Baptism Sunday: Discovering Your True Identity in Christ

You Are Not What You Do

discovering Your True Identity in Christ

There is a quiet pressure many of us carry.

It whispers in the background of our lives:
Do more. Be more. Prove yourself.

Sometimes it comes through success.
Sometimes through comparison.
Sometimes through the fear of not measuring up.

Before we even realize it, we begin to believe that what we do defines who we are.

But Scripture tells a different story.

Your job is not your identity.
Your performance is not your worth.
Your past is not your future.

You were created by God’s heart, for God’s heart, and to reflect His heart in the world.

When We Forget Who We Are

From the very beginning, humanity has struggled with this.

Adam and Eve were created in God’s image—already complete, already loved—yet they were convinced they were missing something. They forgot who they were, and in that moment, they reached for a false version of themselves.

We still do this today.

We chase approval.
We chase purpose through productivity.
We chase identity through achievement.

And yet, we are still searching.

The issue is not that we want meaning—it’s that we look for it in places that cannot hold it.

Why Being “Clothed” Matters

The Bible uses a powerful phrase when it talks about transformation:

“As many of you as were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.”
(Galatians 3:27)

In Scripture, clothing symbolized identity, authority, and belonging. Kings wore different garments than servants. Mourners dressed differently than celebrants.

So when the Bible says we are clothed in Christ, it is saying something profound:

Your life is now wrapped in His righteousness, not your own.

You no longer stand in what you’ve done—but in what He has done.

The Old Is Gone

One of the most quoted verses in the New Testament says:

“If anyone is in Christ, they are a new creation. The old has passed away; the new has come.”
(2 Corinthians 5:17)

This isn’t self-improvement.
This isn’t behavior management.
This is resurrection.

It means you are no longer defined by:

• your mistakes

• your labels

• your past failures

• your performance

You are now defined by Christ in you.

A Lifelong Becoming

This transformation doesn’t happen in a single moment and then end. It’s a daily surrender.

Colossians 3 tells us to:

• put off the old self

• and put on the new

Every day we choose which identity we will live from.

The old says: Earn it.
The new says: Receive it.

The old says: Prove yourself.
The new says: Rest in what’s already been done.

From Death to Life

This is why baptism is so powerful.

It’s not a ritual—it’s a declaration:

I am no longer my own. I belong to Jesus.

Romans 6 says that when we are united with Christ, we are no longer slaves to sin. The power that once held us no longer owns us.

We step out of the old.
We rise into the new.

Who You Are Now

If you are in Christ, Scripture calls you:

• Beloved

• Holy

• Chosen

• Forgiven

• Free

Not because you earned it.
But because He gave it.

And from this place, everything changes.

A Final Invitation

If you’ve been living from striving instead of surrender…
If you’ve been chasing identity instead of receiving it…

Jesus is inviting you back to Himself.

Not to become someone else—
but to finally become who you were always created to be.

You are not what you do.
You are who He says you are.

If you’d like to watch Pastor Jordan’s full message from Baptism Sunday, click the “watch the sermon” button above!