Christian Sinners and Canonized Saints

 

boynmum

IFE: Mummy, am I a saint?

MUMMY: Good morning Ife

IFE: Oh. Forgive me mum. Good morning ma

MUMMY: Good morning Ife. I trust you slept well.

IFE: Yes I did mum. And you?

MUMMY: I did too dear. Thank God. So what’s with the question first thing in the morning?

IFE: Mum, I asked if I was a saint.

MUMMY: It depends….

IFE: It depends? Depends on what?

MUMMY: It depends on whether or not you’re born again. But before…..

IFE: If I’m born again?

MUMMY: Yes dear, but before we go into that, what do you think it means for someone to be called a saint?

IFE: Hmm. A saint is someone who is holy. That is, someone who is godly. Someone who is…urhmm….holy. Yes someone who is holy and godly and righteous is a saint. That’s what I think.

MUMMY: You’re right about that. A saint simply means someone who is holy and the word holy means ‘to be separated unto God’ or ‘to be dedicated to God’.

IFE: O.K

MUMMY: O.K. So according to the Bible, everyone who is born again, that is all Christians, have been set apart to God/dedicated to Him through their faith in Jesus’ finished work on the cross….

IFE: So, every Christian is a saint? Just like that?

MUMMY: {laughs} Yes Ife. Just like that. Every Christian is a saint. 1 Corinthians 1:30 tells us “God has united us with Christ Jesus” and that “Christ made us right with God; he made us pure and holy, and he freed us from sin“. Just like that.

IFE: Ohh mum. But I thought….my classmates said I was wrong when I told them every Christian was a saint. They said that everyone, whether born again or not is a sinner and that only those dead people who have been ‘cano…urhmm..canon…something, are saints

MUMMY: Canonized?

IFE: Yes mum. That’s the word, Canonized. My classmates said only those dead people who are canonized by the Roman catholic church are saints.

MUMMY: Well dear, your classmates are wrong. The Bible teaches that everyone who’s born again is no longer a sinner but a saint. A sinner is anyone who is in bondage to sin and the whole of Romans chapter 6 for instance, tells us that all Christians have died to sin and have been set free from the bondage of sin.

IFE: Hmmnn…. I see. Just like you said in 1 Corinthians 1:30, Jesus set us free from sin, so if we’ve already been set free from sin it means we’re no longer in bondage. So that means we’re no longer sinners.

MUMMY: Exactly.  Theres no such thing as a ‘Christian sinner’.Every Christian has been set free from sin and is now a saint. Romans 5:8 “God demonstrates his love towards us, in that while we were sinners, Christ died for us. The word is ‘were‘ Ife, ‘were‘ . We ‘were‘ sinners, but by our faith in Jesus’ death and resurrection, God now sees us as holy as Jesus is.

IFE: (with a puzzled look on his face) But mum?

MUMMY: Yes dear.

IFE:. Even though we are born again, we Christians still sin, right? Doesn’t our sin make us sinners once again?

MUMMY: No. I don’t think so. Let’s see. Please bring me my tablet, let’s do a little internet search.

Ife gets her- her tablet. Mummy does a few searches…

MUMMY: Aha! Here we go….. This Bible study teaching on 1 John3:9 says that although a Christian might sin, he/she isn’t a sinner because he/she wouldn’t continue in their sin like a sinner who is a slave to sin would do. It’s more like when a Christian stumbles, and is convicted of it in their heart, a true child of God repents but a sinner doesn’t even think he/she sinned and just continues with life as normal.

IFE: Mummy, mummy. You’re a pastor. (laughing)

MUMMY: No be only… . I just do my best to know what my Bible says. That way I won’t easily be confused by what others think or say. You should do the same dear

IFE: Yes mum. You’re right. I’ll try to read my Bible more often.

MUMMY: You will. Sure you will love. And you’re always welcome to ask me questions.

IFE: Definitely mum. In fact I’m f going to ask my principal to hire you as a CRS teacher in our school.

MUMMY: (laughs) your principal can’t pay me……..

IFE: Then I’ll pay you from my lunch money…(smiling)

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P.S…And just in case you’re still wondering what the relationship is between ‘Christian sinners’ and ‘Canonized saints’…..the answer is, both term are unscriptural. C’est finir 😉

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