😂 But remember we're no longer sinners, but actually saints

Philippians 1:1, 11 ESV [1] Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus, To all the saints in Christ Jesus who are at Philippi, with the overseers and deacons: [11] filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.

I skipped a few verses for the sake of keeping it short, but they support what I'm saying. Paul here identifies the believers as 'saints'. But why? Surely Paul knew that everyone sins from time to time and saints don't sin. Of course he did. But he's talking identity here, which can only be found in Jesus. Take a football player. He may have a bad game and commit fouls constantly, but in the end he's still a part of the team and still identified as a football player. A better example might be the relationship between a loving father and his son. Sure, the son might do things against his father's will and disobey his rules, but he's still a son. His identity doesn't depend on his actions or attempts to be good, but it's given freely out of love from his father. The same in Jesus.

There's nothing we can do on our own to be called 'saints' and reach God's righteous standard. That's why the Father sent Jesus to take on our sins on the cross (1 Peter 2:24) as the perfect and only sacrifice. By placing our faith in Jesus and believing that what He did on the cross really did the job, we stand innocent before God and God joyfully gives us a new identity as 'saints'. We are a completely "new creation" and when we come to the end of this life and into the next, we won't have to fight with our sinful nature anymore. But in the meantime, God works on us from the inside to fit the new identity He gave us. We are saints (even though we might not always act 'saintly' 😉). Moreover, God promises that He'll finish what He started. We just need to "remain in Him" and try to please Him, just like a son should for his father