Are you a sinner? I didn't ask if you sinned. I asked if you were a sinner. What's the difference?

"Sinner" is a noun. It's a label. It's an identity. It's something you are. "Sinned" is a verb. It's an action. It's a behavior. It's something you do. Am I just splitting hairs? Why does it matter?

If you've never come to a point in your life when you believed that Jesus Christ is God, that he died on the cross, and rose again, and if you've never trusted in that faith as your salvation, then the answer is yes. You are a sinner. However, if you have believed and trusted in Christ, then please understand that the Bible no longer refers to you as a sinner. It refers to you as a saint. Say to yourself, "I am Saint ________!" (And fill in the blank with your name.)

If you haven’t figured it out, people live according to the way they see themselves. If they see themselves as a lousy rotten sinner, unacceptable to God, that’s exactly how they will live. On the other hand, if they see themselves as having a righteous, holy heart that longs to trust God, then that’s exactly how they will live.

And that changes everything! When I understood this, the Christian life began to make more sense. I understood my new identity. It's not that I didn't sin, but the reason I felt miserable after I sinned was because I was acting like someone I wasn’t.

As a Christ follower, you are a redeemed, chosen, and holy saint. I may have never met you, but if you're my brother in Christ, I know your heart. You desire to serve Christ not because you have to, but because you understand God's grace and you now want to. ”

As Malcom Smith told the audience last weekend at the AELM conference, "We need to go the mirror and take a jolly good look at ourselves and remember who we are." You're not a sinner. You are a saint. You are His beloved!

By the way, I enjoyed meeting some of you at the conference last weekend in Taccoa, GA, and I'll be writing more about what I learned in the near future.

Grace and Peace,