"Called to be Saints"

By John Ankrom

          Many believe that a saint is some long dead person who did some great thing for humanity, or performed some miracle that was seen and verified. Then a group of religious leaders vote to canonize that person and officially recognize him or her as a saint of this or that.

          Many will pray for comfort or to give thanks to a saint or will offer some token of appreciation for a blessing they may have received. Many believe that a patron saint watches over them and gives them protection from evil and will keep bad things from happening to them.

          Let's ask ourselves a question. Are people voted into sainthood? To answer this question, let's look into God's word and see just who and what a saint is.

          The Apostle Paul says in Rom. 1:7; I Cor. 1:2, that saints are called. If they are called to be saints, how can they be voted into sainthood? Again Paul says in Rom. 1:1 and in I Cor. 1:1 that he was called to be an Apostle. The Greek word used in verse 1 "called" referring to Paul, is the same Greek word used in I Cor.1:2 for the saints who were "called".

          Who are the saints then? Those who are called, those who are sanctified, those who are in Christ Jesus. In other words, saints are Christians. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 1:2 "Unto the church of God which is at Corinth, to them that are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, with all that in every place call upon the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both theirs and ours"

          Saints are not some obscure long dead person who is voted upon to be canonized as a saint. Saints are everyday living Christians who have been called, (I Peter 2:9) those who have been washed in and saved by the blood of Christ. (Rev. 1:5)