I Am A Saint!

So I’ve told you what a sinner I am. I need no convincing of this ever-present, always-revealing fact. At any given moment, my thoughts, words or actions prove this out. But I am something more. I am also a saint.

I’m not going to be really heavy theologically here. You’ll get my thoughts that I hope and believe line up with scripture. What strikes me most in this precarious balance of the title “sinner and saint” is the acknowledgement of which part I bring to the table and which part God through his Son, Jesus Christ brings.

My sole contribution is to be the sinner. If you want to read more about that in detail, you can do that by clicking here. I am the sinner that comes to God by no worthy ability of my own. Once His, I am bound by some declarative statements which I am sure Joel Osteen might cringe and frown at, if it’s possible for him. I will still sin, I will still fail, I will still struggle, I will still need to be convicted by the law and comforted by His Grace. To sum it up, I still need my Savior and I still need the Gospel. Despite all these needs, I am also still His. As His, I am also a saint.

With the faith given to me by God, I come confidently, boldly, but not brash or proudly, to Him. I can do this because being a saint is what God makes me. It’s His side of it. I bring nothing but filthy rags and He brings me a robe of righteousness to wear. I bring a broken man and He sees a perfect one. I bring my sin and He brings me forgiveness and grace.

I am a saint but not of my own boasting, but because of Christ and him crucified. He took my sin, OUR sin and shame. Paid for it with his perfect sinless life. He’s swaps that perfect life for our dirty messy, sin-rich, rebellious lives. He gives us the righteousness to be considered set apart and called saints. He even gives us the faith to believe and trust in the finished work of the cross.

Despite this awesome gift of God, we still under-appreciate it. We take it for granted. Simply put, we still sin. Just as the Old Testament followers did, just as Paul admitted to in Romans. There are days, usually all in a row, where we don’t do what we ought and end up doing what we ought not to. God’s grace is there when that happens. Convicting us through His law, comforting us in His mercy, strengthening us for the journey. He still says to us, you ARE set apart, because I have set at you apart. This is not a “I have set you apart to do special things for me.” Certainly opportunities to serve God in the various vocations of life will without a doubt present themselves, and we should take advantage of those opportunities. This is simply the answer God gives us in response to the faith placed in us. To remind us that we are His, PERIOD! He says, “I know all your sins, past, present and future, and as many times as you come to me in repentance, weighed down by the severity of your failings, the response will be FORGIVEN.”

You are a saint, because of the position placed in you by the Righteousness of Christ Jesus.

We have brought sinner to the table

God has brought saint..

If we are not sinners in need of a Savior, we are not saints set apart by God.

I am a GREAT sinner.

My GREAT God calls me Saint.

Amen.