Identity-Based Bible Reading

Identity-Based Bible Reading

By Steve Backlund

One of the biggest reasons people struggle to obey the Bible is this: we cannot consistently do what we do not believe we are.

If we do not believe we are loved, forgiven, righteous, empowered, and in Christ, then many of the commands in Scripture will feel like pressure instead of invitation. They will feel like demands instead of pathways into freedom.

This is one reason many sincere Christians feel tired when they read the Bible. They are reading it with a behavior-first mindset instead of an identity-first mindset. When they see a command in Scripture, their first instinct is to ask, “What do I need to do?” But that is usually the wrong first question.

A better first question is this: “Who am I in Christ that makes this command possible?”

That single shift can completely change how we read the Bible.

What Do I Mean by Identity?

Identity is not just a vague spiritual idea. It is who God says we are in Christ.

Our experience of that identity may grow over time, but the truth of it does not change. “As a man thinks in his heart, so is he” (Proverbs 23:7). “Consider yourself dead to sin and alive to God” (Romans 6:11). What we believe about who we are shapes how we live.

Paul understood this deeply. Throughout his epistles, he keeps bringing us back to one central phrase: “in Christ”. That is where identity is found. We are not trying to create a new identity through effort. We are learning to live from the identity we have already been given in Christ.

The Chapters That Anchor Our Identity

This is one reason I often point people to what I call the most important chapters for understanding the gospel and interpreting the rest of Scripture:

• Ephesians 1–3

• Galatians 1–6

• Colossians 1–2

• Romans 4–8

• Hebrews 4

• Hebrews 10

  
  

These passages explain what Jesus accomplished through His death and resurrection. They reveal who we are, what we have, what Jesus has done, and what grace empowers us to become.

Without that foundation, we can easily read the Bible through the lens of pressure instead of promise.

Four Questions for Identity-Based Bible Reading

When we read a command in Scripture, before focusing on behavior, it helps to ask four questions.

1. Who does God say I am in Christ that relates to this command? - If the Bible tells us to walk in love, we first remember that we are loved. If it tells us to forgive, we remember that we are forgiven. If it tells us to resist sin, we remember that we are dead to sin and alive to God. Behavior flows best from identity.

2. What has God already done for us concerning this command? - The Christian life does not begin with what we do for God. It begins with what God has done for us in Christ. Jesus was punished so we would not have to be. He defeated sin, Satan, death, and separation from God. He blessed us with every spiritual blessing in Christ. Commands stop sounding like ladders to climb and start sounding like realities to walk in.

3. What is God doing in us right now concerning this command? - Philippians tells us that He who began a good work in us will complete it. God is not standing at a distance waiting for us to perform. He is actively working in us—renewing our minds, changing our desires, and strengthening our inner life.

4. What will God do for us concerning this command? - God is not finished with us. He will continue transforming us from glory to glory and will complete what He started. Because of that, we read commands with hope.

Final Thought

Identity-based Bible reading does not weaken obedience; it empowers it. We cannot consistently do what we do not believe we are.

So the next time you read a command in Scripture (or hear a command in a sermon), pause before asking, “What do I need to do?” Instead ask:

• Who am I in Christ?

• What has God already done for me?

• What is He doing in me now?

• What will He continue to do in me?

  
  

When we read the Bible this way, commands stop being burdensome; they become invitations to live from who we already are.

The Bible was never meant to simply tell us what to do—it was meant to reveal who we already are in Christ.