How could the Corinthians have been called “saints?” They were contentious, tolerant of flagrant immorality, confused about theology, disorganized in worship, litigious, divided and rebellious against the one who had brought them the Christian message. Yet in 1 Corinthians 1:2, they are introduced as “saints.” This must mean that to be a saint means something different than to be memorialized in statues and stained glass!
Imperfect saints
When he wrote to the Corinthians, Paul said that they were “the church of God in Corinth… sanctified in Christ Jesus and called to be his holy people, together with all those everywhere who call on the Lord Jesus Christ — their Lord and ours” (1 Corinthians 1:2 NIV). These people, he said, were “saints by calling” (NASB), “called to be saints” (ESV), “set apart for a God-filled life” (The Message). Yet they were very imperfect people.
in last week’s entry I wrote about “All Saints Day,” an opportunity to pause and remember those who have stood for Christ in the past. I did not mean to imply that our faithful Christian predecessors were somehow spared from the temptations and failures common to all humanity. They, too, were sinners who needed God’s grace and forgiveness.
Set apart
To be a “saint,” in biblical teaching, is simply to be set apart for God. In the city of Corinth, it meant to bow in worship only to the God who is revealed in Jesus Christ. The Corinthian Christians “called on” him in prayer( 1 Corinthians 1:2) and they sang to him in praise (1 Corinthians 14:15, 26). They worshiped Jesus among neighbors who knew only the worship of Zeus and Aphrodite, who were locked in pagan superstition. The believers were “set apart” from all that. The words Paul used were “sanctified” and “saint.”
Paul used these terms of all Christians, not just of martyrs or exceptional leaders. He says that what was true of them was true of all who call on the Lord Jesus, wherever they are. The term “saint” applies to all who acknowledge the ruling authority of Jesus who is “our Lord Jesus Christ” (1:2). This comprehensive term means that Jesus is the divine-human son of God and supreme Lord and Messiah, God’s anointed king. His saints regard him this way.
Be who you are.
Are you a saint? If you trust Jesus as savior you are a saint. The well-known preacher Harry Ironside famously introduced himself to some Catholic nuns on a train with “Would you like to meet a saint?” When they answered yes he said, “Hello. I am Saint Harry!” If you are a believer, then think of yourself as in Christ, set apart for God, a saint for sure.
This means that saints are not stained-glass heroes. If the Corinthians were saints then saints are far from perfect people. The rest of the first letter to the Corinthians was written to correct errors in theology, abuses in relationships, and problems in public worship. There were many ways in which they were in great need of spiritual guidance, sort of like the church today.
Saints call on Jesus in prayer. Saints worship Jesus. How is it with you? These saints in Corinth were organized into an assembly of believers called a “church.” To boycott the church is to contradict your sainthood. To ignore the Lord’s call to worship is to break fellowship with “all those everywhere who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ” (1:2).
Paul wrote to these saints to teach them to start behaving like the people they were, God’s distinctive people standing for Jesus amid the idolatry of paganism. We are called to the same things.
