Okay…so I grew up in the late 60’s and 70’s when Jesus freaks and the Jesus Movement were a part of the underground, hippy culture. There was a song called Spirit in the Sky by Norman Greenbaum – a kind of a one hit wonder. It sounds very new age with contemporary ears but the theology behind it was sound if you got a little explanation. One verse declared, “I’m not a sinner, no I’ve never sinned. I’ve got a friend in Jesus.”

To some that sounded arrogant or downright blasphemous. After all, “All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God” (Rom.3:23). But another verse confirms the theology. “Because by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy” (Heb.10:14). On the one hand, we certainly have all sinned and continue to do so less that we did, but on the other hand, God does not count those sins against us. If you inspected the ledgers of heaven, you would find no record of sin – past, present, or future. As far as God is concerned, you’re not a sinner, no you’ve never sinned cause you have a friend in Jesus. We need to get that truth in our hearts.

So many of us focus on our past, our sins, and our failures while God is focusing on our righteousness in Christ. It’s not that he doesn’t recognize our sins, but he does not define us by those sins. He defines us by the righteousness that is ours in Jesus. The passage above from Hebrews declares that by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy. By the sacrifice of Jesus, you have been given a positional or legal status of sinlessness – forever – which extends both into the past and the future. God always relates to us on the basis of our position while he works on our condition. He is in the process of making us holy – matching our condition to our position – but he is not focused on our sin but, rather, who we are in His Son.

We would do well to so the same. Too many believers get focused on their sins, failures and spiritual shortcomings. Whatever we focus on becomes our identity. If we see ourselves and define ourselves as sinners in Christ, we will constantly live up to that expectation. If we see ourselves as righteous and holy in Christ that will become our identity and we will begin to live up to that set of expectations.

Many of us try to motivate ourselves to be more like Christ with criticism and name-calling. If we did that to our children we would be labeled as bad parents, maybe even verbally abusive. We recognize the power of self-image (identity) in our children and work to encourage and affirm them at every opportunity but often fail to recognize that principle in ourselves. Faith declares that what God says is true is true, even if it does not appear to be that way. By faith, we need to say what God says is true about us, so that God’s truth is deposited more deeply in our hearts and minds. It’s not arrogance; it is good theology that appreciates what the blood of Christ has done for us.

So…the next time the devil stirs up accusation and condemnation and tries to convince you of what a spiritual failure you are, just pull out a little Norman Greenbaum and sing in his face, “I’m not a sinner, no I’ve never sinned. I’ve got a friend in Jesus!” It’s good theology. Be blessed and sinless in Him today.