How do you view yourself as a Christian? Do you see yourself more as a sinner, lurching through a life of defeat, disappointment, and frustration? Or do you see yourself as a conqueror in Christ, victorious even in the midst of your struggles?
The difference is more important than you think.
It’s hardly surprising that the Greek word hamartolós (sinner) appears 46 times in the New Testament. But did you know that it never refers to those who have already placed their faith in Christ?
The books of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John record Jesus using a form of the word hamartolós (presumably translated from Jesus’ native Aramaic word chatta) 31 times. In each instance, the word refers to those awaiting repentance and redemption. For example:
“But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners” (Matthew 9: 13).
Then he returned to the disciples and said to them, “Are you still sleeping and resting? Look, the hour has come, and the Son of Man is delivered into the hands of sinners” (Matthew 26: 45).
“I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance” (Luke 5: 32).
“If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners love those who love them. And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners do that. And if you lend to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, expecting to be repaid in full” (Luke 6: 32–34).
It is important to note that Jesus himself uses the word infrequently. It is, however, frequently applied (falsely) to him (Matthew 9: 11; 11: 19; Mark 2: 16; Luke 7: 34), or in one instance, to a man he has just healed (John 9: 13–34). Simon calls himself a sinner when he falls at Jesus’ feet, but that is before his actual calling (Luke 5: 8).
The letters of Paul contain eight instances of a form of hamartolós, all of which refer to believers in their unjustified state. For example:
You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us (Romans 5: 6–8).
For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous (Romans 5: 19).
But if, in seeking to be justified in Christ, we Jews find ourselves also among the sinners, doesn’t that mean that Christ promotes sin? Absolutely not! If I rebuild what I destroyed, then I really would be a lawbreaker (Galatians 2: 17).
We also know that the law is made not for the righteous but for lawbreakers and rebels, the ungodly and sinful, the unholy and irreligious, for those who kill their fathers or mothers, for murderers, for the sexually immoral, for those practicing homosexuality, for slave traders and liars and perjurers—and for whatever else is contrary to the sound doctrine that conforms to the gospel concerning the glory of the blessed God, which he entrusted to me (1 Timothy 1: 9–11).
On one occasion, Paul identifies himself as a sinner, but it is clear that he is referring to his condition before receiving the grace of Christ:
Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the worst. But for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his immense patience as an example for those who would believe in him and receive eternal life (1 Timothy 1: 15).
And yet on one occasion, Paul does seem to identify with his sinful nature even after coming to faith in Christ:
So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God’s law, but in my sinful nature a slave to the law of sin (Romans 7: 14–25).
If we stop reading there, however, we might think that Paul sees himself as still a slave to his sinful nature. Continuing in chapter 8, we read that Paul no longer identifies with this nature, but rather views himself as living according by the Spirit:
What the law was powerless to do because it was weakened by the flesh, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the flesh but according to the Spirit (Romans 8: 3–4).
Lest there be any confusion about what all this means, Paul issues a charge:
Therefore, brothers and sisters, we have an obligation—but it is not to the flesh, to live according to it. For if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live (Romans 8: 12–13).
In the other New Testament letters, we find only a few mentions of sinners, always in reference to the unsaved:
- The author of Hebrews mentions sinners twice, once as those that Christ is set above (Hebrews 7: 26) and once as those who opposed Christ on earth (12: 3).
- James beseeches sinners to wash their hands of sin (James 4: 8). He is clearly referring to those who have not yet repented (see 4: 9–10). James also reminds believers that turning a sinner from their sins will save them from death (5: 20).
- Peter quotes Proverbs 11:31, reminding believers that “If it is hard for the righteous to be saved, what will become of the ungodly and the sinner?” (1 Peter 4: 18).
- To emphasize his point about the coming judgment of God, Jude reminds believers that the Lord will convict “ungodly sinners” of their defiant words (Jude 1: 15).
