https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/01\/SaintOrSinner.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n\tby Jeffrey W. Hamilton<\/p>\n\t
Text: Psalms 1<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
I. Would you describe yourself as a saint or a sinner? Or perhaps you see yourself as both.<\/p>\n A. John Calvin, and his followers, believe that God selects those who are saved. \nOnce selected, that person cannot be removed from God’s saving hand.\n B. We realize that this cannot be. There are many warnings in the scriptures about\nnot returning to the sinful life that we left – Hebrews 6:4-6; 10:26-27\n C. We realize that a child of God may at times commit sin of which we must repent –\nI John 1:8-2:2\n D. Yet, many Christians take this too far. Many talk about the sins that they commit\ndaily before God.\n
II. There are two classes of people discussed in the Scriptures<\/p>\n
A. There are sinners and there are the righteous – Romans 5:19<\/p>\n 1. Psalms 1 – The two are groups, which may be together, but they do not\nintermingle.\n 2. Matthew 13:36-43 – The righteous are the wheat, the tares are the wicked. \nThey exist together in this world but will be separated at judgment.\n
B. It was for sinners that God gave the Law – I Timothy 1:8-11<\/p>\n
C. It was for the sake of sinners that Christ came into the world to save<\/p>\n 1. I Timothy 1:15-16 – Paul saw himself as one of the chief sinners, but no\nmore.\n
2. Romans 5:8 – While we were sinners, Christ died for us.<\/p>\n
D. It is why we take the Gospel to the lost – II Corinthians 5:10-11; James 5:20<\/p>\n 1. The righteous are barely saved, what do you think will happen to the\nsinners? – I Peter 4:18\n
2. Sinners can be converted to righteousness – Psalms 51:13<\/p>\n
E. Those who are saved have been set apart from sin – I John 1:7<\/p>\n
III. The child of God is not to live a life of continual sin<\/p>\n
A. John speaks of this at length in I John<\/p>\n 1. I John 2:28-29 – Those who belong to God practice righteousness. It is a\npart of their daily lives.\n 2. I John 3:2-3 – If we hope to live with God, we purify ourselves of all\nunrighteousness\n 3. I John 3:4 – In contrast, sinners practice lawlessness. Sin is a part of their\ndaily lives.\n
4. I John 3:5-10 – The distinction between sinners and the righteous is great.<\/p>\n
5. I John 3:21-24 – The righteous work to keep God’s commandments.<\/p>\n
6. I John 5:2-3 – Says the same thing. It gives us confidence.<\/p>\n 7. I John 5:18-19 – The world lies in the control of Satan, but our master is\nGod.\n B. These passages do not say that a child of God never sins, but that they do not live\na sinful life. For the most part, we do what is right and correct any wrong we may\ndo.\n C. In contrast, the sinner doesn’t care about God’s laws and does what he desires,\noften violating the commandments of God.\n D. Paul makes the same statement – Romans 6:17-18 – We are freed from sin and\nslaves to righteousness.\n
E. Jesus stated that a good tree does not produce bad fruit – Matthew 7:18<\/p>\n 1. This does not mean that a sinner never manages to do something right\nonce in a while.\n
2. Likewise it doesn’t mean that a saint doesn’t slip once in a while and sins.<\/p>\n
3. However, the general trend is to do what is right – Ephesians 2:1-5<\/p>\n
4. We become partakers of the divine nature – II Peter 1:2-4<\/p>\n
F. Christ does not promote sin – Galatians 2:17-18<\/p>\n
IV. All of this is to say that a saint is not a sinner.<\/p>\n A. When we refer to ourselves as sinners, we are blurring the distinction that God has\nmade between the two groups.\n
B. As Christians, we have left our sins behind. <\/p>\n C. Sure, we may sin once in a while, but as we fight against Satan, as we mold our\nlives to conform to God’s nature, sin should be less and less frequent.\n
D. We do not live in sin. Sin should not be a part of our daily life. – III John 11<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Psalms 1 I. Would you describe yourself as a saint or a sinner? Or perhaps you see yourself as both. A. John Calvin, and his followers, believe that God selects those who are saved. Once selected, that person cannot be removed from God’s saving hand. B. We realize that this cannot be.…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[119,32],"tags":[58,781,179],"class_list":["post-41622","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-audio","category-sermon","tag-once-saved-always-saved","tag-sanctification","tag-sin"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":46572,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/salvation-2\/","url_meta":{"origin":41622,"position":0},"title":"Salvation","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 29, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Text: Romans 2:1-11 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A classic comic skit is to have two people engaged in a conversation. He thinks he is talking about one topic. She thinks the conversation is about an entirely different matter. Yet, the statements said make perfectly good sense to both parties. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0I realized I was\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":60331,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/they-gladly-received-his-word\/","url_meta":{"origin":41622,"position":1},"title":"They Gladly Received His Word","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 15, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"by Larry Ray Hafley Truth Magazine, Vol. 50, No. 2, Jan. 19, 2006. Larry Lester Roloff said that when they \"gladly received the Word\" (Acts 2) that meant they were saved because no sinner would do such! I am wondering why we did not think of that. Reply: If the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":24123,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/does-god-hear-the-prayers-of-those-who-are-not-yet-saved\/","url_meta":{"origin":41622,"position":2},"title":"Does God hear the prayers of those who are not yet saved?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 22, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I am writing, after reading\u00a0your article, wondering your understanding of the Scriptures that point to God willing not to hear because of sins or God not hearing a sinner\u2019s prayer, or even yet, God hears open to the prayers of the righteous? From those Scriptures I arrive at the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":24310,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-sinners-prayer\/","url_meta":{"origin":41622,"position":3},"title":"The Sinner’s Prayer","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 3, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"by Bob Myhan The so-called sinner\u2019s prayer is the prayer of an alien sinner for the forgiveness of sins. An alien sinner is one who has never been saved and is not yet a citizen in the kingdom of God. The sinner\u2019s prayer has had many incarnations over the years\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/08\/prayer.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":62837,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-inheritance\/","url_meta":{"origin":41622,"position":4},"title":"The Inheritance","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 22, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Download Audio Text: Revelation 21:6-8 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The Christian\u2019s relationship with God is described by several metaphors \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0We are servants - I Corinthians 4:1 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a01.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The emphasis is on our obeying the will of our Master \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0B.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0We are priests - I Peter 2:4-5, 9 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a01.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0We are able to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":55618,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-consequences-of-imputed-righteousness-per-calvinism\/","url_meta":{"origin":41622,"position":5},"title":"The Consequences of \u201cImputed Righteousness\u201d per Calvinism","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 7, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"by Dudley Ross Spears \"Imputed righteousness\" is an integral part of classic Calvinism. It is the doctrine affirming that the personal righteousness of Jesus Christ is instantly transferred to a sinner at the point of \"saving faith.\" Accordingly, the believer ceases to be the old vile sinner he was and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41622","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=41622"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41622\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=41622"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=41622"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=41622"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}