Part 2: "Who You Are (Not Who You Were)"
"Hi, my name is _____, and I'm an alcoholic."
It's a familiar introduction in recovery circles. The idea is that acknowledging your addiction keeps you humble and honest. But here's the question: Is this who you really are?
If you've trusted in Christ, the Bible gives you a radically different identity.
"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come" (2 Corinthians 5:17). Not "trying to become new." Not "working toward new." You are new. Right now. Already.
When Paul wrote to the Corinthians, he was addressing believers who had lived deeply sinful lives. Some had been sexually immoral, idolaters, adulterers, thieves, greedy, drunkards, and swindlers. But look at what he says: "And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God" (1 Corinthians 6:11).
Did you catch that? Were. Past tense. Not "you're trying not to be" or "you're in recovery from being." These things no longer define you.
But this new identity is only for those who are in Christ. If you're reading this and you've never trusted in Jesus as your Savior, this is where your journey must begin. You cannot experience true freedom from sin's power without first being freed from sin's penalty and guilt through faith in Christ.
Here's how you can become a Christian:
First, recognize your need. The Bible says, "all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23). Your addiction isn't your only problem—it's a symptom of the deeper problem of sin that separates you from God.
Second, understand what Christ has done. "But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us" (Romans 5:8). Jesus lived the perfect life you couldn't live and died the death you deserved, paying the full penalty for your sin.
Third, repent and believe. Repentance means turning from your sin and self-reliance. Faith means trusting completely in Christ's finished work on the cross for your salvation. "If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved" (Romans 10:9).
If you're ready to trust in Christ, you can pray something like this: "God, I recognize that I am a sinner and that my sin separates me from You. I believe that Jesus died on the cross for my sins and rose from the dead. I turn from my sin and trust in Jesus alone as my Savior and Lord. Thank You for forgiving me and making me Your child."
If you've prayed this prayer and meant it, everything changes. Now the rest of this post applies to you—you are a new creation in Christ.
This matters more than you might realize. The enemy wants you to believe your identity is found in your struggle. If he can keep you introducing yourself by your sin, he can keep you trapped by it. But God says something different.
"I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me" (Galatians 2:20).
Your old self—the one enslaved to addiction—died with Christ. Your new self is alive in Him. This isn't positive thinking or self-help psychology. This is the reality of your union with Christ.
So what does this look like practically?
First, start speaking truth about yourself. Instead of "I'm an addict," try "I'm a child of God who struggles with _____, but Christ is transforming me." Words matter. They shape how you see yourself and how you approach your struggles.
Second, fight temptation from your new identity, not your old one. When temptation comes, don't think, "I'm an alcoholic, so this will always be hard for me." Instead, think, "I am dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus (Romans 6:11), and by His power, I can say no to this."
Third, surround yourself with people who will call you by your true name. You need a community that sees you as a saint who sometimes sins, not a sinner trying to become a saint.
This is the foundation of biblical freedom: knowing who you are in Christ. Not who you were. Not what you've done. But who God says you are right now—His beloved, redeemed, new creation child.
Freedom That Lasts exists to help you live out of this identity. Our Scripture-based discipleship grounds you in the truth of who you are in Christ and provides the community you need to walk in freedom. Find a local FTL chapter at freedomthatlasts.com and discover what it means to live as the new creation you already are.
This is the foundation of biblical freedom: knowing who you are in Christ. Not who you were. Not what you've done. But who God says you are right now—His beloved, redeemed, new creation child.
Freedom That Lasts exists to help you live out of this identity. Our Scripture-based discipleship grounds you in the truth of who you are in Christ and provides the community you need to walk in freedom. Find a local FTL chapter at freedomthatlasts.com and discover what it means to live as the new creation you already are.
