What is a Saint? How do we become one? (Part 1)

What is a Saint? How do we become one? (Part 1)
By Tommy Franks

Most Christians (Protestants and Catholics) have various views of the word “saint”. Some associate saint with sainthood. What is a saint? Some say a saint is a person who works for God and makes His goodness attractive. Others say that saints are forgiven sinners living out their lives in the forgiveness God has given them. I also believe that saints are people who make it easier for others to believe in God. Regardless of your view, a saint allows the light of God to shine through.

As the light of Christ shines upon a Christian, he becomes alive and dazzling. A saint is one who is aware that he is a saved sinner. Rarely, is he/she conscious of being a saint. In fact, it has been said that there are two kinds of people in the world: sinners who think they are saints, and saints who know they are sinners.

The most outstanding personalities in Orthodox spirituality are those who have seen the light of God, accepted the Light (Christ), and continue to reach a higher level of spirituality.

According to the bible, Saints are those who are sanctified in Christ Jesus…called to be saints…with all who in every place call on the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both theirs and ours” (1 Cor. 1:2). A Saint is not someone who is appointed by someone else. A Saint is anyone who has repented and put his faith in Christ Jesus…Being sanctified in Christ…yet not perfect. It is a gift so that no one can boast of works. The real honor and glory goes to God.

The dictionary says a saint is: One who is separated from the world and consecrated to God…one holy by profession and by covenant…a believer in Christ (Ps. 16:3; Rom. 1:7; 8:27; Phil. 1:1; Heb. 6:10). Saint was not used as a distinctive title of the apostles or evangelists or spiritual nobility until the 4th century.

Someone said, “When a saint gets to heaven, he will be surprised by three things.”
First, he will be surprised to see many people that he did not expect to be there.
Second, he will be surprised that some are not there whom he expected to see.
Third, he will be surprised that he himself is there.

A saint is one who sees himself as a sinner forgiven. A saint is one in whom Christ lives…One who opens his life to Christ and lives as Christ wills him to live. A saint is one who is set apart for God. God's saints are not those who wear the biggest halos. They are ordinary people who go to work every day, pay taxes, talk to friends, eat, sleep, attend church, give to others and the church, make mistakes, screw up occasionally, get forgiveness, obey God, and are looking for the return of Jesus Christ.

Sometimes, saints are afraid. This is when they count on God's promise, “Fear not.” They know they are weak; therefore, they depend on His strength. They mess up occasionally (sin), but get forgiveness. They never feel they have arrived, but constantly press on toward the mark (Phil. 3:14).
Saints point others to Christ. They are forerunners. They saturate the world with life, goodness, mercy, grace, and love. Saints are the most convincing answer to atheism and agnosticism. A saint is someone who shows the world what the Christian life is all about. A saint is a sinner who keeps trying. Saints have consecrated themselves wholly to strive to express in their daily lives the love of God as revealed in Jesus. A saint is one who makes God real to others.

The Greek word for saint “hagios” comes from a root word that means “not like anything else…different”. Saints are different from the people of the world…or should be. They march to the tune of a different Drummer. They are conformed to the will of God in Christ. As members of the Body of Christ, the saints are the hands of God by which He accomplishes His work in the world today. They believe: “Without God, we cannot. Without us, He will not!”

All of us are involved in the process of “becoming like Christ”. Saints are advancing closer to the eternal goal everyday. A saint is a mirror of Christ who reflects not himself but Christ.

Paul said, “To all God's beloved in Rome, who are called to be saints…” (Rom. 1:7).
He wrote to the Corinthians, “To the church of God which is at Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints” (1 Cor. 1:2). Who was Paul writing to? He was writing to a group of shop-keepers, civil servants, converted prostitutes, previous prizefighters, slaves, fishermen, forgiven felons, and other shady citizens who had accepted Christ. Paul called these people “holy ones”…called to be like Christ…agents and instruments of God’s continuing work on Planet Earth. These “born again” believers were saints. Therefore, by God's grace today, so are we! Take a closer look at St Paul. Prior to his conviction, he was responsibility for hurting, beating, and even killing first century Christians.

