In this very post, Robert Derrick, you quoted me pointing out James 4:8. James is writing to Christians; in James 1:1, he addresses this personal letter to the twelve tribes in the Dispersion ~ who, even today, we Christians are a part of. He refers to us many times ~ starting with James 1:2, as
brothers, even
his brothers, and even, in James 1:16, 1:19, and 2:5, his
beloved brothers. And in James 4:8, he calls them (and himself) sinners:
"What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you? ... Scripture says, 'He yearns jealously over the spirit that he has made to dwell in us'? But he gives more grace... Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded."
Absolutely. We will have victory in Christ over sin and death once and for all at His glorious return. And we can live that way
now, in light of that absolute certainly.
All sin is ungodly. And we all sin. Therefore, in this life, we are all sinners. But thanks be to God is doing His good work in us, making us holy, like Jesus, by His Sprit, and will bring that work to completion at the day of Christ.
Well, what we acknowledge about ourselves does influence our behaviors, certainly, but I would go the opposite way with that. The power is in the Name of Christ. Acknowledging ourselves, as Christians, to be sinners before God and therefore unworthy of His great salvation is an act of humility, and a call of humble reliance on the Lord to cause us to walk in His statutes and live as becomes followers of Christ. So it causes us ~ motivates us ~ to repent and believe even more, and to have joy in the knowledge that God, by His Spirit, is working in us to make it so.
What you say about "a kind of self-castigating effort not to appear 'proud' or holier-than-thou"... I mean, that in itself is pride, which is sin, which I feel sure you agree with.
Paul called himself a "wretched man" because of his sin (Romans 7) and the "chief of sinners" (1 Timothy 1). Was Paul being prideful in saying this? Certainly not; quite the opposite.
I agree with this, but this divine nature is not our entire nature (as I have been saying to Pythagorean12). The "old man" is still with us. If this were not so, we would not sin at all, as we would be completely of God wholly inclined against it. Thanks be to God, we will be, one great day, but right now we are not.
Grace and peace to you!