in Jesus' name.