- In Revelation, Jesus tells John that “the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile” (among others) will be consigned to the lake of fire (Revelation 21: 8). In the original Greek, the word translated as “vile” is hamartolois, a plural form of hamartolós.
All these references make clear that “sinner” refers to a person who has rejected Christ. For those who have accepted Christ, the New Testament authors use other names, such as hagioi(s) or hagion, which mean “holy ones.” For example:
Share with the Lord’s people (= hagion) who are in need (Romans 12: 13).
Therefore, holy brothers and sisters (= hagioi), who share in the heavenly calling, fix your thoughts on Jesus, whom we acknowledge as our apostle and high priest (Hebrews 3: 1).
So be holy (= hagioi) in all you do (1 Peter 1: 15).
I felt compelled to write and urge you to contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to God’s holy people (= hagiois) (Jude 1: 3).
The four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb. Each one had a harp and they were holding golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of God’s people (= hagion)(Revelation 5: 8).
If Jesus and the New Testament writers are so clear as to the difference between sinners and the holy people of God, why is there so much confusion in today’s Church as to whether Christians are sinners?
One possibility is that Christians are not yet free of the power of sin. It is common to hear Christian preachers say that “we sin because we are sinners.” Pastor Colin Smith explains it this way:
We are all born with a nature that produces sin. It is a fountain of sin. Like a deep-sea oil well spurting endless gallons of black oil into the ocean, the human mind, heart, and will keep producing sinful cravings, desires, and thoughts. So, the problem of sin is bigger than the crayon on the wall. It’s like mold in the wall—a living thing that grows and spreads and leads us to our own destruction.1
While Pastor Colin’s statement is correct, it is easy to see why this truth might lead some believers into confusion. All people are born with original sin—an innate condition of rebellion against God. A key piece of evidence for this condition is that humans die because of original sin (see Romans 5: 12; 1 Corinthians 5: 21). As the logic goes, since even Christians die, Christians must still be under the power of sin—and therefore still sinners. This is all true, but original sin as a spiritual condition of the soul and sin as the actions that proceed from it are not the same thing. How a Christian responds to this reality depends largely on their faith tradition:
- Catholicism. Baptism releases the individual from original sin, though it does not free the believer from committing acts of sin.
- Church of England, Reformed (Baptist, Lutheran, Presbyterian). Original sin remains in the heart of those who are regenerated in Christ.
- Wesleyanism. A believer is released from original sin at the moment of entire sanctification, a second work of grace in the life of the believer.
Whatever the believer’s tradition may be, perhaps we can agree that the sins we commit after coming to faith are not what make us sinners. That is why we can identify not only as sinners but also as God’s holy people (hagioi), conquerors (Romans 8: 37; Revelation 12: 11), victorious (1 Corinthians 15: 57), overcomers (1 John 5: 4), and even as able to “do all things” (Philippians 4: 3) —through Christ who strengthens us!
The sins we commit after coming to faith are not what make us sinners.
On this point, I’m reminded of the Pevensie children in C.S. Lewis’ famous children’s novel The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. The children bring to Narnia all the faults and conflicts they had in their fallen WWII-era world, but once they arrive in Narnia they become aware of a peculiar calling: according to a prophecy, two “sons of Adam” and “two daughters of Eve” would one day sit upon the throne of Narnia. Lucy (the youngest and most childlike) responds most willingly to this calling, but by the end of the story, all four siblings have embraced the mantle of authority assigned to them and become powerful warriors alongside Aslan, Narnia’s noble spiritual overseer. They are crowned kings and queens of the kingdom.
How we see ourselves—as sinners or as conquerors—depends on whether we see ourselves primarily as who we were or as who we are becoming. Do we identify more strongly with our possibly inescapable original sin? Or do we identify more with Christ’s rescuing grace that strengthens us to resist sin? The Apostle Paul would have us focus on the latter. After listing off the various sins that define a believer’s past, he reminds us:
And that is what some of you were. 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).
Who we are becoming is made possible only by Christ’s saving grace.
—Rick E.
Reference:
For Freedom 