Are you a Sinner or Saint?
I’m learning more and more that in Christ, we are not sinners. There is no sin in us when we receive Christ.
In Christ, we are dead to sin (Romans 6:2). We are free from sin (Romans 6:18-22). It was dealt with on the cross. When we receive Christ and are baptized into this death, then we have died to sin. We are no longer “sinners”. Rather, we are “saints” (called ones).
Think about what John said when he saw Jesus coming to be baptized. He said, “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29). Did you see that? What did Jesus take away? “The sin of the world.” Reminds me a bit of the often-quote scripture, John 3:16, “For God so loved the world…” He sent his son to die for the sin of the world.
We must move from a place of a “sinner mentality” to a “saint mentality”. Do you often have thoughts like, “I’m such a sinner”? Or, “I can’t go to God, because I messed up yesterday.”
In Christ, you are not a sinner. You are a saint. And, you can boldly go to the throne of grace in your time of need (Hebrews 4:16). And not only that, you are seated with Christ in the heavenly places (Ephesians 2:6). And, if God cannot sit in the presence of sin, then you are free from sin. Completely free.
Think about this scripture from John 16:8-11 where Jesus explains why it is good for him to go to heaven and send us the Holy Spirit. He explains what the Holy Spirit’s job is here on earth:
And when He [the Holy Spirit] has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment:
of sin, because they do not believe in Me;
of righteousness, because I go to My Father and you see Me no more;
of judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.
It tells us immediately what the conviction of sin is, “because they do not believe in [Christ]“. Notice it didn’t say, “of sin, because they do not know the difference between right and wrong.” Sin is not believing in Christ. So, believing in Christ means your sin is gone.
That’s why the second in that list is “of righteousness, because [Christ] goes to the Father”. If you are in Christ, you are free from sin. Most believers understand that Jesus died for their sins. What most believers don’t understand is that if you have put your faith in Christ, then you are righteous. You have been “saved by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.” (Ephesians 2:8-9).
So, the Holy Spirit’s job is to convict Christians that they are righteous in Christ. And, through that righteousness, we have access to God our Father. We are children of God (John 1:12). We are justified (Romans 5:1). We are friends of Christ (John 15:15). We are saints (Ephesians 1:1).
Can Christians still commit sin? Yes, of course. But according to Romans 7, it’s the sin in my flesh, not who I am in Christ.
“For what I am doing, I do not understand. For what I will to do, that I do not practice; but what I hate, that I do. If, then, I do what I will not to do, I agree with the law that it is good. But now, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me.” Romans 7:15-17.
Paul talked about this “body of death”. He said in the next verse (18), “I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells.” He understood that in the flesh, there may be sins, but it doesn’t define who we are. In Christ, we are saints, we are free, we are seated with him at the right hand of God.
Disconnected from God – “Where are you?”
It’s been days, maybe even weeks, since I’ve really heard God, since I’ve pressed in, dug deep, and listened to the Divine Whisper of Heaven. It’s not that I don’t want to. I do. I really do. But junk just gets in the way. Life happens.
I’m convinced that everyday, we should walk with God, in his presence, communing constantly with him. It was the kind of relationship that Adam and Even had before sin entered the world. It was heaven on earth. Daily. Constantly.
And they heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden. Then the LORD God called to Adam and said to him, “Where are you?” (Genesis 3:8, 9)
What a question! Where are you? If there’s one thing I’m hearing God say right now, it’s “Where are you?“
It’s not a harsh, condemning “WHERE ARE YOU!” It’s a gentle, wooing whisper, “Where are you?“ Caring. Grace-filled. Loving. Fatherly. It’s tender. Very, very tender.
Yet, even then, I hide myself like Adam and Eve. I cover myself with busyness, distraction, entertainment, mind-numbing activity. Instead of pressing in, I press on.
Why? It doesn’t make sense. I think it’s because when God whispers his tender, “Where are you?“, the enemy screams harshly, “WHERE ARE YOU!” The Divine Whisper is blocked out, masked, covered by the schemes of the enemy. Yet, Jesus paid our price for sin. We can “come boldly to the throne of grace in our time of need” (Hebrews 4:16).
The invitation is there, but it’s not a free invitation. A heavy price was paid for admission–the death of Jesus. By his righteousness, we can come before God’s throne in our time of need. The door to heaven is open, and through Christ, we can go right into the throne room. We are “clothed in Christ”, and accepted by God because of who we are (children of God), not because of what we’ve done (sin).
Come on. Let’s go inside.
Asking – The key to answered prayer
Matthew 7:7-11
- Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened. Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!”
