Your initial response to the above question may be, “Duh, anyone who sins”; and you would be right. This is the simplest definition.
Jesus used the term “sinner” frequently and so did the gospel writers. Typically, it seems to refer to those whose behavior was considered outside of the law in an open and obvious way.
Both Matthew and Mark called some with whom Jesus ate, sinners, Matthew 9:10 & Mark 2:15. Luke used the term in reference to the woman who washed Jesus’ feet with her tears and anointed them with expensive perfume, Luke 7:36-39. Jesus Himself said that He did not come to call the righteous to repentance but sinners, Luke 5:32.
But does one cease to be a sinner when he repents? Did the woman Luke wrote about in the reference above cease to be a sinner when Jesus pronounced her forgiven? Did she become immune to temptation and lust because she honored the Lord?
John seems to make the matter quite clear. He wrote, “If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us”, 1st John 1:8. As if to reinforce his point, he immediately wrote again, “If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar and His word is not in us”, 1st John 1:10.
The apostle Paul writes:
For we know that the Law is spiritual, but I am of flesh, sold into bondage to sin… So now, no longer am I the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me…But if I am doing the very thing I do not want, I am no longer the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me. Romans 7:14, 17 & 20
Great. Sin lives in us, even as Christians. This is one tough piece of news. In other words as long as I am in the flesh, I will struggle with sin. So will you.
This is not to say that we are not forgiven. Thank God that both Paul and John assure us that we are. Paul says, “Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus”, Romans 8:1. John confirms, “…if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin”, 1st John 1:7.
It would seem that the only real difference between any of us as sinners is whether or not we are in Christ who is the Light. And that makes all the difference.
Marty Kessler