Masks that hide true identity . . .

Numbers 35; Psalm 79; Isaiah 27; 1 John 5

When I was a child, one of our neighbors was walking a street of a nearby city and someone stopped him and offered to buy him new shoes. What that generous person did not know is that man he stopped was a millionaire. We chuckle at the story yet wonder why anyone would hide his true wealth and dress like a homeless person.

The same question could be asked about Christians, about me. God has given me new life in Christ. I am adopted into His family, a child of God and a friend of the King of kings. However, my behavior and outward appearance do not always match my true nature.

Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and everyone who loves the Father loves whoever has been born of him. (1 John 5:1)

My commentary explains that an unsaved person can display his true nature through sin but a child of God cannot. If I sin, I am concealing who I really am rather than manifesting who I am. Obeying God is a product of new birth and if I am living righteously, others can be certain that I am God’s child (1 John 2:29), but only because Jesus lives in me.

John describes many times that Christians are to love one another and pray for one another, especially if we see a brother or sister in Christ struggling with sin. Sometimes we are not sure who is a Christian if their behavior is masking their identity. However, again John says:

Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and everyone who loves the Father loves whoever has been born of him. (1 John 5:1)

For that reason, we are to love one another. This love is not to be only for believers who exhibit an admirable life. It is to be like the love of God who loves us not because we are lovable, but because His nature is to love. As His child, it is also my nature to love and lack of love hides my true nature. If I love my Father, I also ought to love His children, not because of sentiment or verbal expression but because this love for God is inseparable from obeying His commands.

John makes it clear that obedience is the core of loving God and other Christians, even those who are masking their true nature with sin. He also makes it clear that this is impossible in our old nature’s sinful flesh. If I am not filled with the Spirit of God, I am thinking only of things that benefit and glorify me. The secret of a victorious, obedient life is mine only as I believe and live according to what God says is true.

I have overcome the world (see 1 John 4:4). This is made possible by faith in Christ. He has put His truth into my heart, His very self! Thus faith in Christ not only gives me new life but victory over the world’s system which is satanically blinded to the gospel, even to the point that anyone who disbelieves God is making Him out to be a liar. There is no middle ground; I either believe or I do not. The Bible is clear that those who have Christ have life and those who do not have Christ do not have life. To say otherwise is to call God a liar.

Whoever believes in the Son of God has the testimony in himself. Whoever does not believe God has made him a liar, because he has not believed in the testimony that God has borne concerning his Son. And this is the testimony, that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life. (1 John 5:10–12)

APPLY: My prayer is like the psalmist, only made present tense by the power and presence of Jesus Christ. “Help me today, O God of my salvation, for the glory of Your name. You have atoned me from my sin so deliver me from masking who I am in You. Keep my life pure and obedient in loving You and others — for your name’s sake!” (Psalm 79:9, personalized)

Being who I am . . .

Most parents are dismayed if they see their children put on different personas, depending on who they are with. We tell them to “be yourself” forgetting what peer pressure is like and how we all struggle with our identity from time to time. It can happen to adults too. I remember a couple of teens telling me that when their father answered the phone, they could tell who was calling just by the way he talked.

Peer pressure happens to Christians too. One pastor retired and became an insurance salesman. I remember him saying that people talked to him differently than when he was a pastor. He was shocked; the difference was extreme.

Back in the early church, a group that called themselves Christian were pressuring others to be circumcised. This was a mark of faith for the Jews and this group became insistent. They influenced Peter to the point that he changed his behavior when they were around. He had no problem fellowshipping with Gentile believers, but if one of that group was around, he would not do it. Paul rebuked him . . .

But when Cephas (Peter) came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he stood condemned. For before certain men came from James, he was eating with the Gentiles; but when they came he drew back and separated himself, fearing the circumcision party. And the rest of the Jews acted hypocritically along with him, so that even Barnabas was led astray by their hypocrisy. But when I saw that their conduct was not in step with the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas before them all, “If you, though a Jew, live like a Gentile and not like a Jew, how can you force the Gentiles to live like Jews?” (Galatians 2:11–14)

My first thought is the courage of Paul, a relatively new Christian, to confront and correct one of the original twelve disciples. This reveals how important the Gospel was and still is. Better to risk a rift than to compromise the truth. Yet this did not cause a rift. Paul went on . . .

But if, in our endeavor to be justified in Christ, we too were found to be sinners, is Christ then a servant of sin? Certainly not! For if I rebuild what I tore down, I prove myself to be a transgressor. For through the law I died to the law, so that I might live to God. I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness were through the law, then Christ died for no purpose. (Galatians 2:17–21)

He makes sense and speaks logically in his rebuke. He humbles himself to admit that he was crucified with Christ and now lives only because of Christ and faith in Him, the One who gave His life for Him. His righteousness is not his own but a gift from God.

The stronger thought for me today is to behave according to who I am in Christ. If I live according to the flesh, I am not only sinning against God, but confusing people. The flesh is a prideful monster that will put forward my best foot and hide my shortcomings and weaknesses. If I say I am saved by faith and crucified with Christ as Paul did, then behaving otherwise brands me as a hypocrite.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Lord Jesus, we are driving south for a funeral, seeing cousins that I’ve not seen for a while. This is an important time to be transparent and walk by faith, as is every other time! Fill me with Your Spirit and grant grace and wisdom to represent You well. Help me to say and do what will most honor You and bless these family members as we say goodbye to one of us.

Today’s thankful list . . .

Safety on the road; we are halfway there.

A nice visit with my sister who is unable to travel with us.

Talking to both my brothers this morning.

Good conversation on the drive with my hubby.

Not raining too much.

Chocolate eclairs!