identity

by

Can Purity be Snatched Away?

father-daughter-wedding-dance

It was one of those phone calls that was unexpected, yet perfectly timed.  “You will soon be presenting the message of your book in our church,” the man said.  “But, I’m wondering.  How will you comfort my daughter who was sexually assaulted?  Her Christian friends know it wasn’t her fault, but they hint that her purity has been taken from her.   What will you say?”

If we are mistaken about our identity—thinking it is something we feel or do, then we will have the wrong idea about purity.

Purity—which is holiness—is compromised when it becomes something we do.

But, purity is not what we feel or do.  It is done for us!

Just as we do not choose Christ, we do not choose identity.  Nor do we choose purity which is holiness.

Just as we became heirs of God the Father in Baptism, so we are made pure and holy in Baptism.

 “But now says the Lord, He who created you, O Jacob, He who formed you, O Israel: ‘Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are Mine” (Isaiah 43:1).

“You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in My name, He may give it to you” (John 15:16).

“For He has clothed me with the garments of salvation; He has covered me with the robe of righteousness” (Isaiah 61:10).

“What agreement has the temple of God with idols?  For we are the temple of the living God; as God said, ‘I will make my dwelling among them and walk among them and I will be their God, and they shall be My people … and I will be a father to you, and you shall be sons and daughters to Me, says the Lord Almighty’” (2 Corinthians 6:16, 18).

We are pure and holy, not because of how we feel or what we do, but because God has made us uncommon and set apart for His own use.  (On the contrary, things that are common are used by just anyone.)  This changes everything about our identity.  Our function in this world flows from the identity and purity that God has bestowed upon us.

This is why, for the Lutheran, Baptism is so significant.  In Baptism, the Old Man is drowned and, just like Noah was saved by God’s Word and water, so are we.

“Baptism now saves you, not as a removal of dirt from the body but as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God…” (1 Peter 3:20-22).

Baptism saves us!  It cleans us!  It raises us to new life!  By grace, Baptism is a means of salvation through which the Holy Spirit produces faith.  This is the work of God, not our own.

“For by grace you have been saved through faith.  And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.  For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them” (Ephesians 2:8-10).

Identity is not our decision, our feelings, or our work.

In Baptism, identity is bestowed upon us by God the Father with the mark of the cross.  At Jesus’ request, the Father sends the Holy Spirit to dwell within us.

Purity is not our decision, our feelings, or our work.

We are made pure (holy) because of what Jesus has already done for us.  We struggle daily with our fallen and sinful nature.  We battle daily against Satan and the world.  But covered in Christ’s Robe of Righteousness, we are God’s holy ones.  Purity isn’t our work, nor is it something that anyone can steal from us.  The believer is made pure and holy in Christ.  It is part and parcel to our identity!

Our baptismal identity matters!  We are so much more than “sexual” and temporal beings!   If we see ourselves as primarily “sexual beings,” then we do not see ourselves as God does and purity (holiness) is compromised.  If we identify ourselves by what we feel and do, then our purity also becomes what we feel and do.  Let it not be so!

Let us cling to God’s Word in Christ that says: I choose you, You are Mine!  You shall be holy, for I am holy.  You have “an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading…” (1 Peter 1:4)

The tract,
But what about my daughter who was assaulted:
Has her purity been stolen from her?
is available in PDF format by request from
lindabartlett@mchsi.com

Photo credit: ultrafonk.blogspot.com)

by

Identity: Now and Forever

wedding feastIf I am fundamentally “sexual,” then this would hold true not just before my promised resurrection but also after my resurrection. (Otherwise after my resurrection, I would be less than human.)

But what does Jesus say? “For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven” (Matt. 22:30). Therefore being sexual, that is, capable of sexual activity, is not part of what it means to be human after the resurrection. And if it is not part of my divinely-created human identity in the resurrection where everything will be made perfect, then it is not the central part of my divinely-created identity now.

In heaven, there will be no marriage.  Men and women will not “desire” one another nor will they unite in “one flesh.”

So, will I lose my identity in heaven? No! My true identity will remain intact. I will be as He created me—fully human, but perfect in every way; a daughter at her Father’s table. I will still be His treasure in Christ but, at last, able to truly reflect His magnificence.

For now, I live on earth in human flesh. I do not have to obey the passions of my mortal body (Ro. 6:12) however, because holiness is all about God claiming me as His dear child in Christ through water and Word. Through Baptism, I am in relationship with all of my siblings—brothers and sisters in Christ who can anticipate His return. With the help of the Holy Spirit, I can encourage and care for my brothers and sisters in ways that will not bring shame on the Day of the Lord (1 Jn. 2:28).

