Who Am I - I Am a Saint

 

Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, To the saints who are in Ephesus, and are faithful in Christ Jesus: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. (Ephesians 1:1–6 ESV).

 

A doghouse next to a skyscraper seems to be completely out of place. Yet, that seems to be how many believers think of themselves compared to the “saints” of the Bible. Most of us think of some revered religious person when the word “saint” is used to describe someone. According to the Roman Catholic Church a saint is someone who is in heaven, including those never officially recognized on earth. They must be “canonized” by the church before officially recognizing these people with the title. Canonization takes place when deceased individuals are authoritatively declared to be in heaven and "worthy of universal veneration". That leaves most of us out of this designation. Although the Apostle Paul has a different understanding in our reading today. He declares all the believers in this letter to be “saints”. That is due to the truth that Jesus’ work of grace in our lives make us saints. It is not a designation based on our worth; it is based on the work of Jesus on our behalf.

 

Though most of us don’t see ourselves as saints, that is what we are when we believe in Jesus. Because of his work, we are being sanctified, made holy, as we live out our lives serving the Lord—and that means we are saints. Because of Jesus, I am not what I or others will often perceive me to be. Instead, I am who God declares me to be. Through Jesus’ sacrifice for my sake, I am now declared righteous and holy.

 

Paul understood that we are profoundly transformed in God’s sight when we come to faith in Jesus. That’s why Paul begins his letter to the Ephesian believers by addressing them as “God’s holy people.” Literally, he refers to them as “the saints in Ephesus.” Despite being new to the faith and still having a long way to go in their spiritual development, Paul recognizes them as saints.

 

A saint is someone consecrated to God and set apart for God’s service. Through baptism, believers are marked as God’s treasured possession, set apart for his divine purposes. Just as it would be foolish to build only a doghouse on the foundation of a skyscraper, it would be foolish to build anything less than a sanctified life on the foundation Jesus established for us.