Quote of the Day

Their (the Christian's) breach with the past is an accomplished fact.  Their "former" manner of life has come to an end (Eph. 4:22).  "Ye were once darkness, but now are light in the Lord" (Eph. 5:8).  Whereas they had once performed the shameful and "unfruitful works of the flesh," the Spirit now produces in them the fruit of sanctification. 

This is why Christians are no longer to be called sinners, in the sense of men who are still living under the dominion of sin (the only apparent exception is in 1 Tim. 1:15, but that is a personal confession).  On the contrary, they were once sinners, ungodly, enemies (Rom.5:8, 19, Gal. 2:15, 17), but now through Christ they are holy.  As saints they are reminded and exhorted to be what they are.  But this is not an impossible ideal, it is not sinners who are required to become holy, or that would mean a return to justification by works and would be blasphemy against Christ.  No, it is saints who are required to be holy, saints who have been sanctified in Christ Jesus through the Holy Spirit.

 

Dietrich Bonhoeffer