From Sinner to Righteous

Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever. I Peter 1:23 (KJV)

This verse says that we’re born-again by God’s Word, which is an incorruptible seed, one that cannot be destroyed. God’s Word is eternal. You can’t corrupt God’s seed.

Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. II Corinthians 5:17 (KJV)

When we’re born-again, we get a new spirit, a new nature- the God nature. Now that we are born-again, or born of God, our old sinful nature passed away. I was a sinner before salvation- a sinner that had the ability to choose to be saved by grace.

For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast. Ephesians 2:8-9 (KJV)

Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God. I John 3:9 (KJV)

Now that I’m saved, I’m righteous and I have a new nature. I have God’s nature by God’s Word and Spirit. I am not a sinner saved by grace. Now that I’m saved and born-again, the incorruptible seed of God, God Himself, is in me. I have a new nature, the nature of God because God lives in me. And if you are born-again, He lives in you. I don’t have a sin nature and neither do you. That sounds radical, but it’s true.

For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. II Corinthians 5:21 (KJV)

I have the nature of God in my born-again spirit, in my spirit that is born of God. We are born of God, meaning we are His children, therefore we take after our Father- and He has no sin nature! God’s nature is not of sin, but of love, righteousness, purity, and holiness.

Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God…. We know that whosoever is born of God sinneth not; but he that is begotten of God keepeth himself, and that wicked one toucheth him not. I John 5:9, 18 (KJV)

I John 5:9 says that whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin. Commit in the Greek is a present tense word. This could be better translated, “Whosover is born of God is not continuously, deliberately, habitually, practicing sin as a lifestyle.” This is because God’s seed, His nature, remains in the born-again person. Thus, you no longer have a sin nature in your spirit. Your very spiritual identity has changed from sinner to saint. Look through the New Testament, and you will not find any verses in which it calls a born-again child of God a sinner. Actually, we are called saints. Your spirit is of the nature of God and you cannot practice a lifestyle of purposeful, ongoing sinning. This is because He lives in you, and you are a new person- one that is born of God. You are a saint.

But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. I John 1:7-9 (KJV)

I’m not saying that you will never mess up and sin. We live in a fallen world and we daily have to contend with our flesh. There will be times when we miss the mark. We’re deceiving ourselves if we think we never sin. However, as we walk in the Light (Jesus), His blood cleanses us from those inadvertent sins. If we willfully and deliberately sin, we can confess it before God and He will forgive us and cleanse us. This restores our fellowship with God. We hadn’t lost our salvation, but we had lost intimate fellowship with the Lord. So when it is confessed and forgiven, that fellowship is restored.

Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. II Peter 1:4 (KJV) emphasis mine

When we are born-again, we receive the divine nature of God. We go from a sinner to being a righteous, born-again believer; one who has the very nature of God Himself in us. That’s not blasphemous- that’s beautiful. Knowing we are not sinners frees us from being performance-based in our walk with Christ. We can enjoy the Lord without worrying about doing everything perfectly. That’s what Christ died to give us.