# No Longer Sinners ## Intro Many Christians describe themselves as "just a sinner saved by grace." It sounds humble, and part of it is true: Christians still sin, and they still need to confess it. But the Bible draws a sharper line. In Scripture, *sinner* describes what a believer **was**. What a believer **is** has changed: justified, washed, made righteous in Christ, and called a saint. This is not a new idea that appears only after Jesus. The Old Testament already shows God counting a person righteous by faith, covering and removing sin, and changing a person's filthy clothes for clean ones. Romans and Corinthians then explain how it happens: through Christ, the moment a person believes. This page lays out that case from both Testaments, then answers the verses usually raised against it. ## In full The claim is about **standing and identity**, not about sinless behavior. At the moment of saving faith, God declares the believer righteous on the basis of Christ's work ([Justification by Faith](/codex/justification-by-faith/)), counts Christ's righteousness to the believer ([Imputation Doctrine](/codex/imputation-doctrine/)), and joins the believer to Christ so that the old self is reckoned dead and a new creation has begun. From then on the New Testament addresses believers as saints, not sinners, and speaks of their sinful state in the past tense. At the same time, believers still commit sins, confess them, and are being made holy over a lifetime ([Sanctification](/codex/sanctification/)), until sin's presence is finally removed at glorification. The page holds both truths together: a changed identity now, a growing holiness in practice, and complete freedom from sin at the resurrection. ## The Old Testament, before Christ ### 1. Righteousness counted by faith The first statement of the principle comes long before the Law: *"And he believed in Jehovah; and he reckoned it to him for righteousness"* ([Genesis 15:6](/codex/genesis-15-6/)). Abraham was not made righteous by works. God counted him righteous when he believed. The prophets repeat it: *"the righteous shall live by his faith"* ([Habakkuk 2:4](/codex/habakkuk-2-4/)). Paul builds Romans 4 on the first of these verses and quotes the second in Romans 1:17. ### 2. Sin covered and not counted David describes the person whose sin God no longer holds against him: *"Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, Whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man unto whom Jehovah imputeth not iniquity"* ([Psalm 32:1-2](/codex/psalms-32-1-2/)). Paul quotes this psalm in Romans 4:7-8 as his proof that God *"reckoneth righteousness apart from works."* ### 3. Sin removed, not merely managed - *"As far as the east is from the west, So far hath he removed our transgressions from us"* ([Psalm 103:12](/codex/psalms-103-12/)). - *"I, even I, am he that blotteth out thy transgressions for mine own sake; and I will not remember thy sins"* ([Isaiah 43:25](/codex/isaiah-43-25/)). - *"Thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea"* ([Micah 7:19](/codex/micah-7-18-19/)). A sin that has been blotted out, removed as far as east from west, and cast into the sea no longer defines the person it was removed from. ### 4. The moment of cleansing in real lives When David confessed, *"I have sinned against Jehovah,"* Nathan answered at once, *"Jehovah also hath put away thy sin"* ([2 Samuel 12:13](/codex/2-samuel-12-13/)). When Isaiah saw his own uncleanness, the coal touched his lips and he heard, *"thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin forgiven"* ([Isaiah 6:7](/codex/isaiah-6-7/)). In both cases the change is immediate: unclean one moment, declared clean the next. See [David](/codex/david/). ### 5. The change of clothes Zechariah gives the clearest picture. Joshua the high priest stands before God in filthy garments, and God says: *"Take the filthy garments from off him. And unto him he said, Behold, I have caused your iniquity to pass from you, and I will clothe you with rich apparel"* (Zechariah 3:4). Joshua is not told to clean himself up. God removes the iniquity and clothes him. Isaiah sings the same thing: *"he hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, he hath covered me with the robe of righteousness"* ([Isaiah 61:10](/codex/isaiah-61-10/)). ### 6. The promise of a new heart and a righteous Name - *"A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you... And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes"* ([Ezekiel 36:26-27](/codex/ezekiel-36-25-27/)). - *"I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin will I remember no more"* ([Jeremiah 31:34](/codex/jeremiah-31-33-34/)). - The Messiah's name: *"Jehovah our righteousness"* ([Jeremiah 23:6](/codex/jeremiah-23-6/)). - *"By the knowledge of himself shall my righteous servant justify many; and he shall bear their iniquities"* ([Isaiah 53:11](/codex/isaiah-53-11/)). The Old Testament therefore promises exactly what the New Testament announces: a righteousness that comes from God, a removal of sin, a new heart, and a Messiah who is Himself the people's righteousness. ## Romans 1. **Justified freely.