Identity in Christ Bible Study

Anchor Your Identity in Christ is an-depth Bible study to understand who God says you are!

Soon after I was married I found myself sitting in a doctor’s office waiting room.

One of the receptionists walked into the waiting room and clearly called the name of the next person to come back for their appointment: “Jennifer Brooks…”

No one in the room moved, so this woman repeated the name a second, and then third time – louder each time: “Jennifer Brooks?”

Eyes shifted in the room, and some people squirmed in their seats.

I myself began to wonder, “Where on Earth is this woman? Did she have to use the restroom? Did she have to leave due to an emergency? Maybe she’s sitting in this room and simply not paying attention?”

Suddenly, I felt a flush of warmth as blood rushed to my face and I hopped to my feet at the sudden realization, “She’s calling MY NAME!”

I was so embarrassed and felt the need to apologize to the entire waiting room! I awkwardly explained that I was recently married so I didn’t recognize my new name!

There was a moment in time when a judge reviewed our marriage license and granted my new last name lawful to use.

I was authorized by the state of Ohio to use the last name Brooks, and I even had an updated driver’s license with my new name!

The issue wasn’t with the legitimacy of my name, however. The problem was I hadn’t associated that name as being who I was.

All my life I referred to myself by my maiden name. It was ingrained in my thoughts. It was what I responded to – without thinking.

It was a process to assimilate my new name to who I was.

My maiden name also started with the letters” Br…” so I often caught my newly married self signing my signature with those letters, then crossing it out to correct myslef when I wrote the third letter being a “y” instead of an “o”!

There is a parallel we can make here regarding our identity in Christ.

What Does Identity in Christ Mean?

For every person who surrendered their life to Jesus Christ as their Lord there was a moment in time when he or she experienced the reality of 2 Corinthians 5:17,

“If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.”

If you are a follower of Jesus Christ, this is true of you!

At the moment of conversion, the Holy Spirit came to dwell in you, and you were a new creation.

Not just an improved version of the old you – completely new.

In that moment, you were given a new identity.

Just like my name was changed in an instant and lawful for me to use, it took time for me to assimilate that name as being who I was.

Your new identity in Christ was given in a moment… Understanding your new identity is a process!

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How Can You Learn Your True Identity?

You don’t know what you don’t know.

You must be intentional to learn what God’s Word says about who you are and then deliberately choose to make it your authority.

This is not always an easy process because there may be lies you’re believing about yourself. Lies deeply ingrained. You may not even realize their crippling effect.

You will always think and act according to what you believe to be true… You can count on it!

If you have lies that have taken deep root in your mind and you act out of those lies, this is indicative of being in a spiritual stronghold.

Lies like:

I’m not worthy of God’s love.
God can never forgive me for ______________.
I will never be able to break free from _____________ sin
I am doomed to fail in life
I just don’t measure up to others.

It is very possible for a follower of Jesus Christ to be in a spiritual stronghold. (I speak from experience!)

HOWEVER, a follower of Jesus NEVER has to remain in a stronghold!

You have been equipped to be FREE and the enemy CANNOT keep you in a place of spiritual captivity – as long as you engage in spiritual battle exactly as God’s Word instructs.

In fact, you approach the battle in the position of guaranteed victor, my friend in Christ!

I can say this to you with absolute certainty because Jesus already triumphed over the enemy on the cross and in His resurrection! Victory is ours! We just need to appropriate it!

Anchor Your Identity in Christ: A Study of Epesians

Anchor Your Identity in Christ is more than a topical Bible study – it is a verse-by-verse study of the book of Ephesians.

This Bible study will equip you to:

Recognize and desmantle lies
Break Free from spiritual strongholds
Say goodbye to insecurity and embrace the confidence of Christ.
Clarify your life purpose
Equip you for victory in spiritual battle. (If you downloaded and enjoyed my FREE Spiritual Warfare Toolkit you will love chapter seven of this Bible study. The toolkit was a cliff’s notes version of this chapter!)

Features of this Bible study include:

1. The Biblical text is included within the commentary portion of each lesson.

I love this feature because it enables you to read and interact with the Biblical text as you work through each lesson uninterrupted.

2. Interactive questions to help you understand and apply the Word of God

This study has 7 chapters, and each chapter has 5 lessons.

The first chapter sets the stage as we take a look of the author of Ephesians, Paul.

We learn valuable insights about him and his perspective that provide incredible depth to our study of Ephesians.

Download the first chapter FREE!

