Called Saints and Called to be Saints

Called saints and called to be saints. What kind of a title is that for a blog post?

In my previous blog post I commented on how those who believe in Jesus as Savior and Lord should be His disciples. Disciple is the the term used extensively to refer to believers in the Gospels and book of Acts in the New Testament. But there is another term used for believers multitudes of times in the epistles and book of Revelation. What term is that? It is the word saint.

The word saint as used in the Bible does not have the same meaning as how many, if not most, people use it today. The inspired writers of Scripture used the word "saints" to refer to all who believed in Jesus as their Savior and Lord. Today it is common to only call certain people saints if they have been officially designated that by a particular religious leader or group, or if it is believed by many that those persons are exceptionally better than most other people.

To get God's perspective on what it means to be a saint it is essential that we look to the Bible and see what He has to say about the subject.

1 Corinthians 1:2  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:  ESV

The letter to the church in Corinth was necessary because they were a really messed up bunch of people. Yes, they had heard the gospel and believed that Jesus had died for their sins and rose from the dead and that He was their Savior and Lord. Nevertheless they were flagrantly sinning and believing false teachings.

The Greek word translated here "saints" means "holy one" which refers to their belonging to God for His holy purposes. All who truly believe in Jesus as their Savior and Lord belong to Him, and are forgiven and accepted based on what Jesus accomplished on the Cross. They are "sanctified (made holy - set apart for God) in Christ Jesus."

Scripture refers to believers as saints because of who Jesus is and what He did. But Scripture does not stop there. Yes, we belong to God. Yes we are sanctified in Christ Jesus. But God also commands us to change our wrong attitudes and actions so we will live out being holy as He is holy.

Many call themselves Christians, even those who have concluded that since Jesus paid the price for their sins then they are now free to go on sinning as much as they want. What a wretched attitude! Jesus had to endure the wrath of His Father because of His hatred for sin. Shall we not seek God's help to avoid what He hates and embrace living each day the way He wants us to live?

We who call ourselves Christians need to remind ourselves that it is a term only used once in the Bible (Acts 11:26), and although it is an acceptable term for we who believe in and follow Christ, perhaps when we do use it we should give thought to our being called saints, holy ones, who are called and commanded to be holy as God is holy.