Should Christians Call Themselves 'Sinners'?

This is one area where I think Christians may often fall prey to either false doctrine or false philosophy. How often do you hear someone who you would consider to be a faithful Christian refer to either their self or a group of Christians as ‘sinners.’ Honestly, it is probably the case that I hear a Christian say this almost every week. But I would like you to consider for a moment the possibility that this is not how Christians should be viewing themselves...

I believe that we may be used to hearing so many people who we either look at as Christians or as religious people saying this about themselves. But there are good reasons why we hear so many in the religious world call themselves sinners… It is because it is the foundation of the doctrine that they believe. Many believe that they are sinners by nature and that this nature is never really overcome until they go to heaven. There are many in the religious world that believe some form of the doctrine of inherited sin or original sin, and this is why they call themselves sinners.

I do think that if we hear a lot of people talk a certain way over and over again that it does impact our own thinking. When we hear people who say something like “I am a wretched sinner,” we need to ask ourselves if there is a reason why they are saying such a thing about themself. Is there a doctrine that they believe that leads them to think this? OR is there a sin that they are enslaved to?

Plus, when we think of ourselves in such a negative way — a way that views sin as a part of us, it sets us up to continue to sin… I have heard Christians say things like “We sin because we are sinners...” This is not true… We sin because we choose to sin and rebel against God, not because we, by nature, are sinners.

I would argue… and this is what I would like you to consider for a moment… that a faithful Christian is not a sinner. They don’t come to a conclusion that they are a sinner based on a thoughtful study of scripture, but environmentally.

When is this true? When are we sinners?

First, we can call ourselves sinners if we are walking in sin. The word ‘sinner’ is often used interchangeably with words such as rebellious, ungodly, or unholy. Or the word is used in lists including these words.

“9 realizing the fact that law is not made for a righteous person, but for those who are lawless and rebellious, for the ungodly and sinners, for the unholy and profane, for those who kill their fathers or mothers, for murderers” (1 Timothy 1:9, NASB95).

“If the righteous is scarcely saved, what will become of the ungodly and the sinner?” (1 Peter 4:18, ESV)

Second, we can call ourselves sinners if we are enemies of God or outside of a covenant relationship with him

“15 We are Jews by nature and not sinners from among the Gentiles” (Galatians 2:15, NASB95).

The Bible uses the word sinner, almost in every case, to talk about these first two groups of people (those who are enemies of God and those who are “Christians” who are walking in sin) is how the New Testament uses the word ‘sinner’ in almost every passage! 99.98% of the time!

Christians are referred to in the past tense as sinners : “8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8, NASB95).

Sinners is contrasted with becoming righteous through Christ: “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.” (Romans 5:19, NASB95).

Third, and I believe this is the only time a faithful Christian can call themself a sinner: When they are either meditating on the glory and holiness of God, when they are considering where they would be without the grace of God, or if they had God manifest Himself to them… There is only one time in the New Testament that someone who we would consider as a faithful Christian calls themself a sinner.

“I thank him who has given me strength, Christ Jesus our Lord, because he judged me faithful, appointing me to his service, though formerly I was a blasphemer, persecutor, and insolent opponent. But I received mercy because I had acted ignorantly in unbelief, and the grace of our Lord overflowed for me with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. 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.” (1 Timothy 1:12–15 ESV)“5 Then I said, “Woe is me, for I am ruined! Because I am a man of unclean lips, And I live among a people of unclean lips; For my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts.”” (Isaiah 6:5, NASB95).

When is it not right to call yourself a sinner?

When you are a faithful child of God who is walking in the light.

When we become Christians, we become a new creation. The person we were before is gone. We are reborn. If we are walking in the light, yes we will see sin (that we confess when seen), but Christians — those who are walking with the LORD and seeking to serve Him, are referred to in the Bible as God’s righteous, holy, & sanctified ones — His saints. This is not to say that we will never see sin in our lives. If we are walking in the light, we will see it! But the question is: what will we do with it? The sinner continues to walk in it. The saint — the one who is a servant of the LORD — will repent and confess so that the sin can be removed by the Lord. They don’t continue to walk in it, which would make them a sinner… They

Why identify ourselves based on what we have been delivered from by Jesus? We need to focus more on the work that God has done for us because He is the one who has given us great hope. And remember, the way we identify ourselves or feel about ourselves is usually what we try to live up to. It is the standard that we set for ourselves. And we will meet it every time!

How we think about ourselves is important. Our perspective about self is important. If we think about ourselves as those who, by the amazing grace of God, have been cleansed and sanctified — those who have been made God’s righteous, godly ones - His saints, then what are we going to do? We are going to try to live up to that standard. We will strive to live up to the name of Christ that we wear as Christians.

But what happens if we think about ourselves with a defeatist mindset? What if we think about ourselves in a negative light? What if we view ourselves as worthless, wretched sinners? What if we think that we are just terrible and have no hope of ever coming close to living up to the high standards that we are given in scripture? We will live up to the standard we set for ourselves — a standard that is low. We will have less motivation to live as saints. And when we do fall short of the low standard we set, what do we do? The self-condemning begins… The guilt-trips… to the point where we feel all hope is lost and we might as well sin more… So we binge whatever sin we can… This is unfortunately how our minds often work. We will always live up to the standard we set for ourselves…

Dwell on things that are true and right. Think about things that are honorable and worthy of praise… This includes how you think about not just others, but also yourself. If you have received God’s mercy… If God has removed all of your sin from your account, and if He has freed you from slavery, then you are no longer a sinner! You are no longer wretched and miserable. You have been justified. You have been made righteous by God. You are a saint, not a sinner.

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When we as Christians view ourselves as wretched sinners, it is because we have been impacted by (without realizing it) the false doctrines of reformed theology/Calvinism. When someone believes that they were born a sinner and are always by nature a sinner, this impacts their thinking. Even when the Calvinist becomes a believer, they continue to view themselves in this way. They view themselves as sinners who have no choice but to sin because it is still part of their nature. It is who they are. Sin is a part of them… They may say that they have been reborn, but they do not believe that their nature has been completely changed… They believe their sinful nature lis being worked on little by little by the LORD and is never really successful taken care of until they go to heaven… The Calvinist believer believes that they are living in sin — that they are sinning at all times either in their thinking or actions because they are not God and are always falling short of His glory 100% of the time.