Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Home
Evangelical
Should Christians Refer to Themselves as Sinners?

Should Christians Refer to Themselves as Sinners?

Last updated on: October 7, 2024 at 8:39 am by Randy Alcorn

0 Comments

Should Christians Refer to Themselves as Sinners? 2024-09-02T12:46:10-08:00 Randy Alcorn

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

A reader of my book Heaven sent us this feedback:

On page 33 you wrote, “And all of us, like Adam and Eve, are sinners.” I assume you were referring to the unsaved as sinners, not those who are followers of Jesus Christ. The Apostle Paul always opened up his letters and addressed believers as saints, though he knew they still sin as we all occasionally do. But to say that we who are saved are still “sinners” is to imply we couldn’t help but sin, the work of Christ on the cross is less than sufficient, and the power of the Holy Spirit is limited. Yes, we who are saved still sin, but we are not sinners. We are saints. If we are sinners before being saved and we are still called sinner AFTER we are saved, our new identity in Christ is moot.

The context of that sentence is the chapter “Can You Know You’re Going to Heaven?” The point is that none of us can accept Christ’s offer of salvation unless we first understand the problem—our desperate need to be rescued from the sin that separates us from God.

Once someone accepts Christ, I agree that our primary identity in Christ is that of saints, believers, and children of God. I wonder how often the key to questions like the one sent by this reader above is simple semantics. Someone might give a definition to sinner, which to that person means “I can’t help but sin,” while to me it means, “I sometimes do sin, and I need to remain humble about my need for a Savior.” As long as someone holds to that first definition of sinner, then I guess it would be wrong for them to call themselves or any Christian a sinner!

David Platt writes in Counter Culture:

[Jesus] has offered us a new identity–His identity. No longer separated from God, but now united with God. No longer stained by sin, but now clean from sin. No longer slaves, but now free. No longer guilty before God as Judge, but now loved by God as Father. No longer deserving eternal death, never to grasp all that God created us to be, but now having eternal life, experiencing more and more exactly who God has created us to be.

Several years ago, I did an article on the question of Sinless Perfectionism, and touched on the question of whether Christians should still refer to themselves as “sinners”:

In Romans 7, Paul is speaking as a believer he is, not the unbeliever he once was.

22For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; 23but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members. 24What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? 25Thanks be to God—through Jesus Christ our Lord!

He doesn’t say “what a wretched man I was,” but “am.”

Paul is recognizing that in the future he is going to be delivered from wrestling with the old sin nature. Yes, he is a new person in Christ. Absolutely. It’s not just a matter of two dogs who are in a fight within him, and one has equal powers with the other.

We should recognize and live in accordance with our redeemed identity in Christ. Yes, we are cleansed. Yes, we are new in Him. Yes, we are covered by the righteousness of Christ. We are His saints, His holy ones. But there are three tenses of salvation: we have been saved, we are being sanctified, and we will be glorified. Glorification still awaits us, when we enter the presence of God. When glorification happens, there will be complete sinlessness. But until that time, we are still sinners. Sanctification is very real, but it is not the same as glorification. Sanctification means having great progress and victory in our battles with sin. But it does not mean sinless perfectionism. That is reserved for glorification, which awaits us in Christ’s presence, but is not the state we are in now.

That’s why in 1 Timothy 1:15 Paul says, “Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the worst.” Paul frequently spoke in the past tense, but here he spoke in the present tense. He doesn’t say “I was the worst” but “I am the worst.” The more godly someone is, the more he is aware of his sin. Not that there was literally no one who sinned as much as Paul, who was a righteous man, but that simply every righteous man is more familiar with his own sins than those of anyone else.

Look at the very godly people in history that include John Calvin, John Wesley, Charles Spurgeon, and Amy Carmichael—all of these people were very aware of their sinfulness and referred to their sinfulness. William Carey, the father of modern missions talked about his wretchedness and his sin. John Newton talked about being a wretch in his sinful state. But even at the very end of his life, after knowing Christ many years, he said, “I don’t remember too many things. But I do remember this: that I am a great sinner and Christ is a great Savior.” Not “I used to be a great sinner,” but that “I am a great sinner.”

Now, there is a danger in affirming our identity as sinners. Some people rationalize sin and end up saying, “It’s inevitable that I’m going to sin, so why bother trying not to?” God has given us the power of Christ so that we do not have to sin. We are empowered to live righteous lives. We can live righteously for some period of time, and sin is not inevitable.

The caution is worth repeating: if you are a believer, don’t fall into the mistake of thinking sin is inevitable, or that you are not fully responsible for your sins. Don’t say to yourself, “I’m just a sinner—it’s no big deal. We all sin all the time anyway. That’s normal, so I may as well sin this time too.” Don’t dare to commit sin reassuring yourself it doesn’t matter since Christ will forgive your sins anyway. Sin against God always matters. No sin is small that crucified Jesus.

Remind yourself you have died with Christ, you are raised with Christ, and you are a new person in Christ. Live a righteous life, calling upon His power. Never deny your capacity to sin. If you do, you deny the Word of God, and you set yourself up to make God a liar. The person who thinks he can’t sin won’t be careful to guard himself against sin.

Finally, see John Piper’s thoughts here.

Photo: Pexels

Christian Life

Identity

Sinners

Previous Post

October 3, 2024

The Priceless Friendship of Jesus

Next Post

October 10, 2024 Healthy Grief Is Centered on God’s Promises

Recent Comments

0 | Leave a Comment

"The biblical references and examples make the message easy to follow, while the focus on ..."

harry085drop

Being with God Is the Heart ..."

"As we do good works (no matter how small), and struggle to live holy lives ..."

Tom Hering

How Can We Be Ready to ..."

"Katy Faust's "articles" are junk science at best."

Roger J.

Every Child Is Known and Loved ..."

"People can feed their thoughts or a few notes into AI and be delighted with ..."

rrhersh

AI, Ghostwriting, and the Ethics of ..."

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category About Me Animals Books Books and Resources Christ Christian Life Christians Past and Present Church Creation Culture and Worldview Doctrine and Theology Eternal Perspective Ministries Fun Grace and Truth Grief Happiness Heaven Marriage and Family Missions Money and Giving Persecuted Church Politics Prayer Prolife Salvation Sexual Purity Sovereignty and Free Will Suffering and Evil Uncategorized Writing

Select a Month October 2026 September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 June 2026 May 2026 April 2026 March 2026 February 2026 January 2026 December 2025 November 2025 October 2025 September 2025 August 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz