As for the saints who are on the earth, “They are the excellent ones, in whom is all my delight.” Psalm 16: 3, NKJV.
Merciful God, IWe have put our trust in you, and we thank you for delighting in Your people. In the name of Your Son, the Messiah, we give You thanks. Amen.
One basic mistake I find many Christians making is to shy away from the designation “saint.” Somehow we feel that if we respond to the title or accept it as a “given” we are being proud. I am finding out, that, quite to the contrary, the title or designation should have a humbling effect upon us.
This, of course, would depend on what definition of the word saint we are referring to. If we are talking about the person who has been canonized by the church; someone who is “sinless;” or someone whose “goodness” we believe we could never attain; then I would not blame you for shying away from the title. So would I.
But if we are thinking of a saint in the biblical sense, we should all embrace the title, gladly! In the Bible we find at least, 75 references to saint(s). And as far as my memory serves me, with few exceptions (some due to translations), they are referring to the people of God, who we know have neither been canonized, nor are boasting of sinless-ness, or perfection! Let us look at a few of these references:
“When they envied Moses in the camp, and Aaron the saint of the LORD” (Psalm 106: 16). Emphasis provided. We all know that Aaron did not make it into the earthly Canaan, because of his sin, “Aaron shall be gathered unto his people: for he shall not enter into the land which I have given unto the children of Israel, because ye rebelled against my word at the water of Meribah” (Numbers 20: 24). Yet the inspired Word of God refers to him as “the saint of the LORD.”
“Sing praise to the LORD, you saints of His, and give thanks at the remembrance of His holy name” (Psalm 30: 4). Emphasis provided. This is a psalm of David when he was delivered by God, from an almost fatal illness. We all know that neither David nor his people had lived perfect lives in the sight of God, for the confessions of their sins have remained behind as a testimony to God’s mercy, in spite of human failure, “Have mercy upon me, O God, according to Your lovingkindness; according to the multitude of Your tender mercies, blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin” (Psalm 51″ 1-3).
“But now I am going to Jerusalem to minister to the saints” (Romans 15: 25). “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. Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Corinthians 1: 1-3). Emphasis provided. Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, to the saints who are in Ephesus, and faithful in Christ Jesus” ( Ephesians 1: 1).
All of the references we just saw were of human beings like you and me. People who made mistakes and committed sins, but did not remain in their sins – because they knew that they had been called to be saints! That was their destiny; and they would keep “[pressing] on toward the mark of the prize of the high calling in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3: 12-14)!
Yes my friends, we have all been “called” to sainthood; not in our strength but in the strength of Christ. In the process, many of us will get knocked down, but not knocked out, unless we refuse to take Christ’s hand and get up again. Losing a round does not mean we have to lose the fight. Jesus already won it at Calvary, on our behalf! So the next time you find yourself shying away from the title “saint,” remember, that “a saint is just a sinner who fell down,” but refused to stay down, “and got up” and continued in the fight!