We all know that we come to Christ as sinners in need of forgiveness and new life, but after we have come to Christ are we still sinners? You find churches that place a great emphasis on our being sinners, and then you will find others that say we are no longer sinners? So should we view ourselves as sinners or not? I want to spend a little time looking at this question and hopefully to shed some light on the matter. The answer is yes and no.
First to the yes. I sinned last week, I have sinned this week, and I will sin next week. Hopefully my life is more in line with God’s word than it was before, but I still sin, and so do you. So in that sense we are still sinners, and we need to recognise it. The flesh wars against the Spirit, and we need to engage in the battle, and to repent when we need to. To neglect this reality is very dangerous. We do not appreciate how deeply ingrained sin is, and the deep effects it has on our lives.
Now to the no. The term sinners is often used in the Bible to signify those who are opposed to God, living their lives either with no regard at all for the Lord, or even in complete opposition to Him. When we gave our lives to the Lord we ended our rebellion against Him, and we were born again. The fundamental nature and direction of our lives changed. Yes, we do still sin, and have to be always on our guard, but we are now on a different side. The basic direction of our lives is for God and not against Him, it is to seek the growth of His kingdom. So while we need to be on our guard against sin in our lives, we need to realise what a fundamental change has taken place, and is continuing to take place.
As it says in Colossians 1:13:
For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves
We need to live our lives in the light of this great truth.
No comments:
Post a Comment