[Note: This is the beginning of our study going through the book of Ephesians] What is a saint? Many people think your behavior has to be extra holy in order to be a saint.
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Seated in the Heavenly Realms
• Greg Boyd
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What is a saint? Many people think your behavior has to be extra holy in order to be a saint. This view is not supported by Scripture.
The apostle Paul addresses all believers as saints. Does this mean that all believers at that time in history were extra holy? Certainly not.
The people in Ephesus were well known for their involvement in the occult. Many of the believers there were still under that influence. In fact, it wasn’t until a good scare they (the believers) got from a case of demon-possession that they gathered their occult paraphernalia together and burned it. Yet Paul called them saints.
The believers at Corinth would hold communion often just so that they could get drunk. Yet Paul calls them saints.
Since the Bible is also written to us believers today, we are called saints. God’s righteousness is gift, not something we earn.
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Focus Scripture:
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Ephesians 1:1-3
1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God,
To God's holy people in Ephesus, the faithful in Christ Jesus:2 Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ.
