A ‘Work-in-Progress’ Saint

 

“We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,

when we pray for you, since we heard of your faith in

Christ Jesus and of the love that you have for all the saints,”

Colossians 1:3-4

Scripturally speaking, the “saints” are the body of Christ,

Christians, disciples of Christ, believers, you and me.

All believers are considered saints.

Now chew on this for a moment:

All Christians are saints (present tense)—and at the same time are called to be saints (future tense).

So what’s going on here?

It’s simple really, we are saints positionally due to the finished work of Christ in us but we are also “saints-in-progress” through the process of sanctification.

First Corinthians 1:2 states it clearly:

 “To the church of God in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus and called to be holy…”

The words “sanctified” and “holy” come from the same Greek root as the word that is commonly translated “saints.”

So I suppose I could paraphrase 1st Corinthians 1:2 this way by substituting the word ‘saints’ where it now reads ‘sanctified’ and ‘holy’ and still keep the intention of the writer.

Here is what it would say:

To the church of God in Corinth, to those saints in Christ Jesus and called to be saints...

We see then both the positional status and the sanctification process in that one verse.

Christians are saints by virtue of their relationship to Jesus Christ.

Christians are called to be saints, that is to increasingly allow their daily life to more closely match their position in Christ.

This is the biblical description and calling of the saints.

So I ask you –

Do you love all the saints?

Do you love the work-in-progress believers that each one of us is?

Does your love allow for some immaturity as well as some imperfections

 in your fellow saints as well as in you?

Remember we are all a ‘work- in- progress’ saint!