Are You a Sinner Saved by Grace?
When I was in my twenties, I joined an "accountability group" at my church. On the first day, I was handed a card titled "The Magnificent Seven" – a list of seven questions we would ask each other weekly:
Have you been with a woman in a compromising situation?
Have your financial dealings lacked integrity?
Have you exposed yourself to explicit material?
Have you spent adequate time in Bible study and prayer?
Have you given priority time to your family?
Have you fulfilled the mandates of your calling?
And finally, have you just lied to me?
Meeting with this group and asking these questions was supposed to keep me from sinning. It was designed to help me overcome struggles and to be more like Jesus. But there was a problem.
The belief was that we were just poor old sinners saved by grace. The assumption was that we wanted to sin and needed people to check in with us regularly to make sure that we were not doing what we wanted to do.
But that is just not true.
You Are Not a Sinner Saved by Grace
In his letters, Paul consistently addresses believers as "saints." This isn't just flowery language or an aspirational title – it's a statement of identity. Consider how he addresses various churches:
To the Philippians: "To all the saints in Christ Jesus who are in Philippi"
To the Ephesians: "To the saints who are at Ephesus"
To the Colossians: "To the saints"
Even more telling is how Paul addresses the church in Corinth – a congregation notably struggling with serious sins. Despite their obvious moral failures, he still addresses them as saints!
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 on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, their Lord and ours…
(1 Corinthians 1:2)
This tells us that sainthood isn't earned through good behavior but is bestowed through our relationship with Christ. It’s gifted to us by God through Christ in our spiritual union with Him.
In Christ, You Are Not a Sinner by Nature
If we are nothing more than sinners saved by grace, then that means it’s part of our nature, and the most natural thing for a sinner to do is sin.
But you are not a sinner by nature. You were, but if you’ve put your faith in Jesus for salvation, you have been given a new nature.
The apostle Paul categorizes people into two groups: those who are "in Adam" and those who are "in Christ."
Being born "in Adam" means inheriting a sin nature that leaves us spiritually dead. However, through faith in Christ, our old self dies, and we receive a new nature.
As Paul states, "For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin." (Ro. 6:6-7)
You are not a sinner saved by grace. You are a saint, who sometimes sins.
Do Saints Still Sin?
If we're truly saints, why do we still face temptation? While we are set free from sin at our core spiritual level, we still experience its influence in our flesh. We may have thoughts and feelings pulling us toward sin, but that is different than having a sin nature.
Being a sinner, and having a sin nature, means that you don’t have a choice. It’s part of who you are at the core of your being.
But being a saint, and having a new nature in Christ, means that you now have victory over sin. You have a choice and can walk in the victory you have in Christ to overcome temptations you face in your flesh.
And if you were to fail in a moment of temptation, that sin doesn’t change who you are. Just like acting like a dog doesn’t actually make you a dog, acting like a sinner doesn’t actually make you a sinner.
You are a saint through new birth in Christ, and you are always in Christ. No amount of behavior is going to change that reality through the finished work of Christ.
The Power of "Reckoning"
Paul uses a fascinating banking term in Romans 6:11 when he tells us to "count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus."
The word "count" (or "reckon") is like checking your bank balance – you're not creating the reality, you're acknowledging what's already true.
What is already true about you is that you are a saint if you are in Christ. That’s why Paul says to actually count it as being true.
It’s hard to experience something you don’t count as true. We live out of what we believe about ourselves.
So, even though you are a saint, if you believe that you are a poor, old sinner saved by grace, then guess what you will spend your time doing? Yeah, sinning. It’s what sinners do.
But when you begin to count (or reckon) that you are dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus, then you’ll begin to live out of the new creation you are.
Here’s the way Ralph Harris puts it in his outstanding book, “God’s Astounding Opinion of You.”
As He (God) increasingly wins you over to His way of thinking about you, you’ll increasingly live as you really are because you’ll know who you really are. When your opinion of yourself matches up with God’s opinion of you, and when who you are lines up with how you live, the glory of God will be stunningly evident! And you’ll be living by faith.
Ralph Harris, God’s Astounding Opinion of You
Count yourself dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ.
Breaking Free from the Sin Management Cycle
When I finally understood my new identity in Christ as a saint, those sins that once seemed so powerful began to lose their grip. This wasn't through increased willpower or better accountability – it was through understanding and embracing my true identity in Christ. As Dan Stone writes in "The Rest of The Gospel":
"Our true self is who we are at the spirit level. At the deepest level of your personhood you are not a sinner. You are a saint. You are God's holy, righteous, blameless child. You have His nature. In your deepest personhood, your desires are not in conflict with God's will."
Dan Stone, The Rest of The Gospel
The Path Forward
Satan knows these truths about our identity, which is why he works so hard to keep us focused on our sins, failures, and past mistakes. But the solution isn't more sin management – it's focusing on Christ and what He's accomplished. Jesus died for sin once for all, and now He lives His life through us.
Stop focusing on sin management. Your identity isn't "sinner saved by grace" – it's "saint in Christ." As you set your heart and mind on this truth, your actions will naturally align with who you really are. This isn't about denying the reality of temptation or sin in our lives. Rather, it's about embracing our true God-given identity and living from that place of truth and freedom.
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