Why Do We resist?

Romans 1:7 (KJV) To all that be in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ.

(Proverbs 19 also read)

There’s a phrase that I hear, and in my circles it’s usually offered tongue-in-cheek.  The phrase is, “dirty rotten, no good sinner".  What is amazing to me is that this is usually offered as a reference to people who have been born again, and are followers of Jesus Christ.  I don’t think I’ve ever heard it used to refer to the pagans of the world that reject the word of God.

That’s not how I read my Bible.  Take another look at this verse if you didn’t read it closely.  Notice that it does not say that we are called as sinners, but that we are called as saints (40).  The word means exactly what it says.  It could also be translated. “holy ones”.  God did not call us to continue in our life of sin.  He called us to be transformed in His image and live lives of holiness.

That’s not what I say. That’s what God says.

So?  Don’t feel comfortable rejecting it and going with the traditional theology you’ve heard. The Bible calls you to live above the world.  Yes, we will have our struggles and our times of failure.  That’s what first John 1:9 is all about.  But we are not called to just kick back and say, “Oh well. I guess I’m just a dirty rotten sinner.”  That doesn’t play well in Peoria.