Lesson 8: God's Love is Kind – He Turns Sinners into Saints

Romans 1:1, 7 “Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God…To all those in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints "

The Bible is clear. Here we have the Apostle Paul writing to the Christians in Rome; and he not only tells them they are loved by God, he tells them they are saints of God!

Who of us lives like a saint? What we see in the text here is out of kindness; God not only takes sinners just as they are, but He takes sinners and turns them into saints!

For those of you who may not know, the word "saint" means "holy one" or literally "a most holy thing." Most of the things we do are not very holy, are they? How in the world could God call every Christian a saint, a most holy thing? God not only accepts us for who we are; He not only forgives us of our sins, but He does more.

Hebrews 10:16-17 "This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my laws on their hearts, and write them on their minds,” then He adds, “I will remember their sins and their lawless deeds no more."

This is what is so incredible about our relationship with God. He not only forgives our sins; He chooses to forget our sins! Because of this, in His eyes it is as if we never sinned, or in other words, we are a saint! Can you believe that? Is that incredible or what? It is one thing to accept people for who they are and another to forgive people for who they are. But to go ahead and treat them as if they had never sinned?

This, however, is the great news. That is exactly what Jesus did when He shed His blood on the cross. By the way, when it comes to the blood of Jesus, most people think it is strange to call it “cleansing.” In fact, one doctor said this before he got saved:

"I used to think it strange that the Bible kept talking about the cleansing power of the blood. It seemed to me that blood was messy stuff. In fact, my white lab coats always got stained with blood and it was a chore to get them clean. But now I understand about the cleansing power of blood. Not because of what blood does on the outside, but on the inside. You see, blood in our bodies has a very important job. It constantly cleanses every cell, and constantly washes away all the debris that accumulates inside of us."

This is exactly what the blood of Jesus does for our sins; we can be called saints even though we do not act like it. It is all because the blood of Jesus continually cleanses us from our sins. Therefore, God does not see us as we see ourselves. He looks at us through His blood-colored glasses and He no longer sees us in our sins. He only sees a saint! That is amazing! And to think it is not only free for the asking but we do not deserve it! That is what I call love!

Thought Question: After such kindness what should our response be to the Lord?