Do you know who you are in Christ? In counselling Christians, I’ve seen how often our self-perception is incomplete or shaky. We don’t fully grasp what it means to be simultaneously a saint, sinner, and sufferer in Christ. Our identity as “saints in Christ” should be the primary lens through which we view everything else.
Too often, we feel defined by past mistakes, present struggles, or comparison with others, rather than the truth of our eternal redemption: “Not with the blood of goats and calves, but with his own blood [Jesus] entered once and once only into the Holy Place having procured an eternal redemption” (Hebrews 9:12). When anxiety strikes or we feel forgotten by God, our identity becomes tethered to circumstances instead of the unshakable truth of Christ, who said, “The very hairs on your head are all numbered. So don’t be afraid; you are more valuable to God than a whole flock of sparrows” (Luke 12:7).
False guilt and lack of assurance weigh many Christians down. In seasons of stress, our emotions fluctuate wildly, casting doubt on our standing in Christ. We may feel condemned, unworthy, weary from ongoing sin or suffering, as though we’ve lost God’s approval. But feelings often distort or blind us to our identity as saints in Christ.
Paul Tautges writes, “When our evaluation of ourselves, our sin, and our circumstances is misaligned with God’s view, we don’t live with the comfort and motivation Christ offers.” In contrast, if our identity is firmly rooted in Christ, it transforms how we think, speak, and act daily. Our feelings will eventually catch up with our beliefs about our identity. Embracing our identity in Christ enables us to fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen.
Embracing our full identity in Christ strengthens us to trust in the unseen promises and character of God when visible circumstances are hard. It also reframes all our other roles—our jobs, families, friendships, church life, and seasons of life.
When I feel weary and discouraged, I need to return to the gospel to remind myself of who I am in Christ over and over again. I have to preach truth to myself: “I am in right standing with God, raised with Christ who has conquered sin, death, and the devil. His victory is assured, so is mine. Where Christ goes, there I go too.” Reading a book like Romans, especially the first eight chapters, helps renew my mind in what it means to be a saint.
A key resource in understanding our identity is Paul Tautges’s Remade: Embracing Your Full Identity in Christ. In ninety devotionals, he presents our identity through three lenses—saint, sinner, and sufferer—and how God works out His purposes through each. Tautges writes, “You are a saint in good standing before God, yet you are simultaneously a sinner who must battle with your desires and a sufferer who undergoes hardship.” This paradox helps us live with humility, gratitude, and hope. It is essential for a productive Christian life.
In the next few devotions, we’ll focus on just a few aspects of our identity as saints in Christ.
Chosen by the Father
Our sainthood begins with God’s eternal choice. Scripture reminds us that before the foundation of the world, He set His love upon us. It’s nothing like canonization–when certain churches declare a person to be a saint because of good things they have done. God’s choice was not based on anything in us, but purely His grace. Wayne Grudem explains, “Election is an act of God before creation in which he chooses some people to be saved, not on account of any foreseen merit in them, but only because of his sovereign good pleasure.”
Ephesians 1 gives us full assurance that we have been chosen and called by the Father:
“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved.”
These words—blessed in the Beloved, chosen, holy and blameless, predestined, sons—speak of our position in Christ, not our effort. Our spiritual blessings originate with God and are aligned with His eternal purposes (Romans 8:28).
If you’ve responded to Jesus, it’s only because the Father gave you to Him. Any good fruit in your life flows from God choosing, calling and drawing you to Himself. We didn’t choose Him, He chose us (John 15:16). We didn’t love God, He loved us first (1 John 4:19).
Paul summarises this in Ephesians 1:11:
“In Him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will.”
Have you responded to the gospel through repentance and trust in Jesus? Then you have been called by God.
Called by God.
Like the Ephesians, we have been called by God through the gospel. The gospel has four essential elements that need to be proclaimed to us before we can respond:
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- God is the righteous Creator who holds us morally accountable.
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- We are sinners under His righteous judgment—“The wages of sin is death.”
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- Jesus, the Son of God, died in our place and offers salvation as a free gift.
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- We must respond by repenting and trusting in Christ’s finished work on the cross.
Our faith is not the reason for God’s choice—it’s the result. That’s important, especially when our faith feels weak. We’re saved not by the strength of our faith, but by its object—Jesus Christ.
If you’ve responded to the gospel, you’ve been chosen by the Father from eternity. God has called and drawn you to Himself through someone who proclaimed the gospel to you. This truth should fill you with deep confidence, joy, humility and gratitude. There is no room for pride in a saint.
Converted
Remembering the miracle of regeneration and conversion helps us further embrace our identity in Christ. How can a spiritually dead person respond to the gospel? How could we even understand the gospel or obey its invitation?
