Called to Be Saints

It wouldn't be too surprising to hear that Christians these days are going through an identity crisis. This crisis might not involve merely the question of who we are ourselves but also with whom we can identify anymore. The Christian landscape seems ever changing, to the point that people we thought we trusted yesterday turn out to be someone entirely different today. That respected leader lets us down, and we find out that we have no heroes left, after all. Some people's approach to this sobering reality leaves us scratching our heads indeed. I remember vividly sharing with a Christian friend of mine years ago the tragic news that a local minister in North Carolina had been exposed for having molested his own children. Rather than registering any shock or horror at all, she spat out, "We're all sinners!" Wow. If that's the Biblical approach to corruption, then to be Christian means to lower your standards even lower than the ever-changing standards of the world--because, at least for now, even the legal world views such behavior as despicable.

But what was I to do with my own horror at not only this shattering news but at my friend's flippant response? This friend was someone I trusted and worked with, someone I thought of as a fervent Christian. I dropped the subject instantly and began searching the Scriptures for what I already knew to be true. I also saw before me the fulfillment of prophecy that, in the last days, the love of many will grow cold and that many will fall away from Christ. This doesn't mean many will fall away from their profession, for that may remain as strong as ever. But many will indeed fall away from the truth. They will keep up the charade. And they will perpetuate the big lie--that there really is no difference, after all, between the sinner and the saint.

But that's not what the Bible says. The words "sinner" and "saint" are not interchangeable in Scripture, and Scripture does not toss these words around without profound contrast. A saint is not a sinner, and a sinner is not a saint. The words of the publican who went home justified because he prayed, "God be merciful to me a sinner" (Luke 18:13) may be the best prayer one can pray, and, to an extent, we do pray daily as the Lord instructed us to pray to "forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors," but we can't forget what comes next: "And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: for thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen" (Matthew 6:12-13). It's all right there, and the one who would pray for daily forgiveness must just as surely pray for daily vigilance and for daily deliverance from sin in the first place. Why? Not because we are going to congratulate ourselves on our sainthood but because our sin is an insult to the kingdom of God and to His power to deliver us and to His glory which cannot look upon sin.

And yet this is by no means the "going" teaching these days. Quite the opposite, in fact. On a regular basis, I come across blog comments like the following. When a believer exhorted fellow believers to live a life of obedience in Christ, someone answered with these exact words (yes, I took a screenshot; I also responded): "Nope that's a false gospel. Jesus plus nothing equals salvation. You bring nothing to the table. Don't spit in His face by thinking you can turn from sin. You or I or anyone else will sin until we die. Wake up!" Yes, they really said that. I replied, "Jesus said in Matthew 4, 'Unless you repent, you shall all likewise perish.' Not to repent is the false gospel. We are absolutely to turn from sin. You will not find support for your view anywhere in the New Testament." I don't know if they replied. But this person is conflating the process of being saved with the result of being saved.

And the answer to debates like this one is to be found right in Scripture. For those who say all we have to do is believe, we would expect a total revision of every New Testament verse to the contrary. Just this one verse alone holds a key: "I say unto you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repents, more than over ninety and nine just persons, which need no repentance." This one little verse which Jesus speaks regarding the parable of the ninety and nine sheep shows two truths we must not ignore: the angels are not rejoicing over one "sinner" who believes but over one "sinner" who "repents." And when that person repents, he is no longer a "sinner" but a "just person" who needs no repentance. Why? Because the "just person" has already repented. But if this is not so, we would expect the text to read that the angels rejoice merely over one who believes.

