Category: Truth

What is a Saint in the Bible?

“Do you believe in saints?”

I’ve been asked this question many times since moving here to the Philippines. I always affirm my belief in the saints since they are mentioned in the Bible. But I also do my best to clarify what the Scriptures really mean when this term is used.

Many people believe that saints are an elite group of Christians who did remarkable acts of piety before dying. This is a common teaching in some religious traditions. But I would simply encourage you to look at the way this word is used in the Scriptures.

To put it simply, the word “saint” or “saints” is always used as a general reference to God’s people. Anyone who is a true follower of Christ is, according to the Bible, a saint.

Let’s look at a few New Testament references for the sake of simplicity. Notice who Paul is writing to and how he addresses them:

To the church of God that is in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints together with all those who in every place call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, both their Lord and ours 
-1st Corinthians 1:2

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. 
-Ephesians 1:1-2

Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus, To all the saints in Christ Jesus who are at Philippi, with the overseers and deacons: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Philippians 1:1-2

A couple of things are clear from these Scriptures:

1. Paul was not addressing dead people.
2. Paul was addressing the entire church—all believers.

Why does this teaching matter? Let’s study a little more deeply.

The word translated “saint” literally means “holy one” in the original language of the New Testament. This is why some English translations (New Living Translation, for example) use “God’s holy people” instead of “saint” for the before-mentioned verses.

We should not overlook the significance of this adjective. “Holy” is a word that belongs exclusively to the God. He alone is holy, therefore only He can make someone holy. The Scriptures never present sainthood/holiness as something that is achieved through good works or religious service. You also won’t find “saint” used as a title given to a select few by the church leadership.

I believe the New Living Translation of 1st Corinthians 1:2 is particularly helpful for clarifying this:

I am writing to God’s church in Corinth, to you who have been called by God to be his own holy people. He made you holy by means of Christ Jesus, just as he did for all people everywhere who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, their Lord and ours.

I’ll point out two truths from this verse:

1. God has made all His children holy through Jesus Christ.
2. God has called all His followers to live in holiness

Tragic consequences come from altering the original meaning of “saint.” First and foremost, the focus has been taken off of God and placed it on human beings. Some go so far as to pray to the saints, even though the Scriptures teach that Jesus alone is our intercessor to God the Father (see 1st Timothy 2:5). This is a form of idolatry.

Some may object to my last statement, claiming they are only honoring or venerating the departed people of faith. But let’s think about this: how can a mere mortal answer hundreds (or thousands) of prayers? Can an American saint who has passed away now understand Tagalog and Mandarin prayers? Is the Lord God not the only one who has the power to understand and answer millions of prayers? Is it right to attribute this kind of power to mere flesh and blood?

This leads into a second, yet equally important issue: salvation. According to the Scriptures, salvation is a gift of God’s grace. We are made holy in the sight of God by trusting Christ—not due to our own efforts. Here’s what Paul told the Ephesian believers:

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast. 
-Ephesians 2:8-9

But canonizing an individual shifts the emphasis from grace to good works. I’ll clarify something here: there’s nothing wrong with celebrating the lives of God’s servants. But what I have seen goes far beyond celebration by claiming an elite group has achieved special status/favor with God by their own merits.

The last consequence has to do with Christian living. Just as all believers are made holy, we are also called to live and grow in holiness (a process known as sanctification). Creating an artificial category of “super-Christians” sends the message that only a select few can really live holy lives. The rest of us are thus demoted to second-class citizen status in God’s kingdom.

Final Thoughts/Summary:

A saint is anyone who has trusted Christ and chosen to follow Him. We are made holy in God’s eyes through our relationship with Christ. We can be inspired by the lives of faithful believers who have gone before us. But we should not give them exclusive titles, pray to them, or do anything else that may rob God of the glory He fully deserves.

I am the Lord; that is my name;
 
my glory I give to no other,
 
nor my praise to carved idols. 
-Isaiah 42:8

Note:  You can check out Living By Love–the Gospel if you’d like to learn how to have a relationship with Jesus Christ.

