Self Identity rough draft

You are a living saint

What comes to mind when you think of the word saint?

Sometimes we think of a saint as someone who has been in the church for decades at a time or as someone who has some office they hold such as pastor or elder. “saint” comes from the Greek word hagios, which means “consecrated to God, holy, sacred, pious."

*diagram of identity and quick summary of it

You live who you believe you are. It is nearly impossible to live a life different than what/who you believe you are. Unfortunately we can be deceived by the evil one, the world, or ourselves. Leading to a false identity and a terrible cycle of reality.

*hypnotist example

*insert sinner saved by grace into identity on the board*

Sinner is the noun, sin the verb. So your inclinations by this statement are to sin which lead to sinful actions and then to sinful consequences that bring about a reality in which you sin.

7 min. Example: let’s say someone has a problem with getting drunk before coming to Christ. That person when they feel they’re sad or had a terrible day will be tempted to drink. Because they’re identity is a sinner then when the inclination to get drunk comes it is easier to have an attitude of, “Well this is just the way I am.” That inclination to get drunk leads to an action. Maybe you really had a bad day and that feeling to self-medicate by drinking leads to you taking action to get drunk. Then bad consequences of your bad action because of reckless behavior. For example drunk driving leading to a DWI which can lead to a job loss. These consequences lead to a new reality where you are in trouble. This reality leads to the inclination to drink again to self medicate again. The cycle then continues again. If you consider yourself a sinner saved by grace then the natural thing for you to do is sin. It is important to know who you are.

Some believe that if we teach grace it will just let people sin more. Grace does not make people sin.

Titus 2:11–14 NASB95

11 For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men, 12 instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and to live sensibly, righteously and godly in the present age, 13 looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus, 14 who gave Himself for us to redeem us from every lawless deed, and to purify for Himself a people for His own possession, zealous for good deeds.

Titus makes it clear that grace leads us to say no to ungodliness and yes to holiness and righteousness.

Then why is it that those of us who love grace struggle with sin? Why do you struggle with sin? Because we believe a lie that we are just a sinner. A sinner saved by grace. Of course we cannot forget the saved by grace part.

(go back to previous example about getting drunk)

My life may be terrible but I am saved by grace and at least I’m going to heaven. Right now my whole reality is terrible but in heaven things will be better. This is not what God has for you. If you are deceived to think you are only a sinner saved by grace then that’s how you’ll live. Some of us may be there right now. In the middle of some kind of sin and thinking well at at least I’m still going to heaven.

Maybe it is sinful gossiping that you just cannot help it. You are wired this way and you have loose lips. It could be you’re cheating or avoiding responsibilities at work or in school. It is strange behaviour that we give ourselves permission to behave poorly when we believe we are sinners saved by grace. Because sinners sin.

In the NT believers are shown to sin but no wherein the NT are born again believers described as sinners. If you are not in Christ you are a sinner and if you are in Christ then you are a saint, a holy one, a righteous one.

Romans 5:19 NASB95

19 For as through the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, even so through the obedience of the One the many will be made righteous.

Because we all came from Adam, what is true of Adam is true of us. This happened at the moment of our birth. So we are sinners at birth not sinners at some later point we chose to sin. Yet so also through the obedience of one man (Jesus Christ) that many will be made righteous. If you are in Adam you are predisposed to sin but if you are now in Christ you are to walk in holiness. The normal life is to walk in holiness if you are in Christ. So if you are in Christ and you are supposed to walk in holiness but you think you are a sinner you will live a life not aligned with who you are. So why do we call ourselves sinners?

Well I’m just trying to give Jesus his due or I was such a wretch. Yes you were, but then everything changed. We do not elevate or honor Christ by pretending that what He has done on the cross did not make us holy. We glorify Christ by understanding what He did on the cross was enough to turn a wretch into a saint.

You can no longer be a sinner. If you are a sinner then you are not saved and if you are saved then you are not a sinner. Your identity stopped being a sinner the moment you were saved by Jesus Christ.

Romans 6:11 HCSB

11 So, you too consider yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus.

What are we now if we are dead to sin but alive to Christ?

