I believe that although I was a sinner saved by Grace, I am now a “Saint” sustained by Grace. If I continue to think of myself as a sinner, I will behave accordingly. But in Christ Jesus I am a Saint. His righteousness is now my righteousness. This is not to say that I do not sin. John makes it clear that to say “I have no sin” is to lie about myself. I do sin, but I’m no longer defined by what I do, I’m defined by who I am. I am a child of God, a saint, called, sealed and secured by God for eternal life. Believing that truth, helps me live accordingly. When temptation comes, I remind myself, “I am not a sinner” rather “I am a saint.”

Some believers continually view themselves as “sinners” even after they come to faith in Christ. We are often hypnotized into seeing ourselves this way by the world, flesh and the devil. We see ourselves fall short of our own standards as well as God’s standards and we have a plethora of evidence regarding the fact that we still sin sometimes. But I would argue that we continue to sin because we don’t grasp the truth of who we are in Christ. The four who were hypnotized to think they were a chicken, dog, duck and a cat may act stupid under the trance. They might cluck, bark, quack and meow, but they are not animals. I sometimes, cluck, bark, quack and meow out sin, but I’m not a sinner. It’s because I’ve lost sight of who I truly am in Christ. I’ve got to stop letting the world hypnotize me into believing that I’m just another sinner. I am one of God’s saints!

But pride will often hypnotize me like it did Peter. He fell away from Christ because of over confidence in himself. He said (see Mark 14:29), “Everyone else may stumble in their faith, but I will not.” The flesh often rises up to make us think more of ourselves than we should. Solomon says that pride always precedes a fall. It did for Peter and it often does for me. Also the world can just overcome me sometimes and the stress and strains of life in general weaken my faith and often result in my barking or clucking. The Apostles with Jesus in Gethsemane were asked why they couldn’t stay awake and pray with him. Weariness will make me meow! The Gospels teach us that Peter followed Jesus “at a distance” (See Mark 14:54). Peter was hypnotized by the peer pressure of the crowds and found that the fear of disapproval of people resulted in his barking and a rooster crowing! But, Peter is not a dog, and I am not a sinner. If you’re a believer, neither are you! These things may hypnotize all of us, but the truth of God’s word can sustain us through it all. As saints who still sin, we know that “there is now no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus.”