• Table of Contents
• Introduction
• CHAPTER 1. Perverting the Gospel - The Ultimate Sin Against Humanity
• CHAPTER 2. The Gospel of Salvation - Part I - Faith and Obedience
• CHAPTER 3. The Gospel of Salvation - Part II - A Righteous Life by Faith
• CHAPTER 4. Regeneration: God's Creation of the Righteous
• CHAPTER 5. Sanctification: Set Apart for Righteousness
• CHAPTER 6. The Neccesity of Coming Under the Lordship of Christ - Part I
• CHAPTER 7. The Neccesity of Coming Under the Lordship of Christ - Part II
• CHAPTER 8. We Walk By Faith - Part I - Every Believer Overcomes the World
• CHAPTER 9. We Walk By Faith - Part II - Every Believer Takes up Their Cross
• CHAPTER 10. The Fallacy of the "Carnal Christian"
• CHAPTER 11. Bear or Burn: The Fate of the Fruitless in the Parables of Christ
• CHAPTER 12. Righteousness vs. Self-righteousness
• CHAPTER 13. Saint or Sinner?
• CHAPTER 14. Can a Christian Backslide?
• CHAPTER 15. Sin and the Misinterpretation of Romans 7
• CHAPTER 16. Examine Yourselves as to Whether You Are in the Faith

Clinging to a Counterfeit Cross

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Over 75 Online Commentaries

by James P. Shelly

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

Saint or Sinner?

The common assertion that we, as believers, are all “sinners” is not to be found anywhere in the Bible. Scripture never uses the term in reference to a Christian. We discover that the word is not defined as is generally supposed, i.e., anyone who commits a sin is a “sinner.” What we do find is that God has drawn a clear line of distinction between saint and sinner, believer and unbeliever, the regenerate and unregenerate, the righteous and the wicked; A distinction inseparable from, and evidenced by, the way in which one conducts their lives. Since every Word in Scripture is breathed out by God, 2 Timothy 3:16, it should be agreed by all that we are not at liberty to redefine a word contrary to that which God intended. When we do so it is no longer God breathed but man breathed. As we intend to show, the term “sinner” has indeed been redefined; Blurring the God breathed lines He has drawn between the children of God and the children of the devil (1 Jn. 3:10). It is undeniable that hearing the constant mantra “we are all sinners” has brought comfort to many in their sin. It is undeniable as well that how we view ourselves has an influence on our behavior. The mind forms the character (Rom. 12:2); As a man thinks he generally acts. The word “sinner,” which is intended by God to bring about despair and repentance resulting in justification (Luke 18:13), is being used to the opposite effect of putting sinners at ease in Zion. What is disturbing is how few seem to recognize the detrimental impact this has in regard to the prevalence of sin in the Body of Christ.

This man breathed redefining of the word evidently originated with Martin Luther in the 16th century when he coined the Latin phrase, “Simul justus et peccator,” which translated means, “righteous and at the same time a sinner.” He wrote “thus a Christian man is righteous and a sinner at the same time, holy and profane, an enemy of God and a child of God” (Luther’s Works 26:232). However, where in Scripture do we ever find a true believer being referred to as “profane” “an enemy of God” “a sinner”? It is not to be found. Such statements are based on theoretical and empirical reasoning rather than Scripture wherein we find the opposite to be true (1 John 3:6, 8-10, 5:18, etc.). With all due respect to Luther, to claim that “a Christian man is righteous and a sinner at the same time” is as contradictory to God’s word as saying “a Christian is regenerate and unregenerate at the same time.”

Luther’s proposition that Christians are saints and sinners simultaneously was based primarily on his interpretation of Romans 7:14-25 as a regenerate believer in Christ. However, this was not the case for the first 300 years of church history. The majority of Biblical scholars agree that Paul is speaking of the unregenerate in that passage, and “it is worthy of note that this is the earlier opinion [the early church], and was accepted by nearly all who spoke as their mother-tongue the language in which this epistle [Romans] was written.”¹ Thus, a strong case can be made that Luther’s interpretation was in error (see Chapter 15) and that Romans 7:14-25 is Paul using a rhetorical device, personifying the law’s intended use in effectually bringing a sinner to repentance. Demonstrating how the law was to act as “our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith” (Gal. 3:24, 25, NKJV), rather than by “the works of the law.” The distraught cry “Oh wretched man that I am” is that of a convicted sinner seeking deliverance in Christ (Luke 18:13). This would explain why such angst is not found in a believer any other place in the NT. Yet, how many have used this passage to justify the prevalence of sin in their own life? It is incalculable. The truth is, not a word of Scripture was ever penned with the intent of giving us any comfort whatsoever in our sin. How contrary to the words of Christ,

And if your hand or your foot causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life crippled or lame than with two hands or two feet to be thrown into the eternal fire. And if your eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into the hell of fire (Matt. 18:8, 9).

