Did you know that the Church is made up of saints? 

Paul refers to the church as “holy people” (or “saints”) nine times in Ephesians, reminding followers of Jesus our identities as those of saints.  

  But most of us don’t view ourselves as saints, right? We tend to reserve that title for those we view as “super spiritual.”  You know, the saints are the people we’d choose for the super-spiritual dream team! Now, if you come from a background of Catholicism, you may view a saint as someone who lived a really amazing life of faith and is now dead. However, if you’re reading this, I’m pretty sure you are not a super spiritual dead person! 

Yet you are a saint. 

So how in the world can we view ourselves as saints? 

Simply put, the word saint means: “made holy by God.”  So, as a follower of Jesus Christ, our primary identity is one who has been made holy by God by accepting Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord. According to Scripture, a saint is a saint because of what God has done, not because of what we have done. There has never been a person worthy of being called a saint based upon their own merit or performance. It’s because God has called them in His grace and made them holy through Jesus Christ alone. If you are in Christ, you are a sinner, saved by grace and thereby called a saint. 

Are you a follower of Jesus but still plagued by your past, overwhelmed by guilt and shame, and reluctant to claim your title of “saint?” Let me remind and encourage you about what the Gospel says to you: 

You have been made new in Christ. You have been given a new identity grounded not in what you have done but in what Christ has done through His cross and resurrection. 

 You, my friend, are a saint, made holy by the grace of God! 

As you carry on with your day, look for opportunities to invite your friends and neighbors into the glorious grace of Jesus so that they, too, may be called saints! 

Taken from a sermon by George Wright, Senior Pastor, Shades Mountain Baptist Church, Birmingham, Alabama