“Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, To the saints in Ephesus, the faithful in Christ Jesus: Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.” (Eph 1:1-2)
A couple of years ago, I was privileged to work with a dear old lady who was suffering from lung cancer. We talked together, we laughed together, we prayed together, and in the end (much to my consternation!), she began calling me her “saint”! Now, I don’t know about you, but I was raised to believe that a saint is someone who lives without sin. And since ALL have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God, “sainthood” is something that will never be attained until Jesus takes us home, right??? And since I haven’t yet been to Heaven, and though I try, I am certainly NOT living a sin-free life here on Earth, this dear old lady’s label bothered me!
But is this the Biblical definition of Saint? When Paul wrote his letter to the Ephesians, he addressed it to “the saints”. Now, if my understanding of this term were truly correct, then either the Ephesian church was far superior to any I’ve ever visited, or Paul was writing this letter for the benefit of those in Heaven!
Somehow, neither of these possibilities seem quite right, so I got out Mr. Webster: “A holy person”. “A person who is very humble, unselfish, patient, etc.” Okay, so his definition reads a little different than the one I have always attached to the words, but even so, I still don’t fit the bill! Though I try, I am far from humble, unselfish, patient, etc. If Ephesians is written only to “saints”, even by Webster’s definition, it must not have been written for me!
But how could this be? All of the Bible is for each and every one of us!
I mulled over this issue for quite some time before the Holy Spirit began to help me to understand that the book of Ephesians (as well as a myriad of other Biblical references to “saints”) were indeed written for me. No, I have not become so big-headed as to think that I have arrived at the point that I could truly call myself “humble, unselfish, patient, etc.” Far from that! So if I don’t fit the dictionary definition of “saint”, how can I say it was written for me? Because this is only how I am seen through human eyes! Through God’s eyes, things are different.
You see, I accepted Jesus into my life a few years ago. I claimed His righteousness as my own, through His grace offered by His gift to mankind at Calvary. And as a result, I do not stand before God dressed in any kind of my own righteousness (for: “all our righteous acts are like filthy rags” (Isa 64:6)), but I stand before God dressed in a righteousness from God! “But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.” (Rom 3:21-25)
You see, when I have accepted Jesus into my heart, I died to sin (Rom 6:10-12: “The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God. In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus.”)
In other words, in God’s eyes, once I accepted Jesus’ gift of Salvation by grace, it is as if I had never sinned! In God’s eyes, I become a saint! And this is why Paul uses this term to address the church in Ephesus! It was not because they had arrived at some higher level of sanctification. It was because they had accepted Jesus, and as a result, God viewed them as saints!
Would you like to be a saint? The good news is that if you have accepted Jesus into your heart, you already ARE a saint!
The other good news is that if you haven’t yet accepted Jesus into your heart, you can become a saint! And you can do so today, right now! Don’t wait even another minute my friends! Take the step, and then you, too, will be seen as a saint in God’s eyes! To answer the Savior’s Call, Click here
TO ALL THE SAINTS!
In His love,
Lyn
Lyn Chaffart, Moderator, The Nugget, Scriptural Nuggets ( www.scripturalnuggets.org ), Answers2Prayer Ministries, www.Answers2Prayer.org