On the 31st of August, I started something called The Ephesians Identity Challenge. For six days, I welcomed fellow believers to cover the six chapters of Paul’s letter to the church of Ephesus. Each day, I challenged believers to take time to read one chapter and write a list of what the biblical book says about their identity as a believer. The aim of the challenge was to ground one’s faith and help offload one’s personal insecurities through prayer. Pride, lust, envy, greed, gluttony, wrath, sloth, fear, worry, doubt, anxiety, shame, guilt, rejection, delay, etc are labels that the new spirit man does not bear in salvation. They need to be offloaded. Your identity is what Ephesians says you are and what you have. If you haven’t done it, I challenge you to do it.
This exercise will help you gain grace to overcome troublesome sins. It will also help you gain a rich life perspective by considering the life Christ has saved you to, not just the one He has saved you from. Go through the chapter, verse by verse and write a list of everything Ephesians says that you are and that you have. When you are done, stick these on your wall or have them somewhere you can read every day. Each day, post on social media your extracted identity list with the hashtag #TheEphesiansIdentityChallenge
Below is the completion of my challenge. Feel free to decree and declare these statements in prayer over your life. Even better, take up the challenge and decree from your custom list.
Ephesians Chapter 1
- I have peace from the Father and Jesus- V2
- I have every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus- V3
- I am chosen. I am holy and I am without blame- V4
- I am predestined, adopted and belonging to God- V5
- I am accepted and loved- V6
- I am redeemed through the blood of Jesus- V7
- I am forgiven- V7
- I have the riches of God’s grace abound to me- V8
- I am part of the mystery of God’s will- V9
- I am in Christ Jesus- V10
- I have an inheritance in Christ- V11
- I am predestined according to God’s purpose- V11
- I am sealed with the Holy Spirit of Promise- V13
- I have a guarantee of my inheritance- V14
- I am God’s purchased possession- V14
- I have the spirit of wisdom and revelation to know God- V17
- I am called to hope and I have a rich and glorious inheritance- V18
- I have God’s great power working for me- V19
- I am headed and led by Christ- V22
- I am complete in Christ- V23
Ephesians Chapter 2
- I am loved by God- V4
- I am alive in Christ Jesus- V5
- I am saved by grace- V5
- I am seated in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus- V7
- I have the incomparable riches of God’s grace- V7
- I am a recipient of God’s kindness in Christ Jesus- V7
- I am saved by grace through faith- V8
- I am God’s handiwork/ workmanship/ masterpiece- V10
- I am created to do good works that God prepared beforehand- V10
- I am near God because of the blood of Christ- V13
- Christ is my peace- V14
- I am not in enmity with God- V16
- I have access to the Father through one Spirit- V18
- I am a citizen, a saint and a member of the household of God- V19
- I am built on the foundation of the apostles and the prophets- V20
- I am God’s building- V21
- God’s spirit lives in me- V22
Ephesians Chapter 3
- I belong to the dispensation of the grace of God- V2
- I have the revelation of God’s mystery- V5
- I am a co-heir with Israel to the promises of God- V5
- I am a member of the spiritual commonwealth of Israel- V6
- I am a partaker of God’s promises through the Gospel- V6
- I am a minister of the gospel according to the gift God’s grace, that is, His working power in me- V7
- I am chosen to do God’s work despite being the least- V8
- I am made by God. Created through Jesus Christ- V9
- The rich variety of God’s wisdom is inside of me- V10
- I am the church- V10
- I am noticed by angels and demons because of that which is inside of me- V10
- I have boldness ad confident access into God’s presence- V12
- I am a beneficiary of the persecution of martyrs- V13
- I am a member of God the Father’s cosmic family- V14-15
- My inner man is strengthened by the riches of His glory and by the Holy Spirit- V16
- Christ dwells in my heart- V17
- I am rooted and built in love- V17
- I have comprehension of the width, length, depth and height of the love of Christ, which is beyond knowledge- V18
- I have the fullness of God- V19
- I have God’s power working inside of me to do exceedingly, abundantly and above all that I can ask or think- V20
- I reflect the glory of Christ Jesus as a member of the church- V21
Ephesians Chapter 4
- I am called to walk worthy of the calling of my life- V1
