Your new identity in Christ:

According to Galatians 2:19-20, when the Holy Spirit came to be a permanent part of your

being (at the time of your salvation), God recreated you to be a new being. (NOTE: The translation of Ephesians we are referencing in these slides is usually the Great Commission Training Ministries (GCTM) explanatory translation, but on occasion we will also use the ESV. The GCTM explanatory translation can be accessed from our Web site at: https://www.gctmin.org/Ephesians-members )

Your new identity in Christ: When the Holy Spirit came to be a permanent part of your being (at the time of your salvation), God recreated you to be a new being. This is who you are now:

1. God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ are continually working to give you

wholeness in your soul (so you will not have any anxiety in your spirit, but

instead will be filled up with the goodness of God). (1:2)

Questions for discussion:

• What does it mean to have wholeness in your soul? What does it mean to not have wholeness in your soul? (What makes up your soul?)

• If we trust our identity in Christ, would that keep us from feeling anxiety? Dissatisfaction or unhappiness? Rejection?

2. God continues to bless you with every spiritual blessing that exists in the heavenly realm. (1:3)

Questions for discussion:

• Such as what? What are some of those spiritual blessings (sometimes called the provisions and privileges of “the Heavenlies”)?

• What eeect does it have on us to better understand all that this means for us?

• What worldly identities do we tend to trust for “blessings”? What outcomes in life do we sometimes associate with God blessing us?

• With an identity in Christ why do we have to verify our trust in God for blessings through what happens in your life? How does “trust but verify” affect your relationship with God?

3. We now constantly live in the presence of God as holy and completely without fault in His sight. (1:4)

Questions for discussion:

• Are we supposed to think we are now perfectly pure? How does God see us?
• Do we trust that we are perfectly pure?

• Totally accepted and not needing the approval of others?

4. God has adopted us (and declared to all of heaven and earth that you are his child, with all the rights and privileges that go with being a fully vested member of God’s house—you are already one of the privileged elite of heaven). (1:5-6)

Questions for discussion:

• Why would a believer ever have low self-esteem when trusting their identity in Christ (many believers live with low self-esteem)?

• What does this mean we have and can do that a non-Christian does not have and cannot do?

5. God has made it possible to (and calls us to) live in extreme joy, which comes to us as we gratefully praise Him for the glorious favor He freely lavishes on us who are in His beloved Son Jesus Christ. (1:5-6)

Questions for discussion:

• How does trusting our identity in Christ eliminate the eeects of our circumstances on the joy of our soul’s well-being?

• What prevents you from having more joy in your life?

6. God forgives (has permanently forgiven) all the bad things we do (its not about what we do, but it is about who we are in Christ). (1:7)

Questions for discussion:

• How does an identity in Christ view good and bad?

• How should we process those times when we actively commit evil (what does “committing evil” mean?)?

• Is operating without God’s view (evil) indicate which identity we are trusting?

7. God has reunited us with Christ! And now we are co-inheritors of all things with Christ. (1:9-11, 20-21)

Questions for discussion:

• Identity influences our idea of “self”. Do we understand that in Christ “self” is neither eradicated nor exalted but embedded?

• What does that mean, and why should it excite us?

• What is it that Christ has inherited? What does it mean that we have also inherited all that Christ has inherited?

8. We have already received, and never to be taken away, God’s own spirit to dwell permanently in us. (1:13-14)

Questions for discussion:

• What do these two verses claim to guarantee (permanent proof)? “And the down-payment and guarantee of all those promises is God’s own Holy Spirit, whom you have already received, when you heard and trusted in the truth of God that you are saved by the work of Christ. God has done all this so we will see and proclaim the great magnitude of what kind of person Christ is to have done all this for us.” (Eph 1:13-14, GCTM) (see also John 10:27-29)

9. When we are persuaded of the previous 8 provisions of God, it results in us growing a sacrificial love for His other children, so we will consider them more important than ourself (deem their benefit more important than our own), just as He does. (1:15)

Questions for discussion:

• Do you see this growing in your life? If not, according to this verse, why not? “As you have grabbed hold of these truths it has resulted in you having a more solid trust in the Lord Jesus. And as a result you have grown a sacrificial love for God's special people that looks just like His--you are considering others before yourself, just as He does.” (1:15, GCTM)

• Does this talk to a sense of shared identity? (Jesus has only one body.)

10. God is at work in us (and we are to be praying for this for each other) to give us a spirit of wisdom so you will be more spiritually prosperous and skilled in navigating the challenges of life. (1:17)

Questions for discussion:

• What are some examples of these challenges in our lives?

• The Greek word for wisdom focuses mainly on “clarity.” How is an identity in Christ producing more Spiritual clarity and thus the blessing of having a more Godly walk?

11. God is at work in us (and we are to be praying for this for each other) to reveal to us who He truly is and what He is truly like. (1:17)

Questions for discussion:

• Why is this important? What dieerence does it make in our lives when we get a perspective that is more like God’s?

• How does trusting our identity in Christ help us to better understand who God is and what He is like?

