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Are You a Sinner Saved by Grace?
It is quite common to hear believers say, “I am a sinner saved by grace.” It sounds humble, but the truth is, it is anything but humility. It is actually religious ignorance that passes off as a humble statement. It sounds harmless, but it is far more dangerous than most people think.
It is true a believer “was” a sinner but the grace that saved us didn’t leave us as sinners; it recreated us as new creations in Christ. Our new identity is directly connected to how we should see ourselves and how we should identify as people who have become the home of God’s Spirit.
Nowhere in the epistles written to the church by the apostles do they ever identify a believer as a “sinner.” Why? Because we are no longer seen as sinners but as God’s children. We are identified by a variety of names that connect us to our new identity in Christ. Here are just a few of the names we are called in the epistles: beloved, righteous, redeemed, just, believers, brethren, chosen ones, the elect, faithful, excellent, fellow-heirs, godly, holy, kings and priests, lambs, light of the world, lively stones, peculiar people, salt of the earth, vessels of honor and mercy, witnesses, and saints. These new identities characterize who God has created us to be. Never are we identified as “sinners”! To some, this might come as a shock because much of the church world today teaches believers they are still sinners. How we see and identify ourselves can mean the difference between victory and defeat.
When God made a covenant with Abram, He changed his name to Abraham, which means the father of many nations. At the time, he and Sarah didn’t have any children and believed they were too old to start a family. The name change was directly connected to who Abraham would become and what he would accomplish for God. As believers, we are also given a new identity that is intended to connect our hearts to who we are and what we do.
Why is this so important? Proverbs 23:7 gives us some fascinating insight into why:
“For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he.”
Our hearts are the key to the change that takes place in our lives. If believers think in their hearts they are still sinners, what do you think they will struggle with? What they think or meditate on in their hearts will play a significant role in their behavior and outlook on life.
In Proverbs 4:20-23, we get another insight into how the beliefs in our hearts frame our lives.
“My son, attend to my words; incline thine ear unto my sayings. Let them not depart from thine eyes; keep them in the midst of thine heart. For they are life unto those that find them, and health to all their flesh. Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.”
Jesus had a lot to say about how our hearts control what comes out of our mouths (Matthew 15:18). The beliefs in our hearts power our mouths, and our words are faith-filled words or containers of unbelief. Every time Abraham introduced himself or heard his name called, he heard, “father of nations.” His new identity was something God designed so Abraham would never forget God’s promises to him. The same is true for us as believers. As we discover our identity from God’s Word and how He sees us, we align our hearts in agreement with who God says we are. And just like Abraham and Sarah, a barren couple, gave birth to a son Isaac who was the start of those many nations God said Abraham would be the father of, every name we are called in Scripture: righteous, holy, child of God, redeemed, saint, etc. is waiting to be birthed in us as our characters when we, like Abraham, rest in who God has created us to be in Him.
Don’t look at your past or how others see you; the only opinion that matters is God’s. Agree with Him and everything He said about you will manifest as you persuade your heart to His truth of who you are in Him.
“For in him we live, and move, and have our being” (Acts 17:28).
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