But how could they, when Scripture says that even the demons believe and tremble (James 2:19)? If believing is enough, then demons also are saved merely because they believe, even though they remain demons because they have not repented. But how could a demon be saved? The absurdity is obvious. James goes on to give a thorough exposition of the dead faith that has no works. But those who conveniently forget this part of Scripture also forget the entire context of the gospel. The fact is that we are called saints throughout the entirety of the New Testament and even in the Old Testament. While the saints in Hebrews 11--that great cloud of witnesses mentioned in Hebrews 12--are indeed saints because of their faith, it must be that "belief" and "faith" are not the same thing, for not all "belief" is "saving faith." But Hebrews makes the point clear: theirs wasn't an empty profession of belief but an obedience through faith that cost nearly every one of them their lives. Nothing has changed to cheapen this salvation by grace through faith today except our ungodly perception.

And it is not only our faulty perception of leaders who have failed but also our perception of ourselves as believers that needs some close scrutiny these days. The self-fulfilling prophecy says that we will act like what we call ourselves. We even act better on those days we dress more professionally. People don't wear rags to a wedding or to a funeral. So why do we think we can sport our filthy rags of self-righteousness as if we are proud of our false humility in living like sinners when we are called to be saints? The magic trick these days is to make us regard any mention of righteousness as an illusion or a mirage. If we even mention righteousness, people beat the drum that we are trying to save ourselves. Baloney! True righteousness is in Christ, for we are to be delivered from evil for His kingdom and through His power and for His glory. It isn't spitting in His face to live as He commanded us to live. It is spitting in His face not to live as He commanded us to live. We are trampling on the blood of the Cross when we live as we please, thinking ourselves entitled to keep on sinning as if Christ has no power to transform our lives (Hebrews 10:29).

Scripture not only refers consistently and redundantly to believers as saints, it never refers to believers as sinners. People love to misquote Paul that he was the chief of sinners--for he said that Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners, "of whom I am chief" (I Timothy 1:15). The Greek here is not saying that Paul is still living in sin. If he were, how absurd to say he was saved. From what was he saved? He is saying that he is presently grateful for having been saved even as the chief of sinners. We know this because Paul commands the Corinthians to be "followers of me even as I also am of Christ" (I Corinthians 11:1). This would be an absurd, not to mention pernicious, command if he is still living in sin. Paul also said that he exercised himself "to have always a conscience void of offense toward God, and toward men" (Acts 24:16). We used to call that "keeping short accounts with God," as of those old handwritten ledgers bookkeepers kept to know whether they were in the red or in the black.

Paul tells us in Romans 5:8 that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. We were sinners. Now we are called to be saints (Romans 1:7; I Corinthians 1:2). What does this mean? If we are called, don't we need to answer? Can you imagine ignoring the Lord's call to be a saint? The Greek word for "saint" means "holy, set apart, and consecrated." This is what we are, and this is no more a work of self-righteousness than is growth in Christ the Vine our own doing. When we are planted in Christ, we will grow. Jesus tells us that if our tree is good, our fruit will be good, also (Matthew 7:15-23). If we can tell a false prophet from a true prophet by his fruit, we can tell a sinner from a saint by the same. Are you a saint? If you are set apart in Christ Jesus, you are. This doesn't mean you will go around smirking with superiority. On the contrary, you will be the last one, like Moses on Mount Sinai, to know that your face is glowing.

But if your face isn't glowing for Jesus, darkness has hidden your light. Let's live up to our true identity in Christ. Let's stop thinking we can flit back and forth between the best of both worlds--to sin with impunity because we call ourselves "believers," all while expecting no deliverance because we call ourselves "sinners." Normalizing corruption by saying, "We're all sinners," is without question not only an unbiblical perspective but a dangerous one. The truth is, we're all saints in Christ Jesus--if, indeed, we are in Christ Jesus. But you won't hear much about this truth these days. The current fad of false humility is but pride in sheep's clothing. Can we not allow our Lord Jesus to apply His resurrection power to our lives, and can we not live for the One Who died for us? It's time to stand up and be counted for Christ. And a T-shirt isn't the way to be counted. People should be able to look at our lives and just know. Lord, help us all to stop insulting the power You gave us to live lives of exceedingly abundant victory in Christ (Ephesians 3:20-21). Help us to answer the call to be saints! Amen!