** *"For all have sinned, and fall short of the glory of God; being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus"* (Romans 3:23-24). The universal problem and the free solution sit side by side. 2. **Abraham's verse applied to believers.** *"Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned unto him for righteousness"* ([Romans 4:3](/codex/romans-4-3/)), and God *"reckoneth righteousness apart from works"* ([Romans 4:6](/codex/romans-4-6-8/)). 3. **"Sinners" in the past tense.** *"While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us"* ([Romans 5:8](/codex/romans-5-8/)). *"Through the obedience of the one shall the many be made righteous"* ([Romans 5:19](/codex/romans-5-19/)). 4. **The old self is dead.** *"Our old man was crucified with him, that the body of sin might be done away, that so we should no longer be in bondage to sin; for he that hath died is justified from sin"* (Romans 6:6-7). 5. **Believe your new identity.** *"Even so reckon ye also yourselves to be dead unto sin, but alive unto God in Christ Jesus"* ([Romans 6:11](/codex/romans-6-11/)). 6. **From servants of sin to servants of righteousness.** *"Whereas ye were servants of sin, ye became obedient from the heart... and being made free from sin, ye became servants of righteousness"* (Romans 6:17-18); *"now being made free from sin and become servants to God"* ([Romans 6:22](/codex/romans-6-22/)). 7. **No condemnation and no accuser.** *"There is therefore now no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus"* ([Romans 8:1](/codex/romans-8-1/)). *"Who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifieth"* ([Romans 8:33](/codex/romans-8-33-34/)). ## Corinthians 1. **Addressed as saints.** Paul writes *"unto the church of God which is at Corinth, even them that are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints"* ([1 Corinthians 1:2](/codex/1-corinthians-1-2/)). This was a church with serious problems, and he still names them saints. 2. **Christ is their righteousness.** Christ *"was made unto us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption"* ([1 Corinthians 1:30](/codex/1-corinthians-1-30/)), the fulfilment of "Jehovah our righteousness." 3. **"Such were some of you."** *"Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God?... And such were some of you: but ye were washed, but ye were sanctified, but ye were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, and in the Spirit of our God"* ([1 Corinthians 6:9-11](/codex/1-corinthians-6-9-11/)). The unrighteous cannot enter the kingdom, and that is exactly why the believer's change matters: they were unrighteous, and they have been washed and justified. 4. **A new creation.** *"If any man is in Christ, he is a new creature: the old things are passed away; behold, they are become new"* ([2 Corinthians 5:17](/codex/2-corinthians-5-17/)). 5. **The great exchange.** *"Him who knew no sin he made to be sin on our behalf; that we might become the righteousness of God in him"* ([2 Corinthians 5:21](/codex/2-corinthians-5-21/)). ## The rest of the New Testament agrees - *"Even when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ"* ([Ephesians 2:5](/codex/ephesians-2-4-5/)). - *"You, being in time past alienated and enemies in your mind in your evil works, yet now hath he reconciled... to present you holy and without blemish and unreproveable before him"* (Colossians 1:21-22). - *"Who in time past were no people, but now are the people of God"* ([1 Peter 2:10](/codex/1-peter-2-9-10/)). - *"By one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified"* ([Hebrews 10:14](/codex/hebrews-10-14/)): perfected in standing, while still being sanctified in practice. ## Three tenses: justified, being sanctified, glorified The change at faith is real and complete in one sense and still unfolding in another. - **Justified (past, at the moment of faith).** Declared righteous, once for all. *"Being therefore justified by faith, we have peace with God"* (Romans 5:1). - **Being sanctified (present, a lifelong process).** Made holy in practice by the Spirit, *"transformed into the same image from glory to glory"* (2 Corinthians 3:18). - **Glorified (future).