You live out your new identity in Christ by looking to Jesus instead of the world for who you are, putting to death the sinful habits of your old life and putting on the new life Jesus gives you every day. Colossians 3 says believers have already died and been raised with Christ. The Christian life is learning to live like it’s true, one day and one choice at a time.
Stop Looking Down for Your Identity
All of us look for something to tell us who we are. For some it’s a marriage or a relationship. For others it’s grades, a job title, a bank account or how many people follow them online. Those things aren’t bad, but they make terrible foundations. They can be lost in a moment, and they never quite say “enough.” Paul points the Colossians in a completely different direction.
Colossians 3:1-4 Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.
Notice that Paul doesn’t say “try to become someone new.” He says you already died and were raised with Christ. Your real life is “hidden with Christ in God,” which means it’s secure no matter what happens down here. That’s why the psalmist could lift his eyes past the mountains and say, “My help comes from the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth” (Psalm 121:2). You can read more about where Christians find their identity.
Put to Death Your Old Life
A new identity doesn’t mean old habits disappear overnight. Many believers are surprised by how much of their old life still hangs around. Paul doesn’t pretend otherwise. He calls Christians to take decisive action against sin, not to manage it or make peace with it.
Colossians 3:5-8 Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. Because of these, the wrath of God is coming. You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived. But now you must also rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips.
“Put to death” is strong language on purpose. The Puritan John Owen put it this way: “Be killing sin or it will be killing you.” That starts with wanting to be free and then actually doing something about it: cutting off access, confessing to a trusted friend, replacing old patterns with new ones. It also means being honest about the ways we tend to excuse or hide sin, which you can explore in ten sinful responses to sin.
Put On Your New Life Every Day
Getting rid of the old isn’t the whole picture. Paul says believers have also put on something new. Like clothes you get dressed in every morning, your new identity in Christ is something you choose to wear day after day.
Colossians 3:9-11 Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator. Here there is no Gentile or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all.
The new self “is being renewed,” so growth is a process, not a single moment. God does the renewing, and we cooperate through ordinary habits: prayer, reading and meditating on his Word, worship, small groups, serving and being mentored by more mature believers. And because “Christ is all,” your background, race or social status no longer defines you. That’s the heart of how the gospel changes your life.
The Takeaway
How do you live out your new identity in Christ? Look up to Jesus instead of down to the world for who you are, put to death the sinful habits of your old life, and put on your new self every day through the habits God uses to renew you. Your life is hidden with Christ, and nothing can take it away.