The Gospel, Homosexuality, and Gay “Marriage”

Note: This is a post I first wrote years ago when the issue of legalizing gay “marriage” was at the forefront of the news. I have since expanded it and will feature it here every June.

Gay “marriage” seems to be a hot topic right now since some parts of the world are changing their laws to make it legal (including here in the USA).

My regular readers know where I stand on this, but I want to reiterate what the Bible teaches for those who may be searching for the truth. What I’m about to say may not be popular, but that doesn’t really concern me.

What does the Bible really say about homosexuality? Let’s first consider three points:

The Biblical Foundation:

We need look no further than the second chapter of Genesis to see God’s original plan for love, sex and marriage:

That is why a man leaves his father and mother and is united to his wife, and they become one flesh. –Genesis 2:24

There you have it: God’s designed sex to be experienced by one man and one woman in a covenant of marriage (a “one flesh” union). He did not make a mistake in His original plan.

The Biblical Condemnation:

The Old Testament law lists homosexual behavior among practices unacceptable to God:

Do not have sexual relations with a man as one does with a woman; that is detestable.
–Leviticus 18:22

The New Testament (Romans) describes homosexual behavior as “unnatural”:

Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural sexual relations for unnatural ones. In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed shameful acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their error.
–Romans 1:26-27

There are other Scriptures, but I’ll get to that later.

The Absence of Biblical Celebration:

The Bible repeatedly celebrates the relationship between husband and wife. Proverbs puts it this way:

He who finds a wife finds what is good and receives favor from the LORD. 
–Proverbs 18:22

The Song of Solomon (also called Song of Songs) celebrates the sexual love and desire between a young bride and her husband:

Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth—
for your love is more delightful than wine.
Pleasing is the fragrance of your perfumes;
your name is like perfume poured out.
No wonder the young women love you!
Take me away with you—let us hurry!
Let the king bring me into his chambers.
-Song of Solomon 1:2-4

But you won’t find a single verse in the Bible celebrating homosexual acts/relationships—not one! There is simply no indication that God blesses or condones any kind of same-sex union. Wouldn’t homosexuality be celebrated in the Scriptures in some way if these relationships were part of His plan for human flourishing?

People can try to twist the Scriptures any way they like, but the Biblical message is clear: God’s plan for love and sex has not changed.

I’ve explained the biblical foundation, the biblical condemnation, and the lack of biblical celebration in regards to homosexuality. Now let me share one more thing:

The Biblical Solution—The Gospel:

Is there any hope for those who struggle with same-sex attraction? Yes! It’s the same hope that is available to murderers, adulterers, drug addicts, alcoholics, liars, churchgoers, preachers, campus ministers, and bloggers. We all desperately need the Gospel—the good news of a Savior who offers forgiveness to those who repent and believe.

Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord 
-Acts 3:19

Notice the word “repent.” This word indicates a change of mind and a change of direction in one’s life. Repentance is agreement with God on the nature of sin and my need for the life-changing gospel.

This gospel has been changing lives since the ancient church. We see it in Paul’s admonitions to the believers in Corinth:

Or do you not know that wrongdoers will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor men who have sex with men nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God. 
-1st Corinthians 6:9-11

Pay careful attention to the last two sentences (vs. 11). Those trapped in all kinds of sins (including homosexual sins) where changed by the power of the gospel!

Here’s what grieves me about churches that condone gay “weddings” or homosexuality: they have ignored the biblical definition of sin. This kind of teaching leaves us with people professing to be Christian, yet rejecting the clear teachings of Scripture.

Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter. 
–Isaiah 5:20

Let me summarize the Gospel and how it relates to sexual purity:

1. All of us have sinned and fallen short. God’s holy nature required payment (sacrifice) to atone for our sins. God does not ignore sin or change his mind about it. Instead, He has dealt with it in a way that his consistent with His character. Salvation is offered freely to those who repent and believe in the gospel:

For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard. Yet God, with undeserved kindness, declares that we are righteous. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins. For God presented Jesus as the sacrifice for sin. People are made right with God when they believe that Jesus sacrificed his life, shedding his blood 
–Romans 3:23-25

2. Followers of Jesus Christ are called and empowered to be holy. This means avoiding all forms of sexual immorality:

God’s will is for you to be holy, so stay away from all sexual sin. Then each of you will control his own body and live in holiness and honor—not in lustful passion like the pagans who do not know God and his ways. Never harm or cheat a Christian brother in this matter by violating his wife, for the Lord avenges all such sins, as we have solemnly warned you before. God has called us to live holy lives, not impure lives. Therefore, anyone who refuses to live by these rules is not disobeying human teaching but is rejecting God, who gives his Holy Spirit to you. 
-1st Thessalonians 4:3-8

This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun! -2nd Corinthians 5:17

Responding to Objections:

I’ve decided to expand this post a little in order to respond to some of the most common objections to the traditional interpretation of the Scriptures.

Some object to the quotation of Old Testament law, arguing that we (Christians) no longer practice the entire law.  Leviticus also has commandments against wearing clothing made from two different types of thread (Leviticus 19:19), for example.  I can’t fully address the Old and New Covenants in one post, so I’ll explain it this way: the sexual ethic, built on the foundation of Genesis 2:24, is consistent throughout the Scriptures.  We no longer practice some of the ceremonial laws of the Old Testament, but we do continue to follow the its moral laws.

Why didn’t Jesus ever directly address homosexuality?  Because his ministry was primarily to a Jewish audience that would have already understood the teachings of the Old Testament.

Jesus did define marriage as a lifelong covenant between one man and one woman (Matthew 19:4-9), referring back to Genesis 2:24.

Jesus also listed “sexual immorality” among the “evil things” that defile a person (Mark 7:21-23).   The Greek word we translate into “sexual immorality” comes from the root word porneia (from which we get the term pornography).  This term referred to any form of sex outside of marriage between a man and a woman.

Jesus never directly addressed incest, zoophilia, or child sacrifice (all of which are also mentioned in Leviticus 18:20-23), yet it would be completely absurd to assume he approved of these practices.

Paul  address the issue of homosexuality in more explicit terms because he ministered to Gentiles (non-Jews; pagans).  Some have challenged the translation of 1st Corinthians 6:9 and 1st Timothy 1:10.  The word translated “men who have sex with men“ (NIV), or “men who practice homosexuality” (ESV) is the Greek word arsenokoitai.  It is an unusual word, but it isn’t really that difficult to explain.  Paul simply combines two words from the Greek translation of the Old Testament (the Septuagint): aresno (man), and koitai (to lie with–from which we get the English term coitus).  Both words appear in Leviticus 18:22.  Paul was reiterating the Old Testament prohibition of homosexual sin.

You may wonder why there are relatively few references to homosexuality in the Scriptures.  I think the answer is pretty simple–it’s the same reason that most of my articles regarding sexual purity are geared towards heterosexuals: sexual immorality between men and women is a lot more common than same-sex acts.

Final Thoughts:

I’m not arguing that God has some special disdain for homosexuals–He doesn’t (and I don’t either).  But homosexual acts are clearly a rebellion against God’s original design for sexual intimacy.

I’m sure some of you reading this post are still convinced I’m wrong.  If nothing else I hope I have helped you understand why Christians believe marriage should only be between a man and a woman.

Recommended Reading:

William Lane Craig has written an excellent, in-depth article on his website: A Christian Perspective on Homosexuality.

Books:

Check out Kevin DeYoung’s,  What Does the Bible Really Teach About Homosexuality? if you want a good resource on this topic.   For those who want a lengthy, scholarly book I’d recommend The Bible and Homosexual Practice: Texts and Hermeneutics (by Robert Gagnon).