Bible verses about identity in Christ (and what each one actually says)

If you grew up in church you have probably heard the phrase “your identity is in Christ” a hundred times. What is harder to find is a plain list of what the Bible actually says about it, with the verses printed out and a sentence or two on what each one means for a normal Tuesday.

That is what this page is. Fifteen Scriptures, grouped by the lie each one answers, quoted from the NIV, with a short explanation and a way to pray it back. Read it in one sitting, or take one verse a day for two weeks.

What “identity in Christ” means

The Bible never uses the phrase “identity in Christ”, but it uses the phrase “in Christ” (or “in him”) more than eighty times in the New Testament letters alone. Paul’s point is simple and enormous: when you trust Jesus, God stops relating to you on the basis of your record and starts relating to you on the basis of Jesus’ record. Everything true of him becomes true of you, as a gift.

So “identity in Christ” means that the truest things about you are no longer your job title, your marital status, your weight, your past, your bank balance or what your mother said about you. They are the things God says about you because you are joined to his Son. Those things were given, not earned, which is why they cannot be lost by having a bad week.

Here is what he says.

When the lie is “I am not enough”

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! 2 Corinthians 5:17 (NIV)

Paul is not saying you will feel new every day. He is announcing a fact: the old you, the one defined by what you did and what was done to you, is not the one God is looking at. You are not a repaired version of the old person. You are a new one.

For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. Ephesians 2:10 (NIV)

The Greek word behind “handiwork” is the one we get “poem” from. You are something God made on purpose, with care, and the good works were prepared before you got there. You do not have to invent a reason to exist. You have to walk into one that is already waiting.

God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. 2 Corinthians 5:21 (NIV)

“Not enough” is, at root, a fear that when God looks at you he sees a deficit. This verse says he sees the righteousness of Jesus. That is not a mood. It is an exchange that has already happened.

Pray it back: Father, I keep measuring myself and coming up short. You say I am new and I am your handiwork. Help me believe your measurement instead of mine.

When the lie is “I am unloved” or “I am too much”

See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! 1 John 3:1 (NIV)

John does not say the Father tolerates us. He says his love is lavished, poured out with no attempt to be sensible about it. And then he adds, almost as if he expects you to doubt it, “And that is what we are.” Not what we might become. What we are.

The LORD your God is with you, the Mighty Warrior who saves. He will take great delight in you; in his love he will no longer rebuke you, but will rejoice over you with singing. Zephaniah 3:17 (NIV)

This is one of the few places in Scripture where God is described singing. He is not singing about the universe. He is singing over you. If you have ever felt that you are a burden to everyone who loves you, read that verse until it sinks in.

I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. Galatians 2:20 (NIV)

Notice the last six words: “who loved me and gave himself for me.” Paul does not say “loved the church” or “loved the world” here, though both are true. He says me. You are allowed to put your own name in that sentence.

Pray it back: Lord, I find it easier to believe you love people in general than that you love me in particular. Teach me to hear you singing.

When the lie is “I am defined by my past”

Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. Romans 8:1 (NIV)

“Now” is the important word. Not after you have made amends, not once you have stopped struggling with that thing. Now. Condemnation is the verdict “guilty, and it will always be this way.” Paul says that verdict has been removed from your file.

As far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us. Psalm 103:12 (NIV)

East and west never meet. North and south do, at the poles; east and west go on forever. David chose the picture deliberately: the distance between you and your forgiven sin is one that cannot be closed, not even by you.

For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. Colossians 3:3 (NIV)

Your real life is kept somewhere safe, somewhere your past cannot reach. Whatever people know about you, and whatever you know about yourself, the deepest truth about you is hidden with Christ.

Pray it back: God, I keep pulling my old record back out of the drawer. You say it is gone. Help me leave it where you put it.

When the lie is “I do not belong”

The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.” The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. Romans 8:15-16 (NIV)

Adoption in the Roman world was permanent and legal: an adopted son had every right a natural-born son had, and the adoption could not be undone. “Abba” is the intimate word a child uses for a father. You were not hired. You were adopted.

For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will. Ephesians 1:4-5 (NIV)

Before there was a world, there was a decision to have you. Whatever rejection you have experienced since, it came after that decision and cannot reverse it.

But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. 1 Peter 2:9 (NIV)

Peter is writing to scattered, mostly powerless Christians and calling them royalty. “God’s special possession” is the language of treasure. You belong to someone who considers you precious.

Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God. John 1:12 (NIV)

Belonging in God’s family is not a feeling you have to generate. It is a right you have been given.

Pray it back: Abba, Father. I do not always feel like I belong anywhere. You say I was chosen before the world began. Let that be the ground I stand on today.

When the lie is “I am powerless”

No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. Romans 8:37 (NIV)

“All these things” in the verses before this one include trouble, hardship, persecution, famine, nakedness, danger and sword. Paul is not promising you will avoid them. He is promising that none of them get the last word.

I can do all this through him who gives me strength. Philippians 4:13 (NIV)

This verse is often quoted about achievement. In context, Paul is talking about being content whether he has plenty or nothing. The strength on offer is not the strength to win. It is the strength to stand.

Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine. Isaiah 43:1 (NIV)

Three statements, each one an answer to fear: you were bought back, you were called by name, and you belong to him. That is the whole of your identity in one line.

Pray it back: Lord, I feel small against what I am facing. You say I am yours and that nothing gets the last word but you. Be my strength to stand.

Why a list is not enough (and what to do next)

A list of verses is a good start, but most women I hear from do not have an information problem. They know God loves them, in the way you know the capital of a country you have never visited. What they need is time: eight weeks of sitting with one truth at a time, asking honest questions, writing down where the old lie came from, and praying until the new truth feels like home.

That is why I wrote Daughter of the King: an eight-session Bible study for women that works through these Scriptures slowly, with questions for personal study or a small group. There is an edition for men, one for teen girls, and one for women over 60. And if you would rather start with five minutes a day, Beloved is a 90-day devotional journal that prints one of these verses in full every morning.

If you want to try the approach before buying anything, the free Seven Days to Remember Who You Are devotional walks through seven of these verses, one a day, with a reflection, a prayer and a page to write.

Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.