Christians in some church circles are pressured by their teachers to self-identify as ‘sinners’. This practice ought to make us ask questions about the identity of Christians. This is a topic which touches upon biblical anthropology. The questions ‘who are we?’ and ‘what are we to think about ourselves?’ all relate in some way to the question of our identity.
This question can been presented in the alternatives, ‘Am I as a Christian basically a sinner saved by grace, or a saint who sins?’
But are you really a sinner? Is that how the apostles refer to their Christian audiences? No. Not at all. God doesn’t call you a sinner; He calls you a saint—a holy one. Why not identity yourself for who you really are, the way the apostles do in scripture: a saint who occasionally sins?
Given there are various ways of defining what a ‘sinner’ actually is. (See my word study here) There is truth in both alternatives. We could say believers are sinners in that they sin, but Scripture also refers to them as saints. Believers therefore are sinners saved by grace and they are saints who still sin.
Thus in a sense Christians have a kind of double identity.
Scripture tends to identify people according to their dominant characteristic and/or primary behaviour. If the nature and behaviour of the person is primarily sinful, then it is difficult not to see his core identity as a ‘sinner.’ On the other hand, if the believer’s nature and behaviour is primarily holy, then that person’s real identity is that of a ‘saint.’
Positive Identity and Nature
If we look at what the scripture says about believers and their behaviour it obviously reveals a mixture of sin and holiness. But when the focus is on the actual description of the person’s identity, the picture in scripture is decidedly positive.
The righteous. In the first Testament, believers are described as living with a heart of integrity and uprightness (e.g., 1 Ki 8:61; 9:4; Job 2.3; Ps 7.10; 119:7). This of course does not mean that they were sinless or unaware of their sin. I think these expressions include the notion of grief over sin and repentance. But these expressions indicate they had a heart and life that was fundamentally devoted to God. This manifested itself in trust, prayer, obedience, repentance and perseverance.
Saints. In the second Testament, Christians are frequently addressed as ‘saints’ (e.g. Acts 9:32; Eph 1:1; Col 1:2). This surely is a result of the Spirit’s work (Acts 15.8; 1 Cor 6.11; Tit 3.5; cf. Acts 11.9,17) and has reference to their status in Christ. But other descriptions reveal that it also denotes something about their nature. A person’s nature being the total self including their heart and mind (their control centre), their body and flesh (their physical self) and their spirit (their spiritual self).
Children of God. Believers in the Lord are ‘sons’ and ‘children of God’ which, along with speaking of their orientation toward God or their status, also depicts something of the nature of believers who are now oriented toward being more like their father – righteous (1 Jn 2:29-3:10).
Light. Those in Christ are also called ‘light’ (Eph 5:8), ‘sons of light’ (1 Thes 5:5), and not to associate with ‘darkness’ (2 Cor 6.14-16). Which means they are now characterized by light as a result of the transformation that takes place when they first come to faith.
New Creation. The believer is a ‘new creation’ (2 Cor 5:17). Paul and the apostles no longer regard them ‘according to the flesh’ any longer (2 Cor 5.16).
New man. The believer has put off the ‘old man’ and put on the ‘new man’ (Col 3:9-10; cf. Rom 6:6). This transition refers to the believer’s transference from the old corporate humanity under the headship of Adam to the new humanity with Christ as Head (Rom 5.12-21). But it also has reference to a change in the individual.
Putting off the old man and putting on the new are related to the believer’s death and resurrection with Christ (Rom 6:4-6; cf. Eph 4.24; Col 3.10). Participating in Christ’s death and resurrection has radically changed the individual’s identity.
New Nature. These descriptions of the Christian clearly indicate a positive identity and refer not only to status but also to the nature of the believer.
The apostolic exhortation to new ethical behavior is made directly on the basis of the believer’s new identity and nature (incl. Heart, mind and Spirit). The apostles were not grounding their hope for a new behavior simply on a new position or status, but on a new nature which can produce new actions. The exhortations to new ethical life are based on the principle Jesus taught that ‘good fruit’ is borne by ‘good trees’ (Mt 7:17). The nature as well as the identity of the believer is therefore seen as primarily ‘good.’
These descriptions of the believer point in the direction of the root identity of the Christian as ‘a saint who sins,’ rather than ‘a sinner who is saved.’
We can’t really stop here. Our experience as well as scriptural teaching still relate the believer to sin. Consideration of the identity of the believer must therefore discuss his relationship to sin.
Believers Still Sin
Scripture as well as experience tells us that sin is still a part of Christian existence. Our flesh has its temptations and desires and sometimes believers give in. As my word study on the flesh indicates. We all stumble in many ways (Jas 3.2).
In John’s first epistle, God promises ongoing cleansing of sin as we walk in the light (1 Jn 1:7). Consequently he encourages his audience to confess their sins (1 Jn 1:9). Both of these suggest that sin is continually present with believers. To say ‘we have no sin,’ John wrote, is self-deception and evidence someone is not a Christian (1 Jn 1:8).
Although the personal identity of the believer is in Christ, and they are being transformed into His image as the new man, the manner of life of the old man still remains a part of the believer’s experience. This is why Paul directed believers to put off the practices of the old man with the new (Eph 4:22; Col 3:8-9).
