In our modern usage, the word “saint” implies an almost unreachable standard. We picture stained-glass figures, heroic martyrs, or individuals whose lives seem impossibly pure—far removed from the struggles of ordinary people navigating jobs, families, temptations, and failures. This popular understanding, however sincere, misses the biblical reality. Scripture does not present sainthood as a distant ideal achieved by human effort, instead it reveals sainthood as a gracious act of God, a “setting apart” that every genuine believer in Christ already possesses.
Many references to “saints” in older translations (KJV, for example) appear in modern versions, such as the New Living Translation, translated as just “holy people” or God’s “holy ones.” This shift in wording helps to clarify the biblical meaning. It underscores that sainthood is about belonging to God in a special way, not achieving an elite level of personal holiness. For example, the apostle Paul opens his letter to the Romans by writing, “I am writing to all of you in Rome who are loved by God and are called to be his own holy people. May God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ give you grace and peace” (Romans 1:7 NLT). Later he urges believers, “When God’s people [i.e. “saints”] are in need, be ready to help them. Always be eager to practice hospitality” (Romans 12:13 NLT). These examples show how naturally the New Testament addresses ordinary Christians as God’s “holy people”.
The concept of being “holy” or “set apart” is deeply embedded in the Old Testament. God told Israel through Moses, “You have been set apart as holy to the LORD your God, and he has chosen you from all the nations of the earth to be his own special treasure” (Deuteronomy 14:2 NLT). In Leviticus He commanded, “So set yourselves apart to be holy, for I am the Lord your God” (Leviticus 20:7 NLT). So holiness is fundamentally just about belonging to God in a unique way, not flawless moral performance.
This is the same idea in the New Testament. Consider Jesus’ great high priestly prayer on the night before His crucifixion. Speaking to the Father, He prayed, “And I give myself [KJV “sanctify myself”] as a holy sacrifice for them so they can be made holy by your truth” (John 17:19 NLT). Was the sinless Son of God asking to become holier? Of course not. The infinitely Holy One could not increase in holiness. Instead, Jesus used the word—sanctify— in its truest biblical sense: to set apart. He consecrated Himself to the cross, to the work of atonement, so that His people could be made holy—set apart for God. This is the heart of sainthood—not moral perfection attained through striving, but a divine declaration and transformation accomplished by grace.
A saint, therefore, is one whom God has as His own unique possession. This setting apart is not the result of human activity, willpower, or religious achievement. It is God’s initiative. When a person places their faith in Jesus, the Holy Spirit reaches down in mercy, regenerates their heart, and transfers that individual from the domain of darkness into the kingdom of God’s Son. Our old life, which is governed by the world’s values and self-centered ambitions, loses its claim. A new principle takes root. A new nature is implanted. New loyalties, a new Master, a new purpose, and a new agenda now define our existence.
This truth formed one of the great discoveries/recoveries of the Protestant Reformation: every Christian is a saint, and every saint is a Christian. There is no special class of super-believers. All who are born again by the Spirit are saints—set apart from the world system and now belonging wholly to God. The apostle Peter informs us: “You are a chosen people. You are royal priests, a holy nation, God’s very own possession. As a result, you can show others the goodness of God, for he called you out of the darkness into his wonderful light” (1 Peter 2:9 NLT).
This positional reality has a practical calling. Since all Christians are saints, all saints must increasingly be saintly. The new nature within us produces a new kind of life. Over time, the Holy Spirit transforms us more and more into the image of Christ. Growth is expected and holiness is pursued—not to earn sainthood, but because sainthood has already been freely given.
The Christian life is not a sprint but a lifelong journey marked by battles, setbacks, and weariness. How can weak and faltering believers endure? The answer lies in the faithfulness of God. Because He perseveres with His saints, we can persevere. We stand firm to the end not by our strength, but because the One who called us is faithful. He who began a good work will complete it.
The center of this mystery is our unbreakable union with Christ. The saint is “in Christ,” and Christ is “in” the saint. This vital, spiritual oneness means that what is true of the Head is true of the members of His body. Paul captures the wonder of this reality when he writes, “For he raised us from the dead along with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ Jesus” (Ephesians 2:6 NLT). Though we walk physically on earth, our true citizenship and identity reside in heaven. We live and move and have our being in a new spiritual environment. This union is unchanging. It is the very essence of our salvation.
Without Christ, our condition remains hopeless—we are enslaved to sin, alienated from God, and heading toward judgment. In Him, however, our spiritual life can be glorious beyond description. Sainthood lifts our eyes to eternity. It reframes present trials, reminding us that our light and momentary afflictions are working for us an eternal weight of glory. Daily pressures, disappointments, and even our own remaining sin lose their ultimate power when viewed through the lens of our identity as God’s set-apart ones.
This daily grace comes directly from God. Our new life traces back to the Father’s love from before the creation of the world. Its future points forward to full glorification, when we shall be like Christ and see Him as He is.
Far from burdening us with impossible standards, the biblical doctrine of sainthood liberates us. It assures us that our imperfect faith, mixed motives, and faltering obedience do not disqualify us. God has already set us apart. He is at work in us. He will finish what He began. Our call, therefore, is not to manufacture holiness through gritted teeth, but to rest in the finished work of Christ while yielding daily to the sanctifying work of the Spirit.
In a world that glorifies self-made success and visible perfection, this truth offers comfort and courage. You may not feel saintly today. You may wrestle with doubt, sin, or weakness. But if you have trusted Christ, you are a saint—loved, claimed, and being shaped for God’s eternal purposes. Walk in that identity. Draw strength from that union. And live each day in the good grace that makes ordinary mortals into people who belong to the Holy One.
Blessings on you and yours, Jim Black
P.S. if you’d like to read previous ruminations of mine they can be found at https://blog.salvationarmyconcordca.org
Appendix: Scripture References (all from NLT)
Deuteronomy 14:2 – “You have been set apart as holy to the LORD your God...” Leviticus 20:7 – “So set yourselves apart to be holy, for I am the Lord your God.” John 17:19 – “And I give myself as a holy sacrifice for them so they can be made holy by your truth.” Romans 1:7 – “I am writing to all of you in Rome who are loved by God and are called to be his own holy people...” Romans 12:13 – “When God’s people are in need, be ready to help them. Always be eager to practice hospitality.” Ephesians 2:6 – “For he raised us from the dead along with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ Jesus.” 1 Peter 2:9 – “You are a chosen people. You are royal priests, a holy nation, God’s very own possession...”