Are Christians both sinners and saints? There seems to be a lot of confusion regarding these words and how Christians see themselves. A sinner is an unregenerated (unsaved) person that is said to be spiritually dead. In Gen. 2:17 when God said to Adam, “In the day that you eat thereof (from the “tree of the knowledge of good and evil”), you shall surely die.” Spiritual death came to all mankind because of Adam’s choice. Rom. 5:12 “through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men.”

In Ephesians Paul refers to our unregenerate spiritual condition, “you were dead in your trespasses and sins” Eph. 2:1. He goes on to explain the source of our spiritual condition was Satan. Eph. 2:2 “in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. The condition of spiritual death is not merely the absence of God’s spiritual life. It is an “energizing” of spiritual death, Mr. Death, Satan Himself.

The Greek word for “working” is “energeo” which means, “to be operative, be at work.” We get our English word “energize” from this word.

Paul is saying that unregenerate man is spiritually dead having “the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is NOW WORKING IN the sons of disobedience.” Our spiritual deadness is personified!

In Romans 5:17, Paul explains that “death reigned” in all men because of Adam’s choice. The writer of Hebrews refers to “him having the power of death, that is, the devil.” (Heb. 2:14). Spiritual death involves demonic spiritual presence and activity.
Most Christians when they think about their relationship with God, think about their conduct, their behavior not their spiritual condition. They think in terms of what they have done or not done to determine who they are spiritually. When a sinner gets saved, he does not become a sinner saved by grace. He becomes a saint who sins. A correct way of understanding it would be to say, as a Christian, “You are a saint who sometimes sins and hates it when you do.”

It would be true to say, that all human beings are sinners because we are born in sin. But not all humans are saints. How does our behavior factor into this understanding? According to the Bible, a saint is not someone who has done wonderful things, nor is it someone who has been deemed a saint by a church or organization. The word translated “saint” in the New Testament, hagios, literally means “pure; blameless or holy.” A saint is another word for a Christian, a true believer in the Lord Jesus Christ.

We might say it this way, “Saints are not naturally born saints; they become saints by being reborn spiritually. A spiritual exchange has taken place. Because we have all “sinned and fallen short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23), we are all in need of spiritual rebirth. A spiritual exchange. The regenerate man, “the believer or Christian” does not have the “nature” or spiritual condition of death any longer, but the Resurrection Life of Christ, The Christ Life! Man has either “The Life of Christ” or “the Death of Satan” as the source of their spiritual condition. Christians are continually trying to change their lives; but what is truly needed is a spiritual exchange. Sometimes referred to as the exchanged life. Christianity is not a self-improvement program or reforming our behavior to make it look more like Jesus.

Christians should no longer view themselves as sinners saved by grace but as saints. This is a powerful truth. Christianity is Jesus Christ. When a person has experienced a spiritual exchange they receive the indwelling presence of Jesus living in them. The New birth is a totally new spiritual union and identity exchange. You are now a saint, a holy one. Not because of your performance but because of Christ. “You are a saint endowed with everything God has to give in His Son, Jesus Christ, the real issue is not a matter of “who you think you are,” but “who does God say you are” when you have been “joined in one spirit with the Lord Jesus Christ” (I Cor. 6:17), and have become “a new creature in Christ” (II Cor. 5:17) It is now your privilege and responsibility to walk like the saint Christ has made you to become in Him.