InChristInternational.com

IDENTITY THEFT

Doug Fortune

It seems the more I teach concerning the divine nature that we have been given in Christ, "...that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature..." (2 Peter 1:4), the more I am confronted with the seeming inability at times to actually "live it out" in daily life. I find this not only as an observer of the lives of those I come in contact with, but also it is evident in my own life. Don't get me wrong here, I don't necessarily walk around in a Genesis chapter 6 state of mind, "...that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually." (Genesis 6:5) In many areas of life I actually do pretty good, but then there are those others.... Now don't sit there acting so sanctified like you don't know what I'm talking about! You got those others too, don't you? If you honestly can't think of any others, just try asking those who know you well, I'm sure they'll be able to enlighten you a bit. And yes, I realize this isn't my typical "high and lofty" Third Day/ Tabernacles/ Most Holy Place type of writing. I guess I'm just weary of hypothesizing and pontificating about mental ascent to spiritual concepts... I am tired of analysis without synthesis.

I sometimes find life for so many being lived right in the middle of Romans chapter 7, "For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do. Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me. For I delight in the law of God after the inward man: But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?" (Romans 7:19-24) And NO, pastoring a church has not sent me into depression, I am not in need of any prozac (that's my attempt at humor). I must however remind myself to whom Paul was writing, "Know ye not, brethren, (for I speak to them that know the law,) how that the law hath dominion over a man as long as he liveth?" (Romans 7:1) Paul is writing to those who are living under the law. Rome's lasting contribution to civilization is law. Unfortunately, this same law-based mentality creeps easily into our Christianity. Paul makes the declaration, "O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?" Upon closer examination of the words Paul is using, we may find an answer to the dilemma of the "human condition" he is describing.

One pivotal key is found in this axiom of truth, "the law hath dominion over a man as long as HE liveth." I honestly believe that as long as it is ME living MY life, law will have dominion and produce the double-mindedness we read of in Romans 7:19-24... doing the things we hate, and hating the things we do. This is certainly NOT the Christ-Life! The ME life, the Self-Life will most certainly produce a wretched man living in a body of death. And why?... because that is not what we were created for, and when we do not do that which we were created for, it makes us wretched! Adam chose the Self-Life and he reaped the fruit thereof, which is death, "...for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die." (Genesis 2:17)

Paul speaks of this "human condition" to the church at Corinth when he says, "But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ." (2 Corinthians 11:3)

It seems that everyone has a computer these days. Have you ever had a message pop up on your screen concerning a 'corrupted file'? Do you know what it takes to have a file corrupted?... just one little bitty bit of information that is out of place, or that the program does not recognize. Religion is filled with information (from the tree of knowledge) that is out of place with our new identity in Christ. We have been given a totally new 'operating system' in Christ, but many are still trying to run our old familiar DOS based programs (wow, I'm really dating myself now, as I actually remember some DOS commands!) on Vista or XP! Just like the files on your computer, our minds can be corrupted with the wrong information.

So, what is this "simplicity that is IN Christ" that Paul speaks of? The word translated as simplicity is haplotes in Greek, and it means singleness. It is derived from the Greek word haplous, meaning a particle of UNION, folded together or SINGLE, one. Paul is saying we are to be in union, folded together or single, one with and IN Christ.

This truth is reinforced in 1 Corinthians 6:17, as it states, "But the person who is united to the Lord becomes ONE SPIRIT with Him." (Amplified Bible) It's really all about becoming ONE with Christ in union. Paul uses the analogy of marriage to further his thoughts on the subject, "...and shall be JOINED unto his wife, and they two shall be ONE flesh. This is a great mystery: BUT I SPEAK concerning CHRIST AND THE CHURCH." (Ephesians 5:31) Yes, in those well known verses we use for marriage counseling, Paul is really speaking about our union with Christ!

That is exactly what Jesus prayed for in John 17:21, "That they all may be ONE; as thou, Father, art in Me, and I in Thee, that they also may be ONE IN US:" That is exactly what Isaiah prophesied of also, "...Surely God is IN THEE; and there is none else, there is no God. Verily thou art a God that HIDEST thyself, O God of Israel, the Saviour." (Isaiah 45:14-15) Paul got the revelation of Isaiah's prophecy and goes on to tell us exactly WHERE He hides Himself, "Christ IN YOU, the hope of glory." (Colossians 1:27) The simplicity in Christ speaks of our union with Christ, thus making us an expression of the ONE Life of Christ as it is lived through us.

The subtle temptation that the serpent offered to Eve was, "Ye shall be as gods." (Genesis 3:5) The thing is, they were ALREADY like God, as declared in Genesis 1:27; "So God created man in His own image, in the image of God created He him; male and female created He them." Because they were already like God, the REAL temptation was that they would become SEPERATE gods or separate expressions of their OWN soulish life, rather than being an expression of the Life of the ONE True God. That, my friend is still the temptation for us today. That is what produces a wretched man living in a body of death, that Paul speaks of in Romans chapter 7.

We cannot allow religion to corrupt our minds from the simplicity, the union, the oneness that comes as we are IN Christ. I realize that the idea of us becoming ONE with Christ in union can be a bit mind boggling. However according to Paul, in the very next verse after speaking of this simplicity, this oneness in Christ, he declares that to preach anything else is to preach "another Jesus, whom we have not preached... receive another spirit, which ye have not received, or another gospel, which ye have not accepted..." (2 Corinthians 11:4) That's a pretty strong indictment. And I don't think you necessarily have to look to what we would the 'cults' to find this kind of teaching.

Any teaching that tells you that Jesus is 'out there' somewhere, distant or removed, is teaching another Jesus. Yes, I do realize that Christ is omnipresent, but the primary place He manifests Himself is Christ IN you, and THROUGH you! To teach anything else is another gospel!

Any teaching that tells you that even after coming to Christ you have a different spirit other than His Spirit, is another gospel. "For as the body is ONE, and hath many members, and all the members of that ONE body, being many, are ONE body: SO ALSO IS CHRIST. For by ONE Spirit are we all baptized into ONE body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into ONE Spirit." (1 Corinthians 12:12-13) It is one Spirit, one Body of Christ, of whom Jesus is the preeminent Head. Granted, I do believe that people can also harbor other 'spirits'. When asked if I believe a Christian can have a demon, I always respond, "Yes, if they WANT one!"

I believe that the seeming inability at times to actually "live out" the divine nature in daily life is really a case of MISTAKEN IDENTITY as a result of 'identity theft'. We hear a lot these days about 'identity theft'. You can even buy 'identity theft' insurance now. Maybe we need to look at 'identity theft' in a spiritual sense. Anything I believe about myself that is contrary to what Father says about me is, in essence 'identity theft'. The last I knew, 'identity theft' was an illegal activity. Maybe I need to serve a warrant (what God says about me), and 'arrest' some of those inaccurate beliefs and put them 'behind bars'.

Within the same context Paul states, "For I am jealous over you with godly jealousy: for I have espoused you to ONE husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ." (2 Corinthians 11:2) We are espoused to ONE husband, we have taken on His family name and His identity. Our true identity is only found in UNION, as we are folded together or single, ONE in and with Christ... that is our true destiny. We cannot allow our minds to be corrupted with the 'identity theft' of inaccurate beliefs about who we are. It is time to rise up into accurate understanding that will enable not only mere analysis, but true synthesis of the divine nature in everyday life.