“My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.”

A name is important. We give names to everything. The purpose of a name is to provide identification and inform us of the use of those objects. You are probably reading this on your cell phone or your computer. These objects were named to let you know they are to be used to communicate or to compute data. Your own name serves the same purpose, to identify you. At birth you are given a name that is unique to you. However, you also have other names. Every title you have held in your life is a type of name. Your title may be son, daughter, sister, brother, father, mother, wife, or husband. These names are just as much a part of who you are as your own given name. Throughout life, other people will give you names, usually referred to as nicknames, based on things you have done, personal characteristics, or who they perceive you to be. Even society gives you names. 

I have been given many names throughout my life. Some of the names people have used have encouraged me, while other names have left a deep wound in me. Some of these names will stick with me for the rest of my life. Names affect our self-image, our reputation, our relationships, and maybe even our careers. Some of the names we have been given are a direct result of sin we participated in. There is one thing we must remember – the enemy is always ready to give us a new name. The devil’s new name, however, is not a name you would ever want to be called; it is a name of accusation and shame. Take an inventory of every name you have been called. How many of those names produce shame or accusation in you? And how many of those shameful and accusatory names have you believed? Those, my friend, are not your true names.

The enemy’s goal is to destroy the name God is building in our lives. You see, the devil is not the only one who calls you names. God the Father has spoken your name. The name He speaks over you is your true name. It is the only name that matters. It is the only name that should inform and shape you. The world can put names on you, such as failure, cheater, felon, liar, sinner, thief, addict, rejected, unlovable, and unredeemable. It doesn’t matter. The names the world calls you are not who you are, for you are hidden in Christ Jesus, and in Christ you are a son of the Almighty God.

Christ’s death literally became my death. When, by faith, I gave my life to Christ, I died to my old self. I was crucified on the cross with Christ. I am not talking about my literal physical body. I am talking about my spirit. My spirit had been detached and estranged from God’s Spirit. Because of this, sin reigned in my spirit; my spirit was in a constant state of rebellion towards God. When I surrendered my life to Christ, the Holy Spirit entered my dead spirit, gave me life, and now I am attached and connected to God. I now have the spirit of Christ living in me.

Previously, I had been given the name of sinner. My name had been shame. Now, because of what Christ has done in me, I am called a “son of God.” My name is beloved. That’s right, brothers and sisters, we are not sinners saved by grace. Sin is not who are anymore. Now and forever, we are “sons and daughters of God.” We are saints. Holy ones.

There is a process during our Christian walk we call sanctification. In simple terms, all this word means is the process of becoming holy – becoming more like Christ. There are three areas of self that Christ sanctifies: The Spirit, The Mind, and The Flesh. My new spirit is now joined together with Christ’s spirit, which is the first step in God’s sanctification process. Even though our old spirit is dead, we still live in a fleshly body that has had many years of training under our old spirit and our old way of thinking. The continued work of sanctification is now in my mind and flesh. I am called to bring my thinking and my choices under the control of the Spirit of God living in me. The enemy is quick to use the desires of flesh to lead us back into sinful actions. The devil wants us to forget our new identity in Christ and uses every opportunity he can to get us to refocus on our old identity. To overcome his tactics, it is important for us to continually take every thought captive to the mind of Christ, to live constantly in the truth of our position in Christ.  

Because you are in Christ, you are accepted, you are secure, and you are significant. Our identity is no longer defined by the world. It is defined by our Heavenly Father. We do not find our identity in the names people or society have given us. We do not find our identity in politics. We do not find our identity in our race, the color of our skin, or our gender. We do not find our identity in materialism or vanity. We do not find our identity in relationships. All these things are fading and are but dust in the wind. Our identity is found only in the person of Christ and in our position in Him. This is a bond that is eternal. It will never be shaken.

Galatians 2:20 says, “My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me…” But let me tag the following passage from 2 Corinthians 5:17 to complete the message, “This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!” 

In Christ Jesus, you are a new person!