God creates out of nothing. Wonderful, you say. Yes, to be sure, but He does what is still more wonderful: He makes saints out of sinners. — Søren Kierkegaard
You are not a sinner saved by grace.
Let me explain. At one time you were a sinner, but now that you are saved, your sin-driven past is behind you. You are now a saint who sometimes sins. The difference is in how God looks at you. Look at how Paul describes who you are in Christ:
Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother, to the holy and faithful brothers in Christ at Colossae: Grace and peace to you from God our Father. (Colossians 1:1-2)
The term “holy” is the same word used for “saint.” If you continue to say that you’re “just a sinner saved by grace,” you’re saying your identity is still that of a sinner.
Not true! At the very moment you trusted Christ, you stopped being a sinner and started being a saint. You were saved by grace from your sin, but your identity as a sinner is gone. You are now a child of God (John 1:12-13).
If we walk around constantly identifying ourselves as sinners saved by grace, we are communicating to ourselves and to others that we are defined by our previous identity. It’s tricky, isn’t it? We want to fully acknowledge to the Father and those around us that we continue to sin, but the Father doesn’t want His children to identify themselves as sinners.
Am I just playing with words here? Absolutely not! The distinction between seeing yourself as a sinner or seeing yourself as a saint makes a huge difference in the way we live our lives. Because no human being can act contrary to the way they believe themselves to be. Think about that one for just a little bit! In the next days we’re going to explore the importance of that in more detail.