SANCTIFICATION: SAINTS AND SAINTHOOD- BY PASTOR GREG ELKAN

_And of Him are you in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us… sanctification._ – 1Co1:30  

The concept of sainthood is not unique to Christianity. Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam, and Judaism all have a special group of persons that are recognized for their extraordinary feats of piety. 

Religious Christianity, however, seems to have taken the concept of sainthood to a most intricate height. Being called a “saint” can only happen after a complex and lengthy process. You must have had a widespread reputation of holiness and of intercessory prayer, must have performed at least two miracles as a proof of divine favour, and must have lived a life of full piety and heroic virtue. And one more thing: you must be dead, _very_ dead, like  at least 5-years-in-the-ground dead!

Nevertheless, these instituted steps towards canonisation (sainthood), noble as they are, go contrary to the scriptures, and has the whole process backwards. 

As previously established in this series, saintliness starts with God. Our salvation began when God sanctified us by His Holy Spirit (2Th 2:13; 1Pe 1:2). It is that sanctification that qualifies us for Heaven... and qualifies us to be saints. 

The notion of saints only being people that have died and gone to Heaven is human tradition and has no basis in scripture. The term _“saint(s)”_ appears 62 times in the New Testament, and for an overwhelming majority of time, it is used simply as a synonym for Believers. The epistles were written to “saints,”  the church was a gathering of “saints,”  and ministry was done to the “saints.” Indeed, greetings were sent to “saints,”  and greetings were received from “saints,”   (Act 9:13, 32; Rom 1:7; Rom 15:25-26; 16:15; 1Co 1:2; 6:1-2; 16:1,15; Php 1:1; 4:21-22; etc.).

The Bible doesn’t ask us to act superlatively pious in order to become saints; rather, the charge to live holy is made because we are _already_ saints (Eph 5:3, 12, etc). 

AMEN...

PASTOR GREG ELKAN

More Blessings await you today; you’ll not miss them in Jesus’ Name.