- I am part of one body. One Spirit, one hope, one LORD, one faith, one baptism, one God and one Father of all who is above all, through all and in all the Body of Christ- V4-6
- I have grace given to me according to the measure of Christ’s gift- V7
- I have a gift from Christ- V8
- I am filled with Christ- V10
- I am an evangelist and teacher, according to His grace- V11
- I am equipped for ministry inside the Body of Christ- V12
- I am called to unity in the faith- V13
- I am called to perfection, through the knowledge of Jesus- V13
- I am not a child, tossed around by false teachers- V14
- I am called to grow into Christ, who is my head- V15
- I am joined to Christ and knit to the whole Body- V16
- I have a contribution to the growth and edification of the church- V16
- I am not futile in my thinking- V17
- I have clear understanding- V18
- I am not alienated from the life of God- V18
- I am not ignorant- V18
- I have the eyes of my heart open- V18
- I have spiritual conviction and conscience- V19
- I have been taught by Christ- V20
- I have power to put off my old, sinful man- V22
- I am renewed in the spirit of my mind- V23
- I am a new man, created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness- V24
- I am a member of the Body of Christ- V25
- I have capacity to be angry and yet not sin- V26
- I have capacity to deny the devil a foothold in my life- V27
- I have capacity to create wealth- V28
- I have capacity to impact people positively with my words- V29
- I am sealed for the day of redemption- V30
- I have capacity to be kind, tenderhearted and forgiving, just like God- V32
Ephesians Chapter 5
- I am called to imitate God- V1
- I am called to walk in love- V1
- I am loved by Christ- V2
- I am a sweet-smelling aroma offering and sacrifice to God when I walk in love- V2
- I am called to sexual purity and cleanliness- V3
- I am called to material contentment-V3
- I am called to use my mouth for thanksgiving and not for foolish talk and coarse joking- V4
- I have an inheritance in the Kingdom of Christ and God- V5
- I am not under the wrath of God- V6
- I am not a partaker of sin with unbelievers- V7
- I am light- V8
- I am a child of light- V8
- I have the fruit of the Holy Spirit in all goodness, righteousness and truth- V9
- I have the capacity to discover what is acceptable to God and I have the capacity to please Him by doing it- V10
- I have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness- V11
- I have the capacity to expose darkness and evil- V11
- I am the brilliant manifestation of God to purge darkness- V13
- I am awake and alive spiritually- V14
- I have received light from Christ- V14
- I have the capacity to be wise- V15
- I have the wisdom to understand the will of God- V17
- I am filled with the Spirit- V18
- I am called to shun darkness through wine- V18
- I have the capacity to edify the saints- V19
- I am called to corporate worship- V19
- I am called to be grateful to Go for all things- V20
- I am the head of my wife and the home- V23
- I am called to love my wife and die for her- V25
- I am called to teach my wife the scriptures- V26
- I am called to love my wife as my own body- V28
- I am a member of Christ’s body, flesh and bones- V30
- I am one flesh with my wife- V31
- I am called to love my wife as I love myself- V33
Ephesians Chapter 6
- I am called to honour my parents- V2
- I have long life and honour by honouring my father and my mother- V3
- I am called not to anger my children- V4
- I am called to bring my children in the ways of the LORD- V4
- I am a bondservant of Christ- V6
- I am a recipient of God’s goodness- V8
- I am subject to a fair and impartial God- V9
- I have strength and power from God- V10
- I have a spiritual armour against the wiles of Satan- V11
- I am a spiritual fighter and warrior- V12
- I have the capacity to stand in the midst of evil- V13
- I am armed with the belt of truth- V14
- I am armed with a breastplate of righteousness- V14
- I am armed with shoes of readiness to spread the Gospel of peace- V15
- I am armed with a shield of faith to quench all of Satan’s fiery darts- V16
- I am armed with a helmet of salvation- V17
- Salvation is my identity- V17
- I am armed with a spiritual sword, which is the Word of God- V18
- I have the power of God’s Spirit in my prayers- V18
- I have the capacity to be watchful and to persevere spiritually- V18
- I have the utterance to boldly preach the Gospel- V19
- I am called to fellowship with mature believers- V21
- I have peace from God- V23
- I have grace from God to love Him sincerely- V24
