SAINT OR SINNER?
 
 
“To the saints in Ephesus, the faithful in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 1:1)
 
     If I was to walk into any church in North America and asked how many perceive themselves as a sinner saved by grace, almost everyone would raise their hands. But if I asked them how many perceive themselves as saints, few, if any would raise their hands.
 
QUESTION:
 
Which is most biblically accurate statement of who you are as a Christian?  Does the Bible refer to the believer as a sinner or as a saint? Did Paul address his letters to the sinners at Ephesus or to the saints?
 
 
Look at the truth in 1 Corinthians 1:2:
 
“To the church of God which is at Corinth, to those who have been sanctified in Christ Jesus,  saints by calling, with all who in every place  call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, their Lord and ours” (NASB).
 
Most Christians live their lives as though this passage reads:
 
“To others in the church who are struggling to be sanctified, sinners by calling (or saints by hard work), with some who call upon the name of the Lord, my Lord, but I’m not sure about theirs.”
 
EVERY CHILD OF GOD IS A SAINT
 
What’s the real and most consistent message of the New Testament?
 ----- we are saints by the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ – every child of God is a saint
because he/she is in Christ Jesus.
 
“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. For he chose us in him before the creation of the world”  (Ephesians 1:3-4).
 
Forty times in Ephesians alone references are made to either you being in Christ or Christ in you. And for every verse throughout the Bible that talks about Christ being in you, 10 verses can be found that talk about you being in Him. Read through the rest of the book of Ephesians and see how many times you can find this truth.
 
Verse 7: “ In him, we have redemption.”
 
Verse 11:  it says, “In him  we were also chosen.”
Verse 12:  tells you your hope is in Christ
 
Verse 13:  says you were included in Christ when you hear the word of truth.
 
     The problem is that the Bible does not clearly identify believers as saints- if does and does so emphatically.  The primary problem here is that we just don’t see it. Sl Paul says in Ephesians 1:18:
 
“I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints”
 
 
OUR IDENTITY IN CHRIST
 
Being a saint represents the incredible work of Christ’s redemption in the life of the believer. The old nature is replaced by something new that didn’t exist in him before .
 
Look at this:
 
He is declared to a new creation  (2 Cor 5:17; Gal 6:15)
 
Now this verse Gal 2:20; Col 3:4: declares this newness of  the life  is the very life of Jesus Christ within the believer himself.
 
He has become one spirit with the Lord (1 Cor 6:17)
 
In the daily life of the believer, the Christian is exhorted “to put on the new self.”
 
You see it is by faith and faith alone that we are to function, operate in the light of who we really are – the light of our new identity in Jesus Christ..
 
Paul identifies the believer with Christ:
 
   In His death                              Romans 6:3, 6
                                   Galatians 2:20
                                   Colossians 3:1-3
In His burial                              Romans 6:4
In His resurrection                        Romans 6:5, 8, 11
In His life                              Romans 5: 10, 11
In His power                              Romans 1:19, 20
In His inheritance                        Romans 8:16, 17
                                   Ephesians 1:11-12
 
This new man is the result of  Jesus Christ’s life implanted in the believer and manifested in practical ways as the Christian makes choices in the power of the Holy Spirit. We are not partly new and partly old, nor are we partly in light and partly in darkness; we are completely new creatures in Him.
 
SIN’S POWER IS BROKEN
 
Does this mean we are sinless?  By no means! Sin can continue to dwell in our bodies and make its appeal.  But the very virtue of the crucifixtion of the old man (the old self pre conversion), sin’s power is broken.
 
“For he who is dead is freed from sin.” (Romans 6:7)
 
 “For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under law, but under grace.”
 (Romans 7:14)
 
“He breaks the power of cancelled sin.”
 
By the grace of God, we can live as a child of light. If we choose to believe the lie that identity and purpose in life can be found in a course of action contrary to God, we will come under conviction, which is the result of choosing to act differently from who we are in Christ.
 
We need to understand who we are in Christ Jesus!
 
Our attitudes, our responses, our reactions to all things – how we live our lives -  hinges on  how we see ourselves or what we what perceive the Bible teaches even if that perception is wrong..
 
No one can persistently behave in a way that is inconsistent with how he/she perceives himself/herself.  If Christians are no different inwardly from how non-Christians see and believe themselves to be, then they will not live as new creations.
 
 
A WRONG IDENTITY
 
     Repeated defeats in the life of a Christian are capitalized on by Satan. He pours on guilt, and then coupled with the negative influence of negative teachers – you know God did that & he was trying to teach us something kind of thing – Christians begin to question their salvation or accept as the nom an up and down spiritual experience – sin-confess-sin-confess.
 
Why does this happen so often to Christians?  
 
It’s because we believe the lie and are ignorant of our true identity on Jesus Christ.  Look folks we are no longer products of our past – we have been set free from the bondage of the past.
 
When you see yourself as God sees you as His child and as a saint, it becomes a joy to cooperate with Him in His transforming work of grace in your life.
 
“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he/she is a new creature, the old has gone, the new has come!”  (2 Cor 5:17)
 
 
GOD’S GREAT ACCOMPLISHMENT
 
 
     The work of atonement in changing sinners into saints was Jesus’ greatest accomplishment on earth – remember that happened for you at the very moment of salvation. It’s affect continues as you live your life for Him.  
 
     All that is needed to life your life the way he desires for you is ours by divine power – notice it is His power & not our effort. This is all inherent in the Christ life within. The believer’s identity and purpose is in Christ and Christ alone.
 
In the Bible, believers are called brothers, children, sons of God, sons of light, light in the Lord and saints. Nowhere are believers called sinners or sinners saved by grace.
 
If you are a true Christian accepts himself as a sinner, then his core identity is SIN!  
 
This is a direct contradiction to what the Bible teaches because believers are justified by faith. The implications of seeing yourself as a sinner are serious, for what do sinners do?
 
THEY SIN!  What else would you expect of a sinner?
 
Ok then the question to be raised is this.  Do believers never sin?
 
Yes they do, of course we do. We are not sinners saved by grace; we are saints that sometimes sin.
 
That designation given to believers in the Bible corresponds to their new identity – those who have died to sin and are now alive in Christ Jesus. And by faith, a believer can choose to be what, in reality, he/she is in Christ.
 
With our identity established and understanding that the power of sin is broken, our will is now able to choose truth by the power of the Holy Spirit and the truth sets us free.
 
Ephesians 5:8
 
The problem then is not that we are not saints, it is that we do not live like saints.
 
Dear Heavenly Father, I renounce the lie that I am just a sinner. I acknowledge that I am a saint not due to any effort on my part but because of my redemption in Christ. I receive and appropriate my new identity in Christ as a saint and I choose to do so by faith. I ask you to fill me with Your Holy Spirit and enable me to live out my true identity as a saint so I may not sin. I choose to walk in the light that I may glorify You.  I pray this in the wonderful name of my Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.