You Are a Saint! (No really)
What if the title saint wasn’t meant just for the stained-glass window?
When you hear the word “saint,” do you think it refers to someone else?
I mean it. If someone were to walk up to you and say, “How’s it going, Saint John? Or Saint Anna?” You would probably think that person was crazy, or that they clearly have you mistaken for someone else.
Now the word saint can also have a variety of connotations depending on your church background. Maybe you grew up Catholic or Orthodox. Maybe you grew up Protestant. In most circles, “saint” is a word for the people in stained-glass windows. The ones who never struggled the way you’ve struggled. The ones who somehow had it together in ways you haven’t.
Paul uses this word for ordinary believers throughout his letters:
- Romans 1:7
- 1 Corinthians 1:2
- 2 Corinthians 1:1
- Ephesians 1:1
- Philippians 1:1
- Colossians 1:2
- Philemon 1:5, 7
So let’s just look at one of those greetings in 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.” (1 Corinthians 1:2, ESV)
So why does Paul open his letter to the church in Corinth by calling them saints?
Because Corinth was a mess. They were incredibly divided, sin was rampant, they were pretty confused about the Gospel. Bottom line: these were not people you would nominate for sainthood. Paul calls them saints anyway.
1 Corinthians 1:2 says they were called by God to be his own holy people, made holy by means of Christ Jesus.
The word there for holy is hagios. It means set apart. It means belonging to. It’s the same word used for the temple, for the Sabbath, for the ground Moses stood on.
And here’s the thing about all of those: what made them holy wasn’t that they were pure or faultless in themselves. They were holy because of who claimed them.
When God calls you a saint, he’s saying: I have claimed you. You belong to me. Right now, in Christ.
And notice what Paul doesn’t say. He doesn’t say they made themselves holy. We do that a lot. We assume holiness is something we build through better behavior, more discipline, more effort.
But it’s past tense. Done. Whatever holiness you have before God is not something you constructed. It’s something Jesus did for you.
Paul also calls other Christians “saints.” He tells the Ephesians in chapter 4, verse 24: put on your new nature, created to be like God, truly righteous and holy.
Let me ask you something. Is it easier for you to call yourself a sinner than a saint?
I get it. It can feel humble. And it’s easy to point to our actions and say, look, obviously I’m a sinner. Look what I’ve done.
But what we’re talking about here is your nature, not your record. What do sinners do? They sin. It’s their nature. What do saints do? They live set apart. And what Paul is saying is that you now have a new nature. A holy nature, created in the likeness of God, inclined toward him, living in your human spirit right now.
You can’t put on a nature you’re still waiting to receive. Paul isn’t telling the Ephesians to wait for something. He’s telling them to wear what they already have.
None of these verses say you receive a new nature when you get to heaven. We do wait for the redemption of our bodies. We’ll be free from the presence of sin then. But the new nature, the holy nature, the one created to be like God? That’s already yours.
So many of us spend years working toward something we already possess. Trying to acquire approval from God that we already have. Praying for God to do something he already settled at the cross.
When Paul calls Christians saints, he’s not asking them to earn it first. He’s declaring it. Being to doing, not doing to be. He’s not saying you can’t sin or you won’t sin. He’s saying you don’t have to.
You are holy. You are a saint. You are set apart, by God, through God, and for God.
Right now!
My guess is the more we believe who we are in Christ, the less we’ll be tempted to live like the sinners that we used to be.
A Prayer for You
Father, would You open the eyes of my heart to see what You have already declared true. Where I have believed lies about who I am, replace them with the truth of Your Word. Teach me to walk in the identity You have given me in Christ. Amen.
P.S. Want to keep diving in? I’ve put together a full resource on who you are in Christ. You can find it at gothryve.com/who-you-are-in-christ. It’s free, and it’s for you.
If this resonated with you, I’d love to hear about it and even have a conversation!