My parents divorced when I was three years old. I lived with my mom and step-dad, but spent Friday nights and Saturdays with my dad when I was a kid. The contrast was significant. My mom had a dynamic conversion experience shortly after the divorce, so on that end of my life I was exposed to church, Bible stories, and the kind of sheltering guaranteed to make any home-school mom proud. My dad was in a rock band called “The Mystics.” They played clubs and college parties, drank too much beer, smoked pot, and got into fights. I must say my dad made some effort to behave during my weekend visits, but the contrast was still pretty clear. The first rock album my dad ever bought me was “Dream Weaver” by Gary Wright. My mom made me give it back because it was demonic. My dad thought it actually had a good chance of getting by her because it was somewhat spiritual. I remember one time bringing home some KISS photos torn from a rock magazine, hidden in a notebook in my backpack. My mom couldn’t sleep that night. She prayed and asked God what was up and he told her where to find the pictures. She found them and burned them. God talks to my mom. She’s amazing and I am who and what I am in large part due to the investment she has made in my life. I’m just saying things were very different at dad’s house than at mom’s.
My dad and I took a road trip to Iowa in his yellow Road Runner one time to visit my Aunt Barbara and Uncle John. It was fast, but I’m not sure how fast. The speedometer was broken. We listened to KISS, Journey, and Van Halen the entire trip. Beth, Wheel In The Sky, and Runnin’ With The Devil are guilty pleasures for me to this day. That dates me doesn’t it?
Weekends with my dad during that season of life were fun. He took me to Forest Park to ride the rides. We ate at greasy spoon diners where my dad knew all the waitresses. He flirted with them and they flirted with me. It was cool. We would always stop in to see Grandma and Grandpa Smith. Once, on Grandpa’s birthday, I remember my dad gave him a carton of cigs. It was cool. The Kreamy Kream was a nearby burger joint. We would stop in and have a root beer. He always had quarters for the pinball machine and I always got to play.
My favorite thing was listening to music together. We listened to The Zoo and Q102. My dad knew everything about rock – the bands, the players, the singers, the writers – everything. A song would come on the radio and I would ask, “Who is this, Dad?” He would answer “The Allman Brothers” or “The Rolling Stones”. It’s cool to have a dad that knows everything. He was a big fan of the Beatles. He had all their albums and we listened to them at his apartment all the time. He would make me unlabeled recordings on cassette tapes to take home. God never told mom about them, I guess. My dad hated disco.
I remember riding around in my dad’s sky blue conversion van (he sold his Road Runner and bought a van to haul equipment for The Mystics) and listening to the radio. My favorite band was ZZ Top. I liked Tush, La Grange, Cheap Sunglasses, and Jesus Just Left Chicago. I always wanted to change radio stations to see if ZZ Top might be playing on another station. I was afraid to ask though. Sitting there next to my dad, I would stare at the radio, and try to gather my courage to ask if we could change the station. Looking back, this seems silly. My dad was very happy to comply with my request. I think my interest in music made him happy. There was absolutely no reason to hesitate or fear. Isn’t that strange? I didn’t ask because I completely misunderstood his heart.
I think I have the same tendencies when it comes to prayer. I sometimes find myself hesitant to approach God with boldness and ask for something. I think in some ways God is a lot like my dad. The stuff I’m interested in delights him. He always has a quarter for the pinball machine. I can always have root beer. Changing the radio station is no big deal. It’s not that God never says “no.” He does a lot because I ask for stupid stuff so often. It’s just his heart is to say “yes.” There’s never any reason to hesitate or be afraid. Ask. It’s ok.
Romans 8:31-32
- What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all– how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?
The issue here is one of understanding God’s heart. Faith, however sincere, that is not aimed at an accessible God with a generous heart is faith misaimed. God is accessible. God is generous. He’s responsive. He’s looking for opportunities to say “yes” to us. If the god we believe in isn’t like that, then the god we believe in isn’t the true God, as he really is. God has revealed himself to us, primarily in the incarnation. When we see Jesus in the gospels, we have the clearest possible view of God, because Jesus is God in the flesh.
John 14:9-11
- Jesus answered: “Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you are not just my own. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work. Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the miracles themselves.
Anyone who has seen Jesus has seen the Father. This is what Jesus is asking us to believe. In the gospels, how accessible is Jesus? How loving? How generous? How powerful? That is what God is like. In looking at Jesus, we find out exactly what kind of person God is. It is faith in this reality that leads to answered prayer. Receiving from God requires faith in God as he is revealed in the person of Jesus Christ. Watch Jesus tie the two ideas together as the passage continues.
John 14:11-14
- Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the miracles themselves. I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.