Adapted from
The Failure of Sex Education in the Church:
Mistaken Identity, Compromised Purity
by Linda Bartlett (Amazon)

by

Who Does God Say That I Am?

woman shaped by PotterGod alone has the right to bestow my identity because “It is he who has made [me] and [I am] his” (Ps. 100:3). I am His creation (Gen. 1:27). All people were created in God’s image, not the image of animals. God is holy, not sexual, sensual, or captive to instincts. God says, “You shall be holy, for I am holy” (1 Pet. 1:16).

But the Fall into sin introduced horrible corruption to the human race, so that now the thoughts and desires of people are sinful and centered on serving the self (Gen. 6:5; Eph. 2:3). Christians, however, have been given the Holy Spirit who begins in them a “new creation” (2 Cor. 5:17; Gal. 6:15), and starts to re-form the image of God in them (Col. 3:10). All of us struggle with our sinful human nature because we are sons of Adam and daughters of Eve, but we are not bound to that human nature because of the washing and renewal of our Baptism (Tit. 3:5-8). In my Baptism, Jesus Christ restored my identity as an “heir” of eternal life. I am strengthened to “abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against [my] soul” (1 Pet. 2:11). Re-creation in Christ makes me God’s adopted child who is invited to cry “Abba! Father!” (Rom. 8:15).

My body is “a temple of the Holy Spirit” bought at great price (1 Cor. 6:19). I am a treasure of God for whom Jesus gave all He had. In Christ crucified, I reclaim my identity. Since Jesus is holy, God declares me holy through faith in Him. “I have called you by name,” God says. “You are mine” (Isa. 43:1). “‘I will be a father to you, and you shall be sons and daughters to me,’ says the Lord Almighty” (2 Cor. 6:18). Jesus spoke to my full person and human identity when He said, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength” (Mk. 12:30).

I hold to a body-soul anthropology or understanding of the origin, nature and destiny of mankind as expressed in the Athanasian Creed. I believe I will be resurrected, not as a disembodied spirit, but with a perfect body joined with a perfect soul. In heaven, I will not be an angel but my resurrected body will be like that of angels (Matt. 22:30). I will neither marry nor be given in marriage. This is a sound argument against the idea that human beings are fundamentally “sexual”. If that were true, in the resurrection I would be somehow less than human.

Adapted from
The Failure of Sex Education in the Church:
Mistaken Identity, Compromised Purity
by Linda Bartlett (Amazon)

by

My “Thesis” Is Published!

My book coverWithout fanfare or ceremony, the deed is done!  I have just completed nearly two years of writing a book.

On May 2, 2014, it was officially published and made available on Amazon.  There is enough left in my well of words to say “thank you” to an extraordinarily patient and helpful support team.  You know who you are.

The title of the book is The Failure of Sex Education in the Church: Mistaken Identity, Compromised Purity.  It is not the book I dreamed of writing.  It is the book I was compelled to write after thirty years of working with and listening to parents and the children they care about.

The book is 250 pages with over 230 footnotes.  No, I’m not in graduate school, but yes, this is my thesis. It is a dissertation that covers more than the controversial subject of sex education.  It explains how humanists bestowed a mistaken identity upon our children and why, nearly a half century later, Christians still nod their approval.  Yet, everywhere I go, I hear people ask, “Why are children sexualized?” The fact that a book like this hasn’t already been written tells me that too many of us have been deceived about our identity.

Christians live in a foreign land.  We are called to be uncommon, but have accepted the common ways of our neighbors.  We have let the unbelievers identify us.

The Failure of Sex Education in the Church: Mistaken Identity, Compromised Purity is a “catechism” for parents, pastors, teachers, those struggling with sexual temptations, and everyone who is concerned about the sexualization of children.

For fifty years, Christians and non-Christians alike have been taught to believe that “children are sexual from birth”.  Nowhere in Scripture does God describe children this way.  The phrase was coined by a humanist named Alfred Kinsey who believed infants and children can enjoy and benefit from early sexual activity.  His social science was wrong, but his research was widely accepted.  Our nation and even the Church were set on a dangerous course.  By accepting Kinsey’s data and the expertise of other like-minded humanists, the Church played a role in bestowing a mistaken identity, compromising purity for multiple generations, and ultimately putting human lives at risk.

A false identity has both temporal and eternal ramifications.  With painstaking care, I have attempted to explain why the Church can no longer participate in a tragically flawed social experiment and going beyond diagnosis, I propose a hopeful, radical and thoroughly biblical remedy.

There is no personal delight in pointing out error.  I have persevered with this project because I am motivated by love for my own children and grandchildren and by love for God’s Word.  For the sake of all children, I believe that Christians need to know the origin of sex education, then ask:

  • What fellowship has light with darkness (2 Corinthians 6:14-16)?
  • Upon what foundation have we built?
  • Young or old, single or married, who does God say that I am and what does this mean?

For the sake of generational holiness and purity, it is my prayer that we encourage honest and kind dialogue.  The 107 questions and answers I offer in my book are a good place to start.

Curious?  Please visit Our Identity Matters to learn more.

The book may be ordered from Amazon.