Does the title bother you? That's ok, it bothers a lot of Christians. As a matter of fact, it would have bothered me not so long ago. We grow up believing that we are "sinners saved by grace." Even after we receive the love of Jesus and believe in our heart that He has risen from the dead, there often still exists a deep belief that we will spend the rest of our lives as sinners. Only after death will we experience true transformation and walk as saints. This, to me, is missing the truth. We are either a sinner or we are saved by grace. We can't be both. When you are saved, something actually happens. You are recreated. The old dies and the new is born (1 Corinthians 5:17). You no longer identify as the old sinner because he doesn't exist anymore. "For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall also be in the likeness of His resurrection, knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin; for he who has died is freed from sin (Romans 6:5-7 NASB)." One could argue that we are still sinners because we still sin. However, is it wise to pair someone's identity with their actions? Yes, actions should flow from who we are but what if a person is uninformed about their identity? They will live from who they believe they are rather than who they really are. If I steal something, I am slapped with a "Thief" label. If I tell a lie I am considered to be a "Liar." Yet is it still so for the reborn Christian? I suspect that when we truly see what Jesus accomplished, we would then have the correct lens to see our new Christ-like nature. The issue for a Christian is not their actions, it is their beliefs about who they are. If I believe I am a sinner, I will always sin. Until I come to a realization of my new identity, I will continue to live in the same patterns I did as a sinner. The standard is actually holy living (1 Peter 1:16). This becomes a burden when I think I am a sinner. A sinner can not possibly sustain a Holy lifestyle because it goes against their nature. Thank God He has killed us and given us a new nature; a Christlike nature, made in His image (Galatians 2:20). I am not a sinner, I am saved by grace. He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him (2 Corinthians 5:21 NASB). We have become righteous. It's our truest identity. We, as Believers, are in Christ. If this is true then we can no longer claim a sinner's identity. Why? Because in Him there is no sin (1 John 3:5). If sin is active in a Christians life, it's not because they need to work the rest of the evil out of them. This belief would suggest that Jesus did a poor job on the cross. Sin is only active in the life of a Christain who has forgotten, or never understood, what Jesus actually accomplished. I for one, believe that when Jesus said, "It is Finished" he actually meant it. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his natural face in a mirror; for once he has looked at himself and gone away, he has immediately forgotten what kind of person he was. But one who looks intently at the perfect law, the law of liberty, and abides by it, not having become a forgetful hearer but an effectual doer, this man will be blessed in what he does (James 1:23-25). Jesus is perfect law. He is the mirror we look at to see what we look like. If we, as Christians, are not doing what the word says it is because we have walked away from the mirror and have forgotton who we are. We must return back and see for ourselves who He has made us to be. Life is about discovering what is now a reality. You are made in His image. You are created in His likeness. You didn't do it. He did it. He lived a life you couldn't live and paid a price you couldn't afford to give you the life you didn't deserve. Discover your new reality as a saint and watch your lifestyle change without even trying. Scripture quotations taken from the New American Standard Bible® (NASB),
Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973,
1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation
Used by permission. www.Lockman.org"