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Have you ever been really scared about something, like, deep down in your gut? When I was a kid, growing up in church, I had a big fear. I was so worried that if I didn't pray every single night and ask God to forgive all my sins, I might go to hell. What if I forgot to mention a sin? What if I sinned without even knowing it? Or what if I got into a car accident and died before I could say sorry to God for something I did wrong? This fear of going to hell kept me really worried for a long, long time. 

This scary feeling stayed with me even when I became an adult. But then, something amazing happened! I was taking a class about ministry, and my teacher, Pastor Ed Eby, helped me see things differently. I had probably heard about it before, but in his class, I finally really understood a different way of thinking about sin. It changed everything for me. 

In the church I'm part of now, the Nazarene church, we talk about two main kinds of sin: original sin and actual sin. 

Original sin is like a problem that came from way back when Adam and Eve disobeyed God. Because of what they did, all of us have this natural tendency to do things that aren't good. It's like a pull inside us toward wrong choices. 

But then there's actual sin, which is also called personal sin. This is super important: for something to be an actual sin, we have to know it's wrong and then choose to do it anyway. Think about it like this: if someone tells you not to hit your friend Sally, you understand that's wrong. You can then guess that hitting Susie or Jimmy is also wrong. Or maybe something just feels wrong in your heart, like it's not what Jesus would do. 

Realizing I didn't have to worry about sins I didn't even know about? That was a huge relief! It was like a giant weight lifted off my shoulders. 

Recently, I learned even more about this that totally blew my mind! I've been reading a book called Victory over the Darkness by Neil T. Anderson. He says that when we decide to follow Jesus, God fills us with His Holy Spirit. The Bible refers to those filled with the Holy Spirit as "saints"! (Refer to Romans 1:7, 1 Corinthians 1:2, 2 Corinthians 1:1, Philippians 1:1 in the Bible). 

Here's the amazing part that really hit me: Anderson writes, "We are saints who sin, but we have all the resources in Christ we need not to sin." 

For the longest time, I thought of myself as just a "sinner saved by God's grace." I focused on all the bad things I might do. But this idea changed everything! It means I'm not just a sinner; I'm a saint, a holy person in God's eyes, and I have the power through Jesus to choose not to sin. I used to focus on my mistakes, but now I focus on who God says I am in Christ. 

My understanding of sin has really grown over the years. I no longer live in fear of making a mistake I don't know about. Because the Holy Spirit lives inside me, I actually have the choice to sin or not to sin. Knowing that I am a saint and that I can choose to say "no" to sin has given me a brand new kind of freedom. It's truly amazing! 

 

PRAYER:  Heavenly Father, help me acknowledge that I am a saint that sins, rather than a sinner who has no choice but to sin.  Give me strength Lord to choose freedom from sin. I need Your strength today to overcome my sin of...  

REFLECTION:  What does it mean to you to be called a "saint" by God? Does this feel different from being called a "sinner"? If so, how? 

 

Did today's blog post resonate with you? If you have thoughts to share or want to explore these ideas further, Pastor Vic would be happy to connect. You can reach out to him directly at victor@connectdinners.org.

 

Anderson, N. T. (2000). Victory over the Darkness (V. Woodard, Ed.; Second Edition, p. 50). Regal.