I was reading a newsletter this week that I receive monthly from the Alliance Defending Freedom International (ADF International). It is always an interesting read, and very, very informative. This newsletter contained an update concerning the ADF’s work earlier this year when they had sent legal letters to 10 peak sporting bodies in the United Kingdom. The letters carried polite warnings to these peak bodies that continuing to allow men to compete in their female sport categories was in violation of the law. A lot of people around the world were interceding into this issue at the time. The good news is that two of those sporting bodies, the Football Association of Wales and the Royal Yachting Association, have now revised their competition eligibility policies. To compete in any female category eligibility will be decided purely on biological sex at birth, not one’s self-declared identity.
Of course, to my mind, this is just commonsense. The problem with commonsense, as the old saying goes, is that it’s not that common. For many people in our society one’s self-declared identity is paramount and overrides things like birth gender and even scientific or biological facts. Recently, many of you will be aware that certain academics have struggled to give a sensible definition of what a woman is and have tied themselves in knots trying to do so. Why? Because this self-declaration priority has been able to be prioritised over truth and facts. Hopefully, as witnessed this last week in the United Kingdom, this self-declaration stupidity is coming to an end so that truth and fairness in sport can take precedence once again – at least in the UK.
But all this got me to thinking about this whole idea of “self-declaration”. If someone’s self-declaration about anything does not have to be based on truth or facts but could be about whatever someone wants it to be, we are in dangerous territory. This is a far cry from the self-declaration of truth from a legal perspective, of course. That is, a personal claim or statement of facts that you state to be true and accurate. You often see this kind of declaration used for things like visa applications, employment records, or certain industry compliance forms and so on. Then there are more formal legal types of self-declaration, such as a statutory declaration which requires an authorised witness such as a Justice of the Peace. The difference here is that you must tell the truth. Any failure to do so is considered perjury, and is a criminal offence. And there are harsh penalties for perjury for good reason. But the kind of self-declaration we have been seeing in recent years concerning someone’s self-declared gender change doesn’t have to be based on facts as we have always known them, doesn’t have to be even true, but somehow these self-declarations have been enshrined in law and carry considerable legal weight. Oh, but these self-declarations aren’t perjury. Courts have upheld someone’s self-declaration of their changed gender identity that is not based on their biological sex at birth, and some have received considerable financial compensation for being wronged or discriminated against when their self-declaration has not been respected. In this country we have laws in place that protect someone’s changed gender self-identity.
In our State of Victoria, purposely “misgendering” someone can be a form of discrimination, harassment, or transphobia under the Equal Opportunity Act 2010 – you can be charged with “unlawful discrimination or gendered violence.” Misgendering is using pronouns, titles, or language that do not align with how a person self-identifies their gender. This includes using a former name without consent (called “dead-naming”) or intentionally referencing a person's birth-assigned sex. Workplaces and schools as well as employers, educators, and service providers are legally required not to treat people poorly or subject them to hostile environments because of their gender identity. And I would readily defend anyone being treated with hostility in any of these scenarios for any reason. So, here in Australia someone’s self-declaration about who they are doesn’t have to be based on truth - just what they want to be.
Many people profess themselves to be Christians – this is their self-declaration to the world. This is what they want to be – nothing wrong with that of course. But for that to be true and valid it must be based on something substantial, some irrefutable truth, not some whimsical idea about religion, or God. In the baptism of someone who has realised their sin condition, who has repented of their sins before God, and who has trusted in His salvation provided by Jesus Christ, and who desires to walk in righteousness with the help of Holy Spirit, this self-declaration is absolutely true and valid. There is no dispute. Our baptism is our self-declaration of who we are now. It is valid because it is based on God’s truth. It is unchangeable, though we can mess with it. It is valid and solid because it is God’s will and has powerful purpose in our new life in Christ.
In our baptism we have self-identified ourselves with Christ and all that He has achieved on the cross and in the resurrection. We truly do have a new identity now that is beyond gender, biology or science. This is the self-declaration of the Christian in baptism.
2 Corinthians 5:16-17 (NIV)
“So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. 17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!”
Our self-declaration about our new identity changes everything about us – everything! The old has gone the new has come. It is based on a God-given right. That right comes to us by faith in Jesus Christ – who He is and what He has done.
John 1:12 (NIV)
“Yet to all who did receive Jesus, to those who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God—"
All of our self-declaration as Christians is based on these facts and truths of scripture. And so, if we dare to self-declare, “I am a Christian, a follower and learner of Christ my Saviour”, we are obligated to live these truths and grow into this new life as faithful witnesses to the world of God’s love and grace. If we do not, our self-declaration is as whimsical and as faddish as any other self-declaration based on fantasy.
Romans 8:12-14 (NIV)
“Therefore, brothers and sisters, we have an obligation—but it is not to the flesh, to live according to it. 13 For if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live. 14 For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God.”
Reflect on your self-declaration as a Christian today. How real is it? Is it more than words? Has it become a life honouring of the One who gave you the right to become a child of God?
Sobering, eh?
Ps Milton
Post Script: The woke tide is beginning to turn in the UK. Many churches have been interceding, and the population is wearying of the government’s woke overreach that continues to seriously breach fundamental human rights. Let’s continue to intercede so the tide turns here in Australia, too.
[Sources: ADF International newsletter, 26/08/2026]