by Angela Moreno

On Sunday nights, we attend a wonderful connect group.  For those of you unfamiliar with a connect group, this is where we get together to praise and worship Jesus, and we are currently reading and discussing the book “Becoming the Person you want to be” by Dr. Jim Richards.

Every group meeting that we have is amazing. You can feel God moving through the room and time goes by so fast. Last night we were having a discussion on why more people didn’t understand how they are truly a new person in Christ when they accepted His gift of salvation.  The question came up as to why more Christians didn’t totally grasp this concept. I thought about this for a while after we left the meeting and I think I came up with an answer for me. (I also think this will ring true for a lot of other people too.)

We aren’t in a church that teaches us who we truly are in Christ.

I have been in various churches from the time I was very little. I don’t ever remember being taught these simple truths:

• When Christ died, we died with Him. We hung on that cross with Him.
• When Christ was buried, we were buried with Him. We were in that grave with Him.
• When Christ was resurrected, we were resurrected with Him.
• Christ lives in us and were are brothers and sisters with Him, heirs to a royal Kingdom.

Don’t get me wrong, I have had some great preachers scare me to death about my sins and going to hell because of my sins. I think most of the churches I have attended use the scare tactic to get you to accept Jesus. You are given a list of do’s and don’ts so you can stay in God’s good favor and keep Him happy. I didn’t love God; I was afraid of Him. I was so worried about going to Hell that I had no idea who I had become. The worst part is that no one was teaching me this fact either.

Yes, we may need to hear some of those Old Testament stories about sin and punishment so we can truly grasp the importance of the New Testament. However, that is God’s old covenant with His people. We are not expected to sacrifice an animal every time we sin. God sacrificed His Son and began a new covenant with us. One that only requires us to accept the gift that God as already given us. God is our Father and He wants to treat us just like any Father would treat the children that He so dearly love.

It’s all about grace- accepting God’s grace. It’s that simple. When you truly grasp how much God loves you and how free you truly are, you will begin to live the life that God has in store for you. It’s an amazing and freeing life!

Is your church teaching that or are they trying to scare you into believing?

If you still don’t understand who you in Christ, pick up the book “Becoming the Person you want to be” by Dr. Jim Richards. Make sure you truly know who you now are.