Sinners or saints? During the course of the last few years it has become the trend among some Christians to refer to themselves in terms as denigrating to their Christian existence as it seems possible to do. Regularly I’ve heard those who claim the name of Christ calling themselves—in prayer—dirty, rotten, unrighteous, wicked, garbage, unholy, filthy rags, worm puke, and the like. It is as if any prayer has to be prefaced, not with adoration of God, but with verbal self-flagellation as if humbling one’s self before God means embracing into one’s bosom every negative reality short of hell itself.
Some time ago as I was reading in the New Testament, I became aware of a significant usage distinction: sinners and saints. Hearing Christians identify themselves as sinners (not a sinner saved by grace—a past condition changed by salvation—but a present-tense sinner as if justification missed a major section of their spiritual existence) is in conflict with how sinner and saint are used in scripture.
A survey of how these terms are used in both the Old and New Testaments reveals saint/saints used exclusively for those who know God. Here is a representative selection from the English Standard Version:
Saints
“And now arise, O LORD God, and go to your resting place, you and the ark of your might.
Let your priests, O LORD God, be clothed with salvation, and let your saints rejoice in your goodness.” 2 Chronicles 6:41
“Sing praises to the LORD, O you his saints, and give thanks to his holy name.” Psalm 30:4
“Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints.” Psalm 116:15
“But the saints of the Most High shall receive the kingdom and possess the kingdom forever, forever and ever.” Daniel 7:18
“until the Ancient of Days came, and judgment was given for the saints of the Most High, and the time came when the saints possessed the kingdom.” Daniel 7:22
“The tombs also were opened. And many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised” Matthew 27:52
“Now as Peter went here and there among them all, he came down also to the saints who lived at Lydda.” Acts 9:32
“And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.” Romans 8:27
“To the church of God that is in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints together with all those who in every place call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, both their Lord and ours” 1 Corinthians 1:2
“All the saints greet you.” 2 Corinthians 13:13
“Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, To the saints who are in Ephesus, and are faithful in Christ Jesus” Ephesians 1:1
“So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God” Ephesians 2:19
“All the saints greet you, especially those of Caesar’s household.” Philippians 4:22
“the mystery hidden for ages and generations but now revealed to his saints.” Colossians 1:26
“because I hear of your love and of the faith that you have toward the Lord Jesus and for all the saints” Philemon 1:5“
For God is not unjust so as to overlook your work and the love that you have shown for his name in serving the saints, as you still do.” Hebrews 6:10
Sinners
Conversely, both Old and New Testaments assign sinner(s) to those who do not know God. A sampling:
“Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment,
nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous” Psalm 1:5
“Disaster pursues sinners,
but the righteous are rewarded with good.” Proverbs 13:21
“Behold, the day of the LORD comes, cruel, with wrath and fierce anger, to make the land a desolation and to destroy its sinners from it.” Isaiah 13:9
“And as Jesus reclined at table in the house, behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and were reclining with Jesus and his disciples.” Matthew 9:10
“Then he came to the disciples and said to them, “Sleep and take your rest later on. See, the hour is at hand, and the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners.” Matthew 26:45
“If you love those who love you, what benefit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them.” Luke 6:32
“Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.” Luke 15:7
“but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Romans 5:8
“For as by the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous.” Romans 5:19
“understanding this, that the law is not laid down for the just but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and sinners, for the unholy and profane, for those who strike their fathers and mothers, for murderers” 1 Timothy 1:9
“Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.” James 4:8
“If the righteous is scarcely saved, what will become of the ungodly and the sinner?” 1 Peter 4:18
“to execute judgment on all and to convict all the ungodly of all their deeds of ungodliness that they have committed in such an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things that ungodly sinners have spoken against him.” Jude 1:15
Concepts in the New Testament used to describe saints and sinners
Further distinctions are made in the way those who know God (saints) and those who do not know God (sinners) are described.
Saints: Redeemed (Galatians 3:13), saved (Ephesians 2:8), born again (John 3: ), new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17), reconciled (Romans 5:10), justified (Romans 5:1), sanctified (Hebrews 10:10), free (Galatians 5:1), washed (1 Corinthians 6:11), not condemned (Romans 8:1), children of God (John 1:12).
These are all descriptions of God’s people in the present tense.
Sinners: Separated from God (Isaiah 59:2), condemned (John 3:17), dead in trespasses and sins (Ephesians 2:1), unrighteous (1 Corinthians 6:9), haters of God (Romans 1:30), unprofitable (Romans 3:12), ungodly (2 Peter 2:6), unbelieving (Titus 1:5), lovers of self, proud, arrogant, abusive, ungrateful, unholy (2 Timothy 3:2).These are all descriptions of current unbelievers or of the past lives of believers.
Why pray as God’s enemy instead of as his child?
Given the clear ways that saint and sinners are used and the additional phrases employed to describe each, why then do some who claim to have experienced the grace of God speak as if they are still condemned? Why should a Christian view themselves (and other believers) through the lens of what they were rather than who they are? Why pray as God’s enemy instead of as his child?
It’s one thing to acknowledge as Paul did, “such we were.” Remembering what we were saved from is a cause for adoration and praise to God! But, it’s another thing to endlessly rehearse our former lives as if God can only be exalted if we are diminished to some estate unrecognizable from our redemption. Acknowledging the weakness of our flesh, our struggle against sin, and the reality of temptation is well, good, and right. A saint isn’t a perfect person; a saint is one whom God has forgiven and redeemed and who is being made more and more like Jesus.
If knowing what God has done for you in salvation and enjoining prayer with joy over being justified, sanctified, reconciled, washed, freed, and adopted into the family of God does not motivate your adoration, confession, thanksgiving, and supplication, it is unlikely thinking of yourself as worm dung will either.
So, come boldly before the throne saint and bring your request as the child of God that you are. If you ask for a fish, he will not give you a box of rocks.
One important exception
There is one use of sinner some might reference as an exception. In 1 Timothy 1:15, the Apostle Paul refers to himself as the chief of sinners. The context though, seems to make it clear he is talking about his life before Christ, the one who “came into the world to save sinners” (v 15). The passage (1:12–17) reads:
And I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who hath enabled me, for that he counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry; Who was before a blasphemer, and a persecutor, and injurious: but I obtained mercy, because I did it ignorantly in unbelief. And the grace of our Lord was exceeding abundant with faith and love which is in Christ Jesus. This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief. Howbeit for this cause I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might shew forth all longsuffering, for a pattern to them which should hereafter believe on him to life everlasting. Now unto the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God, be honor and glory for ever and ever. Amen.
It seems inescapable that Paul’s reference to himself as the chief of sinners is meant to amplify his distance from God (blasphemer, persecutor, injurious) before experiencing the mercy of God in salvation. If Paul remained a blasphemer, he could hardly utter the doxology that closes the passage.
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