Recently, I was having a very friendly
discussion with a dear brother on Facebook to whom the Lord is giving an
increasing amount of influence. He has graciously agreed for me to share about
our exchange. I will keep his comments private. The post below went beyond our
discussion as I searched the Word under the Holy Spirit's guidance.
This whole subject arose from my brother in Christ’s posted a view on Facebook
with which I have strongly disagree for quite a while. So we had a
very friendly discussion about his position on the difference between a
sinner and a saint - or lack thereof. He shared that “the difference
between a sinner and a saint is that the saint is the one seeking after
righteousness,” with which I wholeheartedly agree. But the next, and last,
sentence "went there." You know, to place many go to when they are trying
to be all-inclusive, wanting everyone to feel loved and accepted? It's a noble
goal. But words matter, so we have to be careful how we go about achieving that
goal. We certainly ought to make
people feel loved and accepted, but not at the cost of truth.
I am referring to his next sentence:
"they [the sinner and the saint] are still both sinners." If
he’d said, both people still “commit” sin, I’d not have any cause to disagree,
because that’s true. But since he said “they are still sinners,” that’s where the flags went up. It makes me
want to yell, "noooo, we are not!" How could I still be a sinner when by choice I have been born-again
(John 3:3), spirit-filled, (Acts 1:8) Jesus-chasing (though
not yet perfect) saint (Matt. 6:33). I'm still a
sinner? So accepting Christ's sacrificial death on the Cross in my place, did
nothing for my condition? As the kids say, "Nuh-uh!"
Of course we had a very nice “discussion.” I just added a
little drama above to make the point. But seriously, I just wanted to post
about this because it's been a bothering me for a very long
time, especially when I hear it from the pulpit. Of all people, ministers
should know better. Here are the points I raised below to show the
incongruity of being both a saint and a sinner:
"SAY IT AIN'T SO," SAYS
THE APOSTLE PAUL
1 Corinthians 5:17-21
17Therefore, if
anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed
away; behold, all things have become new. 18 Now all things
are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and
has given us the ministry of reconciliation, 19 that is, that
God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their
trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation.20 Now
then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we
implore you on Christ’s behalf, be reconciled to God. 21 For
He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the
righteousness of God in Him.
IT'S A "NATURE" ISSUE
I disagree that someone can simultaneously be a sinner and a saint.
I believe saints are sinners saved by grace though we still have remnants of
our sin nature in our flesh. That's the part of us still being transformed by
Holy Spirit. That's why we are working out our salvation with fear and
trembling. You have to subject that flesh to obedience to our now
regenerate spirit which is in lock step with the Holy Spirit. Saints are no
longer bound, nor characterized, by sin. The saint's
character is now hidden in Christ. And we are changed as more of Him is
revealed in us. Sinners, conversely, both bound and characterized
by the sin in their flesh. In other words, they are still enslaved to their
sin nature. The sinner's flesh rules his being (with the lust of the flesh,
the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life), whereas the saint's human spirit
(where Holy Spirit comes to dwell) rules his being. It is very crucial to
understand this because you may set yourself up for deception by the enemy to
make you believer lies about yourself. The only person the saint is
"enslaved" to is Jesus Christ.
IT'S AN "IDENTITY" ISSUE
Now, whether the saint still identifies with his old man so much that he is
still living as if he's still bound up in sin, is really up to him. That is, he
is in habitual sin with an assumption that if he dies with his unrepented sin,
he will still inherit heaven. How can that be? That person is really still a
sinner until he is ready to submit and allow Jesus to be his Lord. (Please see two
previous posts on “Submission”).
Any areas of our lives that we have
not submitted to God because we think we can handle it (addictions, lusts,
lying, etc.), will still make us look like sinners. I believe there is a level
of grace when a saint is newly saved. God understands it’s a process. That is
why He gave us the Helper – Holy Spirit. But if you are struggling with
habitual sin 5 or 10 years later, might I suggest that you are not saved
by the Bible's definition of salvation. And all in all, it is just
a very bad witness to those in your circle.
