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Verse:“Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’” —Matthew 7:22, 23
Identity theft occurs when a dishonest person uses the personal information of another individual to assume that person’s identity.
Identity theft is usually perpetrated for financial gain, and those affected by the practice can suffer significant loss, credit history damage, and enormous inconvenience. Identity thieves fraudulently claim to be someone they are not.
People who claim to be Christians assume another identity. That is, before a person comes to faith in Christ, that person is a lost sinner.
Surrendering one’s life to Jesus results in that sinner identifying so completely that he or she takes Jesus’ name —a Christian identified as a follower of Christ.
Jesus is invited into the heart.
The entire life is surrendered to Him. It may be that some who call themselves Christians are, in fact, guilty of identity theft. While a person who fraudulently uses a social security number or driver’s license claims to be someone else, they are not. It is a ruse, an act carried out for dishonest gain.
The one who names the name of Jesus but does not surrender the heart to the indwelling of the Holy Spirit is not, in reality, a follower of Jesus. He or she has assumed Jesus’ identity —taken His name as his or her own— but has not yielded to Jesus.
There are benefits that accrue from being called or considered Christian. Often, there is built-in respect from family, friends, and church family.
There is forgiveness of sin and acceptance into the family of God and the very real promise of everlasting life. Life for the Christian believer is a thing of hope. The return of Jesus promises streets of gold, the earth made new, and the companionship of the saved throughout eternity. But this form of identity theft is as unnecessary as it is futile. Rather than pretending to be a follower of Jesus, every person made in the image of God can experience the reality of true union with Jesus.
A prayer for a new heart is always answered in the affirmative. The Spirit of God will gladly reside within the one who invites Him to do so.
Jesus identified with the human family when He came to the earth two thousand years ago. It is our privilege to identify with Him now and to do so in sincerity.