What Is The Difference Between A Christian and A 'Sinner'?


by Tom Wacaster

It seems that our pluralistic society has adapted a philosophy that everyone makes mistakes, so none have the right to address the moral shortcomings of others.  It is the devil's misuse of one of the more popular sayings of our Lord, “Judge not that ye be not judged.”   If you have listened to the “spin” that liberals use to address the issue of moral responsibility then you have, no doubt, heard this argument over and over:  “Well, all of  us make mistakes, so who are we to judge?”   This kind of thinking has crept into the church, and an ever increasing number of our brethren are ceasing to contend earnestly for the faith for fear that they might be labeled as being judgmental.  Distinctive preaching and holy living suffer as a result, and the church becomes more and more like the world with every passing generation.   A failure to understand how terms are used, and a misunderstanding as to the kind of judgment that is here condemned, have combined to give unto us a spirit of timidity and cowardice.  I want to briefly address both of these points.

First, it is important that we give consideration to terms as they are defined in the Bible.  A “Christian” is one who had identified himself with the tenets of Christ, has obeyed the Gospel, and is endeavoring to live faithful before his God.  The disciples were called “Christians first in Antioch” (Acts 11:26).  I have heard the flimsy argument that this name was given to the followers of Christ out of derision by the enemies of the cross.  But a closer examination of the text will show that this is simply not the case.  The Greek 'chrematizo' (“call”) is aorist, infinitive active, meaning to “utter a divine communication, to be divinely instructed, receive a revelation or warning from God.”  Reese says that the word is “almost always used in the New Testament to mean divinely called.”  Bauer says of this word, “Of God, impart a revelation or injunction or warning; of oracles.”  The late Guy N. Woods noted that every Greek Lexicon consulted “gives the basic and root meaning of the word under study as a divine calling.”  Also, the construction of the text supports this view.  The whole of the passage for consideration reads, “And it came to pass, that a whole year they assembled themselves with the church, and taught much people. And the disciples were called Christians first in Antioch.”  There are three verbs in the passage that are of utmost importance.   The FIRST verb (in the Greek) is passive, the second and third active.  It is amazing that the translators, almost without exception, have reversed the order and rendered the first verb “assembled” as an active verb (which is actually passive), the second verb as active (and properly so), and the third as passive (which is actually active). The question that arises is, “Why such a mishandling of the text?”  I believe that brother Woods is right on target: “These men believed in the propriety of wearing human names in religion as identifiers...In order to do this, they fragmented one sentence into two, changed the active voice into passive, an infinitive into an indicative, and the accusative into the  nominative!”   Were the text properly translated it would read, “And it came to pass...they taught many people and they called the disciples Christians first in Antioch.”   “They” has reference to Paul and Barnabas. “They taught...they called” the disciples in Antioch.  Hence, by divine inspiration the “disciples” were properly designated as “Christians.”

The second term for consideration is the word “sinner.”  More often than not this word is used to describe someone who is living IN sin, and APART from God.  Such is its use in Romans 5:8— “But God commendeth his own love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.  While it is true that the child of God can and does occasionally sin (1 John 1:8), it is NOT the case that this word “sinner” can be used to describe the faithful child of God.  A “sinner” is more accurately described by Paul as one who is “separate from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel [spiritual Israel, TW], strangers from the covenants of the promise, having no hope and without God in the world” (Eph. 2:12).   We think it is scriptural to describe such a one as an “alien sinner.”  Therein lies the distinction between one who is a Christian, and one who is a sinner.  While the former is IN Christ, the latter is OUTSIDE the body; while the former is in a saved relationship with the Godhead, the latter is LOST!  The one [Christian] enjoys all spiritual blessings, the other [sinner] has no spiritual blessings whatsoever (Ephesians 1:3). 

Terms defined, we turn our attention to what our Lord meant when He instructed us, “Judge not that ye be not judged.”   In the context He was addressing the hypercritical judgment; judgment of motives, disposition of heart, and/or judgment based upon one's own standard of judgment rather than the divine standard of God's word.  The very passage from which these words were taken imply a certain degree of judgment in that Jesus instructed them not to give “that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast your pearls before swine” (Matt. 7:6). How can we avoid such while refusing to make any kind of judgment at all with regard to who is a “dog” or a “swine.”  The answer lies in understanding the KIND of judgment we are to avoid, and the KIND of judgment we are to practice.  It is our sacred obligation to judge actions as being either pleasing in God's sight, or displeasing.  That is what our Lord calls “righteous judgment” (John 7:24).   While we may (and in fact must) pass judgment on things that are right or wrong, we cannot judge the motives and heart of another.  It is that hypercritical judgment of one's inner person that is condemned, and which we must avoid. 
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