Be Who You Are

Indicatives, Imperatives & Two Ditches

Sam was adopted into a loving family. Every day his new parents told him he was their beloved son. Yet every night, Sam still snuck food under his bed. Every morning he'd ask his mom, "Are you going to send me back?" 

His adoption papers were signed. The judge had declared it. Sam was legally, permanently, completely their son. But Sam was still living like an orphan.

That's the spiritual struggle for most Christians. We've been adopted into God's family, declared righteous, made new—but we keep living like spiritual orphans, hoarding approval and trying desperately to prove we belong.

The Gospel flips this script entirely with the most foundational truth in all of Scripture: Be who you are.

This isn't psychology or self-help. This is the heart of the Gospel—the key to understanding how real, lasting spiritual change works.

We often think the Christian life is primarily about what we must do. But the Good News is first and foremost about what is already true about you. The Gospel tells you who you are before it tells you what you should do.

That’s the rhythm of grace: See. Do. Be Free.³

We see what’s true (the Indicative),
we do what flows from it (the Imperative),
and we be free—living from who we are instead of striving to become something we’re not.

This is the distinction between the Indicative and the Imperative.

1. The Foundation: The Indicative (What is true no matter what we do)

The Indicative is the statement of Gospel fact. It is what God has already done for you in Christ.

What it is: A divine declaration of status.

The Key Statement: "True no matter what we do."

This is the heart of Redemption. Paul starts his commands in Colossians 3 with: "If then you have been raised with Christ..." (v. 1). That "If" means "Since."

Because this new identity is a finished, past-tense work, your first response is REST. Your security, worth, and belonging are secured by Jesus, not by your effort.

The Indicative says: "You are chosen. You are holy. You are beloved."

2. The Response: The Imperative (What we do because of what is true)

The Imperative is the statement of command—what you are now called to do as a new creation.

What it is: A declaration of action.

The Key Statement: "What we do because of what is true."

The rule for application is: Your 'being' precedes your 'doing.' Or as theologians put it: "Imperatives divorced from indicatives become impossibilities."¹ Commands without identity are crushing. Identity without obedience is empty. But identity that leads to obedience? 

That's the Gospel pattern.

This pattern—identity before action—runs through the entire New Testament. Look at Romans 6. Paul spends the first 11 verses establishing who you are in Christ (dead to sin, alive to God, united with Christ). Then in verse 12 comes the hinge word: "Therefore."

"Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body..."

The command (imperative) only comes after the identity (indicative) is secure. Paul never says, "Stop sinning so God will accept you." He says, "You've been accepted—you're dead to sin and alive to God—therefore stop letting sin boss you around."

We don't obey to earn a status; we obey because Christ has already secured it. You are a new creation in Christ—the old has gone, the new has come! (2 Corinthians 5:17)

Paul's imperative flows directly from your new identity: "Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility..." (Colossians 3:12).

The Imperatives are simply living as the new creation you already are.

We don't forgive to become forgiven; we forgive because we have been forgiven.

We don't serve to be loved; we serve because we are loved.

This paradigm—"YOU DO WHO YOU ARE"—guards against two common dangers.

3. The Dangers: Two Ditches to Avoid

When you get the order right, life with God follows this rhythm: See. Do. Be Free.

When you see what’s already true in Christ, you do what’s consistent with that truth, and you live free—no longer earning, no longer pretending.

But when you get it backward, you’ll fall into one of two ditches. And the tension between the indicative (what’s true) and the imperative (what to do) is where most of us end up in one of two ditches: Legalism — trying to earn God’s love by performing for Him, or License — abusing His grace as permission to do whatever we want. And if we lose sight of that pattern, we usually fall into one of two ditches:

Both miss the Gospel. Legalism ignores what Christ has done. License ignores who Christ has made you to be.

4. How We Get This Wrong: The "Be Like" Trap (When kids become the heroes)

This indicative-imperative confusion doesn't just affect adults. In fact, one of the most common places we get it backwards is in how we teach children.

