My heart is pounding a little as I begin to think this through. I have something that I believe to be truth, but it has some controversial aspects to it (hence the heart palpitations). Despite some offenses that this may cause, I want you to have it... or at least think about it.
I grew up hearing my dad say and love the phrase (I believe it is a song too), "I'm just a sinner saved by grace". Obviously, not a bad thing to hear your father say. That saying, on the surface, gives the notion that you are humbled by and undeserving of the love of God. Fair enough.
Then one day, as I was growing into my own faith, I heard someone say, "God dislikes the phrase 'sinner saved by grace'." ... hmm. I needed to think on that because it clearly contradicted what I grew up hearing.
I have now rephrased this: I was once a sinner, but now I am saint saved by grace.
No matter what spin you put on this, I believe it all boils down to identity.... and more than that, how you view yourself as a child of the REAL God. And when your identity is messed up, nothing falls into place correctly. I'm picturing the 'round hole, square peg' situation.
Contemplate this: Would you agree that what Jesus accomplished on the cross, AND in the tomb more importantly, is enough to change your identity?
But don't just take my word for it:
'As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath. But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive in Christ even when we were dead in transgressions- it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith- and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God- not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God's handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.'
Ephesians 2:1-10
I'm not questioning the 'saved by grace' part. I am wondering, where is the sinner if you have been saved? Didn't I just read that I WAS dead, and I USED to live that way? And that God raised me up with Christ and seated me with him in the heavenly realms? If I continue to view myself as I once was, a sinner, what changes?
'Love your neighbor as yourself.' I ask this: How can you love yourself if you hold onto a sinner's identity? If you cannot love yourself, how can you love your neighbor?
I leave no room for arrogance when I say that I am not a sinner and that I have been created to be a saint and take ownership in that. Humility is not thinking less of yourself, but thinking of yourself less. I am merely confident in the God I serve who loves me enough to create me in His own image. How are we to take hold of the power that raised Christ from the dead if we are holding on to this "just a sinner" identity? We cannot come before our righteous Father if we are still proclaiming to be sinners. Jesus has already paid that debt. Our flesh is dead. There is no need to hang around the grave. We serve a risen Savior who wants us to be risen as well.
Out of everything that God created on this Earth, He chose to love something more than anything else and make it in His image. Holding on to an identity that God fought to abolish (and achieved victoriously) reflects upon Him.
Here's an analogy borrowed from a man named Kris Vallaton:
Say you are the painter of a painting. How would you feel if I looked at your painting and said, “That painting is worthless! It is hideous! The worst I’ve ever seen!” ? Do those statements reflect on you as the artist, the one who created the masterpiece?
When we take on Christ, He no longer sees a filthy, worthless, rejected man. He sees what his son looks like. Jesus died so that we could have a relationship with Him as a freed people, not a people in bondage to a sinner's identity. What would happen if we chose to see ourselves as God sees us?
Praise be to God that He gives us this opportunity. You are awesome! You are made to be a saint! God's kingdom can happen right now and in His kingdom there are no sinners!
