Sinners Made Saints: Romans 1:7; 1 Corinthians 1:2

I am a saint. I am not a sinner. I was a sinner, dead in sin and walking in ignorance of God. Then, one day I gave my life to Jesus Christ who died on the cross for the sins of the world. His shed blood cleansed me from my sins and by putting my faith in Him I have been justified, and I have peace with God. So, then, I am a saint, and I am not a sinner. Recently Mother Teresa was canonized in the Roman Catholic Church as a saint. She had to meet the criteria of the Catholic Church which includes having performed two miracles. I was born and raised in the Baptist Church. Baptist folk do not call themselves saints. They don’t think that they are good enough or live lives worthy to be called saints. In this article I want to address this issue. Although I am a member of a Baptist congregation, I say that I am a saint, and I am not a sinner. I will establish by the scriptures that I am a saint. I will expound on why I think that it is important that Christians think of themselves as saints. The church that I am a member of, Jefferson Street Missionary Baptist Church Nashville, Tennessee celebrates the Lord’s Supper on the first Sunday each month. Our pastor Reverend James Thomas reads a portion of 1 Corinthians 11:17-28. He explains the purpose of the Lord’s Supper and its meaning. He tells who is eligible to partake of the meal. One of the things that he will say is: “This supper is for sinners saved by grace.” Now, let me say up front that I have been hearing this for over thirty years and I agreed with the statement. We say it a lot a Jefferson Street and I understand what we are trying to say. We were sinners until we were saved by grace. This is true but the statement “We are sinners saved by grace” has the present tense verb “are” and the verb in its present tense makes this statement untrue. On the other hand if we say “I was a sinner, but I have been saved by grace” we are in agreement with the scriptures (Eph. 2:8-9). One cannot be a sinner and saved at the same time. Let me explain. When the clock strikes midnight immediately one day ends and another day begins. The same is true for our salvation. The moment that we give our life to Jesus Christ we change from being a sinner to being a saint. The word “saint” refers to a person who has been called by God, cleansed of sins, and set aside for God’s purposes; His honor and His glory. The word “sanctification” refers to the process by which God makes us saints. The New Testament does not use “saints” to designate a religious status as the Roman Catholic Church does. A person is not a saint because he lives free of sin. Instead, in the New Testament the word saint is used to designate those who have been brought into a right relationship with God and by extension into a fellowship of like believers. Those who have been made right with God are no longer sinners. They have been made saints by the power of God. “Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come” (2 Cor. 5:17, NASB). Again, we are saints, and we are not sinners. Why does this matter? As stated above many Christians have been brought up in traditions that do not call themselves saints. They admit that they do sin and somehow they have been led to believe that only the sinless person can be called holy or saint. Let us look at it this way. This is football season. When a player gets penalized does he lose his status as a member of the team? If the running back fumbles the ball does the coach put him off the team? If the quarterback throws an interception does the coach bench him? The answer is no. The same is true with the saints of God. Just as the football player makes an error so does the saint sin. It is not the intention of the quarterback to throw an interception and it should not be the intention of a Christian to sin. We must do our best not to sin. We recognize our sins, confess them and continue to walk with God. “My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous;” (1 John 2:1, NASB). We are saints, and we are not sinners. The scriptures tell us how we are to respond to our calling as saints. First, we must call ourselves saints. The apostle Paul addressed six of his letters to the churches calling them saints. In these letters Paul writes to clarify who they are in Christ and how they are to conduct themselves. The statement, “we are sinners saved by grace emphasizes our sinfulness. The word saint emphasizes our holiness which we have not done of ourselves; but we have been washed in the blood of Jesus Christ. God gives us the Holy Spirit so that we will be able to live as God wants us to do. There are two scriptures that make us aware that what we say about ourselves is a strong indicator of who we are and therefore what we will do. First, “For as he thinks within himself (heart, KJV)), so he is” (Pro. 23:7, NASB). “For the mouth speaks out of which fills the heart” (Matt. 12:34). ‘“But the things that proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and those defile the man” (Matt. 15:18). When we call ourselves sinners do we think of ourselves as sinners? We are called to be saints and we should think of ourselves in this manner and speak of ourselves in the same way. We must embrace our calling as saints. God has called us to be holy and we should not be ashamed of our calling. We should be thankful for God’s salvation. We are to obey His commandments and follow His teachings. We must be who we are called to be, and we are to do what we have been called to do. We are to rejoice when we suffer for the sake of Jesus Christ. Peter and the apostles with him give us an example (See Acts 5:17-42). “So they went on their way from the presence of the Council, rejoicing that they had been considered worthy to suffer shame for His name. And every day, in the temple and from house to house, they kept right on teaching and preaching Jesus as the Christ” (Acts 5:41-42). We must decide if they want to be good church members in a congregation that is approved by the world, or will we be saints of God called to identify with Jesus the Christ? Are we willing to speak for Christ and live for Christ or will we compromise with the world? Will we suffer shame for the name of Jesus as Peter and the apostles did? We must live to reflect the nature of God. When I was in high school I did not embrace my family’s values for education. I preferred to play football and I did just enough to get a passing grade in my classes. When I was a senior I overheard some of my classmates talking about me. They were saying that I had become dumb. I reclaimed my family values for education and I made the honor role as a senior. However, I had neglected my studies and I was the first and only member of my family that graduated from Carver-Smith High School that did not graduate in the top ten of their class. Saints of God, do not settle for just being saved by grace. Let us think of ourselves as God thinks of us. Let us embrace who God has called us to be. Then we will be effective witnesses for Jesus Christ. Let us not omit the blessings that God has in store for His saints. Say, I am a saint. I am not a sinner.