I've heard more than one sermon where the people were harangued about their sins. I heard another, online, recently. That raised a question in my mind. Are Christians to emphasize their sin or their holiness? Sinner or saint? Which more basically defines us? Who are we - really? As you know, I love the Psalms. And as I read them, the psalmists will clearly refer to their sins but they never apply the label 'wicked' to themselves. And even when they are dealing with their own sin they do so as those loved by God because of the covenant they have with Him. It gets even clearer when you read Paul's letters to the churches. First, he regularly refers to the members of these churches as 'saints', 'holy ones'. And even when he is dealing with their sin there is the assumption that Paul can expect them to live holy lives. For Paul, Christians sin but that does not describe who they are. They are not 'sinners' but rather 'saints' - who sin.
There are places in the Scriptures where the people of God are strongly confronted about their sin. But the question there is whether they are really saints at all. In these situations, the people are being warned of the possibility of no longer having a covenant relationship with God. They are at the point of being re-defined as sinners and no longer saints. And what happens next depends on whether they act like saints - and repent - or like sinners who refuse to repent.
What difference does this make? It makes a big difference if someone tells himself, 'I am a sinner' instead of, 'I am a saint'. Those words affect our expectations, first, of God and then, of ourselves. If we see ourselves as sinners then what might God do with us? He might tolerate us, but for Him to love us - well, that's expecting too much. Too many believe that lie and struggle. For them, God's love is true, but it doesn't really apply to them. How could it? They're sinners! And when someone with this opinion of himself sins, what does he tell himself? 'What a terrible person I am'. And it goes down hill from there.
But if we are saints and see ourselves in that way then we can also see that God's attitude toward us is so very different. He views us positively. Our basic nature as holy is like His basic nature as holy. Yes, we do sin, but that does not reflect who we really are. So, repentance is performed in hope. 'I am a saint. This sin does not define me. By the grace of God, the real me, a saint, is more and more revealing itself. These sins are just leftovers, and they are on the way out.'
All of this is because of Jesus and 'the Great Exchange'. All of our sin has been placed on Him and all of His perfection has been placed on us. We are no longer 'sinners'. Because of Jesus we are now 'saints'. That describes the real us.