We really can't call ourselves children of God while acting like children
of the devil, and expect that to be okay with God. But let's face it, I have
those areas that are not a perfect witness of Christ’s character in me. More specifically,
I struggle with patience. But then, you have some areas, and so does
every living saint. I am not speaking about character issues that God is
working out as we yield to him. And when I talk about being a sinner, that is
not what I am referring to. Saints are still being transformed under the direction
of Holy Spirit. Put another way, saints are still being perfected, but they have submitted themselves to the Perfecter, yielding
themselves to the Potter’s molding hand. But both are not still
sinners.
So although I do agree that one (the saint) is seeking first His righteousness
while the other (the sinner) is not, the saint lives by the degree of the
revelation of Jesus Christ in his life, while the sinner is still dead in
spirit with no revelation of Jesus
Christ. He is not moved by the Lord nor is he concerned with what Jesus
thinks about anything. He is living for himself, that is until the time when he
begins to search and, by God's grace, find salvation. The saint is born
again of the water and of the Spirit, and it, therefore, regenerate; while the
sinner is not born of the water and the spirit; and is, conversely,
un-regenerate.
It's nice to be inclusive but to God the saint does not look the same
as a sinner, but now looks like Jesus. And the best part is, the
Father’s heart is turned towards favoring the saint as much as He favors the
His Firstborn Son, Jesus. You see, the saint is just as much a “son” of God as
Jesus is, but only in as much as the saint is “in Jesus.” As a matter of fact, only those truly walking with and following
Jesus are in fact, saints. You are not a saint because you said a prayer once,
if you are not a follower.
So on my friend’s point that we are all sinners, even those who have
been saved, that's where I disagreed. A saint does not have the same character
as a sinner. A sinner us one without God, outside of the Family and Kingdom of
God whereas the saint is a child of God and within His fold. Further, the
sinner has more of an "excuse" to sin because he has not
met God, and may not even have a “sin consciousness.” The saint has no excuse,
because the Holy Spirit is there to guide and direct him. We have the Word and
the Spirit Whose job it is to constantly direct us to Truth, Jesus Christ. As Christ-ians we are saying to the world,
"when you see me, you see Christ." That’s a very high standard I know
but that’s the mandate as His Body. That's
the goal. That's why leaving the house before centering ourselves in Him
leaves us so open to operating in an uncharacteristic manner, trying to please
ourselves and other people.
THE CONDITION OF BEING A
SINNER AND
THE CONDITION OF BEING A SAINT ARE MUTUALLY EXCLUSIVE
The thing is, both sentences negate each other. You say they are
different, then you say they are the same. That can't be because the thing that
separates the groups is a non-negotiable. There is no other way around it -- the
life in Christ. We can't leave this
alone because the Bible is very clear on the subject of the difference between
those without and those with Christ. Those changed by Him and those who remain unchanged. The Bible tells us, " You will know them by their fruits. Do
men gather grapes from thorn-bushes or figs from thistles?" (Matt. 7:16).
Do you have Christ honoring fruit in
your life or not? If none of your fruit honors Christ, you are neither a
Christian, nor a saint. But, the great news is, as long as you are still
breathing and able to make that choice, you can be.
All
saints were once sinners.
And that's an accurate statement,
"all saints were [indeed] sinners." That is much different
than saying, "all saints are sinners. The first is biblical but the
last is not.
WHY SO ADAMANT?
You're probably wondering, why I'm so adamant about this subject. Well, I
hear it far too much, even from pastors and ministers, and it is wrong.
All kinds of flags go off when I hear it. And I know it's all about inclusion
and wanting to show that we are no better off. That all sounds nice, but it's
not the truth. I mean, can it get any
better than to be able to say, "God is my Father?" Oh, my! Whaat!
I am seated in heavenly places with
Christ Jesus; I am the head and not the tail, above and not beneath; I have all
I need for life and godliness; I have been grafted into Abraham’s promise is a
son of promise; we are a peculiar people a holy nation and royal priesthood… I
can go on. In fact, you finish the list if you can. We have the goods, we
are the light of the world, a (collective) city on a hill (as the Body of
Christ) ...
But the godless sinner, where is he?
So when you go into your next meeting, audition, tryout, trial, whatever challenges
you face, this is your reminder of just who, and Whose, you are.