The remaining 6 chapters coorilate with the six chapters of Ephesians. Each chapter covers a chapter in the book of Ephesians

There are two types of questions at the end of every lesson. For Further Study will help you dig deeper into God’s Word. A Matter of the Heart questions help you apply what you learned to your life.

Our goal is not to aquire mere intellectual knoweldgeable… our goal is to be transformed by the living, active Word of God!

3 . Watch a video introducing this Identity in Christ Bible Study:

Why is it Important to Know Your Identity in Christ?

Knowing your God-given identity is crutial to an accurate Biblical worldview.

If your identity is not grounded in Scripture, you will have a warped understanding of yourself, your purpose, and your value.

You will look to other things, people, and/or pursuits to define yourself and your worth, and this will always lead to a distorted perspective!

Society will tempt you to define yourself by what you have – or don’t have.
You may look to your job, career, or significant role to define who you are.
You may look to your own thoughts or feelings to determine truth
Other people may try to tell you who you are and what you can / can’t do
Your past experiences or traumas may tempt you to label yourself by them

Your past cannot define you, my friend.

Your trauma cannot attach itself to you and become who you are.

There is nothing anyone else ever did to you that can become who you are.

Only Jesus has the authority to define you.

Looking to other sources as your authority regarding your identity will have consequences

You may struggle with:

When your identity is grounded in God’s truth you will experience:

Confidence of Christ
Peace
Assurance
Clarity
Increased trust

Personal Note from Jen Brooks

More than any other Bible study I’ve written, this one holds a big piece of my heart because I’ve lived the journey.

I shared a little about my struggles in Wholly Devoted, but I was much more vulnerable and transparent in this study.

I know what it’s like to be trapped in a stronghold of insecurity. I spent decades of my life in that captivity – many of those years were after I became a Christian…

I well remember the pit of insecurity, anxiety, and inadequacy.

I started to accept some of these things as being “who I was”, and I thought I was destined to stay that way forever.

I thought it was impossible to change or be truly free from these taunting thoughts and feelings.

Satan is disgusting in that way.

He’ll do his best to tempt us to believe those types of lies.

By God’s grace, I also know what it’s like to be healed and free from those strongholds.

Now God has called me to help others experience the same freedom and healing.

Just like it was a process for me to rewire my thinking 30 years ago to readily respond to Jennifer Brooks as my name, it was a process for me to not only learn what God’s Word says about who I am in Christ — but believe it to be true.

For example, I knew God’s Word describes His people as His workmanship in Ephesians 2:10 (ESV). Other translations state we are “God’s handiwork” (NIV) and “God’s masterpiece” (NLT)

I knew His Word said that. I could even recite that verse verbatim! BUT I DID NOT BELIEVE IT WAS RUE OF ME.

True of other people, yea, sure, but not me…

Sometimes our thoughts are so prewired that we just automatically think a certain way because that’s how we’ve thought about it for a long time. We can change our thought process when we:

Recognize a lie
Take that thought captive
Replace it with God’s truth
Abide in His truth and walk in it

Anchor Your Identity in Christ will walk you through this process and help you break free from the chains of lies!

Front cover of Anchor Your Identity in Christ written by Jen Brooks. Picture of large bronze anchor on the shoreline of rocks with water in the background. Purple sunset

How to Walk in Your Identity in Christ

Learning who God says you are is not a one-time event or class – it’s an ongoing process.

It’s essential to continually guard our thoughts and beliefs because we’re surrounded by voices that scream for our attention and taunt us to follow them.

We need to be diligent to ensure our thoughts align with God’s truth.

Satan is crafty; he loves to deceive and distort. We can’t let down our guard – we need to diligently guard our thoughts.

Don’t forget to grab the first chapter of the Bible study:

Identity in Christ Verses

My goal is not to list every Bible verse on identity in this blog post, but here are a few.

I am praying for you and asking the Holy Spirit to minister to your heart as you read over them:

” Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as He chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before Him” (Eph. 1:3-4).

“So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God” (Eph. 2:19).

“There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1).

“I am the Vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing” (John 15:5).

“For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God” (Col. 3:3).

“To put off your old self, which belongs to your former way of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness” (Eph. 4:22-24).

“Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, you were bought with a price” (1 Cor. 6:19)

“God has not given you a spirit of fear, but of power, love, and sound mind” (2 Tim. 1:7).

“For at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light” (Eph. 4:24).

“But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ” (Phil. 3:20).

What a perfect verse to end this blog post.

This world is not our home, but we are wise to learn who we are so we can navigate through our days in the blessings, strength, and authority God intended us to walk in!

I love this quote by Priscilla Shirer:

“Only the One who gave you life can give you your identity.”