12. God wants us to know about the exceeding greatness of His overwhelming power that He exerts to BENEFIT US. This happens as we trust Him to be strong for us. (1:19)

Questions for discussion:

• How do you view BENEFITS? Are they extrinsic or intrinsic?

• What has to happen in order for us to experience these BENEFITS? What does it NOT depend on?

13. You are part of the body of Christ which is Christ’s highest priority and focus, and He is right now in the process of filling you with ALL that He is! (1:22-23)

Questions for discussion:

• What specifically is He in the process of filling you with?

• How does our identity as being a part of the body of Christ aeect how we view things in life?

14. God has committed Himself to have mercy on you and to bless you no matter what it costs Him. (2:4)

Questions for discussion:

• What dieerence does trusting God on this make in the way you live (view) your life?

15. God has made us alive in Christ Jesus. And not just alive in Christ, but He has already exalted us to the extreme position of being seated with Christ on His throne, sharing with us His authority over all the heavenly realms. (2:5-6)

Questions for discussion:

• How does your reality of “sitting at the right Hand of God in Christ Jesus” affect you in the moment (in every situation)?

• As the angels in heaven watch what you do as you are seated on the throne above them, what will you do? (Is this a statement of love or fear as an influence on “self”?)

16. God extravagantly gives you the riches of Christ, which are now all yours, because He freely lavishes all of them on you who are in Christ Jesus; and not only now, but also in all the ages to come. (2:7)

Questions for discussion:

• What riches, and what will you do with them?

• How does being “rich” in Christ aeect your feelings, thoughts, and choices?

17. You are an exalted trophy in whom God displays His great goodness for all to see, as you participate in the healing activities He has prepared for you to enjoy. (2:10)

Questions for discussion:

• What sort of activities are these, and what is being healed?

• What is God’s “goodness” and how does our identity in Christ make us a recipient of His goodness?

18. Because Jesus Christ has made up all the deficits in our righteousness (He has made us whole in God’s sight-- εἰρήνη), God now sees nothing lacking in our righteousness as we stand in the blood of Christ before Him. (2:14-17)

Questions for discussion:

• If you trust Christ as your identity (“self”), what possible deficits in your righteousness do you think you currently have?

• Does God agree with you?

19. God wants you to know that you have equal standing before Him—equal to the Apostles Peter, James, John, and Paul. The proof of this is that you have unhindered access to God the Father anytime you want it! (2:18)

Questions for discussion:

• What difference does trusting this make in the way you live your life?

20. This is how important you are: Your place in the body of Christ is so crucial that God’s plans for His Son and His Church cannot be complete without you. God’s glory requires you to be who He has created you to be. (2:20-22)

Questions for discussion:

• What is your unique role in the body of Christ, and how do you discover and live up to that?

• How does an identity in Christ aeect your motivation and sense of purpose?

21. All the good that God the Father sees in His Son Jesus Christ is now the way he sees us, as we are co-inheritors of all that Christ is. (3:6)

Questions for discussion:

• Do you actually trust what God sees in you, or are you trusting the lies of the enemy that you are a failure—defeated and blemished by your mistakes in this world? (Is it true that misplaced trust is “sin”?)

• How is having your feelings hurt by someone else a “sin”?

22. God’s wisdom has been revealed to all the heavenly hosts by the fact that He has bestowed, and is in the process of bestowing, all the riches of Christ on/in you. (3:6-10)

Questions for discussion:

• The angels see that you are a trophy of the splendor of the full riches of who Jesus Christ is—do you also see this?

• Do you trust (are your feelings, thoughts and choices influenced/persuaded by) the idea that the infinite riches of Christ are now a part of your being?

23. How important is it that you live your life by considering other Christians to be more important than you are? When you do this, God works to increase the extent to which you are persuaded that Christ lives in you, which in turn allows us to more fully experience the infinite riches of Christ’s glory. (3:16-19)

Questions for discussion:

• Did you get/comprehend/trust that the way for your faith to increase and for you to fully experience the infinite riches of Christ, you need to consider others more important than yourself?

24. God’s full glory becomes apparent to everyone, both now and throughout all the ages to come, by what is revealed in the person of Jesus Christ and in His body, the Church. Our part in this happens when we ask God for His provision and then He answers by His Holy Spirit powerfully working in us to deliver His provisions in a way that WAY more than exceeds anything we could have possibly imagined. In this way the Glory of God becomes apparent to all!!! (3:20-21)

Questions for discussion:

• Do you want God’s glory to become more apparent to you?

• Do you want God’s glory to become more apparent through you to others?

• What does God want you to know/trust and do so this will happen for you?

Connecting the dots…

• As you think about all these blessings that are already ours and that profoundly

affect us now in this life, DO YOU GET THE PICTURE THAT YOUR SALVATION IS MUCH, MUCH, MUCH MORE THAN FIRE INSURANCE? After learning about your fuller identity in Christ, do you better understand that the benefits of your salvation have already started (not waiting for you to die) and it is a major part of who you are NOW in THIS life?