If you’ve ever been an adult working with children, you’ve probably had an incident somewhat similar to my Aunt Ann. Her son was a big boy with a constant stuttering problem. As a result, kids would frequently tease him, causing him to be a brute and bully. When he mistreated several of his cousins at a family reunion, the children ran to the adults for protection and explained what had happened. Ann’s response was, “Oh no, my boy would not do anything like that.” Ann had repeated this kind of denial several times to administrators in the school where her son attended. She simply would not see or acknowledge anything but the good in her son.

When the Apostle Paul writes to the saints at Corinth, he describes how the Lord views all the children of God who have placed their faith in Christ alone for eternal salvation. Paul states, “Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioner, shall inherit the kingdom of God” (I Corinthians 6:9-10). It is noteworthy that the believers to whom these words were written, though saved by the blood of Christ, were still practicing these very sins. First Corinthians 5:11 implies many were guilty of being “…covetous, or an idolater, or a railer, or a drunkard, or an extortioner….” While any saint can commit any sin given the right opportunity and the wrong spiritual condition, it seems these saints were particularly sinful. But God did not view them this way. By virtue of their faith in Christ, they had been made “…the righteousness of God in Him [Christ],” (II Corinthians 5:21) and forgiven “all trespasses” (Colossians 2:13). On this basis of imputed righteousness, God only saw these saints as holy and not in their present practice of sin. It was for this reason, after Paul’s list of heinous sins many of them were practicing, he says, “And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus…” (I Corinthians 6:11).

As God’s children, we should rejoice that He sees us, not in the filth of sins we sometimes practice but only in the holiness of Christ. Nonetheless, we must put off these sins and seek to walk in newness of life.