This is a complex question that requires looking at multiple biblical truths. At the core, all people are sinners in need of salvation through Jesus Christ (Romans 3:23). However, those who put their faith in Christ are also declared righteous and holy before God. So in one sense, Christians are sinners saved by grace. Yet in another sense, they are saints cleansed by the blood of Jesus. Let’s explore in more detail what the Bible teaches on this important topic.
All People Are Sinners
The Bible clearly states that everyone is a sinner and falls short of God’s perfect standard (Romans 3:23). Every human inherited a sinful nature from Adam and Eve’s original rebellion against God (Romans 5:12). We are born inclined toward sin and self-rule rather than submission to God. The prophet Jeremiah declared, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick” (Jeremiah 17:9). From birth, all people choose to sin by lying, lusting, coveting, and rebelling against God in countless other ways.
Scripture leaves no doubt about the universality of human sinfulness. Ecclesiastes 7:20 says plainly, “Surely there is not a righteous man on earth who does good and never sins.” In the Old Testament, God observed the total corruption of mankind prior to the Flood (Genesis 6:5). After the Flood, He gave the sober assessment that “the intention of man’s heart is evil from his youth” (Genesis 8:21). The New Testament echoes this depravity in passages like Romans 3:10-18:
“None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.” “Their throat is an open grave; they use their tongues to deceive.” “The venom of asps is under their lips.” “Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness.” “Their feet are swift to shed blood; in their paths are ruin and misery, and the way of peace they have not known.” “There is no fear of God before their eyes.”
This is God’s view of fallen humanity. Left to themselves, none seek after Him. All rebel and choose idolatry and sin. From the first humans until now, the entire human race stands guilty before a holy God as sinners.
Christians Are Declared Righteous by Faith
While all people are sinners, those who repent and believe in Jesus Christ receive forgiveness and are declared righteous by God. When a person puts their faith in Christ, an amazing exchange takes place. Jesus takes our sin and guilt on Himself and dies in our place on the cross, satisfying God’s wrath against sin (Romans 5:8-9; 2 Corinthians 5:21). In return, God credits Christ’s perfect righteousness to us. Our sin is removed and replaced with His righteousness (2 Corinthians 5:21). By God’s grace, He declares guilty sinners to be pardoned and sinless saints.
The apostle Paul spoke of this change from sinner to saint in 1 Corinthians 6:9-11:
“Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.”
Though Christians had engaged in all kinds of sinful lifestyles, they were now “washed” and “sanctified” by faith in Christ. Paul emphasized that their standing before God was changed completely. The book of Romans explores this dramatic transition in even more detail. In chapter 6, Paul explains how baptism represents death to our old sinful lives and rising to a new life of righteousness in Christ (Romans 6:3-14). We become “slaves of righteousness” leading to holiness (Romans 6:17-19). Then in chapter 8, Paul contrasts life controlled by sin versus life controlled by the Spirit, declaring that believers have been set free from sin’s control and condemnation through Christ (Romans 8:1-14).
So Scripture is clear that while Christians were once guilty sinners, through saving faith they are pardoned, cleansed, and declared righteous saints in God’s eyes. Titus 3:4-7 summarizes it beautifully:
“But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.”
Christians Still Struggle with Sin
While Christians are declared positionally righteous based on Christ’s finished work, we still struggle practically with sin while on this earth. Our sinful flesh has not yet been eradicated and we battle daily temptations and tendencies toward sin. Becoming a Christian does not automatically make someone perfect or unable to sin. Sanctification is an ongoing process.
The apostle John addressed this reality in 1 John 1:5-10. He wrote to believers, “If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us” (v. 8). Even as God’s forgiven children, we will stumble into sin at times. We are in a lifelong fight to put sin to death and walk in newness of life (Romans 8:13; Colossians 3:5-8). Paul described his own struggle poignantly in Romans 7:14-25. Though his mind desired to obey God, his flesh still had sinful tendencies pulling him in the opposite direction.
Part of maturing as a Christian is learning to rely on the Holy Spirit to say no to fleshly desires and to confess our sins quickly when we do fall (1 John 1:9; Titus 2:11-14). Sanctification has begun but will not be finished until Christ returns. At that time, Christians will be free completely from the presence and temptation of sin as we receive glorified bodies (1 Corinthians 15:51-57). What a glorious hope!
Christians Are Saints Who Occasionally Sin
Synthesizing the biblical evidence, Christians have a dual identity as saints who occasionally sin. In our position before God, we are His beloved, forgiven, righteous children clothed in Jesus’ perfect holiness. There is no condemnation for us; the price for our sins has been paid in full (Romans 8:1). But in our practice, we still sin and need to repent, confess, and fight ongoing temptation by the Spirit’s power. Both these aspects of a Christian’s identity must be held in biblical balance.
The Protestant Reformers often summarized this tension well with the Latin phrase simul justus et peccator – “simultaneously righteous and a sinner.” Martin Luther wrote, “We are in truth and totally sinners, with regard to ourselves and our first birth. Contrariwise, in so far as Christ has been given for us, we are holy and just totally. Hence from different aspects we are said to be just and sinners at the same time.”
On one hand, Christians are saints declared holy in Christ – but on the other hand, we are still sinners who fall short daily. God sees us clothed in Jesus’ righteousness even as we battle indwelling sin. We’re being made practically righteous through sanctification, yet are already perfect positionally based on justification. Christians live in the now and not yet, saints who sometimes sin as we await the consummation of our redemption.
Practical Implications
Understanding Christians as simultaneously saints and sinners impacts how we live the Christian life in several practical ways:
- It gives us humility. Remembering we still sin keeps us from arrogant judgmentalism toward others. “There but for the grace of God go I.”
- It motivates ongoing repentance. Knowing we fail daily drives us back to the cross often to seek forgiveness and cleansing.
- It produces greater love for our Savior. Realizing the depth of our sin makes us praise Jesus more for the extent of mercy and grace toward us.
- It fuels our fight against sin. Recalling that sin still tempts us keeps us vigilant and prayerful in putting it to death by the Spirit.
- It encourages grace and patience with others. Understanding our shared struggle with sin makes us extend more mercy to fellow Christians when they fail.
Rather than discouragement at our sin, living as saints who sometimes sin fills us with thankfulness for God’s love in Christ. It humbles us to depend more on the Spirit. Most importantly, it magnifies God’s grace and patience toward us as His beloved children.
Conclusion
Are Christians sinners or saints? As we have seen, the Bible teaches that believers in Jesus are both. Our sin was fully paid for by Christ’s finished work on the cross. So God declares and sees us as righteous saints based on that atoning work. But until heaven, we still wrestle with indwelling sin and need to repent when we fail. Christians walk both in the assurance of their identity in Christ and in the practical struggle against sin by the Spirit’s power. By God’s endless grace, the saints who sometimes sin will one day be perfected with our glorious Savior.