3. Christians are "sinners saved by grace".
|
The Reformation gospel of Protestantism teaches that Christians are still sinners. Martin Luther referred to this as simul justus et peccator - "simultaneously saint and sinner." According to this gospel, because Christians are still sinners, they are in need of perpetual forgiveness of sin. In other words, Christians are still metaphysically depraved.
Here is why this is false: This statement is a contradiction. It is an impossible reality for man to exist in two different states at once. The Bible says that man is either "under law" OR "under grace". "Under law" is the Biblical definition of an unsaved person. A person who is "under law" is under condemnation. Only those who are "under law" are sinners. So to say that a Christian is a sinner means to consider him still "under law". The Protestant gospel makes Christians no different than the unregenerate. Such a statement is a patent denial of the reality of the New Birth. The New Birth is an existential change in a person's state of being. A believer is literally reborn as the righteous offspring of the Father. He is no longer a "sinner" because the law is ended for him. Where there is no law there is no sin. Christians are righteous children of the Heavenly Father! The New Birth has freed us from sin. It no longer has any power over us. |
