Self-Acceptance and Christian Identity Pt. 2
Why calling yourself “no good” is ignoring the God who redeemed you
Day //6// of a 30-day personal publishing challenge on Identity.
In Part 1, we examined one of the often-held views of Christianity — that Christians are “no good.”
This view typically revolves around the concept of sin, which is a real and viable doctrine in scripture. However, this view also focuses on sin to the detriment of the absolute fact of relationship.
We are indeed a people gone astray —but if we were the worthless trash many Christians call themselves, why would God call us valuable? What joy would he find in receiving us as children? What need would he feel for rescuing us from the master of Sin?
What painter keeps working on a canvas in which he sees nothing beautiful?
It is true that we have nothing good to offer God, in the sense that we are unable to earn our status with him, we cannot be free from sin on our own, and he does not need us.
This does not mean we are “no good” in his eyes.
We may be unable to consistently do good, with truly selfless motivation; but we are not worthless in his eyes.
Identifying ourselves as “bad people,” “sinners,” “evil,” or “no good” once we have become children of God is to ignore the very identity that he gave his life to purchase for us.
Perhaps one of the greatest concerns with this viewpoint is that it completely disregards the truth that believers are indwelt by the Spirit of God himself.
We are righteous, because of his righteousness.
We are beloved, because he has loved us.
We are free from sin, because he defeats sin.
We are good, because he is.
We cannot afford to define ourselves by how we often choose to behave. This is squandering the gift we’ve been given as an heir with Christ.
