It’s not difficult to say, “I’m not perfect.” Vague admission of unspecified flaws makes me seem humble. It’s much harder to say, “I assumed you call yourself a sinner so non-believers won’t call you arrogant. I assumed the label of sinner was a disguise you wear to make Christianity more palatable to the lost. I thought you just wanted non-Christians to like you. I shouldn’t have done that. I was wrong. I’m sorry.”

Yep. It was much harder to say that.

‘Sinner’ is an English word being used to explain a concept originally expressed in Greek. In English, a baker is ‘one who bakes’ and a golfer is ‘one who golfs’ so a sinner is ‘one who sins.’ Since Christians still commit sins from time to time, calling ourselves ‘sinners’ seems appropriate. But I don’t think the term ‘sinner’ simply means ‘one who sins’ when it’s used in English translations of the Bible.

“John, you jerk!!! Why can’t you let it go?!!! Quit hectoring your brothers and sisters!!!!”

I’m sincerely trying to be encouraging so if it feels like you’re under attack, I’m asking for the benefit of a doubt.

Christians (usually) don’t struggle to accept that righteousness comes from God. We have no issues when Ephesians 2:8 says, “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast.” We don’t (usually) hear anyone say, “I’m righteous because I do righteous things.” Righteousness is assigned to us like it was assigned to Abraham. We don’t argue with God’s decision to call Abraham righteous.

But when it comes to unrighteousness (or sin) we’re often a bit reluctant to accept what the Bible tells us. Because we are ‘ones who sin’ it’s hard to believe that we’re not sinners.

The book of Jeremiah is mostly a condemnation of God’s beloved people. It’s full of phrases like this: “You have played the whore with many lovers; and would you return to me? declares the Lord.” (Jeremiah 3:1) God calls Israel a ‘whore’ more than once and we agree that their unfaithfulness makes the label appropriate.

Later on though, down around chapter 30, the book of Jeremiah says:

“I will build you up again and you will be rebuilt, O Virgin Israel.” (Jeremiah 31:4)

Jeremiah is revealing the plan to redeem Israel and the people God called prostitutes in chapter 3 are called virgins in chapter 31. This is made possible by the omnipotence of God, not the behavior of Israel. Likewise…

A ‘sinner’ who puts faith in Jesus becomes a saint. Righteousness is assigned to that person by God. It has nothing to do with the person’s behavior. The label of ‘saint’ replaces the label of ‘sinner’ even though the person continues to be ‘one who sins.’

I apologize for making false assumptions. By God’s grace I’m still righteous.