I am constantly amazed — though by now I really shouldn’t be — when Christians fight tooth and nail to convince everyone how sinful they still are. They spend precious breath and hours declaring themselves “the worst of sinners,” self-centred on defining themselves as a sinner, and still having a consciousness of their sins and flesh. Their self-centeredness would make the Pharisees blush. And the devil is having the time of his life watching it.

The only consistent thing to do is treat them the way they describe themselves. If they insist they are sinners and I am righteous, then I cannot have fellowship with that; the reason is because I’m better them, as mush as righteousness is better than sin, as light is to darkness, as Christ is to the devil. Light and darkness don’t mix, and so I cannot association with them. As Paul wrote, “We have stopped evaluating others from a human point of view… Anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun… [We have] become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:16-17, 21 NLT, LSB). “What harmony can there be between Christ and the devil?” (2 Corinthians 6:15 NLT).

“Blessed is the man who does not walk in the advice of the wicked; nor does he stand in the way of sinners; nor does he sit in the assembly of mockers” (Psalm 1 LEB).

When Paul called himself the “worst of sinners,” he was being a mascot — a living poster boy for the reach of grace. He was describing what he had been, not what he was. Paul called himself the worst of sinners, describing himself as a mascot, a poster-boy label (present tense), for what he once was (past tense); he was not saying his present reality is a sinner. The old man is dead. We believers are a new creation, and we have become the righteousness of God. Paul said we are blameless in God’s thoughts. Who am I to disagree with God? I cannot see the east from the west, so I cannot see my sins, and they have nothing to do with my definition or identity. Nothing. Paul also said, “My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me” (Gal 2).

The old Oshea—the human Oshea—died. Paul says he doesn’t even view us from a human viewpoint anymore because we are a new creation. The old human definition included being a sinner, but that man is dead. God reckons him dead, and I agree with God. The old man was crucified with Jesus. Then Paul drives it home: “I no longer live.” The old sinner doesn’t exist anymore. Now it is not a sinner who lives in Paul; it is not sin or a sinful Paul who animates his mind and flesh. No. It is Jesus who lives in Paul—both in mind (you have the mind of Christ) and even in body. The Spirit gives life to my mortal body, not sin or the curse.

The part to remember is that Paul doesn’t live anymore; rather, Jesus lives in Paul. To say Paul was still a present-tense sinner is to say Jesus is a minister of sin—and worse, that Jesus Himself is a sinner—because it is Jesus who lives in Paul, not Paul. To claim you are still a sinner is to say Jesus is a sinner. And that, my friend, is what we in the theology business call a “you just played yourself” moment. This is how common, regular, and basic our new definition and identity with Jesus is.

We are so identified with Jesus, as part of Him, that the old Oshea no longer lives—Jesus now lives in Oshea instead. What you say of me is true of Jesus, and vice versa (excluding the deity part). If Jesus is seated in the heavenly places, then so am I. As Jesus is in heaven, so am I on earth. God always gives Jesus what He asks, and so I always get what I ask. To say I am a sinner is to say Jesus is a sinner.

Stop the sin-conscience games. Confess who God says you are: the righteousness of God in Christ. Focus day and night on this identity, and watch faith explode.

Sometimes at night I’ll grab a bright flashlight and sweep the yard. Spot a deer munching my plants? I don’t just clap or yell—I full-on bark like a German Shepherd who just chugged three espressos. Works every time. The deer bolts. But here’s the question that should stop you in your tracks: Because I sometimes bark, does that make me a dog? Obviously not. I’m still the same guy who loves coffee and sourdough-cinnamon rolls. Just as my barking doesn’t turn me into a canine, your sinning doesn’t turn you into a sinner.

Think about this very carefully. As Paul describes in Romans 5, it was because you were born a sinner that you sinned. After conversion, because you are righteous you now do righteous things. A sinner, at least outwardly, can do righteous acts, but it does not make him righteous—any more than me barking makes me a dog. A righteous man, even if he sins, is not a sinner, any more than I am a dog because I sometimes bark.

The deer might be confused by my brief career change, but that doesn’t change what I actually am. I never turned into a dog. I am not a dog.

And what about you? You are not a sinner. You are still the righteousness of God.

You are defined by God’s actions, not yours. Your definition and identity is what God creates you as; your actions do not identify you. God didn’t consult your performance report before He declared you righteous; rather He looked at Jesus’ report and identified it as yours. He didn’t wait for you to stop barking at deer—or at your own failures—before He seated you in heavenly places with Christ; rather, He chose you, He loved you; He did this without asking you about it. He just did it. He acted, He saved, He removed your sins and recreated your new reality in Christ. Faith is when God let you know what He did, causing you to agree with him. That’s the deal. You are righteous, and not something else. You are in Christ and Christ is in you, not something else.