More than Sinners Saved by Grace

It’s a not-so-subtle theme in most worship services. Preachers commonly attack it in their sermons—if not explicitly, then implicitly. In traditional liturgical worship, we confess it as a reality in our lives. Even our affirmation and praise of God’s grace and forgiveness are painted against this backdrop.

This pervasive theme is sin. Our religious training has taught us to think of ourselves as sinners. We readily declare “I’m just a sinner saved by grace.”

Indeed, all of us fall short—the original meaning of the word sin. Falling short, not measuring up is a normal part of our human condition. None of us are full grown, emotionally-relationally-spiritually mature. We are still in process, learning and growing and changing (hopefully) in pursuit of ever-increasing maturity.

In addition, there is within us an independent spirit that trusts our own thinking over someone in authority, that follows our own way rather than that which has been prescribed for us. That independent spirit translates into a self-focused, self-serving, what’s-in-it-for-me spirit. This reality is reflected in the story of the garden in Genesis 3. In interpreting this story, we commonly speak of sin even though the word sin is not used in the story itself. The word sin is first used in the next story—the story of Cain and his brother Abel. The garden story is based upon our ability to choose—what we call free will—represented in the tree of knowledge. The story teaches us that choices have consequences. It also reflects that we, like the couple in the garden, struggle to live in faithful obedience to, in glad dependency upon God.

These realities—falling short, trusting our own thinking, following our own way, not living in faithful obedience to God—are defined in religious life as sin. Guilt, condemnation, and the fear of judgment are tied to these realities. These realities feed the shame-based identity at the core of our being. (See again the last two blogs.)

The apostle Paul goes beyond speaking of sin as behavior to speak of it as a power that controls us. He spoke of being a slave to sin (Romans 7:14). Paul also wrote that Jesus, in his death and resurrection, broke the power of sin and death (Romans 8:2). In him, we have been set free from condemnation and the fear of judgment. “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1). Through the indwelling Spirit, our hearts and minds are transformed. The self-focused, self-serving, what’s-in-it-for-me spirit is overcome through the transforming work of the Spirit. A Christlike servant spirit is engrained in its place.

All of this, of course, is the work of God through Christ Jesus and the Spirit. It is an expression of God’s steadfast, faithful love that never waivers, that never gives up on us or abandons us. It is a gift of grace. As the writer of Ephesians said, “for by grace you have been saved through faith; it is the gift of God, not the result of works” (Ephesians 2:8-9).

Sadly, many of us who have opened our lives to this grace and the transforming work of the Spirit continue to live out of a sin-based identity. “I’m just a sinner saved by grace.” We continue to let sin define us. Our focus continues to be on how we fall short and on our struggle of trying harder to do better. We fail to claim our identity in Christ as a beloved child of God. We fail to recognize, much less live into and out of, our identity in Christ.

Is “a sinner saved by grace” all there is to us?

The scriptures bear witness to our dignity and worth as the children of God and the followers of Jesus. Consider what the scriptures teach in addition to defining our sin.

·       We were created by God. “For it was you who formed my inward parts; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; that I know very well. My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. Your eyes beheld my unformed substance,” (Psalm 139:13—16a).

·       We were created by God, in the image of God. “So God created humankind in his image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them,” (Genesis 1:27). “In the image of God” suggests we were created for relationship with God. A Divine Spark was planted within each of us so that we might participate in and share God’s life of love.

·       Because we are God’s creation, we along with all of creation are innately “good,” not sinful or evil. “God saw everything that he had made, and indeed, it was very good” (Genesis 1:31).  

·       We have been claimed by God in Christ Jesus as God’s beloved children. “See what love the Father has given us, that we should be called children of God; and that is what we are. Beloved, we are God’s children now” (1 John 3:1—2a. Also see Ephesians 1:3-5, Romans 8:14-17, Galatians 4:4-7).

·       We have been called to be the followers of Jesus, learning and living the ways of God Jesus taught and lived (the ways of the Kingdom). 

·       The Spirit of God dwells in us. “And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, to be with you forever. This is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, because he abides with you, and he will be in you” (John 14:16—17).

·       God’s Spirit is at work in us, recreating us into the likeness of Jesus. “And all of us … are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another; for this comes from the Lord, the Spirit” (2 Corinthians 3:18).  “Beloved, we are God’s children now; what we will be has not yet been revealed. What we do know is this: when he is revealed, we will be like him, for we will see him as he is” (1 John 3:2).

·       God’s Spirit has given each of us special gifts and abilities to use in ministry to others. “To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. All these are activated by one and the same Spirit, who allots to each one individually just as the Spirit chooses” (1 Corinthians 12:7, 11).   

·       God’s Spirit empowers us to live the ways of God, using our gifts to make a difference in the life of another in Jesus’ name. “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you” (Acts 1:8).

·       As the children of God and the followers of Jesus, equipped with the Spirit’s gifts and power, we are God’s partners in the world, doing God’s work in the world. “Very truly, I tell you, the one who believes in me will also do the works that I do and, in fact, will do greater works than these” (John 14:12). (These ten characteristics are from Chapter 14 in my book Discovering Your True Self: A Guide for the Journey.)

A Christ-based, Christ-shaped identity moves us beyond our sin-based identity along with the shame-based identity it perpetuates. It frees us to live as beloved children of God, learning, growing in, and living the ways of God that Jesus taught. It frees us to deal differently with our natural human limitations in which we fall short. Claiming God’s gift of forgiveness, we deal honestly with how we fail so that we can learn and grow from the experiences. We break free from the toxic power of guilt, shame, and the fear of judgment. Living out of a Christ-shaped identity, we deal differently with our struggle to live the ways of God. We learn to live in glad dependency upon God, trusting the Spirit’s power to do what we cannot do in our own strength (2 Corinthians 12:8-10). A Christ-based identity frees us to live out of our gifts, using them to make a difference in the life of another in the name of Jesus. It allows us to live as God’s partners, bringing the kingdom to reality on earth as it is in heaven.

Thanks to the grace of God, we are more than sinners saved by grace. We are beloved children of God. We are the followers of Jesus who are learning and living the ways of God he taught. We are God’s partners who are led by the Spirit to love as Jesus loved.