Renewed Identity

Renewal is an inside-out process that begins when God renews a person’s heart and they begin to desire to know and love God passionately. Man was originally created in the image of God to be in relationship with Him. This relationship, however, is severed and the fundamental identity of each and every person is fatally contaminated by sin. In spite of man’s sin, God willingly chose to send Jesus to die in man’s place on the cross and, in so doing, make it possible for a renewed relationship with God. For those who place their faith in Jesus, their sin – past, present, and future - is forever forgiven and they are made right with God. Therefore, the foundational sign of the gospel in those that have been renewed by Jesus is that they embrace their new identity as one loved by their Creator and that they actively pursue intimacy with God through spiritual disciplines such as prayer, Scripture reading, and fasting. Rather than obeying God in order to earn His favor, in Christ we understand that we are loved in spite of our sin and reconciled to God based on the merit of Jesus. This, then, motivates us to live in radical obedience.