"We Are All Sinners": Is That What the Bible Calls Believers?
Drawn from the teaching of Professor Gary S. Maxey · 2 min read
"We are all sinners." You hear it in sermons, in prayers and in casual talk after church. Professor Gary Maxey asks a simple question about the phrase. Is this how the New Testament speaks of believers?
What he counted
In his book on the Highway of Holiness, Professor Maxey says a careful study of the word is worth doing. The words "sinner" and "sinners" appear forty-one times in the NIV New Testament. He finds that only twice are they applied to believers. Both are in 1 Timothy 1:15-16, where Paul calls himself the chief of sinners. Professor Maxey reads this as a reference to Paul's life before he met Jesus, when he persecuted the church.
His conclusion is that "sinners" in the New Testament are those who do not know God.
What believers are called
By contrast, Paul calls believers brothers about one hundred times. He calls them saints, which literally means holy ones, about forty times.
Professor Maxey says it is sad that we now live in an age when believers are regularly called sinners. He quotes the common line: just as a fish cannot deny water, so we cannot deny sin. He says this is not sound Bible teaching.
Why it matters
He sees this language as part of a larger lie. The lie is that believers cannot live above sin. New believers, full of joy and with no wish to say no to God, are told they cannot avoid at least occasional rebellion. Many then accept this as their ceiling. Professor Maxey describes a merry-go-round of ups and downs, below the believer's privileges.
He is not against humility. He says there is nothing wrong with believers calling themselves "sinners saved by grace" unless they mean they cannot escape the slavery of sin. The Bible promises a life of freedom from sin's slavery.
The practical effect on prayer
What you call yourself shapes what you expect. A person who calls himself a sinner expects to sin. A person who understands he has been washed and made a saint expects to obey, and he knows where to turn when he fails.
An exercise
Read Romans 6 aloud, slowly, and mark each phrase that describes a believer. Compare it with the way you describe yourself in your prayers. Then adjust your words to match what God has said.
Drawn from the teaching of Professor Gary S. Maxey.