Luther’s argument is refuted, not only with an opposing interpretation of Romans 7, but by the Scriptural evidence wherein the term “sinner” is defined. The Hebrew word for “sinner,” according to the Theological Wordbook of the O. T. is, “Chatta’ — Sinners, sinful. The masculine noun, hatta’ appears eighteen times in the Old Testament. It designates a habitual sinner who is subject to punishment because of his or her practices.”² The Greek word for sinner is ha(martwlo/$ (hamartolos). The Greek-English Lexicon defines it as, “A person who customarily sins – ‘sinner, outcast.’ a(martwlo/$ may refer to persons who were irreligious in the sense of having no concern for observing the details of the Law. Such people were often treated as social outcasts”³ (emphasis added). The Theological Dictionary of the NT states:

The sinner is the man who does not allow God supreme authority over his life and who withholds from Him total dedication and obedience.... It need hardly be said that this implies a new gulf of unfathomable depth right across humanity. This is the gulf which separates those who are e)n Xristo=| (in Christ), and who are thus rescued from the power of a(marti/a (sin) and brought into His possession and the service of God, from those who are still ‘under sin’ or ‘in their sins,’ neither knowing God nor serving Him. This gulf is deeper than that which existed between the righteous and sinners prior to the coming of Jesus, for it is not created or maintained by men, but has arisen and continually arises from the act of God in Christ⁴ (emphasis added).

We find the word closely linked in Scripture with the terms “wicked” and “ungodly” in contrast to the righteous:

Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers (Psalm 1:1).

Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, Nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous (Psalm 1:5, NASB).

For the Lord knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish (Psalm 1:6).

If the righteous is repaid on earth, how much more the wicked and the sinner! (Proverbs 11:31).

Realizing the fact that law is not made for a righteous person, but for those who are lawless and rebellious, for the ungodly and sinners, for the unholy and profane (1 Timothy 1:9, NASB).

(Emphasis added in all the above).

We find in these verses that the words “wicked,” “ungodly,” “rebellious,” “lawless,” “unholy,” “profane,” and “sinner” are used interchangeably. In other words, all sinners, without exception or qualification, are wicked, ungodly, lawless, etc. These are terms used in Scripture in antithesis to that of a believer. The Greek word for “wicked” is rasha` [raw-shaw] — ‘to act wickedly, to condemn as guilty.’ “Ungodly” is asebes [ah-saw-base] — ‘impious, ungodly,’ ‘without reverence for God,’ not merely irreligious, but acting in contravention of God’s demands;”⁵ It is to be “irreverant, i.e. (by extension) impious or wicked.”⁶ If a believer is a “sinner” then it would be equally true that a believer is “ungodly,” “wicked,” and “lawless.” However, we find in Scripture the opposite to be true:

He keeps the feet of His godly ones, But the wicked ones are silenced in darkness (1 Samuel 2:9 NASB).

But know that the Lord has set apart the godly for himself; the Lord hears when I call to him (Psalm 4:3).

O love the LORD, all you His godly ones! The LORD preserves the faithful and fully recompenses the proud doer (Psalm 31:23 NASB).

For the LORD loves justice and does not forsake His godly ones; They are preserved forever, But the descendants of the wicked will be cut off (Psalm 37:28, NASB).

Preserve my life, for I am godly; save your servant, who trusts in you — you are my God (Psalm 86:2).

The Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials, and to keep the unrighteous under punishment until the day of judgment (2 Peter 2:9).

(Emphasis added in all the above).

We see then that the “godly” are the “faithful,” the “righteous,” those who trust in, and serve God, in contradistinction to the ungodly, the wicked, the unrighteous, the unfaithful, and the sinner.

