Sinner And Saint Series

Two brothers tormented the small town where they lived for decades. They had blown up their families and were dishonest in business. They were loud, boisterous and just plain rude to nearly everyone. One day the younger brother died unexpectedly. The older brother went to the pastor of the local church and said, “Preacher, I’d like you to conduct my brother’s funeral. And it’s important to me that during the service, you say my brother was a saint.”

The pastor said, “I can’t do that. We both know he was far from that.”

The older brother pulled out his checkbook and said, “Preacher, I’m prepared to give $100,000 to the church’s building fund. All I’m asking is that you publicly state that my brother was a saint.”

On the day of the funeral, the preacher began his sermon this way: “Everyone knows that the deceased was a wicked man, a womanizer, and a drunk. He terrorized his employees and cheated on his taxes.” He then paused for a second and continued, “But as evil and sinful as this man was, compared to his older brother, he was a saint!”

Last weekend we established that believers are forgiven and free and we heard Mike Russell flesh out how this applies in his life. Today we will see that we are both sinner and saint. One of the best ways to protect our spiritual identity is to guard who God says we are because a Christian is a person who has become someone he was not before. If you are a born again believer you have been…

• Rescued from Satan

• Reestablished to serve

• Redeemed by the Savior

• Released of your sins

A couple weeks ago I was driving our oldest daughter’s car for a few days and came across a note posted right next to her radio. Emily reminds herself of these five truths every time she gets in her car. I believe these come from a Bible study she did recently.

1. God is who He says He is.

2. God can do what He says He can do.

3. I am who God says I am.

4. I can do all things through Christ.

5. God’s Word is alive and active in me.

I love all five of these statements but want to lean into the middle one today – I am who God says I am.

Because this brief series will only scratch the surface of our identity in Christ, we’re going to look at a longer list of who it is that God says we are according to the Bible. I first heard these statements from Neal Anderson. If you want to dive deeper by looking up all the references, you can access the sermon manuscript online. Or you can download the document from the Sermon Extras tab on the website or on the Edgewood app. We also have printed copies on the resource table.

Let’s stand and recite our identity together.

I Am Accepted

• I am God’s child (John 1:12).

• As a disciple, I am a friend of Jesus Christ (John 15:15).

• I have been justified (Romans 5:1).

• I am united with the Lord (1 Corinthians 6:17).

• I have been bought with a price and belong to God (1 Corinthians 6:19-20).

• I am a member of Christ’s body (1 Corinthians 12:27).

• I have been chosen by God and adopted as His child (Ephesians 1:3-8).

• I have been redeemed and forgiven of all my sins (Colossians 1:13-14).

• I am complete in Christ (Colossians 2:9-10).

• I have direct access to the throne of grace through Jesus Christ (Hebrews 4:14-16).

I Am Secure

• I am free from condemnation (Romans 8:1-2).

• I am assured that God works for my good in all circumstances (Romans 8:28).

• I cannot be separated from the love of God (Romans 8:31-39).

• I have been established, anointed and sealed by God (2 Corinthians 1:21-22).

• I am hidden with Christ in God (Colossians 3:1-4).

• I am confident that God will complete the good work He started in me (Philippians 1:6).

• I am a citizen of heaven (Philippians 3:20).

• I have not been given a spirit of fear but of power, love and a sound mind (2 Timothy 1:7).

• I am born of God and the evil one cannot touch me (1 John 5:18).

I Am Significant

• I am a branch of Jesus Christ, the true vine, and a channel of His life (John 15:5).

• I have been chosen and appointed to bear fruit (John 15:16).

• I am God’s temple (1 Corinthians 3:16).

• I am a minister of reconciliation (2 Corinthians 5:17-21).

• I am seated with Jesus Christ in the heavenly realm (Ephesians 2:6).