“To the church of God which is at Corinth, to those who have
been sanctified in Christ Jesus, saints by calling, with all who in every place
call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, their Lord and ours:” (1 Corinthians
1:2, NASB95)
The other day I was listening to a pastor on the radio who
was being asked questions by listeners. He was asked a very familiar question, “What
can one do to become more of a saint?” (wording not exact) The pastor’s
response was (boiled down and reworded), first, there is nothing we can do to
become a saint. Being a saint is something that happens to us by virtue of our
salvation and what Christ does in us. We are intended to live more and more
like Christ as we grow in Him, and in this sense, we might know those people
that we refer to as “saintly.” It is not that they have achieved something new
positionally or have become more of a saint, but that they have been conformed
more and more into the image of who they were made by God who calls us as His
own.
Positionally, we see this in the introduction of several of
Paul’s letters to the churches.
Romans 1:7. “…to all who are beloved of God in Rome, called
as saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus
Christ.” (Romans 1:7, NASB95) … “First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for
you all, because your faith is being proclaimed throughout the whole world.”
(Romans 1:8, NASB95)
2 Corinthians 1:1. “Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the
will of God, and Timothy our brother, To the church of God which is at Corinth
with all the saints who are throughout Achaia:” (2 Corinthians 1:1, NASB95)
Ephesians 1:1. “Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will
of God, To the saints who are at Ephesus and who are faithful in Christ Jesus:”
(Ephesians 1:1, NASB95)
Philippians 1:1. “Paul and Timothy, bond-servants of Christ
Jesus, To all the saints in Christ Jesus who are in Philippi, including the
overseers and deacons:” (Philippians 1:1, NASB95)
Colossians 1:2. “To the saints and faithful brethren in
Christ who are at Colossae: Grace to you and peace from God our Father.”
(Colossians 1:2, NASB95)
It may be notable that Paul does not use the term “saints”
in all of the introductions of the church letters. Positively he does not use
it in 1 and 2 Thessalonians, though he does heap praise on them for their
faithfulness. Negatively, in Galatians Paul chastises them for their desertion
of Christ and the true message of the gospel.
But to me, probably his most unique introduction in a letter
to a church is the introduction to 1 Corinthians. There was no “to the saints”
in this letter. Instead Paul began by laying a foundation of truth from which
he would later challenge them concerning how they lived. Rather than focusing
on their faithfulness, Paul centered his attention on the faithfulness of God.
“To the church of God which is at Corinth….” The term
“church” can mean many things. Typically, it is used in one of two ways in the
New Testament letters. The all-inclusive form is the complete body of believers
in Christ. We see this in Ephesians 5:23 where we read, “For the husband is the
head of the wife, as Christ also is the head of the church, He Himself being
the Savior of the body.” (Ephesians 5:23, NASB95) And later in Revelation we
see the church as Christ’s bride presented at the marriage supper of the Lamb.
“Then I heard something like the voice of a great multitude and like the sound
of many waters and like the sound of mighty peals of thunder, saying,
“Hallelujah! For the Lord our God, the Almighty, reigns. “Let us rejoice and be
glad and give the glory to Him, for the marriage of the Lamb has come and His
bride has made herself ready.” It was given to her to clothe herself in fine
linen, bright and clean; for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the
saints.” (Revelation 19:6–8, NASB95) The moment we are saved we become a member
of His church.
The second common usage refers to the individual groups of
believers that gather together as a local fellowship or even group of
fellowships. Later in 1 Corinthians Paul wrote to his readers, “For this reason
I have sent to you Timothy, who is my beloved and faithful child in the Lord,
and he will remind you of my ways which are in Christ, just as I teach
everywhere in every church.” (1 Corinthians 4:17, NASB95) And, of course, we
see this usage of church illustrated in the introductions cited earlier in this
post.
In writing to the church of God which is in Corinth Paul
brings both truths together as a reminder of who it is that unites them as one
body. This local body of believers exists as one body intended to walk together
because they “have been sanctified in Christ Jesus.” This word “sanctified” has
the same root as the word “saints” which is used later in the same statement.
What makes them saints is because they have been sanctified, not because they
earned it. “Sanctified” means to make holy or to purify. It also has the
meaning of consecrating or setting apart for God’s use.
Paul was confronted with this truth by Christ Himself as we
see in his testimony before Agrippa in Acts chapter 26. “at midday, O King, I [Paul]
saw on the way a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, shining all around
me and those who were journeying with me. “And when we had all fallen to the
ground, I heard a voice saying to me in the Hebrew dialect, ‘Saul, Saul, why
are you persecuting Me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.’ “And I
said, ‘Who are You, Lord?’ And the Lord said, ‘I am Jesus whom you are
persecuting. ‘But get up and stand on your feet; for this purpose I have
appeared to you, to appoint you a minister and a witness not only to the things
which you have seen, but also to the things in which I will appear to you;
rescuing you from the Jewish people and from the Gentiles, to whom I am sending
you, to open their eyes so that they may turn from darkness to light and from
the dominion of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an
inheritance among those who have been sanctified by faith in Me.’” (Acts
26:13–18, NASB95) Sanctification comes by faith in Christ.
Having been chosen by God and sanctified by faith in Christ,
these believers’ identity has been changed from sinner to saint (Greek: hagios
or God’s holy ones). This is what Paul said next of them in his introduction:
“saints by calling.” Then Paul reminded them of how they were not alone in this
calling, His church, or their identity. Paul continued, “with all who in every
place call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, their Lord and ours:” Paul had
some very difficult things ahead for them in this letter, but before getting to
them he established their firm foundation of faith that they shared with
everyone in every place who called upon the name of Jesus Christ for salvation.
Just as He was their Lord so was He Paul’s, Sosthenes and even ours today.
There was absolutely nothing that Paul would say to them that was going to
change this truth. And even today, there is nothing that can change this truth
for us.
No comments:
Post a Comment