Recently I had a conversation about the nature of the Christian life. When we are saved do we continue to sin or are we completely free from sin? Here are some of my thoughts on the subject.
There are basically two thought processes:
I am a sinner. This viewpoint comes from Scriptures such as:
I John 1:8-9 If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
I Timothy 1:15 The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost.
II Timothy 2:11-13 The saying is trustworthy, for: If we have died with him, we will also live with him; if we endure, we will also reign with him; if we deny him, he also will deny us; if we are faithless, he remains faithful— for he cannot deny himself.
Romans 7:17-20 So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me.
I am a saint. Again this viewpoint has its basis in Scripture:
Romans 6:6-9 We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. For one who has died has been set free from sin. Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. We know that Christ being raised from the dead will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him.
Galatians 2:20 I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
I John 2:1 My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.
II Corinthians 5:17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.
Both sides have plenty of Scripture to back up their argument. And as such, I must somehow hold onto the truth of all Scripture, not just the ones I like or agree with.
Here are my concerns with each argument:
I am a sinner. Jesus did not die to leave us in our sins and just provide heaven for those who wishfully believe in Him. If we just believe we are a sinner, we can neglect the path of righteousness. Salvation becomes cheap grace. Believed enough, the church begins to look a whole lot like the world – in fact, it is just the world dressed in religious garb.
I am a saint. If we are to live sinless lives, there is an incredible pressure to act and be sinless. To me, this is a form of the law. We try to live perfectly because that is what we are supposed to be. It can be used as a guise for self-righteousness or a way to excuse sin. (If I am perfect then that nasty mean thing I just said must not be sin). We do a lot of rationalizing of sin so that we can appear to be perfect in Christ.
For me this leaves me one option: I must be both sinner and saint. But this definition does not add any clarity since it can sway to either end: sinner or saint. Am I mostly sinner and a little saint or the reverse? Personally, I haven’t completely worked this out theologically but somehow Scripture says both, I must believe both. But here is the best of how I understand it.
The children of Israel left the land of slavery and wandered in the desert for 40 years. After they entered the promised land, they conquered the people occupying the land. But they only conquered the major cities: there were other cities that were not destroyed. The Bible then says that God did it this way because the people were not strong or numerous enough to fully occupy the land. If they completely destroyed the occupying peoples, wild animals would overrun the land and kill the people.
I believe that we are spiritually like that in someways. When Christ saves us, He enacts all of the promises of God. We are a changed person. We are a new creation. There is sin that no longer has control of us. We die with Christ and are raised with Him to newness of life. I believe this type of new creation involves deliverance from every and all gross sin. There is a marked difference between the lives that the world lives and the saints live.
But there are still unconquered territories. There are areas where we are not in full conformity with the mind of Christ. This is the continual process of dying to self, the life of walking in the Spirit. As we grow and mature in Christ, He brings us to these unconquered areas and in His strength, His life, we conquer these areas. We grow more into the image of Christ. This is not our work but the work of the Spirit to continually prepare us to be the spotless bride of Christ. God works into us what Christ has won for us.
For the time, we must endure these unconquered territories. They in some ways are a sign of the grace of God in our lives – because perfection is not perfected in us, He still remains faithful to us. He loves us even while we are an unfinished work. We cannot be presumptuous and try to conquer territories in our own time or strength. We will meet with humiliating defeat. It must be according to the timing, guiding and power of the Holy Spirit. Life in the Spirit is both an act of Christ’s righteousness (saint) and grace (sinner). At the same time, we must remain in the Spirit and move when He wants us to.
Another aspect of the sinner/saint dichotomy is that of reality and potential. The reality is that I am saint of God because of the work of Jesus in my life, past and present. The potential is that I am a sinner if Jesus was not working in my life. This is where I was speaking in the sermon about the chief of sinners. We need to humbly recognize that the work of Christ in our lives is totally of God and not us. We should remember our potential for evil, apart from Christ, so that we do not become proud.
Sometimes we feel that we are not as bad as other people, forgetting that Christ has done the work. We spend our time looking at the sins of others. I believe the saying in 1 Timothy is meant to be a sign of humility, in that we spend more time looking on our past sinfulness and present potential sinfulness than at others’ sins. We need to consider ourselves as the chief of sinners, instead of pointing our fingers at others.
I can’t believe that Paul is speaking only about himself as someone uniquely sinful. I see Paul being humble enough to consider himself the most sinful for the sake not being overly critical of others. Paul realized that grace can be extended to all.
If saying that I am the worst of sinners is to deny the work of Christ in my life, then Paul was also denying the power of Christ in his life. When we say that sin is no more present in the Christian life, aren’t we saying that we are better than Paul (if the verse applies uniquely to him)? How can the man who said “I am crucified with Christ” also say “I am the worst of sinners”? I believe that it is because he lives his life in Christ but knows that he is still capable of sinning, still struggles with some sin and, apart from Christ, could again be the worst sinner.