So then, the use of the term “sinner” in Scripture is that which defines those who are walking in rebelliousness to God’s will. They are the impious, the ungodly, the profane, the unholy, the wicked, the irreverent, the unfaithful, the lawless, those acting in contravention of God’s demands. It is not used in the sense of one who commits a sin, but of one who practices or lives under the dominion of sin, which is the antithesis of the biblical description given of the Christian. Again, we read in 1 John 3:9, “No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God’s seed abides in him, and he cannot keep on sinning because he has been born of God.” Note: “John does not say ou du/natai a(martei=n, ‘cannot commit a sin,’ but ou du/natai a(marta/nein, ‘cannot be a sinner’. An act is different from a state of sin.”⁷ If a “sinner” then, as defined by Scripture, is one who lives in sin, then clearly the term is used in opposition to the believer in Christ. In other words, to use the term of a believer is to redefine the word.

We read in Romans 5:6-8, For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly... — but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. …For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life (emphasis added).

Paul uses the terms, ungodly (verse 6), sinner (verse 8), and enemies of God (verse 10), interchangeably. He uses these terms in the past tense. When we were ungodly, we were still weak, were still sinners, were enemies of God. However, now in Christ, we have strength (Eph. 3:16) — we are godly (2 Tim. 3:12) — we are saints (1 Cor. 1:2) — we are friends of God (James 2:23). We are no longer sinners (1 Jn. 3:6).

It is evident that the Jews in the time of Christ considered all those outside the covenant of God as sinners (Luke 6:31-34). Their error was not in making the distinction, but rather in their failure to recognize that they themselves were sinners (Mark 7:6). When Jesus says to the Pharisees in Luke 5:32, “I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance,” he was not referring to those who were already in a state of grace and living faithfully before God such as Zacharias and Elizabeth who, “were both righteous before God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and statutes of the Lord” (Luke 1:5, 6). No, His call was to sinners that they might repent of their sins, be reconciled to God, and thus become saints even as faithful Zacharias.

This “sinner” mentality is further exacerbated by statements such as Luther’s that “even the best of persons, even the titans of virtue in the Bible — Abraham, David, Peter, and Paul — sin all the time.” (See, e.g., Luther’s Works, 19:47-48, 23:146.) However, it is simply not possible to reconcile this statement with Scripture. In regards to Abraham God gives us an overview of his life in Genisis 26:5, “Abraham obeyed my voice and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws.” It is said of David that he “did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, and had not turned aside from anything that He commanded him all the days of his life, except in the matter of Uriah the Hittite” (1 Kings 15:5). David’s sin was dire but to conclude that he sinned all the time is untenable. Peter was guilty of grievous sins — he denied Christ (before the resurrection), he “played the hypocrite” in Antioch, but the charge that he sinned all the time is not justified by Scripture. Peter admonishes his readers in 1 Peter 1:14-16, “As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.’” After making such a statement, if Peter were sinning all the time, the charge could be made that he continued to play the hypocrite, which again would be unwarranted. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 11:1, “Imitate me, just as I also imitate Christ” and in Philippians 3:17, “Brethren, join in following my example, and note those who so walk, as you have us for a pattern.” He writes in Phil. 2:14, 15,

Do all things without grumbling or disputing, that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world” (emphasis added).

Again, he says to the Corinthians “Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God?” (1 Cor. 6:9). All these admonitions coming from the lips of a man that was sinning all the time? Impossible. Again, it was Luther’s interpretation of Romans 7 alone that resulted in this skewed view of the life of Paul. The truth is, we could probably count on two hands the actual sins recorded in Scripture in regards to these “titans of virtue in the Bible.” To make the allegation that these men “sin all the time” not only goes beyond what is written but contradicts it. The Apostle John writes, “No one who abides in him keeps on sinning; no one who keeps on sinning has either seen him or known him” (1 Jn 3:6).

In Galatians 2:17-19 Paul says,

But if, in our endeavor to be justified in Christ, we too were found to be sinners, is Christ then a servant of sin? Certainly not! For if I rebuild what I tore down, I prove myself to be a transgressor. For through the law I died to the law, so that I might live to God (emphasis added).