These Bible passages may already be very familiar to you.
MY POSITION IS SCRIPTURAL
This is Scripture. A sinner is 'in sin' because he has done
nothing about his sin condition, while a saint is ' in Christ',
because he has repented, asked forgiveness, and has accepted Jesus’ sacrifice
for his sin. This is all Scriptural. Consider John the Baptist's
ministry at the Jordan telling people they must repent. Would they have been
exactly the same after they repented as they were before? No, before they
sincerely repented, they are sinners.
After they comply with Christ's
requirement for righteousness, they are no longer identified by that old sin nature. 2 Cor. 5:17. Additionally, think of Christ's ministry to Nicodemus in
John 3, that he must be born again otherwise he could not enter the kingdom of
God. Sinners do not enter the Kingdom, only saints do. And why would I need to
be reborn if everything stays the same?
Please do further study on the definitions
and the differentiation between saint and sinner. For these discussions, let’s
look at a few Scriptures from different “writers” of the Bible (yet One Author),
who are really saying the same thing:
1.) 1 Peter 4:18, he says:
"Now 'if the righteous one is scarcely saved, where
will the ungodly and the sinner appear?'"
The “righteous” are the saints which
is his mind it is a settled fact that they are not the same as the sinners. The
sinner is ungodly, according to Peter, and the righteous are in right standing
and at peace with God. So they can no longer be labeled as “sinners.”
2.) Paul addressed it in 1 Corinthians 1:2-3:
2 To
the church of God which is at Corinth, to
those who are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, with
all who in every place call on the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both theirs
and ours:
3 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord
Jesus Christ.
Notice, "those who are SANCTIFIED in Christ Jesus, CALLED to be
saints. Only those washed by the blood
of Jesus Christ have peace with God. Paul is saying wherever people call on the
name of Jesus whom He has sanctified, these are saints.
3.) Matthew weighed in on this
differentiation as well. In
Matthew 9:13:
"I did not come to call the
righteous, BUT sinners to repentance.
Once they repent, they can no longer
be labeled “sinners.”
4.) Rom
5:8 is pretty strong reminder as it refers to
"while we WERE still
sinners Christ died for us."
Paul
is reminding the believers in Rome that they “were” sinners at one time. They
no longer can be characterized by that label.
Again, how about the first thing
Peter says in his letters? In
5.) 1 Peter 1:2. It's
virtually the same thing Paul said to the Corinthians in his first letter to
them, even to the greeting and salutation:
2 elect according
to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in sanctification of the Spirit, for
obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace to you and peace
be multiplied.
Just like
Paul, Peter addressed the called-out ones, those washed in the blood of Jesus
Christ. Again, showing us that sanctification is what makes the difference
between saint and sinner.
THE DIFFERENCE WAS THE FIRST THING
PAUL COVERED IN HIS LETTER TO THE CORINTHIANS
Please note that this issue
was the first item Paul covered in his letters to the Corinthians in 1 Cor. 1:2.
Do you think it's important? Of course! He said you have been sanctified so
you are now saints. You are not the same as you were before. Perhaps they
were having an identity problem then as well, so that he needed to encourage
them that they were now different. He was letting them know that they
were called out and called apart from the rest of the world. Recall the
Scripture above in his second letter, where Paul is again telling his spiritual
children, the Corinthians church, that they are now new creatures in Christ
Jesus. Their old nature has passed away, died with Christ.
EXCUSES TO SIN OR SIT ON THE FENCE
A major danger in the thought that we, both saved and unsaved people, are
"all sinners anyway," gives us a big fat excuse when we do sin. It can extinguish the motivation
to repent and feel grieved about our sin, so that we would want to stop.
"Oh, we're all just sinners anyway," makes everyone feel included. But
is that a good thing? Wasn't it the truth
about our miserable sin condition that caused us to come to Christ in the first
place? If we are still the same, what was the purpose in His coming? Would that
not have been a colossal waste of time and, even worse, sacrifice.
