I recently read an article called: Did Paul consider himself a sinner?, in which the writer, Mel Wild, expands upon his argument that "in Christ, we’re no longer to consider ourselves as sinners (even though we may still sin.)" (1) I agree with the writer that it is an important topic that deserves attention. However, when the writer proceeds to define what he means by Christians should no longer consider themselves sinners, he uses the phrase "sinners saved by grace." Mel says that "calling ourselves “sinners” creates a huge identity conflict," but surely this identity crisis does not happen when we think of ourselves as "sinners saved by grace?!" If we forget what we were, we cannot know who we are!
Though we are new creatures in Christ, we should be careful not to deny that we were sinners to begin with. We are new creatures in Christ, but we must be reminded of the only way we came to be in Christ.
The idea that Christians are "sinners saved by grace" is a biblical idea. The apostle Paul did not hesitate to remind the Ephesian Christians that they were dead in trespasses and sin (Ephesians 2:1) and later in that same chapter he says that they have been saved by grace (Ephesians 2:8). Is Paul guilty in this instance of creating an identity conflict for the Christian? Of course not! It would seem that for the apostle Paul reminding Christians of who they were is an essential part to knowing who they are in Christ.
There are more helpful articles on the subject of sin and the Christian identity. One which was recommended to me is called: Out with the Old and in with the New! The writer, Dr. Heath Lambert argues that Christians have - at times- struggled to articulate the biblical view of Christian identity. He begins by saying that "Apart from Christ human beings are totally depraved, but there is more to say about Christians who, by definition, are seated with Christ." (2) Dr. Lambert then identifies two extremes when it comes to our view of our Christian identity,
Downplaying the Newness of the Christian.
The Extreme of Glorification Now. (While attempting to avoid the first extreme, I think Mel Wild's article falls into this extreme?)
Dr. Lambert concludes by saying that: "The former position is a harmful underrealization of who we are in Christ. The latter is a harmful overrealization of who we are in Christ."
As Christians we are new creatures in Christ. Paul says, If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. (2 Corinthians 5:17) In his first letter to the same church Paul states that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God, listing the various kinds of ungodly living by those who will not inherit the kingdom, and Paul says to the Christians, And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God. (1 Corinthians 6:11)
The key to understanding our identity as Christians is in our Union with Christ. In our Union with Christ we have, first of all, a renewed relationship with God and second, we have a new relationship to sin. Who we are now in Christ, is not divorced from who we were. Jesus came to save "sinners" (1 Timothy 1:15), as He said: "I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.” (Luke 5:32)
In Christ
Pastor Hennie
Mel Wild, Did Paul consider himself a sinner?, https://melwild.wordpress.com/2015/06/30/did-paul-consider-himself-a-sinner/#:~:text=Paul%2C%20the%20apostle%20to%20the,sinner%20in%20the%20Roman%20Empire
Heath Lambert, Out with the Old and in with the New!,
https://www.biblicalcounselingcoalition.org/2013/05/02/out-with-the-old-and-in-with-the-new/
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