One dictionary says that a ‘saint’ is someone considered holy or virtuous and typically regarded as being in heaven after death. Emphasis is usually on dedication to doing good. In other words, this term is reserved for those who get to holiness and to heaven by their exceptional goodness. This definition opposes the Gospel!
According to the Bible, those who believe in Jesus Christ are “in Christ” by grace through the gift of faith and thus considered a saint. No one is saved or made a saint by their virtuous deeds. We all fall short and are all sinners in need of a Savior.
As today’s devotional says, 1 Corinthians says, “To the church of God that is in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints together with all those who in every place call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, both their Lord and ours . . . .” (1 Corinthians 1:2) then goes on to correct their sinful practices. Believers are called saints in other NT epistles, but none of them were perfect either. Sainthood is a status rather than a condition.
While some ‘churches’ say saints are people with exceptional degree of holiness, likeness, or closeness to God, the Bible calls this maturity. Again, every Christian is a saint because they are “in Christ” and He lives in them, not because they have earned this title. It is about being united to Jesus by faith as indicated here:
Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus, To all the saints in Christ Jesus who are at Philippi, with the overseers and deacons . . . ” (Philippians 1:1)
The word translated saints means “holy ones” and describes any person or thing that is set apart for God or represents God. The term also describes God Himself. Because Christians are His children and are called saints of God, He tells us to think and act like He does.
Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful. (Colossians 3:12–15)
These are the marks of sainthood, not that we gain them by arduous work and commitment, but by letting the Spirit of God fill our lives. It is Christ’s peace and His holiness that makes us holy, not our so-called goodness. Faith in Him and responding to His call to trust Him gives us a new position or status. Our response to His call is all that we do to become His set-apart people.
God has “blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him.” (Ephesians 1:3–4) We cannot and do not earn it:
For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. (Ephesians 2:8–9)
From the beginning of our calling, we are responsible to continue answering His call and rely on Him for direction and the ability to live in a manner worthy of that calling.
I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. (Ephesians 4:1–3)
An important part of this is learning to think with the mind of Christ. This is done by refusing to be conformed to this world, and instead being “transformed by the renewal of our minds” (Romans 12:2) and by obeying Him in all details of life, practicing spiritual disciplines, prayer and obedience, as we discover the wonder of what it is like to be a saint.
Oh Lord Jesus, being a saint is a reality yet so often I feel as if it cannot be true because I tend to evaluate my godliness by my performance instead of the fact that You have chosen me as Your child. This is like being a soldier that has enlisted but not yet experienced boot camp! Help me turn my eyes always toward You as the One who enlisted me and marks me as a child of God and a saint. That thought of being in Christ is the only foundation for living as Your holy and chosen child.
MORE: Read Psalm 34 and think how I can be more like the saint that God declares me to be.
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