Silencing the Lies Behind Every Battle You FaceSample

LIE #1: You Are Still a Horrible Sinner

I hear from many Christians who wrestle with a constant whisper that puts into question the authenticity of their faith. With reminders of their failures, weaknesses or inadequacies, they hear shaming accusations such as You’re not really a Christian, You’re still a horrible sinner or You are wrong.

Not surprisingly, the insistent doubt about their status before God creates its own set of battles. After years of listening to Christians who have persistent struggles, I have found that the belief that something in their life makes them wrong before God is at the root of most insecurity, anxiety, depression or worse.

Perhaps you can relate. Have you asked God, “Why am I still so anxious?” “Why do I get so angry?” “Why do I still think these thoughts?” Or even, “Why am I still taken by the same, familiar lures?” Is there something in you that fears it has to do with a lack of faith or that you are not a real Christian at all?

I cannot answer every why of your experience. We live in a fallen world where many experiences are not the way they are supposed to be. But I can assure you what those experiences do not mean. If you have sincerely said yes to Jesus, your struggles do not mean you are not a real Christian. They do not mean that you are still a horrible sinner or are wrong before God. The reason I can say this lies at the very heart of the Gospel.

The moment you said yes to Jesus, the Bible assures that you became a brand-new person (see 2 Corinthians 5:17). This is salvation. The theological term for what happens in this moment of salvation is regeneration. That is a big word that simply means, “the formation of something new.”

But the first six letters of the word regeneration spell a word that far better describes what happens. It is re-gene. In other words, upon your salvation, the identity of sin that once defined you was cut away and you were entirely re-gened with who Jesus is: truly righteous and holy (see Colossians 2:13; 2 Corinthians 5:21; Ephesians 4:24). What is more, this great identity swap is not achieved through some complicated means, but it is simply received by belief (see Romans 10:10).

Of course, your identity change does not mean that you will never sin or struggle. As a Christian, what the Bible assures is that though you inevitably still fall and fail, these failures no longer define you as a horrible sinner. After all, you were re-gened with Christ’s identity! Victory in your life hinges on renewing your mind to the truth that “we are made right with God by placing our faith in Jesus Christ” (Romans 3:22).