From the PASTOR
Here’s 500 years of the reformation, or “justification” in a nutshell: “We don’t ‘get right’” with God by what we say, think, or do—by the grace of God, Christians are ‘made right’ through the forgiveness of sin in Jesus Christ. Even though by the grace of God, we always also remain sinners.
Before God, we Christians are both sinner and saint!
What is a saint? Nothing more and nothing less than a saved sinner! Yes we are both, “sinners” (under the law) and “saints” forgiven sinners (under the gospel). Isn’t it kind of frustrating that we live in this tension? Aren’t we just one, or the other? I suspect that most people, Christian or not, think the same way: you’re a “sinner” when you do bad, and a “saint” when you do good. The Christian truth is that only after resurrection and final judgement will “sin” be destroyed—until then, we Christians will always live in the tension of Saint and Sinner.
There is great comfort as we live under this tension, we recognise the reality of sin in our lives, but we also focus on the fact that in Christ, we are also already “Saints”.
We take great comfort in the Holy Spirit always acting in the life of the Christian! The Spirit helps Christians to live holy lives in the way God planned for them to live. Even though Christians will fail, the Holy Spirit helps them to develop and produce the fruit of the Spirit in their lives and to grow more Christ-like as they mature as Christians. Please read:
† Galatians 5:22-25
† Colossians 3:12-17
† Ephesians 4:13-16
I’ll finish this series next month as we continue with “Sin and Grace”. The fourth and final part will be “Confession and Absolution”. In summary, so far we’ve looked at
† What is sin?
† The origin of sin.
† The effects of sin.
† God’s response to Sin.
And what’s been clear is this: we Christians are shaped by the Biblical teaching of SIN and GRACE. Our whole lives (now and in eternity) rests solely on Justification—this is NOT doctrine, or teaching, it is in fact the Christian experience; and what we experience as Christians.
Before God, we Christians are both sinner and saint!
What is a saint? Nothing more and nothing less than a saved sinner! Yes we are both, “sinners” (under the law) and “saints” forgiven sinners (under the gospel). Isn’t it kind of frustrating that we live in this tension? Aren’t we just one, or the other? I suspect that most people, Christian or not, think the same way: you’re a “sinner” when you do bad, and a “saint” when you do good. The Christian truth is that only after resurrection and final judgement will “sin” be destroyed—until then, we Christians will always live in the tension of Saint and Sinner.
There is great comfort as we live under this tension, we recognise the reality of sin in our lives, but we also focus on the fact that in Christ, we are also already “Saints”.
We take great comfort in the Holy Spirit always acting in the life of the Christian! The Spirit helps Christians to live holy lives in the way God planned for them to live. Even though Christians will fail, the Holy Spirit helps them to develop and produce the fruit of the Spirit in their lives and to grow more Christ-like as they mature as Christians. Please read:
† Galatians 5:22-25
† Colossians 3:12-17
† Ephesians 4:13-16
I’ll finish this series next month as we continue with “Sin and Grace”. The fourth and final part will be “Confession and Absolution”. In summary, so far we’ve looked at
† What is sin?
† The origin of sin.
† The effects of sin.
† God’s response to Sin.
And what’s been clear is this: we Christians are shaped by the Biblical teaching of SIN and GRACE. Our whole lives (now and in eternity) rests solely on Justification—this is NOT doctrine, or teaching, it is in fact the Christian experience; and what we experience as Christians.