In 1 Corinthians 6, Paul is rebuking the Corinthians for how they are handling conflict with one another. What I find fascinating is that in chastising the Corinthians for what they are doing (behavior), Paul does not focus on giving them instructions about what to do differently. He does not tell them to behave differently or to try harder. He tells them to remember who they are.

“Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.” – verses 10b-11

Our behavior flows out of our identity. What we do is a function of who we are.

When the actions of our lives do not correspond with who we really are, the issue is identity, not behavior. This is a hard concept to understand and even harder to apply, because if my sinful behavior is really an identity problem, how do I fix it? If there’s really no solution based on trying harder, then what can I do? It is out of this helplessness that we really experience Christian living as it was intended.

The Gospel is not that ‘you were a sinner, Jesus saved you and now you try and be as good as you can to the best of your ability’. The Christian life does not suddenly become about your effort after you’re saved. The Christian life is living predisposed to dependence on God. Jesus Himself said, “I can do nothing apart from the Father.” What do we really think we can accomplish on our own?

Our hearts are prone to wander. And our hearts can so easily become numb to the truth of what Jesus has done. We constantly need God to reveal the truth of who He is and who we are to our hearts.

So, be reminded that if you are in Christ, “you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God”, and pray that by His Spirit, God would remind your heart of these truths and that you would live differently because of it.