Here again, we see the contrast between a “sinner” and one who “lives to God.” The ministry of Christ frees us from being justified by the works of the law, however, if this freedom is a freedom to remain as sinners would it not therefore make the work of Christ an advancement for the cause of sin? If freedom from the “works of the law” is freedom from righteousness, then the spread of the gospel is a ministry of sin to the glory of Satan rather than Christ. Would we not then conclude that the law is superior to Christ in ministering against sin? At least the law constrains men from acting out the desires of their sinful hearts. However, Paul says, certainly not! For through the law I died to the law, notthat I might remain a sinner, but “that I might live to God.” He confronts the issue again in Romans 6:1, “What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? Shall we continue as sinners? Again, his answer is emphatic, “By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it?” Christ is a minister of righteousness in that He sets sinners free from the dead letter of the written code of the law that it would instead be written on their hearts, by the Spirit, and thus it becomes a living, loving, spiritual letter which effectually governs the life. When John says in 1 John 3:10, “whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God” he is saying in essence, he who remains a sinner is not a Christian. 1 Peter 2:24, speaking of Christ, states, “He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness.” Here, Peter declares that the primary purpose of Christ’s work on the Cross was that of converting sinners to saints; those living to sin to those living to righteousness.

Jesus says in Luke 6:32-34,

If you love those who love you, what benefit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. And if you do good to those who do good to you, what benefit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. And if you lend to those from whom you expect to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, to get back the same amount (emphasis added).

Christ says even sinners do good to those who do good to them. However, you being saints are expected to exhibit a love that far exceeds that of the mere sinner, v. 35, “But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return, and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, for he is kind to the ungrateful and the evil.” In these verses, Jesus is making a clear distinction between “sinners” and the “sons of the Most High,” and he makes this distinction on a practical, ethical level.

In John 9:31, the man healed of blindness says,

We know that God does not listen to sinners, but if anyone is a worshiper of God and does his will, God listens to him(emphasis added).

The contrast here is between sinners and those who worship God and do His will. Peter echoes this same thought in 1 Peter 3:12, “For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and his ears are open to their prayer. But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.” Again, the contrast is between those who practice righteousness and those who practice evil. 1 John 3:22 states, “And whatever we ask we receive from him, because we keep his commandments and do what pleases him.” And in Psalm 4:3, “But know that the Lord has set apart the godly for himself; the Lord hears when I call to him.” These verses state that God hears the believer because he is a worshiper of God; He does His will and keeps His commandments. God hears the “righteous,” the obedient, the “godly,” the “saint.” However, the only prayer God hears from the sinner is the prayer of repentance.

When Scripture speaks of judgment it contrasts, not two positions, but two ways in which men walk. The way of the saint and the way of the sinner:

For the Lord knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish (Ps 1:6).

But by the same word the heavens and earth that now exist are stored up for fire, being kept until the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly (2 Pet. 3:7).

If the righteous is scarcely saved, what will become of the ungodly and the sinner? (1 Pet. 4:18).

It was also about these that Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied, saying, ‘Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousands of his holy ones, to execute judgment on all and to convict all the ungodly of all their deeds of ungodliness that they have committed in such an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things that ungodly sinners have spoken against him’ (Jude 14-15).

(Emphasis added in all the above).

This last verse refers to the ungodly sinner. Obviously, it is not suggesting that there are godly sinners, but that all sinners are ungodly and are condemned to judgment.

But rebels and sinners shall be broken together, and those who forsake the Lord shall be consumed (Isa. 1:28, emphasis added).

Here, the sinner is equated with the rebel and one who has forsaken the Lord. We read in Isa. 13:9,

Behold, the day of the Lord comes, cruel, with wrath and fierce anger, to make the land a desolation and to destroy its sinners from it (emphasis added).

This verse does not refer to certain types of sinners but states that all sinners will be destroyed.

For behold, I will command, and shake the house of Israel among all the nations as one shakes with a sieve, but no pebble shall fall to the earth. All the sinners of my people shall die by the sword (Amos 9:10, emphasis added).

This last verse alone should settle the issue. Here God speaks of the sinners among His own people. The obvious inference is that some among His people were sinners while others were not. The sinners are the fruitless chaff separated from the righteous grain (Matt. 3:12). We have no reason to believe that the same fate will not befall sinners who profess to be His people within the church.

We read in Ecclesiastes 2:26;

For to a person who is good in His sight He has given wisdom and knowledge and joy, while to the sinner He has given the task of gathering and collecting so that he may give to one who is good in God’s sight (NASB).

And I find something more bitter than death: the woman whose heart is snares and nets, and whose hands are fetters. He who pleases God escapes her, but the sinner is taken by her (Eccl. 7:26).

Though a sinner does evil a hundred times and prolongs his life, yet I know that it will be well with those who fear God, because they fear before him (Eccl. 8:12).

