“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
“...Love that you
have for all the saints.”
Just eight words
to consider.
But as we do I
want to pose this question and challenge each of us with it:
Do you have love
for all the saints?
Just exactly what
do I mean and who am I talking about when I use the word ‘saints’?
I’ll give you a
hint; I’m not taking about a football team down in New Orleans.
When I use the
term ‘saints’ I am not speaking about a bunch of dead people who are long gone
and who have been immortalized with statues and halos.
You know the type.
I will be speaking
using the biblical understanding of a saint and not just the few people that
some consider saints through their traditions or man-made religious
thoughts.
What exactly then
is a ‘saint’?
Are you a saint?
Am I a saint?
The word “saint”
comes from the Greek word hagios, which means
“consecrated to God, holy, sacred,
pious."
In scripture it is
almost always used in the plural, “saints.”
Let me give you a
few examples of its use:
"…Lord, I
have heard from many about this man, how much harm he did to your saints at Jerusalem" (Acts 9:13).
"Now as Peter
was traveling through all those regions, he came down also to the saints who lived at Lydda" (Acts
9:32).
"And this is
just what I did in Jerusalem; not only did I lock up many of the saints in prisons …” (Acts 26:10).
So in each of
those cases we saw the plural use of the word ‘saints’.
There is only one
instance of the singular use, and that is in Philippians 4:21
"Greet every
saint in Christ Jesus…"
But even in this
one instance a plurality of saints is in view: notice that it said “…every
saint…”
The definition,
then of the word “saints” is a group of people set apart for the Lord and His
kingdom.
And please note
that these people are very much alive!
There isn’t a dead
one among them.
SAINTS ALIVE!
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