I’m going to be preachy here.
Very preachy.
Because there is something I hear often in the church that has started to bother me: “I’m just a sinner saved by grace.”
I understand what people mean when they say it. Usually, it is intended to be humble. We are acknowledging that we didn’t save ourselves, that we didn’t earn our salvation, and that we desperately needed God’s grace.
I agree with all of that.
But I don’t agree with identifying myself as a sinner anymore.
I am saved by grace.
There is a difference.
I Know Who I Was
I was a sinner.
I have absolutely no problem saying that. I know who I was. I know what I’ve done wrong, the mistakes I’ve made, and the ways I’ve failed. Trust me, I’m not confused about my imperfections. I may very well be one of the most imperfect people I know.
But my imperfections are not my identity.
When I placed my faith in Jesus Christ and was born again, something changed.
Second Corinthians 5:17 says in the NLT, “This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!”
The old life is gone.
A new life has begun.
So why would I continue introducing myself by the old one?
I Am a New Creation
This is where I think we sometimes get stuck.
We know we’re saved, but we continue thinking of ourselves primarily as sinners who happen to be saved.
But Scripture tells me I am a new creation in Christ.
That doesn’t mean I’m perfect. It doesn’t mean I never sin or won’t make another mistake tomorrow. I absolutely will. I still need Jesus every single day.
If you need the reminder that following Jesus doesn’t require becoming Super Christian Wonder Woman, I’ve written about that, too.
But there is a difference between committing a sin and identifying as a sinner.
I can fail without making failure my identity. I can stumble without deciding that stumbling is who I am. I can need forgiveness without believing that my past has the authority to define me.
Jesus changed that.
Jesus Paid for Sin Once and for All
And this is where grace gets even more beautiful.
Hebrews 10:10 tells us that we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all time.
Jesus didn’t pay for the sins I had committed up until the day I accepted Him and then leave me responsible for figuring out the rest. His sacrifice was more than sufficient.
First John 1:7 tells us that the blood of Jesus, God’s Son, “cleanses us from all sin.”
All.
That includes my past sin. It covers the things I still fail at today and the things I will do tomorrow that I haven’t even messed up yet.
Now, that doesn’t give me a license to sin. Quite the opposite. It makes me want to live differently.
Grace Is Not a License to Keep Sinning
Let’s be very clear about this because I know exactly where someone’s mind could go.
If Jesus has paid for all my sin, does that mean I can just do whatever I want?
No. Absolutely not.
Romans 6:1-2 addresses this very idea. Paul asks whether we should keep sinning so that God can give us more and more grace. His answer is essentially, of course not.
Grace isn’t permission to live however I want.
Grace is the reason I want to live differently.
When I understand what Jesus has done for me, I don’t want to casually walk back into the things He rescued me from. I want holiness. I want obedience. I want my life to look different because my heart has been changed.
I Want to Live From the Throne Room
This is why the phrase “living from the throne room” means so much to me.
Ephesians 2:6 tells us that God raised us up with Christ and seated us with Him in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ Jesus.
That is an extraordinary statement.
I’m not saying I’m God. I’m not saying I’m perfect. I’m not saying I deserve anything. I’m simply saying that because of Jesus, I have access to God.
Hebrews 4:16 tells us that we can approach God’s throne of grace with confidence so that we can receive His mercy and find grace when we need it.
So I don’t want to spend my life standing outside the throne room thinking, I’m just a sinner. I’m not good enough. I don’t belong here.
Jesus says otherwise.
The door is open.
Come in.
Receive mercy.
Receive grace.
And then go live differently.
Holiness Is a Daily Choice
Living from the throne room doesn’t mean sitting back and doing nothing. It means allowing my relationship with God to transform the way I live.
I read my Bible because I want to know Him. I study Scripture because I want to understand what He says. I pray because I want an active relationship with my Father, not a Sunday-morning relationship with Him.
I worship, repent, listen, learn, serve, forgive, and try again when I fail.
I ask God to show me the places in my life that don’t look like Him. And when He shows me something, I don’t want to defend it with, “Well, I’m just a sinner.”
No.
I’m His daughter.
And because I’m His daughter, I want to become more like Him.
That’s the difference.
I Am Not Perfect. I Know That.
Please don’t misunderstand me.
I’m not walking around thinking I’ve arrived. I haven’t. I’m a work in progress. I’m imperfect. Sometimes spectacularly so.
There are days when I get it right and days when I get it very, very wrong. I still lose my patience. I still say things I shouldn’t. I still have attitudes I need to surrender. I still have areas where God is working on me.
I still need repentance.
I still need grace.
I still need Jesus.
But I don’t need to call myself a sinner to acknowledge any of that.
I can say, “I failed.”
I can say, “I sinned.”
I can say, “I need forgiveness.”
And then I can get back up.
Because my failure is an event.
It is not my identity.
I wrote more about this in Grace For Failure Days, because sometimes failure gets much louder than the truth.
I Know Who I Am Because I Know Whose I Am
This is really what I want us to take away.
I don’t want to identify myself by what Jesus came to save me from. I want to live from what He has done for me.
I was a sinner. I’ve been saved by grace. I am a now new creation.
I am His daughter.
And I’m still growing.
Those things can all be true at the same time.
I don’t need to pretend I never fail in order to know who I am. I simply need to believe what God says about me.
Because words matter.
Identity matters.
And I don’t want to keep introducing myself as someone defined by sin when Jesus has given me a new life.
I know who I was. I know what I’ve done. I know how imperfect I am.
But I also know what Jesus has done.
And because of Him, I know who I am.
I am saved by grace, and I am learning every day to live from the throne room of God, pursuing holiness not because I’m trying to earn His love, but because I already have it.
And that, my friends, is worth being preachy about.
A Little Encouragement for You
If you’ve been carrying an identity built around your past, your failures, or the things you wish you could undo, I hope you’ll take a moment today to remember who you are in Christ. You are not defined by your worst moments. You are His.
What would change in your life if you began living from that truth?
