Hello lovely youš, I thought we would do some bible study today; hope you learn a thing or two. I did.
For the longest time, this issue has been on my mind, to talk about it, to write about it, to do anything but be quiet about it. Initially I used to get upset about it, wondering why others couldnāt understand, but Iāve learnt that if Christ himself was patient enough to teach me and wean me from my foolishness then I have no right to be upset that someone doesnāt get it.
The ‘it’ on my mind today is the issue of Christians calling themselvesĀ sinners.Ā Juxtapose those words and see for yourself; āChristian sinnerā it’ quite the oxymoron.
I was in a gathering of CHRISTIANS some time back and prayers were being said, one of the prayers was the prayer of repentance and someone said this āplease letās pray for forgiveness because we are all sinners, the eyebrows of my spirit shot up and in my heart I said āo really?ā thatās just one of many times that Iāve heard believers refer to themselves as sinners so Iāve come to believe a lot of Christians are getting it wrong and I want to help the little I can. So letās search the scriptures and see⦠please join me.š
In Genesis, Adam sinned and by so doing, created a great rift between God and mankind such that any man born of a woman is born into sin
Romans 5:12 ātherefore just as sin entered into the world, and death through sin and so death spread to all men, because all sinned.ā
So Ā we can say that being a sinner wasnāt (and isnāt) a function of menās actions but of their birth. Just like being a dog isnāt a function of whether the animal barks (Iāve had a dog that didnāt bark, and Iāve seen humans that doš) itās because it was born a D O G. So who we are is a function of birth and not of action, and we were all born sinners.
Psalm 51:5 David said āsurely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived meā
Every man born of a woman is by nature a sinner because of Adam’s mistake.
Romans 15:14a āNevertheless death reigned from the time of Adam until Moses, even over those who did not sin in the same way Adam did when he disobeyedā¦ā¦ā
So there is a nature called the sinful nature which everyone is born with, and a sinner is a man (or woman) who has this nature. One of Jesus parables proved this to me (Iād share that some other time, or else this post would be reallllllllyyy lonnngggggā¦..š)
So what did Jesus Christ come to do?
Since being a sinner is a function of our birth and by effect the nature in us, Jesus came to give us a new birth and a new nature. Hence all the talk of being āborn Againā John 1:13 puts it beautifully;
Children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a Husbandās will, but born of God.
Isnāt it just amazing that Jesus came to change our pedigree, such that we are no longer dominated by a sinful nature, but as many as receive Christ are born of God himself! How can you call a child born of God a sinner? Thatās like an insult on God himself. Itās like being called an orphan while your parents are still living and breathing.
Just the same way a man isnāt a Christian because he does good deeds, but because he has Christ as Lord and lives out that nature, a man isnāt a sinner because he sins but because he has the nature of sin in him. So a sinner can do all the good deeds and still not be right with God, because what God desires first is a change of NATURE.
So does this mean a Christian that sins is not a sinner, of course yes! But does this also mean a Christian has a license to sin, of course not! Scriptures say
Romans 6:1-2 what shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?Ā God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?
AND
1John 1:2 My dear children, I am writing this to you so that you will not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate who pleads our case before the Father. He is Jesus Christ, the one who is truly righteous.
When a Christian out of immaturity or foolishness or defiance sins, what is he? Heās still a child of God, why? Because thatās the nature he bears from the day he asked Jesus into his heart and was born again through the new birth. At worst such a Christian is a carnal Christian, but never a sinner.
In Christ Jesus we arenāt just forgiven sinners, we are new creatures.
2nd Corinth 5:17 says…
This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun! (NLT)
It is not a matter of pride that I declare that Iām no longer a sinner but an act of gratitude to God who picked me out of quick sand and set me on a rock.Ā
Jesusrules#š
Thanks for this clarification
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You are most welcome
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So true.. Thanks Sade, keep up the good work. God bless you..
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Thank you too!
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