Table of Contents
What Is The True Identity Of A Believer?
Our identity as believers has nothing to do with our personality, achievements, gender, ethnicity, nationality, social status, social class, beliefs, values, and culture. Our true identity is for the sake of making known his identity after all, God made us who we are so we could make known who he is. (Galatians 2:20).
What Does Mistaken Identity Mean?
Matthew 22:29, Jesus answered, “You’re mistaken because you don’t know the Scriptures or God’s power.”
We can see from the scripture above that mistaken identity, is a situation in which you think wrongly that you recognize someone or have found the person you are looking for, but end up misnaming or misrepresenting that person. If you’ve never been confused for someone else, it often happens like this.
2 Chronicles 18:29, “The king of Israel told Jehoshaphat, “I will disguise myself and go into battle, but you should wear your royal robes.” So, the king of Israel disguised himself and went into battle.”
Why are there so many examples of mistaken identity?
Here are a few examples of mistaken identity:
- Two people sharing the same name and even date of birth get mixed up in an event or a certain database of a club or work environment.
- As a result of mistaken identity a person approaches you, thinking that they’ve seen you before. However, as they get closer and especially once you open your mouth to reply to their inquiry, they realize that “they thought you were someone else.”
- Mistaken identity can take a bad turn especially if a crime has happened around or near you and then you are paraded for identification and then a mistake happens, and it can be a costly mistake.
- Have you ever heard of people who were declared dead while they were alive or have their genders or photos in their identity documents switched with someone else.
Examples Of Mistaken Identity In The Bible.
1. John the Baptist
According to John 1:20-22 He did not refuse to confess, but openly declared, “I am not the Christ.” “Then who are you?” they inquired. “Are you Elijah?” He said, “I am not.” “Are you the Prophet?” He answered, “No.” So they said to him, “Who are you? We need an answer for those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?”…
We see that John the Baptist experienced a case of mistaken identity as people thought he might be the Christ, Elijah, or the Prophet.
2. Jesus Christ
Matthew 16: 13 to 15, When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, He questioned His disciples: “Who do people say the Son of Man is?” They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” “But what about you?” Jesus asked. “Who do you say I am?”…
Here’s our true identity: We are sinners. We can’t change that, but God can. As his gift to us, he sent his Son to die for our sins, in order to forgive us, and in him, through faith in him, we find our true identity as his children. That’s who we are, and what our church is all about.
In a growing biblically illiterate world, more and more people are misunderstanding the true identity of Jesus Christ. People may be confident in their idea of Jesus Christ, but confidence does not equal truth. We need to investigate the identity of Jesus Christ. Who is Jesus? Because Jesus is surely not Santa Claus or any of those imaginary photos we see everywhere in our homes and churches.
We see that in Matthew 27:11-26, Pilate introduced Jesus to the mob with the notorious convict Barabbas despite finding no evidence of Jesus’ guilt. Despite Pilate’s efforts to free Jesus, the crowd decided to free Barabbas and crucify Jesus after being persuaded by the chief priests to think of Jesus as a danger and as a criminal.
3. God also suffered mistaken identity
1 John 5:7 For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one.
It seems that God suffers from mistaken identity too.
Nowadays It’s common for people to tell you that it doesn’t matter which god you believe in, or which name you call God because they are all the same and they look so similar so it’s easy to mistake them. For instance, the Hindu gods are called Brahma (creator), Vishnu (sustainer), and Shiva ( ender of life). On the surface, this sounds like Christianity’s trinity. But when you look deeper, however, you discover the differences between the Hindu gods and the Christian God is very big. A simple case of mistaken identity.
Does it matter what we call God? Yes, just as it is important that we should call you by your correct name, so it is with God. God is a Being of mistaken identity. This hurts us, the mistaken, more than it does God. Still, just as you and I correct those who call us wrong, God set the record straight.
4. David (1 Samuel 21-31)
David was running away from King Saul who wanted to kill him out of jealousy, David sought refuge in the camp of the Philistine king, Achish, in the city of Gath. However, the Philistines recognized David as the hero who had slain their champion, Goliath. To escape harm, David pretended to be insane, and the king dismissed him.
5. Joseph (Genesis 37-50)
After Joseph was sold to slavery by his own brothers, he was accused of seducing his master’s wife and was thrown into prison. Later, Joseph’s ability to interpret dreams led to his release and promotion in Pharaoh’s court. However, his own brothers did not recognize him when they came to Egypt seeking food during a famine. Joseph eventually revealed his identity to them and forgave them for their previous actions.
4. You and Me Have Suffered In One Way Or The Other From Mistaken Identity
Because people found you in the wrong place or doing the wrong thing then they formed an opinion and since that time they have mistaken your identity for that one moment and every time you speak, they refer you to that one bad moment and as a result of this your life has been turned upside down.
