We Are Saints
And when he had found him, he brought him to Antioch. So it was that for a whole year they assembled with the church and taught a great many people. And the disciples were first called Christians in Antioch. Acts 11:26
Paul, called to be an apostle of Jesus Christ through the will of God, and Sosthenes our brother,
To the church of God which is at Corinth, to 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 Corinthians 1:1-2
Calling ourselves Christians is proper and good. We have Scriptural authority to be called Christians, as can be found in the book of Acts. It is at Antioch where the followers of Christ were first called Christians. And so the name has continued to be applied to those who would deny themselves, take up their cross, and follow Jesus (Matthew 16:24).
We are familiar with the name “Christian” and should wear it proudly, not being ashamed of being followers of Christ - not being ashamed of the gospel (Romans 1:16). But what of the name - or title - of “saint”? Do we consider ourselves the Lord’s saints?
In the passage from 1 Corinthians above, we see that Paul, when writing to the Christians at Corinth, referred to them as those who were called to be saints. When writing to the church of God at Corinth, He wrote to those who were sanctified in Christ Jesus; he wrote to those who came to Jesus, calling on His name; He wrote to the saints.
Those who are Christians have also called on His name, have been sanctified in Christ, and are also saints. We too can be called saints! But what does that mean?
Dictionary.com defines a “saint” as: a person of great holiness, virtue, or benevolence.
A follower of Christ should be striving to be a person of great holiness, virtue, and benevolence. After all we are to be a righteous people. We are to put on the breastplate of righteousness (Ephesians 6:14) and to be holy like God is holy (1 Peter 1:16).
-- John Thrower Jr.