Another danger in holding this position that saints and sinners are in the same
sin condition is it gives an excuse to not take sides. By that, I mean in the world, even after we are called
out. We know that there are two kingdoms, of light an of darkness, so by not
taking a side you are, in effect, choosing the wrong side. Jesus was a Rock of
Offense, not purposefully, but the world is at enmity with God and God is at
enmity with the world. He said, “For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this
adulterous and sinful generation, of him the Son of Man also will be ashamed
when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels.” (Mark 8:38). So to try to walk the safe middle-ground is
dangerous to saint’s soul.
But this is what Jesus said in
Revelation 3:15-17 to the Church as Laodicea,
15“I know your
works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I could wish you were cold or hot. 16 So
then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out
of My mouth. 17 Because you say, ‘I am rich, have become
wealthy, and have need of nothing’—and do not know that you are wretched,
miserable, poor, blind, and naked—"
Please read and absorb all the
Scripture in your concordance on any word with the root of "saint"
and those with the root of "sinner." Really on anything you
find “fuzzy” in the Bible, do word studies, and use commentaries. But there is
nothing better than asking Holy Spirit, the Original Author, what He meant then
and means now. He does not change. There is much more on this particular word
study, but I hope this is helpful. But the Lord wants us to understand
that whiles we are in the world but not of it. Simply put, we are different.
As you can tell, I feel pretty strongly about this particular subject and
sticking to the biblical differentiation. The two groups are mutually
exclusive otherwise we look like spiritual schizophrenics. I am
either a sinner OR a saint but never both. I still sin but that does not
make me a sinner. That refers to a nature I no longer have. And
although I am not perfect -yet- my heart is inclined toward Him -
unlike the sinner. And I am seeking first His Kingdom and His
righteousness - unlike the sinner. (Matt 6:33).
Achieving Perfection
I can achieve perfection, not in my nature in this current body, but every
time I obey the Holy Spirit and the Word of God that He has breathed, I am being perfect because then and only
then do I look like Jesus, Who always obeyed the Father's word. So that
means that a lot of people are deceived into thinking they are still sinners
when they are not, while others are thinking they are saints and are
not.
CONCLUDING FOR NOW
So let’s not degrade our position in Christ by considering ourselves still sinners when our nature is
now changed and in Christ. And let's not be flippant about the
seriousness of sin and the plight of the sinner. Might I add, by their own
choice? Sinners who remain unrepentant upon death or at His triumphal return,
will be sent to hell. Sinners who turn to Christ before their deaths or
His return, will reign with Him forever.
6.) Col. 3:3 – “For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ
in God.”
7.) Please also consider Ephesians 3:8-13. Powerful Scripture.
8To me,
who am less than the least of all the saints, this grace was given, that I
should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, 9 and to make all see what is the fellowship
of the mystery, which from the beginning of the ages has been hidden in God who
created all things through Jesus Christ; 10 to
the intent that now the manifold wisdom of God might be made known by the
church to the principalities and powers in the heavenly places, 11 according to the eternal purpose which He
accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord, 12 in
whom we have boldness and access with confidence through faith in Him. 13 Therefore I ask that you do not lose heart at my
tribulations for you, which is your glory.
IN THE END, WE CAN EITHER
IDENTIFY WITH OUR SIN, AND SIN NATURE, OR IDENTIFY WITH CHRIST, THE ONE
WHO CAME TO SET US FREE FROM SIN. FREEDOM WILL NOT COME UNTIL WE EMBRACED IT.
OUR SIN NATURE WILL ALWAYS YEARN FOR THE WORLD AND THE DESIRES OF THE FLESH,
WHILE OUR REGENERATE SPIRIT WILL ALWAYS YEARN FOR GOD AND HIS WAYS. THAT WILL BE THE CASE UNTIL THIS EARTH’S JOURNEY IS OVER
OR UPON JESUS’ RETURN. BUT UNTIL THEN, WE HAVE TO ENDURE THIS BATTLE
BETWEEN OUR TWO SELVES, THE OLD AND THE NEW. ONLY ONE SELF CAN WIN. THE GOOD
THING IS, EACH OF US GET TO DECIDE WHICH ONE. THE BEST PART IS, HE IS HAS GIVEN US
THE ULTIMATE HELPER, HOLY SPIRIT. ULTIMATELY,
HE WANTS TO WIN US MORE THAN WE WANT TO BE WON.