Just simply because you had a bad season, you chose to ignore the good seasons you had with God, and as a result, you chose to have a distorted identity of who God is. But brethren no matter what never ever mistaken the identity of God based on one unfortunate event.
As a result of mistaken identity, most people have lost their lives, been sent to prisons, and even been exiled. There is a saying that goes like this ‘I come in peace’ This was said so as to avoid being mistaken for an enemy or a bad person. Once your identity was cleared then you could be welcomed and given an audience.
What Can Lead To Mistaken Identity In The Body Of Christ?
Many Christians have fallen victim to this as a result of their identity being:
1. Switched willingly by either parent, powerful relatives, or even friends.
1 Kings 22:2,4, “But in the third year Jehoshaphat the king of Judah came down to the king of Israel. And he said to Jehoshaphat, “Will you go with me to battle at Ramoth-gilead?” And Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel, “I am as you are, my people as your people, my horses as your horses.”
Here you make a conscious decision to take the other person’s identity. So, if people see you they might think you are that person (Genesis 48:17-18)
2. Switched forcefully by parents, powerful relatives, evil friends, and even your enemies.
The true identity of Jesus Christ was the basis for his trial following his arrest in the garden (John 18:3-8).
3. Switched as a result of Generational covenants and rites.
Genesis 48:13-14, And Joseph took both of them with Ephraim in his right hand toward Israel’s left hand, and Manasseh in his left hand toward Israel’s right hand and brought them close to him. But Israel reached out his right hand and put it on Ephraim’s head, though he was the younger, and crossing his arms, he put his left hand on Manasseh’s head, even though Manasseh was the firstborn.
Since this run through in the family, no wonder it happened to Joseph despite the fact that he tried to avoid it.
4. False Doctrines and Teachings
According to Galatians 1:6-8, Some Christian leaders might choose to teach a different doctrine or interpretation of the Bible that contradicts the Bible. They might introduce human beliefs, distort scripture, or neglect essential teachings such as salvation by grace through faith, and the authority of the Bible
5. Hypocrisy
According to Matthew 23:3-4, We know that many Christians claim to follow Christ but do not live according to His teachings, which leads to great confusion and gives a false impression of what it means to be a Christian. Most of these Christians, practice dishonesty, immorality, or judgmental attitudes.
5. Cultural Christianity
In some societies, Christianity may become more of a cultural identity or tradition rather than a genuine faith commitment. People may identify as Christian simply because of their family background or societal norms, without having a personal relationship with Jesus Christ or understanding the foundational beliefs of Christianity (Matthew 15:8-9).
6. Misuse of religious authority
There are certain individuals or groups that claim to represent Christ while in actual sense they are engaged in extreme or harmful actions. They end up misusing religious authority to manipulate or exploit others, incite violence, or promote divisive ideologies that are contrary to the Bible (Matthew 24:24,2 Corinthians 11:13).
What Are Some Problems Of Mistaken Identity?
1.Confusion and division
As a result of mistaken identity, a Christian can suffer negative consequences. It can lead to confusion, guilt, pride, fear, division, persecution, or compromise. It can also hinder the witness and mission of the church in the world.
2. Physical Harm
You might lose your life for instance we see in 2 Chronicles 18:23-32, King Jehoshaphat was mistaken for King Ahab in battle and almost got killed if it wasn’t for God who saved him.
3. Loss of credibility
When you suffer from mistaken identity most of the time you are persecuted (Matthew 5:11-12) , you might lose friends and even get fired at work or be arrested, and even worse lose everything. When those who claim to be Christians fail to live up to the teachings of Christ, it undermines the credibility and impact of the faith.
4. Spiritual harm
As a result of following false teachings or getting caught up in misguided practices, it can affect your spiritual growth.
5. Stumbling block to fellow Christians
People who are genuinely seeking the truth and exploring Christianity can be discouraged or misled as a result of this hypocrisy, contradictory teachings, or unloving behaviors.
So how do you overcome this, you should keep working and doing the right things no matter what. Let people keep talking but keep working. Don’t accept what the world has labeled you as the truth instead work hard to clear yourself from any form of mistaken identity.
When you keep hanging around people who have a formed opinion of you and who keep on mistaking you for someone else who you’re not or don’t know or will never become.
Don’t let mistaken identity identify you, just remember that you are not the endless mistakes of your past!
Pastor Nathaniel
I would encourage you to pray these prayers in the links below:
Evil Garments: 10 Prayers To Destroy Them Now – 2023 (mtmchurch.org)
Demonic Cobwebs: 15 Proven Prayers To Destroy Them Now (mtmchurch.org)
