Saints

“As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one:” Romans 3:10

This subject has been killing me. Not because I don’t understand it, but because people are so blinded by religion and what they HEAR over what the truth is. A saint is not a sinless person. The Bible never wrote about a single sinless person other than Christ who IS God in the flesh. He is the only righteous one. That’s why we know his death on the cross is an atonement for our sins. Christ was the ONLY one to fulfill the law and for that he was SINLESS. I pray to God, he is the only one I talk to because he is the only one that rules the universe. That’s also not to mention that the Bible clearly states multiple times not to make graven images. As a matter of fact the second commandment tells you not to do this.

“Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing, that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them, for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the father upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me;” Exodus 20:4–5

Now, I think I’ve covered what a graven image is before but in case you have missed it and aren’t sure what that means, here is the definition:

Graven Image- (n.) a carved idol or representation of a god used as an object of worship.

Now I know where a lot of people will go once reading this. Some religions practice praying to “saints” or to other false idols and try and say “We aren’t praying TOO them, we are asking them to pray FOR us.” but bowing down and asking a “saint” to pray for you is no different then bowing down and praying to a wall. That’s not to say that there are no saints in Heaven, but you can’t talk to saints who are in Heaven. You can only talk to God. You can ask saints on earth to pray for you because prayer works in numbers. Let’s get back to righteousness for a second. It is written there are none righteous. If that’s the case then what does THIS verse mean?

“Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.” James 5:16

Now wait a second… This is talking about a prayer of a righteous man! It just said there was NONE righteous so how can this be? Well that’s where Bible study comes into play. Most religions will teach that there are a certain amount of people (like Jesus’ disciples) who are “sinless” but that’s not what the Bible writes about. The Bible tells the stories behind these disciples, and to save time I won’t explain those stories but I will tell you that they aren’t perfect people by ANY means. As a matter of fact, some religions pray (or ask to pray, same thing) to Judas, which was a “disciple” of Christ but he was just putting on a show. He wasn’t a saint. A saint is a saved sinner. A saint is someone who trusts in Jesus Christ and has put their faith in Christ. Judas did not. Judas was the one who BETRAYED Christ and some churches pray to Judas like he’s a saint. Maybe I’m wrong in this manner of thinking of what the other churches pray to, but either way, you can only have a relationship with God, not the saints. So again, what is a righteous man’s prayer?

“If ye know that he is righteous, ye know that every one that doeth righteousness is born of him.” 1 John 2:29

This is talking about Christ being the righteous one. When we are saved we put Christ on like a parachute. We become one with Christ and we walk with him. We are not righteous by ourselves alone, we are righteous when we put our faith and trust in him. WE become saints. Not a sinless person, but a person who understands that we are sinners and have accepted the gift of God which is the payment for our sins through Christ. Today can be that day. You can accept the free gift of God and be saved TODAY. Don’t hold out. If you haven’t accepted Christ as your savior and taken the free gift of God you will end up in hell for an eternity. That’s never ending pain and I don’t want that for you. I pray that you think about this and realize that it’s not too late. You don’t have to be sinless, you instead just have to understand that you are a sinner and want to be saved. God loves sinners and wants them to change their life. You don’t have to work to get to Heaven, the work was done for you by Christ. Consider this today because you don’t know when your life will be over. We don’t know when Christ is coming again and I don’t want it to be too late for you. If this touched your heart or helped you understand what a saint is a little better please don’t hesitate to leave a comment below and share. Before I end this, though, I would like to write the definition of a saint down below and think about the literal meaning of what I’m saying.

Saint (Webster Dictionary): (n) a person who is officially recognized by the Christian church as being very holy because of the way he or she lived.

May I remind you that it does not say “a sinless person” but rather a person who is “recognized” as being “holy”. That doesn’t mean we are holier than anyone else, it means we have accepted the gift of God and God is Holy. Christ is Holy. We put Christ on and we become Holy children of God. I’ll explain holy as well…

Holy (Webster Dictionary): (adj.) connected to a god or a religion.

Again, not saying it’s a sinless person but rather we have a connection with God.

The Scofield study Bible describes a saint like this:

Saint (Scofield Study System): A saint, in the N.T., is not a sinless person but a saved sinner. It is through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ that a sinner becomes a saint. This is the Christian’s place as a member of the body of Christ, vitally united with Him by the baptism with the Holy Spirit.

And one last description just to even it out because I’m sure I can go all day with describing it but that’s not the whole point of this message…

Called to be saints (Holman Study System): does not mean this is something Christians might become in the future. Neither does it signify an honorary title or an unusually holy person. Rather, all Christians are saints by the sovereign call of God. They have been set apart just as the nation of Israel was set apart. A Christian is a person who has the forgiveness of sins and is sanctified by faith in Jesus and therefore is a “saint”.

When we accept Christ, our label is then a “Christian”. I am a Christian because I have accepted Christ and what he has done for me on the cross. I believe and understand, therefore I am a “saint”. Again, not a sinless person, but a saved sinner. I hope this helps. Just in case, I will add some verses that are typically taken out of context about saints in the Bible.

“For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace, as in all churches of the saints.” 1 Corinthians 14:33

This does not mean that your church should pray to saints or have some sort of spiritual conversation with a “Saint” but instead means your church should be filled with saved sinners. People who have become saints. The Bible describes a saint like this:

“Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” 2 Corinthians 5:17

We are born again, we become “new” creatures. This helps better understand why we need Christ. The things we have done in the past don’t matter because we are NEW. We think differently and act differently because we are born again. We need to become new creatures and repent from our sins. We don’t repent from our sins to get to Heaven (accepting God’s gift gets you there), we repent because we WANT to. If you are truly saved and born again you will WANT to live your whole LIFE for God. Not a single day would go by where you didn’t want to praise God and be in his presence. Another verse:

“And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.” Romans 12:2

Here’s another verse that some churches get wrong:

“God is greatly to be feared in the assembly of the saints, and to be had in reverence of all them that are about him.” Psalms 89:7

This is not saying that only a select few should fear God. A true believer in Christ and in God would fear him, not because he’s evil (because he’s nothing but good and just) but we should fear him for he is the creator and we should fear that we are sinful against him. That’s for EVERYONE, not just a select few “saints”. One of my favorite verses says this:

“Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man” Ecclesiastes 12:13

“The whole duty of man”. Not of saints, but of man. When we become saints we WANT to keep his commandments. We don’t do it because we HAVE to but because we WANT to. If you don’t want to keep his commandments then you should probably question if you are really saved. By nature, we are born being against God.

“For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God. But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.” Romans 8:6–9

This is an important verse of being born again. When you are born again you are filled with the Spirit. You are no longer in the flesh but one with Christ. Think about this today and accept the gift of God. If you are saved you can know you are going to Heaven. Read your Bible and spend time with God.