Who is a
saint, and how and when does one become one? Some think sainthood is pronounced upon a person after death based on how good
and/or holy they lived. According to the Scriptures, however, “saint” is
another word for Christian. The apostle Paul, addressing the believers in the
church at Ephesus, called them saints: “Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the
will of God, to the saints in
Ephesus, the faithful in Christ Jesus” (Ephesians 1:1). The people Paul
addressed were alive, so death is not a requirement to be called a saint. Those
of us who are in the body of Christ Jesus are saints, whether in or out
of our individual earthly bodies.
Having
established that we are saints, we should also show that unless the Lord
draws us, we cannot come to Him (see John 6:44); therefore, sainthood is a
calling. Paul, writing to the church in Rome, addressed them this way, “To all
in Rome who are loved by God and called
to be saints” (Romans 1:1). The online dictionary definition of Call includes making a request or a
demand, and one of the definitions for to
be is to become.
We
are transformed from unbelief/ungodliness to belief/faith in Christ,
resulting in the newness of life and the renewal of the mind (see 2 Corinthians
5:17). We are not called to act like
saints; we are called to be saints. So, to be CALLED TO BE SAINTS is God requesting or demanding that we become saints. To become something different from what we are requires a transformation from one state of being to another: for example, going from a cocoon to a butterfly.
Sainthood is
not a cloak we put on and take off when we feel like it. It should be our new nature, our state of being. We are to be saints around the clock, 24/7. We are to be saints at home, away from home,
when we are awake and asleep. We should be saints at all times, no
matter what. A saint should be our identity, the name by which we are
known.
God told His
people, the Israelites (and us), “You must be holy because I am holy”
(Leviticus 11:45; 1 Peter 1:16). So, how does one become holy? God doesn’t only
command us; he provides detailed directions: “Set yourselves apart to be holy …
Keep all my decrees by putting them into practice, for I am the Lord who makes
you holy” (Leviticus 20:7-8). There we are: We must put God’s decrees into practice
(sanctification)! The rules are summed up in two commands—Love the Lord and
love your neighbor. So, to be a saint is to be a Christian, and to be a
Christian is to have salvation through Christ and then be God’s image-bearer
around the clock.
How can we
vibrantly maintain our sainthood? Let’s compare sainthood to professions in the
secular world. We must have the mindset that we are saints. Every so often,
professionals undergo certification and recertification to ensure their
skills and knowledge are up to date. As a retired nurse, I attended many of those during my working years. As saints, we will receive our
certifications and recertifications through trials to confirm
that we are applying the lessons we learn to maintain our sainthood. Like other roles we hold in life, we must learn all we can about being saints by
studying the manual for saints, which is the Bible, and by attending in-services, seminars,
and training sessions about saints in the form of attending church and Bible studies. Through these activities, God will equip us to get better at being saints. The Word says we
should not neglect the assembling together of the saints, as some are in the
habit of doing, but we should encourage one another (see Hebrews 10:25). It
also says we should correctly handle the Word of truth (see 2 Timothy
2:15).
Sainthood is ongoing and takes perseverance
and dependence on the One who called us to be saints: Jesus Christ, our Lord. We will get better at being saints with time as we obey His
decrees and keep our gaze on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith (see
Hebrews 12:2).
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