(Romans 3:23 KJV) For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;All followers of Jesus must accept this truth.
Some go overboard. They are so focused on sin that they ignore the fact that once we are washed in the blood of the Lamb we become saints. Do a quick run through the letters of Paul. He consistently greets the recipients of his letters as “saints,” not “sinners.”
This came up at our men’s Bible study last week. We were sharing and one of the young men who has had a rough walk kept talking about being a sinner and how that was not going to change. He was not looking for excuses, just repeating what he had been taught by the man who was mentoring him.
Are we saints or sinners?
Can we be both?
The Bible study is working through I Peter so I did a little searching in First and Second Peter. I did a word search for the following words: Sin, sins, sinner, sinners, saint, saints, righteous. Maybe I missed a word. Let me know.
It is important that we know our theology and doctrine. They are important. It is more important that we know our Bible. Theologians are men, and women too, I assume. Doctrine is a human summary. The Bible is the Word of God.
When Peter talks about sin and sinners it is in the past tense, before we are saved. He does not use the word saint in the KJV. He does talk about us being righteous.
Think about it and adjust your vocabulary. We WERE sinners. We PROBABLY will sin. But now we are saints. I am not comfortable with that, but that is the Bible’s label, not mine.
Am I wrong? (My wife is not allowed to respond to that question.)
homo unius libri
I think the problem is that some folks misunderstand the meaning of the word "saint." Unlike what one or more denomination teaches, a saint is not some near-perfect person who is nominated by committee and deemed good enough to earn the title. A saint is simply a true believer who makes an honest effort to follow Christ. If I remember, it's Paul that makes it clear that as long as we are in the flesh, we will continue to sin, but we are to TRY to avoid doing so at all costs.
ReplyDeleteRight. We are not demigods who are intermediaries to God for those less spiritual. I also have to believe because of the frequent mentions of being righteous, upright and blameless that it is possible to avoid sin. If the Holy Spirit cannot empower us that way, is He really sovereign?
ReplyDeleteI think He is.
Thanks for the discussion.
Grace and peace.