[Sons to Glory!]

Originally Posted by Trapped

James 5:19-20
¹⁹ My brothers and sisters, if one of you should wander from the truth and someone should bring that person back, ²⁰ remember this: Whoever turns a sinner from the error of their way will save them from death and cover over a multitude of sins.

I haven't followed this particular thread closely enough to know if it was resolved, but I just wanted to throw this verse into the mix. From context it seems like he is calling a believer (brothers/sisters/one of you) "a sinner" if they wander from the truth. What constitutes "wandering from the truth", I don't know, but this verse would possibly imply that you can be saved and still be a sinner, depending on conduct, i.e. I guess, depending on whether or not you sin.

Trapped

This morning at the weekly brothers' breakfast, someone who works with people who had been in prison, talked about how everyone calls them ex-cons. They have paid their debt, but their identity will always be known as ex-cons. They are no longer convicts, but this history seems to haunt them for the rest of their life. And even if they don't view themselves as an ex-con, society still does. (I don't think this should be . . .)

For instance, a brother we know well was in prison 20 years ago for about four years for a drug related thing. Since he got out he has been 100% clean, worked the same job and has been the most responsible and caring person, pursuing Christ wholeheartedly. However, he tried to rent a place recently and was denied, because the record still shows he was in prison 20 years ago. It is something always hung around his neck.

Why do I convey this? Because it occurred to me this morning that this is not so in Christ - He fully paid the debt to the uttermost, and our history is annulled in Him! At least these ex-convicts are not still called convicts, because the reality is they are out. We have been released from captivity in Christ, so why do we call ourselves captives to sin and identify with the old history? These ones who have been in prison may be called ex-cons . . . shouldn't we who have been freed in Christ at least say we are ex-sinners!? Though we may sin, that is not now who we have been made in His new creation - He has transferred us out of darkness, into the kingdom of the Son of His love.

Though in reality we're not sinners by nature any more (we do still have the old flesh and its lusts), because we are now partakers of the divine nature (and yes, we may still sometimes sin). As CS Lewis said, though we have been made royalty in Him, we still often seem to prefer making mud pies in the ghetto, and ignore the grand estate we possess on the ocean! (if we do choose to make mud pies, at least we should do it by our "ocean estate"! )

So I propose that if we must refer to our old history, perhaps we say we are ex-sinners, rather than sinners! What do you think?