** Sin's presence removed and the body made new: *"we shall be like him"* (1 John 3:2). Paul links all three: *"whom he justified, them he also glorified"* ([Romans 8:30](/codex/romans-8-30/)). So the believer's identity is settled now, holiness grows now, and freedom from sin's presence is complete at glorification. See [Sanctification](/codex/sanctification/). ## Answering the objections **"If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves" ([1 John 1:8](/codex/1-john-1-8-9/)).** Agreed. Believers still commit sins and confess them, and God is faithful *"to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness"* (1:9). But committing a sin is not the same as having a sinner's identity. A son who disobeys is still a son. **"Paul called himself the chief of sinners" ([1 Timothy 1:15](/codex/1-timothy-1-15/)).** Paul is looking back at what he had been, a persecutor of the church, and marveling at the grace that saved him. In the same letters he calls believers saints and himself an apostle. It is humility about his past, not a denial of his identity in Christ. **"Wretched man that I am!" (Romans 7:24).** The cry ends in thanks, *"I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord"* (7:25), and the next sentence is *"There is therefore now no condemnation"* (8:1). Scholars debate whether Romans 7 describes Paul as a believer or under the Law, so it is wise not to build either side of the case on it. **"Isn't this perfectionism?"** No. The claim is about standing and identity, not sinless behavior. Christians are forgiven sinners being made holy, not sinners left as they were, and not people who no longer sin. **"Isn't calling myself a sinner more humble?"** Humility is agreeing with God. God calls believers saints, justified and washed. Insisting on the old name can quietly deny what Christ accomplished. ## Why it matters - **Assurance.** A believer can stand before God without condemnation because the righteousness is Christ's, not their own. - **Power for holiness.** Paul's pattern is identity first, then behavior: *reckon* yourselves dead to sin (Romans 6:11), then do not let sin reign. People live out of who they believe they are. - **The gospel itself.** If nothing changes at faith, the gospel is reduced to a pardon with no new life. Scripture promises both a pardon and a new heart. ## See also - [Justification by Faith](/codex/justification-by-faith/), declared righteous by faith - [Imputation Doctrine](/codex/imputation-doctrine/), Christ's righteousness counted to the believer - [Sanctification](/codex/sanctification/), the lifelong process of being made holy - [Penal Substitutionary Atonement](/codex/penal-substitutionary-atonement/), the exchange at the cross - [Repentance](/codex/repentance/) and [Becoming a Christian](/codex/becoming-a-christian/), how the change begins - [Sin](/codex/sin/) and [Original Sin](/codex/original-sin/), the problem being answered - [Romans Road](/codex/romans-road/), the gospel in five verses from Romans
## Common questions this page answers **Q: Am I still a sinner after I become a Christian?** You still commit sins and need to confess them (1 John 1:8-9), but the Bible no longer calls your identity "sinner." It says you were washed, sanctified and justified (1 Corinthians 6:11), a new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17), and it addresses believers as saints (1 Corinthians 1:2). **Q: Is it wrong to call myself a sinner saved by grace?** It is true that you were a sinner and were saved by grace. The New Testament, though, speaks of being a sinner in the past tense for believers (Romans 5:8; 6:17) and names them saints. "Saved by grace" is the right emphasis; the identity it creates is a forgiven child of God. **Q: Does the Old Testament teach that God makes people righteous by faith?** Yes. Abraham "believed in Jehovah; and he reckoned it to him for righteousness" (Genesis 15:6). David describes the person to whom God does not impute iniquity (Psalm 32:1-2), and Zechariah shows God removing a priest's filthy garments and clothing him (Zechariah 3:4). **Q: When does a believer stop being a sinner?** In standing and identity, at the moment of saving faith, when God justifies the believer (Romans 5:1). In practice, holiness grows over a lifetime (sanctification). Freedom from sin's presence is complete at glorification, when "we shall be like him" (1 John 3:2). **Q: What about Paul calling himself the chief of sinners?** In 1 Timothy 1:15 Paul is marveling at the grace that saved a former persecutor. He does not deny that believers are saints; he calls them saints throughout his letters. **Q: Isn't this the same as claiming Christians don't sin?** No. The claim is about who believers are, not about sinless behavior. Christians still sin and confess it; what has changed is their standing before God and the new life He has begun in them.