Saints or sinners?

How do we speak of Christians collectively?

It's a question many of you have asked over the years and Mark most recently.

Now we get to that question.

Today, Mark raised this, Hello Pastor John, as a pastram preacher.

I pursue the truth of God in his word every Sunday.

I strive to welcome and embrace the spiritual burden of speaking his truth and not my own

opinion, knowing that his word alone has the power to save us from the consequences

of our sinful rebellion against a holy God.

In light of this truth, I was recently challenged about my use of the word sinner to collectively

speak of God's people.

Can we who are saved by grace through faith still be called sinners, or is it more

biblical to use the word saint?

Paul calls himself the foremost of sinners in 1 Timothy 1 15 16 and James speaks of

wayward believers who are brought back into the church body as sinners in James 5, 19 to

20.

Yet there are many places throughout scripture which refer to God's people as saints.

So should God's collective people be primarily referred to as saints or as sinners?

Well first, a clarification in the way Mark poses the question.

He cites Paul as saying, I'm the foremost of sinners, but in the context, I don't think

Paul means that now as a Christian, he's the foremost.

I think he means that that was true of me when God saved me because he supports it with

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