Does this perspective make the identity of the believer a ‘sinner’ as well as a ‘saint’ so that he or she is actually both? Although the New Testament gives extensive evidence that believers sin, it never clearly identifies believers as ‘sinners.’
Paul’s reference to himself in which he declared, ‘I am foremost’ of sinners might be raised as a counter (1 Tim 1:15). See my post on this passage, where I argue Paul refers to his state before he received mercy, not after. James’ reference to turning ‘a sinner’ from the error of his ways is also best seen as bringing someone into salvation rather than restoring a genuine believer to repentance (Jas 5:19-20). Those two references are virtually the only references to believers being called ‘sinners’ in all the epistles.
As Stendahl has noted (see my review), Paul notably confessed he is was not aware of anything against himself (1 Cor 4.4) and stated he lived all his life in good conscience (Acts 23.1). Likewise Jesus himself affirmed the righteous are in no need of repentance (Lk 15.7) in a culture which routinely identified people as righteous (e.g. Lk 1.5-6; 23.50).
On the other hand in the Scriptures believers did sometimes see themselves as sinful. Confrontation with the righteousness and holiness of God frequently brought deep acknowledgment of an individual’s own sinful condition. Peter’s recognition of himself before the Lord as a ‘sinful man’ is not uncommon among the saints (Lk 5:8; cf. Gen 18:27; Job 42:6; Isa 6:5; Dan 9:4-20). Note, I’m making a distinction here between unbelievers prior to conversion and believers after. Outside of salvation, people rightly self identify and are called ‘sinners’ (e.g. Lk 18.13; Rom 5.8; 1 Pet 4.18).
The believer still sins, but Scripture does not seem to define his identity as a ‘sinner.’
Believers Are Opposed to Sin
Before salvation the believer, like all ‘sinners,’ was in radical rebellion against the true God (Rom 5.8). Now the believer is on God’s side seeking to resist and put to death the sin that is still present in the believer. A few facts teach this new identity of the believer and his change of nature.
First, death and resurrection with Christ has severed the believer from the cosmic force of Sin. Capital ‘S’. The believer’s incorporation into Christ’s death and resurrection is a way in which Paul expressed the change that takes place when one becomes a Christian. In Rom 6 Paul is not simply concerned with the two dominions, but with the decisive transfer of the believer from the one dominion to the other. The believers were enslaved to Sin, but now they stand under a new master, under his rule. This change has taken place through dying with Christ.
Union in Christ is not a legal fiction. The believers’ union with Christ in His death and resurrection transforms them not just legally but also personally and affects the way Christians ought to consider themselves (Rom 6.11). Likewise, salvation is not by cheap grace. Jesus, Paul and the apostles expect and demand real changes in the life of the believer.
Second, the transformation of the believer in the change of dominions over him through dying and rising with Christ is further seen in the biblical concept of having a ‘new heart.’ The new heart is characterised by belief (Rom 10.9-10) and obedience towards God (Rom 1.5; 6.17; 16.26; Heb 11). The heart being the control center of the whole person exercises control over the sinful temptations and desires of the flesh (Rom 8.5-7).
The presence of sin in the life of the believer indicates that remnants of the old selfishness remains. But those remnants now stand at the side of the real heart of the person who is redeemed, God-oriented, and thus bent toward doing right in his nature. Heartfelt faith and sin cannot coexist (Rom 14.23). The regenerate individual in the depth of his heart is changed; he has a nature oriented toward God. Although the person can still sin, this sin is related to a more surface level of his being which can still act contrary to the real person of the heart. But these surface actions do not change the real nature of the heart and thus the person’s identity.
This understanding of the human heart helps explain the practice of sin in the believer’s life. The true nature of the person does not always express itself fully in actual life. But the basic identity of the individual is still there, and in the case of the believer it is positive. The Christian is a new person. He has a new heart which is the real identity of the person.
Conclusion
When the question of his identity is posed-is the Christian a saved sinner or a saint who sins? – the Scriptures seem to point to the latter. Perhaps consider some of the passages I have quoted above and ask yourself if you really believe them. Challenge yourself to adopt God’s view of yourself as your own.
Christians are sinners who are forgiven. But there is more to it than that. They are Spiritually regenerated persons whose core has been changed. They are forgiven, but also their heart – the core and control centre of their being – is new.
To identify Christians according to their ‘sinful nature’ or their ‘sinfulness’ likewise is contrary to scripture. To pressure and require Christians to believe these might in some cases be spiritual abuse.
All the apostles’ ethical imperatives are addressed to believers on the premise that their natures are primarily on God’s side and have a new ability to obey God. The indicative is followed by the imperatives. The very assumption that Christians should grow demonstrates a belief that the positive dominates over the negative in their being. For a Christian to grow, there must be a stronger inclination toward God than toward sin.
Even though God in His grace has created in believers the germ of a new nature which gives them a new identity, their focus in life must be not on themselves, but on Christ. Dying and rising with Christ means the end of self-trust and pride. Therefore, even though they are new persons, their source of life and growth is not in their own identity but in Christ. Which is why self identifying as a ‘Christian’ is my favourite. A Christian’s primary focus should not be on sin, rather it must be on Christ. In Him we are a new creation (2 Cor 5:17).
(This post is based on Robert Saucy’s “Sinners” Who Are Forgiven or “Saints” Who Sin? – link)
