SAINT, SINNER OR A LITTLE OF BOTH?

   

    Are you a saint?  Are you a sinner? Are you possibly both?

     When you refer to someone as a saint, there is a presumption of a higher level of goodness or holiness.  Sainthood infers a greater depth of godliness or piety.      

  How does one become a saint?  According to some, you must live an exemplary life, die in good standing with God, have a couple of miracles attributed to you after you die, and oh yeah, your dead body has to, some how, not rot.  Pretty simple, right?

       To confuse matters even more, the opening line to the Epistle to the Ephesians states: Ephesians 1:1 - Paul, an Apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, to the saints which are at Ephesus...  Is Paul writing a letter to a bunch of dead people?  Not likely, so, who are saints, really?  

     I am a saint.  If you trust in the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation, you also are a saint.  Nowhere does scripture give any formula for sainthood.  Faith in Christ, and nothing else, makes one a saint.

     You may be thinking, "I ain't no saint, I'm a sinner."  Well, I am a sinner too, but... I am also a saint.  Nope, you can't have it both ways, you may be thinking.  Mick Jagger told us "Just as every cop is a criminal and all the sinners saints..." and, just like the Father of Lies he was singing about, go it twisted. Every sinner is not a saint, but, indeed, every saint is a sinner!

       When you place your faith in the Messiah, God declares you holy, set apart and sanctified, transferring the righteousness of Jesus to you. So, is a person sanctified and made holy, at the point of salvation, or is sanctification a lifetime process of growing in Christ?  The answer is YES!

I Corinthians 6:11 - and that is what some of you were.  But you have been washed, you have been sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.

Philippians 2:12-13 - Therefore my dear friends, as you have always obeyed... continue to work our your salvation with fear and trembling because it is God who works in you to will and to act according to His good practice

  Positionally, you are a saint if you are a believer.  Behaviorally, you may have a lot of work to do.  At Salvation, you are declared holy and heaven ready, but it takes submission to the influence of God's Holy Spirit for your behavior to match your status.

       Just as Jesus was both man and God, we are both saint and sinner.  Jesus is inherently God and became a man, we are inherently sinners and become saints.  This is why scripture tells us we must lose our life in order to find it. Jesus retained His inherent nature and was governed by it, so, even as a man, He remained sinless.  We retain our inherent nature and are governed by it and so as saints, we continue to sin - albeit, less and less, hopefully.

      Does this excuse our sin?  By no means!  Understanding who we inherently are and what we have been declared to be should make us more aware of the need to live according to our new status as saints.  Through the power of the Holy Spirit indwelling us, we have the power to overcome sin and live victoriously.  

I Corinthians 10:3 - no temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful and He will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation, He will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.
Inherently, we are prone to sin, in Christ, we are not doomed to remain in sin.  

    Within sainthood, we are being sanctified and made holy, being set aside for the purpose to which God has called us.  Through sanctification, God grants us the ability to overcome sin and choose the better and less traveled path.  Will you be the saint God declares you to be or continue to make excuses for sin that Jesus paid for with His blood?  Choose this day whom you will serve, saint. Are you a saint, a sinner or both?  

Now, go live as Christ... and give the devil hell!