It is the same for all, since the same event happens to the righteous and the wicked, to the good and the evil, to the clean and the unclean, to him who sacrifices and him who does not sacrifice. As the good one is, so is the sinner, and he who swears is as he who shuns an oath (Eccl. 9:2).

(Emphasis added in all the above).

In these verses we find a clear distinction between a person who is good, pleases God, fears God, the clean, the righteous, and the wicked, the evil, the unclean, and the sinner. To claim, as Christians, that “we are all sinners,” obliterates these explicit, authoritative, God-breathed distinctions and we do so without any biblical warrant whatsoever.

When discussing this topic, a verse that is often brought up is 1 Timothy 1:15. Paul states that he was the foremost of sinners. “The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost.” Many have argued that since Paul is speaking in the present tense, he is humbly referring to himself as a sinner at that time. But are we to believe that Paul actually saw himself, in practice, as the most sinful man of all men? A greater sinner than Nero who was notorious for his despicable behavior? More sinful than any man in all of Rome, or even those unrepentant Jews who took part in the death of Christ? A man filled with the Spirit, walking in the Spirit, more sinful than these at the present time! If this was his meaning his statement would not be one of humility but of madness! It would be an insult to the Spirit of God and a mockery of His sanctifying work in the believer. No, he was, as the context reveals, referring to his past (v.13), “Though formerly I was a blasphemer, persecutor, and insolent opponent. But I received mercy because I had acted ignorantly in unbelief.” Paul’s main point is found in v. 16 “But I received mercy for this reason, that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display his perfect patience as an example to those who were to believe in him for eternal life.” In other words, if Christ would be so merciful to save Paul, a persecutor of the church, a blasphemer, an insolent man, the chief of sinners, he would be merciful to any man who turns to Him by faith. Paul is, in the present tense, “the foremost sinner” in that he recognized the unrivaled sin of zealously laboring to overthrow the only hope of mankind. Therefore, he is, and will ever remain, the primary example of how exceedingly gracious God is in the salvation of the repentant sinner irrespective of the extent of their sin. Matthew Henry comments on this verse:

The chief of sinners may become the chief of saints; so this apostle was, for he was not a whit behind the very chief apostles (2 Cor. 11:5), for Christ came to save the chief of sinners. It deserves to be received, to be believed by us all, for our comfort and encouragement. The mercy which Paul found with God, notwithstanding his great wickedness before his conversion, he speaks of, for the encouragement of others to repent and believe (v. 16).... It was an instance of the long-suffering of Christ that he would bear so much with one who had been so very provoking; and it was designed for a pattern to all others, that the greatest sinners might not despair of mercy with God. Note here, First, Our apostle was one of the first great sinners converted to Christianity. Secondly, He was converted, and obtained mercy, for the sake of others as well as of himself; he was a pattern to others. Thirdly, The Lord Jesus Christ shows great long-suffering in the conversion of great sinners.⁸

When we come to understand the biblical meaning of the term “sinner” we find that when James says in James 4:8, “Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded, and in James 5:20, “Let him know that whoever brings back a sinner from his wandering will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins,” he is referring to the unsaved. John MacArthur, in reference to James 4:8, states,

Obviously, such a characterization indicates unregenerate people and they are even called, as you will remember, in verse 8 sinners, sinners...a really technical term in the New Testament referring to those who do not believe the gospel and who live a life of disregard for the law of God and manifest flagrant sin.⁹

In reference to the attitude of the NT writers regarding sinners, TDNT states:

This is the same as that of Jesus except that the cross keeps the NT writers from regarding only others as sinners. Hence harmartolos is uncommon outside the Synoptists and does not occur in Acts, while in John only the Pharisees use it. For Paul it is a strong term that he applies to himself, signifying rejection of God’s lordship. The new feature is the absence of any frontier between sinners and the righteous, the new frontier being between those who are still subject to sin and those who in Christ are rescued from sin and put in service to God. This is a sharper frontier, but it involves no sense of superiority, since believers do not magnify themselves as righteous but magnify the grace by which they are righteous and seek to point all people to this way of grace, since it is for them too¹⁰ (emphasis added).

Note what is said here; the term sinner “is uncommon outside the Synoptists and does not occur in Acts, while in John only the Pharisees use it.” Paul, in all of his writings, never once uses it of a believer. Clearly, the way the term in used in the church today cannot be justified according to Scripture.

