What It Means

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, California · Aug 20, 1896

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 22, No. 33.

Saints

The word “saint” in both singular and plural occurs in the New Testament sixty-two times. We read: “Here is the patience of the saints” (Rev. 14: 12), “To them that are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints” (1 Cor. 1: 2); “Beloved of God, called to be saints” (Rom. 1: 7). These are examples of the use of the word.

What It Means

The word “saint” comes from the Greek word hagios, meaning sacred, pure, blameless, consecrated, holy. It comes from the same root word as “sanctify.” A saint is, therefore, a holy, sanctified, consecrated person, one who is separated from the world, set apart to God’s service; for this is a prominent idea in the word. Those who are called to be saints—and all, praise God, are called in Jesus Christ—are called to be separate from the world, to be set apart to the service of God, to be holy unto the Lord, to be pure and blameless in his sight.

Applied to Whom

The term saint is properly applied only to those whom God has made holy. Man of himself is a sinner. “All have sinned and come short of the glory of God.” Man can not make himself one whit better by anything which he may do of himself. He may call himself saint; but it will not make him one. He may set himself to do the works of saints, but this will not change the carnal heart; only those can rightly be called saints, who submit to God’s call to be saints. Then God calls them saints; and his calling them saints makes them saints. Light was not, but God called, and there was light. Health did not exist in the poor leper, but Christ called for health and cleansing, and they came. So God is able to take the blinded, vile, corrupt, and heart-hardened sinner and call him saint. Man could call him saint; a church or pope could canonize him; that would not change him; but when God calls him saint, that makes him saint.

By What Agencies Accomplished

How may we become saints?—It is only through Jesus Christ and his word, and his Spirit through the word, that man can be changed from a state of sin to one of righteousness, from a sinner to a saint. All that he can do is to submit to God, to yield all to him, to receive Jesus Christ, or, in other words, to believe; for Bible believing is yielding to God. “Submit yourselves therefore to God.” To those who thus submitted, Christ said, “Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you.” (John 15: 3.) Again: “Sanctify them through thy truth; thy word is truth (John 17: 17); “That he might sanctify and cleanse it [the church] with the washing of water by the word” (Eph. 5: 26); “Chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth” (2 Thess. 2: 13); “Elect . . . through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus” (1 Peter 1: 2); “Ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit” (verse 22). All these speak the same thing. By the mighty power of God’s life in his word is the change wrought; and all this Jesus Christ has purchased for us by his own precious blood. It is for all. We may be thieves and covetous and drunkards and revilers and extortioners and fornicators and idolaters, as were some of those at Corinth, but it may be said of us as of them, “But ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.” (1 Cor. 6: 11.)

By Whom Applied

Who shall use the term saint, and to whom apply it? From the foregoing, and from its Bible use, it will be seen that only God can truly call a person a saint. He alone it is who cleanses; he alone it is who has the right to declare the saintship. But we may call those saints whom God calls saints. We may speak of “Aaron the saint of the Lord,” and of “all the saints” of whom the apostle speaks, and all whom we believe to be the children of God. But in all God’s word we have no instance where the individual applies the term saint to himself, or where a company of individuals chose it as a distinctive appellation. Paul by inspiration many times calls the believers saints, but himself “a servant of God,” “less than the least of all saints.” He again writes: “Paul and Timotheus, the servants of Jesus Christ, to all the saints in Christ Jesus which are at Philippi.” The original word rendered “servant” and “servants” means a bond-servant, bond-slave, or bought bond-slave, purchased and owned by Jesus Christ, to serve him by the bond of love. What higher name can we ask?

The Character of a Saint

This we have already seen is holy, pure, separate from the world, set apart to God. It is the character of God in human flesh. It means perfect purpose and perfect heart to serve God. The life may be imperfect from lack of wisdom. The child may have a perfect love for the parent, but his work may be imperfect,

from lack of knowledge and experience. So with the Christian or saint. He may make mistakes, may err in judgment, may at times be overcome, but it is not of purpose; and this is shown by forsaking the error and pressing more closely to the Master. The character of the saint is shown in his wholeness of purpose to be a servant of God, a follower of Jesus Christ. It is therefore not befitting or becoming in him to do worldly things. (See Eph. 5: 3–6.) He is not a saint if he chooses or prefers such an atmosphere. Men may call him “saint,” but the apostle adds, “Let no man deceive you with vain words; for because of these things [named in the verses before] cometh the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience.” The true saint is therefore an obedient servant. “Here is the patience of the saints; here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.” These are God’s characteristics of saints, of those who are saints in the latter days,—patience, faithfulness, obedience. This is true sainthood. If we would possess it in God’s sight, let it be our highest ambition to be, in very deed, bond-servants of God, doing his will from the heart.