2 Corinthians 5:17 NASB95

17 Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.

A new creature or creation meaning made and not improving upon something that already exists. That is why when we are saved. We are a new person and not just a more holy sinner. So if you are saved by Christ you are not a sinner saved by grace. You are a saint who sometimes sins. Our mentality towards these two different concepts matters.

1 Corinthians 1:1–2 NASB95

1 Paul, called as an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, and Sosthenes our brother, 2 To the church of God which is at Corinth, to those who have been sanctified in Christ Jesus, saints by calling, with all who in every place call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, their Lord and ours:

Christians are sanctified by virtue of their connection given by Jesus Christ and called to be saints, to progressively have their daily life more closely match their position in Christ. This is the biblical description and calling of the saints. So those who are in Christ have been sanctified. To sanctify something is to take something, even something profane, and purifying it, setting it apart for the express purpose of being used by God Himself. We were sanctified by Christ. This is an action that was completed in the past but the effects of that action continues into the present. At the moment of our conversion something happened to us and continues to impact us till this very day. This is not something we do but is done to us. We cannot sanctify ourselves. That should give us some relief. It is not our work but Christ’s work. So what are we set apart for?

20 min. We are called by Jesus into sainthood into being holy. We share in God’s purity because He grants it to us and sets us apart for His work.

I’m a saint who sometimes sins.

22 min. If you’ve read the rest of 1 Corinthians you know that this group of Christians were in sin. But right upfront Paul reminds them that they were set apart for holiness and called aka invited by God to be saints. That is who you are. Paul spends a good portion of the letter telling them to live in accordance to who they are. Because the way these Corinthian Christians were living did not show that they understood their new creation identity in Christ.

Colossians 1:21–23 HCSB

21 Once you were alienated and hostile in your minds because of your evil actions. 22 But now He has reconciled you by His physical body through His death, to present you holy, faultless, and blameless before Him — 23 if indeed you remain grounded and steadfast in the faith and are not shifted away from the hope of the gospel that you heard. This gospel has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and I, Paul, have become a servant of it.

Well I don’t feel very holy. Yes, but we could go with our feelings or what God says. Feelings are real and they do indicate some things. The issue is that they do not always align with the truth of what God says.

*plug in Saint who sometimes sins into the identity circle*

Remember that saint comes hagios, which means consecrated to God, holy, sacred, pious. When we believe that we are to live as a saint then that changes our inclinations, actions, consequences, and our reality. Rather than a sinner saved by grace who focuses on:

1) Sin Management. We meet with an accountability partner weekly/monthly and keep talking about how well we are doing or not doing.

2) Sin Avoidance. Doing everything you can in your life to avoid sin.

3) Giving up the struggle against sin. This can happen when there’s a belief that there’s nothing one can do to stop themselves.

A saint who sometimes sins is set free to live a completely different life. Imagine a king gives an edict that says anyone who has committed the unlawful act of prostitution in the past and into the future shall be pardoned. I mean that does not mean much to most unless you are a prostitute. But there is not really much motivation to change if you can continue on in your behavior and you’ll just be pardoned. But imagine that king comes and decides to make one of those prostitutes his wife. Now you are no longer a prostitute but a queen. Do you think there will be motivation to change then? Yes! She is a queen now and the acts of prostitution are unbecoming for a queen. Why would she do that. God says that we are saints predisposed to seek to live our life out in holiness and righteousness.

So when temptation comes our way, to be sexually immoral, your first thought can be to realize what you would do if you were still a sinner, but I’m not anymore. I’m a new creature and no longer the way I used to be. The Holy Spirit is in me and enables me to live what I am called to be, holy. This changes my inclinations, actions, consequences, and reality. Now I can save myself for marriage or be faithful to the marriage I’m in. Notice that both concepts when lived out as identities deal with sin. However, one focuses on sin and sin management while the other focuses on holy and righteous living more so than just sin.

What are you focused on?

Sin management. Sin Avoidance. Giving up in the struggle against sin. Or accepting that in Christ, God has sanctified us and invites to be saints that live as holy and righteous?

How do you view yourself?

Are you a saint who sometimes sins or a sinner saved by grace?