Our true identity

These days, it's often assumed that you have to make a name for yourself and others to be significant and important. It seems as if people are on an insatiable search for identity and meaning. But Jesus already said: "Whoever finds their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life for my sake will find it." (Mt 10, 39)As a church, we have learned from this truth. Since 2009, we have called ourselves Grace Communion International, and this name points to our true identity, which is grounded in Jesus and not in ourselves. Let us take a closer look at this name and discover what it represents.

Grace

Grace is the first word in our name because it best describes our individual and collective journey to God in Jesus Christ through the Holy Spirit. “Rather, we believe that it is through the grace of the Lord Jesus that we are saved, just as they were.” (Apg 15, 11)We are “justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.” (Röm 3, 24)By grace alone, God (through Christ) allows us to share in his own righteousness. The Bible continually teaches us that the message of faith is a message about God's grace (see Apg 14, 3; 20, 24; 20, 32).

The basis of God's relationship with man has always been grace and truth. While the law was an expression of these values, God's grace itself found full expression through Jesus Christ. By the grace of God we are saved only by Jesus Christ and not by keeping the law. The law by which every man is damned is not God's last word for us. His last word for us is Jesus. He is the perfect and personal revelation of God's grace and truth that he freely gave to humanity.
Our condemnation under the law is justified and just. We do not achieve legitimate behavior out of ourselves, for God is not a prisoner of his own laws and legalities. God in us acts in divine freedom according to his will.

His will is defined by grace and redemption. The Apostle Paul writes the following: “I do not reject the grace of God, for if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died for nothing.” (Gal 2, 21)Paul describes God's grace as the only alternative, one he refuses to discard. Grace is not something to be weighed, measured, or bargained for. Grace is the living goodness of God, through which he reaches out to and transforms the human heart and mind.

In his letter to the church in Rome, Paul writes that the only thing we try to achieve through our own efforts is the wages of sin, namely death itself. That is the bad news. But there is also some very good news, for “the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Röm 6, 24)Jesus is the grace of God. He is God's salvation, freely given to all people.

Communion

Fellowship is the second word in our name because we have a true relationship with the Father through the Son in fellowship with the Holy Spirit. In Christ we have real fellowship with God and with each other. James Torrance put it this way: "The Triune God creates fellowship in such a way that we are only real people if we have found our identity in fellowship with him and other people." 

The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are in perfect communion, and Jesus prayed that his disciples would share this relationship and reflect it in the world.Joh 14, 20(John 17:23). The Apostle John describes this fellowship as a deep rootedness in love. John describes this deep love as eternal fellowship with the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. True relationship means living in fellowship with Christ in the love of the Father through the Holy Spirit. (1. Joh 4, 8).

It is often said that being a Christian is about a personal relationship with Jesus. The Bible uses several analogies to describe this relationship. One speaks of the relationship between the master and his slave. From this, it follows that we should honor and follow our Lord, Jesus Christ. Jesus further said to his followers: “I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything I learned from my Father I have made known to you.” (Joh 15, 15)Yet another image speaks of the relationship between a father and his children (Joh 1, 12-13)Jesus even uses the image of the bridegroom and his bride, which is already found in the Old Testament. (Mt 9, 15)...and Paul writes about the relationship between husband and wife (Eph 5)The Letter to the Hebrews even states that we as Christians are brothers and sisters of Jesus. (Hebr 2, 11)All these images (slave, friend, child, spouse, sister, brother) embody the idea of ​​a deep, positive, personal relationship. But all of these are merely images. Our triune God is the source and the truth of this relationship and this fellowship. It is a fellowship that He generously shares with us in His goodness.

Jesus prayed that we would be with him in eternity and rejoice in this goodness. (Joh 17, 24)In this prayer, he invited us to live as part of the community with one another and with the Father. When Jesus ascended into heaven, he took us, his friends, into fellowship with the Father and the Holy Spirit. Paul says that through the Holy Spirit there is a way by which we sit beside Christ and are in the presence of the Father. (Eph 2, 6)We can already experience this fellowship with God, even though the fullness of this relationship will only become visible when Christ returns and establishes his kingdom. Therefore, fellowship is an essential part of our faith community. Our identity, now and forever, is founded in Christ and in the fellowship that God shares with us as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

International (International)

International is the third word in our name because our church is a very international community. We reach people across different cultural, linguistic and national boundaries - we reach people worldwide. Even though we are statistically a small community, there are communities in every American state, as well as Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean, South America, Europe, Asia, Australia, Africa, and the Pacific Islands. We have more than 50.000 members in more than 70 countries that have found homes in more than 900 communities.

God has brought us together in this international community. It is a blessing that we are big enough to work together and yet small enough to be personally personal. In our community, friendships are constantly being built across national and cultural boundaries that today often divide, built and nurtured our world. That is certainly a sign of God's grace!

As a church, it is important to us to live and pass on the gospel that God has placed in our hearts. Even to experience the richness of God's grace and love motivates us to pass the good news on to other people. We want other people to enter into a relationship with Jesus Christ and share in that joy. We can not keep the gospel secret because we want everyone in the world to experience God's grace and become part of the triune community. That's the message God has given us to share with the world.

by Joseph Tkach