“Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, To the saints in Ephesus, the faithful in Christ Jesus”. ( Ephesians 1:1)
What kind of picture does the word “saint” conjure up in your mind? Is it a plaster statue of the Madonna? Is it a picture in a stained-glass window? One little girl was asked what a saint was. She replied: “Someone with light shining through them.” That girl was thinking of the light shining through the figures of saints in the stained-glass windows in her church. But you know, it’s not a bad answer, is it? A saint is a person through whom the light of God shines. But should we restrict this term for particularly famous or holy persons, renowned for their good deeds, or the simplicity of their life? Should we only use it of people like Mother Teresa and Francis of Assisi? Should it be reserved for those who practiced great austerity and asceticism – people like Saint David who lived on herbs and cold water and spent hours up to his neck in icy cold water while he prayed.
Today is All Saints Day – a day of great importance to Anglicans, and even more so to Roman Catholics. But what does it mean to Non-conformists like us? What is a “saint” in Biblical terms?
Our text makes it plain and clears away any misconceptions: “Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, To the saints in Ephesus, the faithful in Christ Jesus”. ( Ephesians 1:1)
A Saint is a Christian Believer
A saint is not just a particularly special, or holy, or famous Christian. A saint is anyone who is faithful in Christ Jesus. The Greek word used for “faithful” also means “believing” – so we could also say a Saint is a Believer in Jesus Christ. Paul writes to all the believers in Ephesus and calls them “saints”.
We find this view of sainthood in the other New Testament Epistles:
Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, …. to all in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints. (Romans 1: 7)
To the church of God in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus and called to be holy, (1 Corinthians 1:2)
Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother, To the church of God in Corinth, together with all the saints throughout Achaia. (2 Corinthians 1;1)
To all the saints in Christ Jesus at Philippi. (Philippians 1:1 )
From these and other texts we see that:
- A saint is faithful and believing
- A saint is holy and sanctified
- A saint is called by God
A saint is not a special Christian, but any true Christian. This one of the great truths rediscovered at the Reformation – we are all saints, and our sins are forgiven by the grace of God alone.
Mediaeval misconceptions
In the Middle Ages, the Roman Catholic church developed a particular doctrine of sainthood which still persists today in some circles. The idea was that some people were so holy that when they died they went straight to Heaven instead of going to Purgatory.
(Of course, the doctrine of Purgatory is not found in the Bible. We are all sinners but our sins are cleansed by the blood of Christ. We will not need to spend centuries in Purgatory to atone for our sins before we will be allowed into Heaven.)
Anyway, back to the saints. These particularly holy people were thought to be much closer to God than the rest of us. And, just as you might ask another Christian to pray for you, so you might ask one of the “Saints” – even after their death – to intercede on your behalf. Obviously if you believed the Saint was already in heaven then you would think that he or she was much closer to God.
So people were encouraged by the Church to ask the Saints to plead on their behalf before the throne of God. To this day many people pray to the Saints. Some even write letters to them (which seems to me a bit like children writing letters to Santa Claus!)
Now none of this has any Biblical justification – for we are all saints anyway, if we are faithful to Jesus. We all have direct access to God through his Son.
(And there is no such place as Purgatory. Protestants hold varied views about what happens in the “intermediate state” ( the time between death and the final judgement) but none believe in Purgatory. Some hold the view that the soul goes immediately to Heaven to be united with a new resurrection body after the Last Judgement. Others think that death is like a “sleep of the soul” – we shall rest in the Lord, and on the Day of Resurrection be raised up with new bodies. If you hold the first view, then it is just possible that you might think you could pray to the Saints – to communicate with the souls of the departed in Heaven and ask them to intercede on your behalf.
But remember, in both the Old and New Testaments, God has warned us of the danger of spiritualism. We are not, in any way, to attempt to communicate with the dead. To my mind praying to the Saints comes perilously close to this.)
But I digress – all believers are saints, and share in the privilege of belonging to Gods people. What then can we say of God’s saints?
Faithful and believing
As I said earlier, the same Greek word ( pistis) is used for both “faithful” and “believing”. So we can say of God that he is faithful, he is reliable, he is our Rock in whom we trust. And you can say that the believer, in trusting in Christ, also becomes faithful to him. In other words, becomes more like God. So we have a mutual relationship of trust and love. If we are true Christians, then our relationship with God is based on personal trust in Jesus. It’s not just knowing the facts about Jesus, but knowing him as Saviour.
Holy and sanctified
“Holy” means “set apart” – like God himself. A saint is “set apart” from sin, from all that is anti-God, from hatred, from greed, from impurity. A saint is one who seeks to live by God’s laws.
“Well,” you may say, “we all fail don’t we, which one of us can claim to be without sin?”
We all fail, yes, but we can all be cleansed by the Blood of Christ. After all, a saint is simply a sinner who has repented and asked for God’s forgiveness. A saint is a sinner who has been made new, born again.
Called by God
A saint is called of God. Have you heard the call of God? Have you heard a call to personal repentance and faith in Jesus? You can be a nominal Christian because you were brought up in the Church, or because your parents were Christian, or because you are a church member. But that doesn’t make you a saint – a Christian in the true sense. One becomes a Christian, or a saint, when one hears the call of God and responds to it.
Perhaps some might say, “I have never heard the call of God.” Then I would say, “You are hearing it now, through this sermon!” Everyone here, in this church has heard, or is hearing, the call of God.
How are we going to respond? Is it, “Yes, Lord, I am a sinner, but I want to be a saint”, or is it, “No, Jesus, I am not interested in religious things, I want to stay the same.”
How sad it is when people respond in the second way. They are condemning themselves to an eternity away from God, unless they repent before it’s too late.
May we all be true saints of God:
- faithful and believing ·
- holy and sanctified
- called by the Lord, and responding to the call.
May it be said of us that we are “saints” – people through whom the light of God shines. Jesus said: “Let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.” ( Matthew 5:16 )