Every Christian is called to perfection and is capable of revealing the image of God hidden in him. Do we live up to that perfection? No! While living on Planet Earth, I have not found a perfect person yet. My wife is close. She is almost there, but not quite.

On the other hand, the Catholic Church takes a different perspective in reference to saints. They will sometimes recognize certain deceased Christians as saints and officially canonize them…declare them to be saints. At one time, Karen and I attended the Catholic Church and I personally see nothing wrong with honoring and showing great respect to deceased Christians. Therefore, please don’t take my following view the wrong way. If you disagree, eat the chicken and spit out the bones! Here is my take on this particular area of canon law: I believe that if you are not a saint before you die, you cannot be a saint after you die. However, I do understand the significance of this outward ceremony. It’s honorable, exemplary, and praiseworthy. It’s always a good thing to recognize and pay homage to Christian individuals…dead or alive, for example…St Paul, St Mathew, St Luke, St Thomas, St Mark, St James, St John, and multitudes of others.

Please do not let this draw your attention away from the fact that every baptized Christian is called a saint. New Testament teaching portrays saints not as spiritual elites, but as the whole body of Christians. Does that mean that earlier Christians were regarded as having reached a sinless perfection? Are you kidding me? Of course not! If that be the case, there are no saints in the New Testament…for even the best of them were not perfect. Today, as New Testament saints, we know that we are forgiven sinners who are ready to place our complete dependence on God's mercy and grace.

We are called to be men and women in whom others can meet the living Christ. We can appreciate our call to be saints when we realize that saints become saints not so much because of the unusual things they do, but rather because of the unusual degree to which they give themselves to Christ. By our daily faithfulness to Christ, each of us is a saint. We are made in the image of God and baptized in the Trinity…every Christian is now a member of sainthood…and destined for Planet Heaven!

Some believe that there are no saints except those publicly honored as such. Those who are mentioned in our calendars form only a small fraction of the whole Communion of Saints. There is a great host whose names are known only to God. These are venerated and recognized collectively on the Feast of All Saints (observed on the first Sunday after Pentecost).

Saints come from every class, occupation, background, nationality, temperament, and socio-economic level. Saints come in all sizes and packages. Some are in business, science, technology, banking, homemaking, medical field, truck driving, plumbing, etc. We have soldier-saints, scholar-saints, politician-saints, missionary-saints, parent-saints, praying-saints, healer-saints, worker-saints, and sinner-saints. Saints are everywhere. They are not perfect; however, to be a saint is to be the best one can be by God's grace. Every saint is different, but every Christian is called to be one.

Saints are human. Some are beautiful and kind; yet, some are jealous, angry, spiteful, scheming, lustful, depressed, discouraged, mean-spirited, and ugly until God changes their disposition. Are they going to hell? No! They do not walk around with halos over their heads… gleaming with kindness…love emanating and streaming from them 24 hours a day. They often have disagreements among each other. For example, Paul and Barnabas had a difference of opinion in regards to John Mark. They did not agree on taking him on another missionary journey. Their disagreement was very strong…so strong that they went their separate ways.

Paul reminded the Church saints at Corinth who they had been previously prior to their conversion. Some of them had been fornicators, idolaters, adulterers, thieves, covetous, and extortioners. But through Christ, they had been washed and sanctified. Christ had washed their soiled humanity and transformed them into attractive images of Christ. They had become an inspiration to others.

Paul said, “So then you are no longer strangers and sojourners, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God” (Eph. 2:19).

Every Christian has status. We belong. We are fellow citizens and saints in the household of God. A Christian does not walk alone as if sealed in a space capsule. We are members of God's family. As such, we must help and be helped by others. The Church is a family…God's family…a family concerned for each other. “If one member suffers, we all suffer together…if one member is honored, we all rejoice together” (1 Cor. 12:26). (Part 2 will follow.)