What is a Sinner?

sinner : in ordinary speech, it means someone who is deeply depraved, evil, bad. However, that's not what the Christian faith means by the word. In Christian belief, 'sinner' is not a moral description, but a relational one. Sin is the broken state of our relationship with God. There's a distance, a gap between us (with the rest of the created universe) and God, a distance far too wide for us to cross over, a distance bridged only by God's act of coming over onto our side of the gap through Jesus Christ (God-with-us) and the Spirit that Jesus sent in His place. The nicest, kindest, most spiritual, and most virtuous of us is a sinner. The vilest, darthest, crookedest, most evil of us is a sinner. Everyone in between is a sinner. Each and all of these sinners are loved by God.

Perhaps it would be best to use a word which lacks the moralistic overtone of 'sinner'. That overtone undercuts the Christian message of grace for those on our human side of the divide. I would love to look at the good and pretend the bad away, it's so much happier -- but it is unreal. The words often put forward to replace 'sin' and 'sinner' fail to catch enough of the negative quality of that divide: it is very very bad for you (in fact, fatal) and is far from what God wants for you. Because the broken relationship is so bad for us, it has profound and deep effects on all of us and all we do. It is a part of our human identity and character (that which makes each of us who/what we are), whether we want it to be or not.

The Bible has all sorts of words to describe sin. The most striking of these is Heb. mešubah (infidelity); the covenant people Israel was chasing after other lovers, as the prophets described it. In the Hebrew Scriptures, other words include ‘ahar (transgression, law-breaking), ma’al (trespass), ‘awon (straying, wandering), tum’ah (becoming unclean), beged (disloyalty, treason), and peša (revolt, rebellion). The image of sin which the New Testament most picked up on was the idea of an archer missing his mark (Heb.chatta’t, Gk hamartia). Anyone who does these is in some sense a 'sinner'. The origin of hamartia is the reward from competition; due to missing the mark badly or often, the archer has no (ha-) share in the allotment (mer-) or prize.

Notice that these are word-pictures, metaphors that help to describe something that has so many angles that no mere word or even phrase can quite hit the mark. You can picture someone straying from the path into the dangers of the woods, getting lost. Or, you can picture armed brigands trying to establish control of your area by force. Or being soaked through and through with pig-mud. Some of these are relational, others personal, or ritual, or societal. Sin is so pervasive, it colors everything we do. We all do these things, in all sorts of ways, thus we are all sinners. It took Jesus' death, the indirect and direct result of our being sinners, to clear this up and clean it out.

You can also look up the meaning of 'sinner' in the dictionary.

If you're looking for forgiveness, go to Jesus.

gotquestions  http://www.spirithome.com/sinner.html#original

Our Intercessor in Time of Need

by: Alan Bullock

When you consider the weakness and failing of modern man, is it any wonder that God sent Christ to die for our sins?  He saw to it that a Mediator bridged the great divide between the holy and unholy, thus securing our access to Him so that we might come with assurance to the throne of grace (1 Timothy 2:5).While still living behind the Iron Curtain, my wife Anoosh was attending a large secular University studying linguistics.  Many of her professors were Communists and disliked the fact that Anoosh was an outspoken Christian.  Before her graduation and final exam, they planned to find a way to cause her to fail by asking her questions on her philosophy exam that she couldn’t possibly answer. Our Cornerstone
Unmarred and multi-hued Cornerstone,
Holy One of Israel sits upon His throne.
The spotless Lamb, slain for humanity,
Intercedes for us in His glorious Divinity.
In Him, no stained soul of imperfection,
Our Father of lights of infinite perfection,
Shining bright upon His opulent throne,
The Rose of Sharon calls us His very own.
Oh Great God of peace and Holy love!
The Messiah Incarnate, Sacrificial Dove;
Wondrous Redeemer, ransomed Son,
Because of Calvary, our victory won.In addition to studying, Anoosh prayed and asked God to deliver to her the answers to the questions they would ask.  That night in a dream God did exactly that.  During the exam the next day she was able to answer every question correctly because the Lord had given her the answers. The professors were amazed and two of them ultimately became Christians because of Anoosh’s faithful witness and outspoken faith in Christ.

While Christ isn’t there as our Santa Claus, ready to shower us with presents or provide a solution to every small issue that may arise, He is always there to intercede during times of adversity.  He is most certainly there when He knows the outcome will touch lost souls, leading them into the Kingdom and bringing glory to the Father.

Take heart, dear friends.  To this day Christ continues to insure our blessedness as He stands in the gap on our behalf.  He is able to do far more abundantly than we can ask or think (Eph 3:20-21).  What strength, what love and what hope!

Who is he that condemns?  Christ Jesus, who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us (Romans 8:34).

Hope in Christ gives us a spiritual confidence and conviction that there is a better tomorrow.

http://www.daystar.com/devotions/our-intercessor-in-time-of-need/