It is important to note as well that the term “saint” “involves no sense of superiority.” It is as Paul says in Titus 3:2-6,

Speak evil of no one, to avoid quarreling, to be gentle, and to show perfect courtesy toward all people. For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another. But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior.

Do not speak evil of others, Paul says, for you yourselves were once sinners even as they. You have nothing in which to boast. For the only difference between you and the sinner is what God’s grace has accomplished in you.

The distinction between the saint and the sinner is that the sinner lives according to the flesh, the saint according to the Spirit (Rom. 8:4). The sinner is living in his sin, while the saint is putting to death his sin (Rom. 8:13). There remains a great fixed gulf between the two. It is in humility that we understand that it is “not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.” We are not to be as the Pharisees who say, “I thank my God I am not like other men.” Although we are separate from sinners by grace, that same grace, through faith, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, can unite saint and sinner as beloved brothers. When we see our enemies as potential brothers, we find that what Jesus commanded in Matthew 5:44, 45 comes to greater light, “But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven.” For if a holy God reconciled us to himself while we were yet His enemies (Rom. 5:10), how much more so should we who were once sinners seek for the reconciliation of our enemies.

Why is this distinction between saint and sinner of such importance? First and foremost because the God-breathed Word makes such a distinction. To change God’s intended meaning of a word will always lead to harmful, if not dire, consequences. To proclaim that “we are all sinners,” as if there were no moral distinction between Christians and unbelievers, is to reduce regeneration and the new birth to little more than a religious cliché. Likewise, it makes a mockery of the glorious work of the Spirit in our sanctification, denying its transforming power, and thus diminishing the glory of God in our salvation. When we use it of believer and unbeliever alike, we send a mixed message to the world. In essence, saying there is no distinction between those who walk in the light and those who walk in darkness, between the godly and ungodly, the righteous and the lawless (2 Cor. 6:14). As if the narrow way and the broad way were moral equivalents, when, in fact, they are diametrically opposed to one another, even as the Spirit is opposed to the flesh and the flesh the Spirit. The true church is a distinctly righteous people and are to be holy in all their conduct (1 Pet. 1:15). They are to, “be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world” (Phil. 2:15). They are to walk even as Christ walked (1 Jn. 2:6). To persist in proclaiming that we are all sinners eliminates this clear line of demarcation so strikingly drawn in Scripture and we do so at our own peril. As believers, our perception of self should be in alignment with God’s revelation of who and what we are in Christ. In Him we are new creatures. Reborn and created anew and adopted into God’s family as beloved sons and daughters. Saints of the Most High, indwelt and set apart by the Spirit for service to God. We are not to wallow in what we were in Adam but rather rejoice as to who we are in Christ. Any view of self that tends to lessen this new identity will tend to lessen our obligation to live worthy of who we are, to walk “in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called” (Eph. 4:1). “Imitators of God, as beloved children” (Eph. 5:1). “Worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him: bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God” (Col. 1:10). The sinner in Adam, the old self, was crucified with Christ and it is counterproductive to reason as though he still lives. Though his sinful remnants still cling to us it is no longer who we are in Christ. Our practice is righteousness John says and “By this it is evident who are the children of God, and who are the children of the devil” (1 Jn. 3:10). How sweet it must be to the devil’s ears to hear a Christian claim “we are all sinners” as though there was no dissimilarity in virtue between God’s children and his own.

The Christian is in need of all the support possible to aid him in his battle against sin that he might be victorious. To casually make statements such as “we sin every day” does nothing to the edification of the soul. It may comfort us in our sin, but does nothing for our sanctification and in fact, hinders it. When making such statements, we seldom, if ever, hear with any specificity what those sins are. What is the young Christian to think when in his immature state, thinks of sin in only its grossest forms; fornication, drunkenness, adultery, etc.? If his pastor is “sinning every day” would he not assume sins such as these are more acceptable in his own life? This can lead to a dire complacency, with lowered expectations in regards to overcoming sin in his own life, placing a stumbling-block in the narrow way (Matt. 18:6). Ironically, it is often said in a prideful manner, as though to appear humble, which is sin in itself. Moreover, are we so arrogant to imagine that we are wiser than the Apostles in ministering to the people of God? God forbid.

