June, 2009
Within the Church, the body of Christ there is always much controversy on this subject.
Most Christians will readily say yes, they are children of God.
Just as readily they will admit they are (still) sinners.
The argument that is nearly always brought forward is Rom. 6;23 “All have sinned and come short of the glory of God”.
This causes much confusion among believers, especially those believers who seek clarity in their faith.
Most Christians have learned that only righteous people are acceptable to God and worthy to enter heaven in the future.
Now when believers are still sinners, when would they then attain to righteousness, right standing with God and be qualified to enter heaven one day?
Countless Christians struggle with these questions all the time and they usually get no satisfactory answers.
So what is the truth about the matter?
Are believers sinners after all and children of God at the same time, or does the one rule out the other?
At the outset we must establish that when a believer concludes he or she is a sinner, it is always a conclusion based on self-examination or traditional opinions, rather than the result of searching out what the Bible has to say on the subject.
And such a person will usually present a Bible verse to back up his or her claim.
To seek out what the Bible says, let’s see what Jesus himself has to say in John 5:24.
Here Jesus has this to say:
“I tell you the truth, whoever hears my voice and believes him who sent me, has eternal life and will not be condemned. He has crossed over from death to life”.
He has crossed over from being a sinner to being a child of God and has received the righteousness in full that God requires, II Cor. 5:23.
Or Eph.2:1 “And you has he resurrected (given new life) who were dead in trespasses and sins…….
The Bible teaches that a sinner is a sinner, not because of that person’s deeds, but because of his or her birth: Ps. 51: 5 “Behold I was shapen in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me”.
Now Jesus tells us that when someone takes his words to heart and believes God who sent him, something happens to that person. He or she crosses from the realm of death to the realm of life, everlasting life.
This is in effect the new birth that Jesus tells Nicodemus about in John 3:3.
Psalm 51:5 speaks of the natural birth which comes first, when a sinner is born, a person bound for condemnation.
Jesus in John 5:24 speaks of the second birth, which is spiritual and which is unto life eternal, the result of believing Jesus for salvation.
This is confirmed many times in Scripture. The apostle Paul says to the jailor in Filippi: Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved …….. .
Saved from what?
Saved from condemnation, the same as what Jesus talks about in John 5:24.
The sinner, who was a sinner by birth is not only saved from condemnation, he is now a new person, a child of God.
Jesus says that he or she has crossed over from being a condemned sinner to being a beloved child of God.
From the testimony of Jesus we therefore may conclude: It is impossible to be a sinner and also be a child of God at the same time.
Either the one or the other, not both at the same time.
Are you a believer?
The Bible assures you that you are a child of God.
Those folk who believe they are a sinners stand in desperate need of salvation as offered by Jesus Christ. Remember, heaven is reserved for the righteous children of God only.
It is also true that a person’s convictions will shape his life.
When a believer believes that he or she is a sinner, he or she is already acting like a sinner.
In fact he or she is saying: God’s Word can say anything it likes, I know that I am a sinner.
That is nothing less than rebellion, it is flesh, it is independent living.
It is placing personal opinion above the truth of the Word of God.
When a person believes that he or she actually has passed from death to life, that he or she now is a beloved and fully accepted child of God, according to the above mentioned truth, such a person’s life will begin to reflect that which is alive in his heart.
There may and will be failures, but the life of Jesus in him will manifest itself outwardly.
All the foregoing is fact, feelings have no bearing on these facts.
A person, especially after repeated failures, may no longer feel like a child of God.
Such a one must at all times recognize that God speaks truth, always and that feelings , no matter how strong and persistent, cannot diminish or take away from truth.
Our conclusion therefore must be that a Christian is not a sinner, but a child of God, a righteous saint who sometimes fails and falls into sin. That same Christian must always be aware that falling into sin does not make him or her a sinner.
Let us conclude with the victory statement of Rom.8: 31, 32 :
What shall we say then to these things? If God be for us, who shall be against us?
He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?
St. Thomas,June/’09. Simon VanderKooy.
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