Only by a supernatural work of God that imparts spiritual life. This is the work of regeneration. The Holy Spirit softens our heart so that we can respond to the gospel and be re-born as a new creature. Jesus described this as being “born again” in John chapter 3. Regeneration is as radical and wonderful as the birth of a baby. Regeneration is permanent and cannot be undone. Even the most law abiding, religious person must be regenerated by the Holy Spirit to enter into God’s kingdom.
Ephesians 2:1–10 beautifully describes this divine work that has taken place in every true Christian. I urge you to absorb these truths several times as though you have never seen them before:
“As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, 2 in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. 3 All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath. 4 But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, 5 made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. 6 And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, 7 in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. 8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9 not by works, so that no one can boast. 10 For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”
Do we recall that we were once dead in sin, following worldly desires and Satan’s lies, deserving God’s wrath? But God intervened, breathing life into our souls, binding us forever with Christ, and seating us with Him in heavenly realms.
This new spiritual life enables us to respond to the gospel and the Bible with excitement. We now feel genuine sorrow for sin and have the power to turn from it in obedience to Christ. Without regeneration, true repentance is impossible. Only when God makes us alive with Christ can we be forgiven and changed (Colossians 2:13).
Remembering our miraculous conversion and calling should still thrill us even decades later. It should excite us to give our testimony of how we became a saint. Remembering my own conversion forty years ago is what inspired my choice of picture for this blog. It’s by far the most important event of my life.
Amazing Grace
“Amazing grace, how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me!” John Newton, once a slave trader, understood his sinful wretchedness and penned these words. During a violent storm in 1748, he cried out to God for mercy. His dramatic conversion on the high seas transformed him into a faithful gospel preacher and abolitionist.
Newton knew he didn’t choose God—God’s grace reached out and rescued him. He knew that apart from God’s grace, he would not have even seen the horror of his sin. As Colossians 2:11 says, our hearts are spiritually circumcised not by human effort, but by God’s grace.
One of my greatest blessings was growing up with parents who lived and taught us the gospel of grace from when I was born. They named our farm and our hotels “Grace,” and our BnBs still bear that name today, because everything is due to grace. Grace shaped everything in our home. My parents urged me and my siblings to show grace to each other in our differences, and the sweet fruit of our bond is stronger than ever today. It was foundational to our identity—not based on performance or feelings, but on God’s undeserved love for us.
Salvation is entirely by grace—God’s unearned favour. Faith is a divine gift of grace, not something we generate. Like Lydia in Acts 16:14, if you’re a believer, it’s because the Lord opened your heart to receive the gospel. Grace isn’t earned by doing religious rituals or good deeds, or through virtue signalling. It’s God’s free gift so no one can boast.
Grace is our refuge when we feel defined by sin, weakness, or failure. In fact, God’s grace is sufficient and perfected in our weakness (2 Corinthians 12:9). We can approach the throne of grace with confidence and receive grace upon grace (Hebrews 4:16; John 1:16).
But God’s grace not only saves—it trains us to live holy lives and to say no to ungodliness (Titus 2:11–12). We cannot continue to live in habitual sin if we have received God’s grace. “No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, because God’s seed abides in him, and he cannot keep on sinning, because he has been born of God” (1 John 3:9). There is a time when we need to question someone’s salvation (or perhaps our own) if there is no evidence of the fruits of conversion.
We don’t have to earn God’s love. We’re accepted in Christ. But this radically changes our behaviour and how we relate to others: Because of God’s grace, we can forgive, love, serve, and speak truth with courage—not from fear or a need for approval, but from our secure identity as saints in Christ. We can love people more, and need them less.
Living as a Saint
So how do we live as saints who know they are chosen, called and converted?
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- Rest in God’s grace rather than striving to earn it.
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- Reflect Christ’s love, knowing our identity is secure.
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- Pursue holiness, living in line with our true identity.
Reflection Questions
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- How does knowing you were chosen before the foundation of the world affect your confidence?
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- In what ways do regeneration, conversion, and grace shape your identity in practical ways?
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- How can resting in your identity as a saint help you extend grace and forgiveness to others?
Prayer
Father, thank You that I am chosen, holy, blameless, and beloved in Christ. Thank you that I am saved by grace alone, through faith in Christ alone. Thank you for choosing me and calling me to yourself through the gospel. Thank you for sending someone to share the gospel with me and for giving me a soft heart to receive it. Thank you for planting the seed that gave me new life in Christ. Help me live out this identity daily, reflecting Your love and grace to those around me. Bring those you have ordained for eternal life across my path, so that I may share the gospel with them. Remind me that my security is in Christ alone, and empower me to live a holy and bold life for the glory ofChrist. Amen.