An Example of the Problem: Moralism in Kids Ministry

Think about how we typically teach children the Bible. We tell them about Daniel in the lions' den and say, "Be brave like Daniel." We show them David and Goliath and say, "Be courageous like David." We read about Jesus helping others and say, "Be kind like Jesus." It sounds good.

It feels practical. But here's the problem: we've accidentally made the child the hero of the story. We've turned the Bible into a collection of moral examples instead of one unified story of rescue. And when we do that, we're teaching moralism, not the Gospel.

What Kids Actually Hear

Kids who grow up hearing "Be like Daniel" learn that Christianity is about trying really hard to measure up to impossible standards. They internalize the message that God likes them when they perform well and behave like Bible heroes. Some of them burn out by high school, exhausted from trying to be good enough. Others become Pharisees, proud that they pray more than their friends. Many simply walk away, convinced that Christianity is just another set of rules they can't keep.

The Gospel-Centered Alternative

But what if we taught them differently? What if every Bible story started with Jesus as the hero instead of the child as the project? When Daniel goes into the lions' den, we don't stop at "be brave." We say, "Daniel trusted God even when it meant the lions' den, and God rescued him. But Jesus trusted God even when it meant the cross, and nobody rescued Him. 

He stayed there and died so we could be rescued forever. Daniel's story points us to Jesus, the real hero." When David kills Goliath, we don't end with "face your giants." We say, "David killed the giant Goliath, but he couldn't kill the biggest giant of all—sin and death. Only Jesus could do that. When Jesus died and rose again, He defeated the giant that David couldn't beat."

Do you see the difference? In the first version, the child is left carrying the weight of being brave, being strong, being faithful. In the second version, Jesus carries that weight, and the child gets to respond from a place of security and love. The first version teaches "do this to be accepted." The second version teaches "you're already accepted, so now you can do this." 

Same Bible story. Completely different gospel.

Why This Matters for All of Us

This isn't just about kids. It's about all of us. Whether we're five or fifty, we need to hear that Jesus is the hero. We need the indicative before we can handle the imperative. We need to know who we are before we're told what to do. Because when we get the order right—when we start with "you are loved, chosen, and secure in Christ"—obedience stops being a crushing burden and becomes a joyful response. That's why the Gospel is really good news, no matter what angle you look at it. It rescues us from the exhausting treadmill of performance and invites us into the rest of being God's beloved children.

For the record, I think our kids curriculum (The Jesus Storybook Bible) is excellent and roots our kids in the Gospel vs. either of the ditches.

5. The Gospel: New Identity is New Power

Jesus resisted temptation not by trying harder, but by standing firm in His identity as the Beloved Son (Matthew 3-4). He didn't need to prove who He was.

And He died so you could inherit that same identity.

When God looks at you, He says: "This is My Beloved Child, with Whom I am well pleased."

Live from that truth. Not for it.

Live out of overflow, out of gratitude. In response to what He has already done. 

That’s the invitation: See. Do. Be Free.

Jesus says "If you love Me you'll obey My commands." We don't obey to get His love. We obey because we already have it. So instead of thinking we have to obey Him, a Gospel response is that we get to obey Him.

So when temptation whispers "prove yourself," remember: you're already chosen. Because Jesus made it so.

When shame says "you'll never measure up," remember: you're already holy. Because Jesus made it so.

When fear asks "what if God gives up on me?" remember: your life is hidden with Christ in God—you're wrapped up in His perfect love and that is the most secure place in the universe.

Be who you are.

Notes

¹ Tullian Tchividjian, quoted in Justin Taylor, "Imperatives - Indicatives = Impossibilities," The Gospel Coalition, October 29, 2017.

² This phrase captures a common distortion of Christian sanctification, discussed in Douglas Moo, "Indicative and Imperative," Servants of Grace, October 6, 2022.

³ The phrase “See · Do · Be Free” is inspired by the Street Psalms community, which teaches this rhythm as a way of describing life lived from grace rather than for it.