Many Christians do not have a gospel perspective on who they are.

This lack of gospel identity shows up in two ways. First, many Christians underestimate the presence and power of indwelling sin. They don’t see how easily entrapped they are in this world full of snares (see Gal. 6:1). They don’t grasp the comprehensive nature of the war that is always raging within the heart of every believer (see Rom 7). They’re not aware of how prone they are to run after God replacements. They fail to see that their greatest problem exists within them, not outside them.

Many believers also fail to see the other side of their gospel identity: their identity in Christ. Christ not only gives me forgiveness and a new future, but a whole new identity as well! I am now a child of God, with all the rights and privileges that this title bestows.

This is important because each of us lives out of some sense of identity, and our gospel identity amnesia will always lead to some form of identity replacement. That is, if who I am in Christ does not shape the way I think about myself and the things I face, then I will live out some other identity.

~Timothy S. Lane and Paul David Tripp,  How People Change, p.4-5