Justified And Not A Sinner

"Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. ⁸But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. ⁹Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God's wrath through him!" Romans 5:7-9

When is the last time you heard someone say that we are all sinners? I'll bet it was recently- whether it was in a church service, a Bible study, or a casual conversation with fellow believers. Talk frequently turns to issues and things we may be dealing with as people, but so often we'll hear things like "but we're man, we're sinners."

Ah, but we were sinners. Past tense.

First of all, over 2,000 years ago, Jesus took our sinful nature, placed it on his shoulders, and carried them with him up on that cross. When He died for our sins to be redeemed, they were redeemed. Now when we say the sinners prayer and ask Jesus to be our Lord and Savior, we cease being a sinful person. Our sinful nature becomes dust in the wind- because we become a new creation- destined to sin no more.

"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!" 2 Corinthians 5:17

But you know what? The evil tempter wants you to think that you are still a sinner. The devil wants you to think that you are a sinner, and that no matter what we do- we will always struggle with sin, and that no matter what we will fail.

But the truth is, that's not how it is supposed to be. Our old nature is gone and the new nature says that I can spend the rest of my life shedding sin and becoming more and more like Christ every day. The truth is that Jesus took my sins with Him on the cross, and now that I am a new creation in Him, I am no longer burdened by the wages of sin. The wages of sin is death, but since I very clearly prayed and accepted Jesus into my heart, sin has no hold over me anymore. I chose life instead.

"It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption." 1 Corinthians 1:30

Christ has already come so that we might become holy and righteous in the eyes of the Father. It's time for us to stop listening to the lies of the devil, and start living like the righteousness people that we are! It is more than possible to live a life worthy... because we are more than conquerors!

"No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us." Romans 8:37

And when the church realizes this, it's going to be a wonderful day. When the church finally stops listening to the father of lies and embraces righteousness and holiness and stands on the Rock of Ages- it's going to be a wonderful day, and God will get all the Glory. Jesus will stand at the head of the Army of Christ, and we will be unstoppable. We are already saved through Him. It's time to start living like it!