It is common to hear believing Christians say “Oh, I’m just a sinner saved by grace.” Is this an accurate description of the current position or standing of the regenerated (reborn) Christian? To say I’m “saved by grace” is absolutely correct, but as we will see, that we are still “a sinner” in God’s eyes is not the truth?

In order to address this question, we must consider two points; first there is that of being a sinner positionally, and then being a sinner practically. These must be clearly differentiated for believers.

“For he (The Father) hath made him (Jesus) to be sin for us, who knew no sin; (so) that we might be made the righteousness of God in him (In Christ).” (2 Corinthians 5:21)

If we read Romans 5:12, 15-21 (below), we will note the word “all” (v12, 18) as indicative of the fact that every person in the world falls into one of these two categories — there are the Lost Sinners in Adam, and the Saved and Justified believers who are “In Christ.”

Respectively, they are under one of two ‘heads’— the “lost” man is under the ‘headship of Adam’ by his fallen sinful nature, while the “saved” man is under the ‘headship of Jesus Christ’ in his spirit.

“¹²Wherefore, as by one man (Adam) sin entered into the world, and death by Sin; and so Death passed upon ALL men, for that ALL have sinned: …

¹⁵ But not as the offence, so also is the Free Gift. For if through the offence of one (Adam) many be dead, much more the grace of God, and the Gift by Grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many. ¹⁶ And not as it was by one that sinned, so is the Gift: for the judgment was by one to Condemnation, but the Free Gift is of many offences unto justification (being declared free of their sin-debt). ¹⁷ For if by one man’s offence DEATH reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the Gift of Righteousness shall reign in LIFE by one, Jesus Christ.) ¹⁸ Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the Free Gift came upon ‘ALL’ men unto justification of life. ¹⁹ For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous. ²⁰ Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound (intensify sin, cf. 1Cor. 15:56b). But where sin abounded, Grace did much more abound: ²¹ That as Sin Hath Reigned Unto Death, even so might Grace Reign Through Righteousness Unto Eternal Life by Jesus Christ our Lord.” (Rom. 5:12-21) 

Note the contrasts between what Adam and Christ brought to us.

• Adam brought sin (v12), condemnation (v16), and death to ALL men (v12, 21).
• Jesus Christ brought “grace and truth” (Jn. 1:17), and by His cross He brought the opportunity to be Freely forgiven of ALL sins and justified (declared of innocent), thereby… to be eternally secure in right standing with God.

We are all physically born into Adam’s family, this is every human’s natural position. We are born already dead toward God, “dead in trespasses and sins” (Eph. 2:5). We were born alienated from God’s life, and “children of (subject to God’s) wrath.” (Eph. 2:3). Psalm 51:5 describes each person born into this world: “Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me.” In Rom. 3:10, 23 Paul declares: “there is none righteous, no not one;” “all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God...”

Paul writes this below to his Gentile converts at Ephesus, referring to their past state of being.

“you (believers) hath he quickened (made alive), who WERE Dead In Trespasses And Sins; ²Wherein in Time Past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the Prince Of The Power Of The Air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience: ³Among whom also we all had our conversation (manner of living) in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind (of the flesh); and were by nature the children of Wrath, even as others.” (Eph. 2:1-3)

 “This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk, in the vanity of their mind, ¹⁸Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart: ¹⁹Who being past feeling have given themselves over unto lasciviousness, to work all uncleanness with greediness.” (Ephesians 4:17-19)

Now in Ephesians 2:1-3 (above) we notice that the believers who “were (past tense) dead (spiritually) in trespasses and sins” are no longer worthy of God’s “wrath” (v3). The God of the Bible has “quickened them (made them alive)” … giving them Jesus Christ’s resurrected “Spirit of life” for them to function as He intends. Let’s keep reading this chapter to learn exactly what happened to them.

“⁵…when we were dead in sins, (God) hath quickened (made us alive) us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) ⁶And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:…

⁸For by grace are ye saved through faith (alone); and that (faith is) not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: ⁹Not of works, lest any man should boast.” (Ephesians 2:4-6, 8-9)

Ephesians chapter 1 had already said of these believers:

“⁴According as he (God the Father) hath chosen us In Him [in Jesus Christ] before the foundation of the world, (so) that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: ⁵Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, ⁶To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein HE HATH MADE US ACCEPTED IN THE BELOVED.” (Eph. 1:4-6)

While ALL people are part of Adam’s human lineage, only some people are part of God’s family Spiritually. The difference is that Paul’s “Gospel of the Grace of God” (Acts 20:24) declares: “…Christ Died For Our Sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures” (1 Cor. 15:3-4). “And you (the believers) hath he quickened (made alive), who were dead in trespasses and sins;” (Eph. 2:1)

It was through simple faith in Jesus Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection, as the all-sufficient payment for all our ALL sins, that we as believers were given Christ’s own “Spirit of life.” We were transferred from under the headship of Adam to the ‘headship of Jesus Christ.’ We were declared “justified,” and are thereby seen as righteous in God’s sight, because Jesus shed His blood on the cross for us. This is ours all because of what the Lord Jesus did for us, having nothing whatsoever to do with our religious performance.

Let’s continue in Ephesians 1:

“¹²That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ. ¹³In whom ye also trusted, after that Ye Heard The Word Of Truth, The Gospel Of Your Salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were Sealed with that holy Spirit of promise, ¹⁴Which is the earnest (down payment) of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession (at the rapture), unto the praise of his glory.” (Eph. 1:12-14)

Believers were predestined not to salvation, but rather to God’s plan for Sonship when it was “foreknown” by God that we would believe.

“For (those) whom he did FOREKNOW, (those) he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. ³⁰ Moreover whom (those whom He did foreknow) he did predestinate (them to His plan), them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified.” (Romans 8:29-30, parenthesis added with emphasis)

Upon trusting “the Gospel of the Grace of God,” we are “sealed with the Holy Spirit.” That is, God the Holy Spirit baptized us, that is ‘placed us’ into “the (one) body of Christ.”

 “For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body (the body of Christ), whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit.” (1 Corinthians 12:13)

To repeat, we’ve moved from being “in Adam” to being ‘in Christ’s One Body.’ Thereby, we now share in Christ’s identity in that we share the intimate relationship He has with Father God.  Paul wrote, “… in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.” (1 Cor. 15:22) As believers, “in Christ” we are now seen as justified, holy, sanctified, loved of God, and so on. We have all our sins totally forgiven forever (Eph. 1:7; Col. 1:14, 2:13), and we are “accepted in the beloved [Christ]” (Eph. 1:6).

Due to sin, God has a problem with those still “in Adam” (unsaved), thus He can have no relationship with them. However, He has no problem with those “in Christ” because their sins were dealt with at the Cross.

“… if any man be in Christ, he is a New Creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” (2 Corinthians 5:17)

The believer’s old identity “in Adam” is gone, and the believer has received a new identity “in Christ.” Our race, identity, and our “head,” has changed.

“he (Christ) is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence.” (Col. 1:18)

As with every human body, the brain in the head is what leads the whole body as to where to go, what to do and how to operate… and so it is with Christ as “the head” of “His body.” Christ is both “the life” of the body and the head of “His body.” So, it is He who lives and move in and through us as the literal members of “His (incarnated) body” as He is today.