14th February 2017 - Saints and Sinners
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1) All humans are sinners by nature due to being born into sin, but not all are saints. According to the Bible, a saint is a true believer in Jesus Christ who has been saved by grace through faith, not works. 2) Both the Old and New Testaments refer to believers as saints. In the New Testament, saints are those who belong to the body of Christ. In the Old Testament, the Hebrew words for saint also mean holy ones who are faithful or set apart. 3) While all are born sinners, saints are those who have experienced spiritual rebirth through faith in Jesus Christ, who came to give his life as a ransom for many. Through faith in Christ, sinners
14th February 2017 - Saints and Sinners
- 1. Saints and Sinners – 15th February 2017 “…having canceled the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us; he has taken it away, nailing it to the cross.”(Colossians 2:14). All humanbeingsare sinnersbecause we are borninsin.Butalthoughmanywouldlike toportray themselvesassaints, notall humansare saints.Accordingtothe Bible,asaintisnot someone whohas done wonderful things,norisitsomeone whohasbeendeemedasaintbya church or organization.The wordtranslated“saint”inthe NewTestament, hagios,literallymeans“sacred,physicallypure;morally blamelessorreligious;ceremoniallyconsecrated;holy.”Inthe contextof New Testamentpassages, saintsare those whobelongtothe bodyof Christ,savedby grace through faith inJesusChristasones saviour. We can learn thisfrom Ephesians2:8–9, “Forit is by grace you have been saved, through faith—andthisisnot fromyourselves, it isthe giftof God— 9 notby works, sothat no one can boast.” In otherwords, saintisanotherword fora true believerinthe LordJesusChrist. There are manydefinitionsof whataSaintis.For example,aSaintisan example of holiness that we can followwithconfidence,ora saintisalwayssomeone throughwhose life we learn what God is like - and of whatwe are calledtobe. The Greekwordfor saintsisan interesting one. It is the word “hagios” and means “most holy thing” so a saint is a holy person but wait…, aren’t all men are called sinners, even aftertheyare saved? The deference isthatGodsees the repentedandsavedindividual as having Jesus ownrighteousnessbecause Christbecamesinforusso that whenthe Fathernow sees us, He sees us as having the righteousness of Jesus Christ as we read from 2 Corinthians 5:21,“God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” What aboutthose whoare savedor justifiedbyfaithinthe Old Testament? DoesGodconsiderthem saintstoo? The Hebrewwordusedinthe OldTestamentforsaintis “chaciyd”whichmeans“faithful, kind,godly,”and“holyone”so we see thatthe use of the word saintessentiallymeansthe same thing inboth the Oldand NewTestamentandthatis “holyones.” There isyetanotherHebrew wordforsaint and itis “qadowsh”whichagainmeans“sacred,holy,holyone”and“setapart.” Whenbelieversare calledandsavedwe are sanctifiedor“setapartfor holyuse”which iswhat sanctifiedmeans. Sothe Bible mentionsbelieversinboththe OldandNew Testamentassaints. Here’s proof that we can read from Ephesians1:1 “Paul,anapostle ofChrist Jesusby the will ofGod, To the saintswho are in Ephesus,and are faithful inChristJesus.”Here we canlearnthat those whowere faithful inChristwere alsoreferredtoassaints.The apostle Paul callsthe believersatEphesus“saints” because inChristtheyare made holydue to Jesus’atoningsacrifice. Butthere’smore. Once againPaul, as is hiscustom,openshisepistles(letters) withgreetingstothe saintsor the setapart or holyones. Theyhave no inherentholinessof course buttheyare made holyby Jesus’bloodthatwasshedforthem on the cross. We can `get proof againfrom Colossians1:2 “Paul,anapostleof ChristJesus by the will of God,andTimothy our brother, To the saintsand faithful brothersin Christat Colossae:Graceto you and peace fromGod our Father.” It isa clearbiblical truththatall are bornin sinand all have a sinnature.Scripture saysthat God created humankindoriginallygoodandwithoutasinnature.We can learnthisfrom Genesis1:26–27: " Then Godsaid,“Let us make mankindin our image,inour likeness, sothat they mayrule over the fishin the sea and the birdsin the sky, over the livestockand all the wildanimals,andover all the creatures that
- 2. move alongthe ground.” 27 SoGodcreated mankindinhis ownimage, inthe imageof Godhe created them; male andfemale he created them.” However,Genesis3recordsthe fall of Adamand Eve,and withthat fall sinenteredintothe twopreviouslysinlesscreatures.Andwhentheyhadchildren,theirsin nature was passedalongtotheiroffspring. Furthertothiswe keepaddingontothe sinequation throughour sinful actions. Thus,we are bornin sinandkeepaddingtothe miseryandtherefore every humanbeinginGods eyesisa sinneruntil he orshe isredeemedthroughtheirfaithinJesusChristas one’ssaviour. Saints,on the other hand,are NOT born saints;theybecome saintsbybeingreborn.Because the bible tellsus: “… for all have sinnedand fall shortof the glory ofGod.”(Romans3:23). Therefore, we are all in needof spiritual rebirth,withoutwhichwe will continue inoursinful state throughouteternity.ButGod, inHis great mercyand grace,has providedthe (only)meansforturningasinnerintoa saint—the Lord JesusChrist,whocame “to give Hislife asa ransom formany” as we can learnfrom Mark 10:45 “For even the Sonof Man didnot come to be served, butto serve, andto givehis lifeas a ransomfor many.”Whenwe confessourneedforaSaviorfromsin andaccept His sacrifice onthe cross onour behalf,we become saints. There isno hierarchyof saints. All whobelongtoChristbyfaithare saints,andnone of us are more “saintly”thanour Christianbrothersandsisters.The apostle Paul,whoisnomore of a saintthan the mostobscure Christian,beginshisfirstlettertothe Corinthianchurchbydeclaring:“Tothe church of Godin Corinth,to those sanctifiedinChristJesus andcalled to be hisholy people,together with all those everywhere who call on the name ofour Lord JesusChrist—theirLord andours:” (1 Corinthians 1:2). In thisverse, hagios istranslated“saints,”“holy,”and“sanctified”indifferentBibleversions, leadingtothe unmistakable conclusionthatall whohave evercalleduponChristforsalvationare saints, made holyby the Lord. In today’scontextwe are notsaintsbecause we have notbeendeclaredtobe saintsby a church, nor can we work our wayto sainthood like inthe RomanCatholicChurch.Once we are savedbyfaith, however,we are calledtocertainactionsbefittingourcallingassaints (orchildren) of God. Peter teachesusthis:“But just as he who calledyouis holy,so be holy inall youdo; 16 for it iswritten: “Be holy,because I am holy.”(1Peter 1:15–16). We can know thatSaints– thenand now - are not absolutely sinless.Whatisimportantisthat the livesof saints (childrenof God) doreflectthe realityof the presence of Christinour hearts…because oursaintlinessisthroughourabsolute faithinJesusChrist as our saviour.We can learnfrom Colossians2:14-15, “…havingcanceled thecharge of our legal indebtedness,whichstoodagainstus and condemnedus; he has taken it away,nailingitto the cross. 15 Andhavingdisarmedthe powersand authorities,he made a publicspectacleof them, triumphing over them by the cross.”