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IF YOU'RE A SINNER, YOU'RE GOING TO HELL For years I have labored to get Christians to stop thinking of themselves as sinners, and it has been pretty much a futile effort. It's not because they honestly believe the Bible says they ARE sinners; it's just that they feel more comfortable being sinners than saints. It keeps the standard low and the hills easier to climb.The common error in all of this is their refusal to distinguish between standing and state. They claim to believe in rightly dividing (II Tim. 2:15), but the truth is that they believe in rightly dividing when they feel like it. The rest of the time they just privately interpret the scriptures for their own convenience. Let me show you what I mean . . ."I'm just a sinner saved by grace" is the claim of most Christians, yet they couldn't find that in the Bible, even if they searched all night with the aid of Sherlock Holmes, Nancy Drew and Lt. Columbo. Let's do something that always makes the shallow brethren squirm: let's stop with the generalities and let's be specific. Instead of allowing a Christian to call himself a sinner in general, let's address a specific sin and watch their whole theory crumble. Here we go . . .SHALLOW CHRISTIAN: Christians are just sinners saved by grace.BIBLE BELIEVER: No, Christians are now saints, not sinners.SHALLOW CHRISTIAN: But we still sin, so we're sinners. BIBLE BELIEVER: No, you are a saint, a new creature in Christ, yet you sometimes yield to the unsaved flesh and sin. That doesn't classify you as a sinner. You're a born-again saint, not a sinner.SHALLOW CHRISTIAN: Well, I'm a sinner saved by grace.BIBLE BELIEVER: So, if you lie, that makes you a liar?SHALLOW CHRISTIAN: Umm . . . YesBIBLE BELIEVER: Then you're going to Hell, because Revelation 21:8 says that "all liars . . . shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone . . ." If you're a liar, you aren't saved. It didn't say that liars saved by grace are exempt. It said ALL liars, which includes you, if you are a liar. So, are you a liar, or are you a SAINT, like God said?THAT is the real issue: what God SAID you are, not what you THINK you are due to your stubborn refusal to respect God's word. God didn't say that you are what you do; he said, if you have received Christ, that you are a NEW CREATURE (II Cor. 5:17), which means you are no longer the old creature. Some of us believe that. Most do not.