Is it possible we have presuppositions about God that are incorrect, and these misguided ideas are a hindrance to effective faith? Do we see God as distant, punitive, and unresponsive? Then our faith is in a god that doesn’t exist. No wonder it seems ineffective. Faith is only powerful because its object is powerful. Faith in a distant, punitive, and unresponsive god is faith in the wind. There is no substance to it.I hesitated to ask my dad to change the radio station because I misunderstood his heart. Prayer is sometimes less than it could be in my life for the same reason.
Is God happy with me? Does he hear my prayers?
Below is an excerpt from an email I sent to a friend of mine to encourage him that in Christ, God is always pleased with us. Always. He’s never discouraged, disappointed, frustrated or mad at us. He loves us unconditionally.
- I used to get real discouraged when I didn’t spend my mornings praying, reading the Bible and talking to God. I felt like God was mad or frustrated or just disappointed with me. I felt like I had failed him or had fallen short of what he was expecting from me. And, that often drove me further away from spending time with him.
- I was getting discouraged in my relationship with God. I felt like he was disappointed with me, for not doing all the things I know I should be doing. Then, I heard this guy sharing about how God is not mad or discouraged with us in anyway, because our performance has nothing to do with God’s love towards us. We cannot do anything to make God love us more or less. His immeasurable love for us through Christ is never-ending, always faithful, and always abundant.
- I’ve also learned that even in our mistakes, God never pulls away from us. It is us who pulls away from God. He is constantly wooing us, loving us, drawing us, speaking to us. He is always pursuing us, and he enjoys it when we come to him and call to him. But, in no way is he ever disappointed with you for not spending time with him. Sure, he wants us to spend time with him, but that’s for our sake, not his. He knows that when we spend time with him, it helps us grow and protects us from harm.
- I think about my loving parents’ attitude towards their children. If children don’t want to spend time with you as a parent, that’s okay. It doesn’t change your love towards them. You still want to protect them, provide for them, teach them and guide them–for their protection. God is a much better father than we can ever be. How much more does he love us?
- I just wanted to encourage you in that. Know that God has not pulled away from you. He never will. So, be encouraged!
This topic reminds me of a scripture from Hebrews 4:14-16,
- “We have a great High Priest who has gone to heaven, Jesus the Son of God. Let us cling to him and never stop trusting him. This High Priest of ours understands our weaknesses, for he faced all of the same temptations we do, yet he did not sin. So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it.”
Because of what Christ has done for us, we can come boldly to the throne of of our gracious God. Did you catch that word, boldly?
How can we come boldly come to God’s throne as a sinner? Because in Christ, we are no longer sinners. We are righteous in Christ. We are holy. We are perfect in God’s eyes. If you don’t feel perfect, understand that it’s not God making you feel that way. It’s the enemy trying to keep you from going boldly to God’s throne in your time of need. The more he can convince you that you are not worthy enough to go to God, the less you will.
So, go boldly.
Does God really love me and accept me?
This question is so key to our walk with God. I believe it’s a question we ask ourselves constantly. But, it’s not a question we ask out loud or even think about directly. Rather, it’s a question that looms deep in our soul, deep in those sub-conscious regions of our mind. It’s the filter in which we perceive God.
Yesterday, I was having an interesting dialogue with my Father. And, it started with a question. While the question may sound condemning at first, it was not at all. But, it was very engaging.
-
Son, why do you hold back and choose not to spend time with me in the morning?
I guess many times I feel like you don’t have anything new to say to me. Or, I don’t trust that I’m hearing you or obeying you.
I know you love me. I know that. I guess I just don’t feel worthy, because I make so many mistakes.
Son, do you really think your performance, your ability to be good enough counts for anything?
It’s got to count for something. The whole law of sowing and reaping.
Son, there is nothing you can do that can sway my love for you. The reason I don’t like sin is that, in your mind, you think it pushes me away. Guilt, shame, condemnation—those never come from me, son. Never.
I see you perfect. I see you as Christ.
I realized yesterday morning that I am way too hard on myself. I try to determine God’s feelings towards based on my feelings towards myself. If I’m mad at myself, then surely God is mad at me. But, he’s not.
“For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways,” says the LORD. “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts” (Isaiah 55:8, 9).
In the mornings, when I start to feel condemned for making mistakes or discouraged for failing in some area of my life, I immediately think of Lamentations 3:23,
“The unfailing love of the LORD never ends! By his mercies we have been kept from complete destruction. Great is his faithfulness; his mercies begin afresh each day” (Lamentations 3:22, 23).
His mercies begin afresh each day, each morning. His love is unfailing. It never ends. His mercy keeps us from complete destruction. Great is his faithfulness. Great!
I can’t even begin to describe what this means to me spiritually. His mercy is new every morning. Every morning, I am given the opportunity to succeed. Even if I fail the day before, his mercy is new every morning.
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