I Am a Saint

INTRODUCTION: Over the next few weeks, Time With God will be exploring who we are in Christ. Our prayer is that you will grow in confidence and hope as we unpack biblical truth about who God has made us to be. Please note that there will be no Digging Deeper section

GETTING STARTED

The term saint means holy—set apart from evil and dedicated to God. For the Christian, the Bible does not speak of our primary identity as being that of a sinner but instead as that of a saint. I may sin sometimes, but I’m a saint (in Christ) all of the time. Sin may be something I do, but saint is who I am. The believer who focuses on his sin/behavior will become stuck. But the Christian who focuses on his new identity in Christ will progressively experience more freedom, joy, and growth.

  • What images come to mind when you consider the term, saint?

READ THE WORD: 1 CORINTHIANS 1:2 (ESV)

2 To the church of God that is in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints together with all those who in every place call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, both their Lord and ours.

English Standard Version, copyright 2001 by Crossway Bibles. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

RESPOND TO GOD

When our daughter was married, she and her husband shared their vows with one another and took on a new primary identity: husband and wife. At one point during the reception, my daughter whispered to me, “I don’t feel like a wife yet.”

This is how I often feel regarding the spiritual reality of being a saint. My saint-ness was initiated by God and is preserved by him as well. So, it’s unaffected by my feelings, perception, or even my behavior. I assured my daughter that regardless of how she felt or even how she saw herself, there was a brand-new reality concerning who she is. Her wife-ness was not based on her doing wife-y things, but on her new relationship. The day our daughter was married, she became 100% a wife. Now she gets to progressively grow into that reality for the rest of her life, with her husband. She will live out who she already is. Because we are positionally holy in Christ, we can live like the saints we are as we focus on the holiness we see and have in him.

  • When you confess your sins (what you’ve done), also take time to confess the bigger truth of being a saint (who you are).
  • Praise your Savior for making you holy—not someday, but this day.