The church has used the term “sinner” of believers primarily to guard against self-righteousness and pride. However, it is God Himself that is most concerned with keeping us in a constant state of humility, and therefore, if using the term “sinner” was effective to that end, surely the Spirit would have used it in that way throughout Scripture, but, as we have observed, this is simply not the case. In truth, it is the cross that keeps the believer humble and he will remain so as long as he keeps Christ and Him crucified in the forefront of his mind. This brings a greater significance to the importance of the Lord’s supper as it is a constant reminder to that end. For it is impossible for the true Christian to gaze upon the cross with a proud look. We would argue as well that the term “saint” is humbling in that it brings with it a deep sense of our own unworthiness of the title as we continue in our war against sin and the flesh. Without question, in the presence of a holy God, we would tear our garments, repent in dust and ashes and feel like wretched creatures at best. But it is this same Holy God that has chosen to designate His beloved as saints, and therefore we are not to shrink from it, but receive it with humility and a thankful heart. Knowing that to whatever extent righteousness has become actual in our own character, is not from that which is inherent in our natural state, but rather solely through the gift now inherent in our spiritual state; the Holy Spirit of God. With the understanding that it is no longer the “I” that lives, the natural man, the sinner, but rather Christ Who lives in us (Gal. 2:20) thus making us saints. Christ has redeemed the sinner from the penalty of sin (past), the rule, or dominion of sin (present), and the presence of sin (future). He is our righteousness, our sanctification, and our redemption, and we are, therefore, no longer sinners. To Him alone be the glory. Adam Clarke writes,

As we perfectly know that a good tree will not produce bad fruit, and the bad tree will not, cannot produce good fruit, so we know that the profession of godliness, while the life is ungodly, is imposture, hypocrisy, and deceit. A man cannot be a saint and a sinner at the same time. Let us remember, that as the good tree means a good heart, and the good fruit, a holy life, and that every heart is naturally vicious; so there is none but God who can pluck up the vicious tree, create a good heart, plant, cultivate, water, and make it continually fruitful in righteousness and true holiness (emphasis added).¹¹

As mentioned in a previous chapter, Paul’s letters to the churches, Romans, 1-2 Corinthians, Ephesians, Philippians, and Colossians are all addressed to “the saints.” In other words, all believers, from the newest convert to the most mature, are “saints.” Since the Scriptures never use the term “sinner” of a believer, why would we do so in the Church? Do we think ourselves wiser than God? Should we not rather cease to lean on our own understanding and submit to the Word of God for the edification of the church, the benefit of the world, and the glory of our heavenly Father? The title of saint brings with it the expectation of holy and godly living and therefore communicates to our hearts that which is required of us as God’s children. On the other hand, the title of sinner, according to Scripture, brings with it nothing but the expectation of sin and the fiery wrath of God in judgment. “May sinners be consumed from the earth, and the wicked be no more” (Psalm 104:35). To pin such a label on a Christian is not God’s doing, but man’s, and despite its wide spread acceptance in the church we would submit, “Let God be true though every one were a liar” (Rom. 3:4). For, “the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous” (Psalm 1:5). “But the saints of the Most High shall receive the kingdom and possess the kingdom forever, forever and ever” (Dan. 7:18). Those who profess to believe in Christ and yet remain as sinners in practice, will not stand in the judgment and will be found at last to be clinging to a counterfeit cross.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Can A Christian Backslide?

Footnotes

1. Joseph Agar Beet (1902), St. Paul’s Epistle To The Romans, Nabu Press (September 27, 2010)

2. Harris, Archer, Waltke “Theological Wordbook of the O. T.” :(Chicago: Moody Press, 1980), p.278

3. Greek-English Lexicon Based on Semantic Domain. Copyright © 1988 United Bible Societies, New York.

4. Gerhard Kittle, Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, (Wm. B. Eerd mans Publishing Company; 10th edition) 1977.

5. Vine’s Expository Dictionary of Biblical Words, (Thomas Nelson), p.651

6. Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance, James Strong, Ungodly man (Thomas Nelson, May 21, 2003)

7. The Pulpit Commentary, 1 John 3:9 (Hendrickson Pub, October 1, 1985)

8. Matthew Henry’s Commentary on the Whole Bible, Matthew Henry, 1 Timothy 1:15, (Hendrickson Publishers, 2005)

9. John MacArthur, Drawing Near to God, Part 2, (https://www.gty.org/resources/sermons/59-25)

10. Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, Gerhard Kittle, (Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company; 10th edition) 1977

11. Clarke’s Commentary: The Holy Bible Containing the Old and New Testaments, Matthew 7:17 (Abingdon Press 1977)