Discovering the Real You

The Thunder of Silence

How sweet the sound! In the early sixteenth century a concerned monk protested against his church. He nailed his Ninety-Five Theses to the door, and permanently changed our theology for the centuries. Like the Protestants, the contemporary Church is protesting inwardly, and many Christians – like Martin Luther – are protesting outwardly. As we are drawn into the protest movement, we must be sure our cause is right. It must be based upon Christian principles and motivated by biblical truth. Luther wrote,

Protestors have interrupted the past three decades of our history with violent as well as non-violent action. Many of these protests have been good, changing nations and influencing the destiny of the world. The spiritual power within the Church and the protesting potential inside the believer’s breast are yet to be fully demonstrated. There is a spirit of protest in the air almost everywhere. At this very moment (2:55 a.m.) there is a protest going on just outside my window. My cat Muffin is marching to and fro, protesting against the cold darkness of the outside.

I do not call for an outward protest involving us in street demonstrations, destroying another’s property, or degrading ourselves. But I call for an aggressive inward protest against satanic deception from the outside. Our objective is to defend our identity on the inside. Pick up your Bible as a placard and march with me against our common enemy – the devil with his deceptive antics.

A Deceptive Intrusion

A dangerous defiling statement has crept into our churches. It is proclaimed from our pulpits and woven into the conversation of the saints everywhere. We hear it repeatedly, often applying it to ourselves, yet we remain unaware of its implications and ramifications. Beware of the old cliché, "We are still old sinners, just saved by grace." Let’s stand together with the Word of God against it. It is not true. Praise God that we have been saved by grace. But once saved, we are exclusively identified in the New Testament as the saints of God. The first phrase of this statement has become abhorrent, not worth our attention or entertainment. It is satan’s lie, wedging itself into our thinking behind a doctrinal truth of our faith. The nature of its repugnancy demands that it must be expelled from our minds and plucked out of our communication. We shall protest by: (a) attacking the cliché at its source, (b) striking it with our Sword, and (c) we shall kill it with truth. Time is at hand for an offensive attack against the intruder.

Attacking the Cliché With Facts!

Strangely enough the tongue is the source of the cliché – an unruly evil, falsely speaking against ourselves. Listen to the thunder of James, "Out of the same mouth proceedeth blessing [I am saved by grace] and cursing [I am still an old sinner]--these things ought not so to be" (Jas. 3:10). When we make the latter statement, we hang by our own tongue. The ramifications of such language regarding ourselves leaves our minds wide open to satanic deception. The tongue must be disciplined to continue blessing us with God’s truth, and it must be bridled not to deceive us with satanic falsification. We must stop cursing ourselves. Our tongues have been contradicting our true identity. This attack begins with an introduction on how widespread it is. This is followed by two false assumptions among Christians regarding the cliché’s deception, but two positive statements warn us against its usage. Finally one concise statement reveals its source and origin.

It is logically assumed far and wide throughout mainstream denominational churches that Christians are still sinners "per se." This is based upon our repeated personal sins. The truth of God’s Word – that we are saints – defies this false assumption. Our outward sins no more prove that we are inward sinners any more than rhinestones identify a fake cowboy beneath his garb. Sins in the believer’s experience are a proven fact; however they are hypocritically oriented. They have no biblical base of operation, nor any theological foundation. This false assumption only plants a seedbed for satan in our minds and opens the door to his deceptive antics. We need not assume that we are sinners.

Who said that Christians are sinners in the first place? Not Jesus Christ in four Gospels! Nor Paul in a dozen letters! Or Peter and John in five epistles! Not even Jude in twenty-five verses! An awesome silence regarding the old cliché permeates the writings of the New Testament. Yet at the same time, it shouts with thundering repetition assuring us that we are saints from the very beginning of the new birth experience.

The basic reasons why we have fallen for this cliché is deeply rooted in our theology. Two false theories have provided rich soil for its growth. The concept that the old intrinsic sinful nature carries over into our post-conversation experience is entrenched in our doctrine. And the theory that the flesh is the origin and source of the believer’s sins is deeply entrenched in our teaching as well. The cultivation of these unbiblical theories in the soil of our minds has reaped a harvest of sin in our lives. Declaring to ourselves that we are still sinners serves only to water the soil for a continued harvest. Attack the old cliché and grub it out before its roots grow deeply enough to destroy us. Our first protest strategy is to attack the old cliché head on at its source, our tongues! If you are echoing it in public, or saying it to your self, take heed!

1. The statement is nothing more than false humility. As much as we would like to believe that it makes us humble, the fact remains that humbleness involves time. A simple six-word cliché spoken on the spur of the moment, sandwiched between unrelated subjects and passed over very quickly will never meet the requirements of humility. When it is spoken, who pauses to give it any further time for consideration? Not the person who spoke it, nor those who have heard it. It is no more than a passing statement, a fleeting transient, a misused jargon. Are you listening to your tongue? Beware! It is defiling your whole body (Jas. 3:6).

2. The statement falls short of confessing our sins. Whenever we make such a statement no specific sins are named, no repentance is evident, and no commitment to change is ever made. It only serves to pacify the subconscience and to placate our minds until we repeat it again. During the interim we go right on sinning as usual, never realizing that our very own words are hanging us. We are only opening the door of our minds to the devil’s deception. He in turn will capitalize upon it and reap a harvest of sin. The expression carries no good, serious content whatsoever. Be not deceived; we are not confessing anything. Our tongues have tied us to a world of iniquity (see Jas. 3:6).