1 Timothy 1:15 This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief.

One major mark of a Christian in my view is the ability to submit to the fact that we are sinners, defective in every way.  That we have a past we realize was infinitely less than the holiness of God, of which we sadly and morosely regret, and that we admit and confess to our despicable sins.

The mark shows that you actually realize what Jesus saved you from!  Sadly some struggle here.  Whenever I hear the righteous indignation “how dare you expose me as a sinner”, it raises a red flag.  A Christian embraces this.  Like a prisoner who has been pardoned and released, we cannot hide the fact that we sinned against an eternal holy God who if He handed out His justice, we would not be able to take another breath.

A personal testimony does not shy away from this embracing and confession of our sins. Because we are indebted to our Savior, Jesus Christ, it is in joyful thanksgiving we are willing to tell anyone and everyone the how, why, and what He saved us from! That is God’s pending wrath on our rotten despicable sins of which He unconditionally bore the weight of on the Cross and cleansed us from.

A recovering drug addict or alcoholic knows the drill if they have been treated, they are told they need to first acknowledge the problem or the problem will never go away.  It is only then they can begin the road of recovery.  The same goes for those added to the church Jesus Christ is building. The very first thing God enlightens us in is who we are in His light.  And I can speak from my own experience, I did NOT like what I saw, I dreaded it, I was completely ashamed for what I had done, and those sins Jesus died in my place for.

By stating the sins God saved you from, you give glory to Jesus Christ!  If you find yourself in pride, pray for humility to be able to confess these sins openly and publicly.  Again, it gives total glory to Jesus Christ!

If someone saved you from a burning car wreck at great cost to themselves, you surely would laud this person and tell everyone what they did for you. Do the same for Jesus Christ!  Tell the world what He saved you from!  And make sure ALL the focus is on His salvation, and not on you. There is nothing to boast about. You did not make yourself worthy, so don’t fool yourself. Jesus did not save you because you were somehow better than your neighbor either!  He saved you out of pure grace and mercy, nothing else!

John 3:19 And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. ²⁰ For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed.

If you are still cringing and hiding your sins, you are still in darkness and do not want the light acting as a disinfectant.  You’d rather be more important in the eyes of the world, than in the eyes of God.