"To the church of God which is in Corinth, to those who have been sanctified in Christ Jesus, the called saints, with all those who call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ in every place, who is theirs and ours:" (1 Corinthians 1:2)
I use this verse because we know the church of Corinth is famous for its many problems. Even in Corinth Paul calls them the Saints.
The word Saint literally means holy ones, sanctified ones consecrated ones. We have been set apart, uniquely, and only for God to use. We are containers of the treasure of God, which is Christ in us.
We often read the Bible religiously , hermeneutically and doctrinally, and we study and consider the way Paul greets believers, and the way he concludes his epistles that it’s just the way he writes his letters. No! This is the word of God to the churches from the apostle that had the vision that reveals to us God’s unique desire for the church today. We are not merely reading letters from Paul, we are reading the word of God from God through Paul to the churches. And remembering that all these writings are based upon his revelation that God gave to him in Damascus . So for Paul to say “to the Saints in Colossae” is not merely a greeting.
In the New Testament, saint is use 61 times , one time in the gospel, two times by Jude, 14 times in the book of revelation and the rest are exclusively associated with Paul’s epistles or experiences, such as in Acts. Paul takes this word saint, which means a holy one of God, and makes it common for all believers! It is first used in Acts chapter 9, where Paul is blind after seeing Jesus on the road to Damascus. Ananias is told to go help Paul and Ananias says, “but Lord he’s the one persecuting the Saints in Jerusalem” As if to say, now, “he’s here to persecute saints like me in Damascus! “ After Paul’s revelation, he takes this word saint, this sacred word, and makes it common to all receivers of Christ.
He applies this word to whatever location believers are found. Colossae, Corinth, Rome, Philippi, etc. you are saints wherever you are located! Does not matter your location or situation, it does not matter where you are geographically, what era you are in, the environment you are in, the mess you got yourself into, it matters not, if Christ is in you than you are the Saints . This word is not in the realm of religion, or high spirituality or of ones personal accomplishment. It is simply in the realm of who we are and wherever we are! This is who we are in Christ Jesus. Now, with this revelation, Paul can build and speak to all the churches, he can speak to us, no matter who we are, or where we are, if we can realize this, that Christ is in us and this has made us Saints unto God! Paul has a way to move forward. Amen.
