"But Ananias answered, 'Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much evil he has done to your saints at Jerusalem.'"
Acts 9:13 (ESV)When Ananias was sent to pray for Saul, he called the Christians in Jerusalem "your saints" (Acts 9:13). Many dictionaries treat a saint as a holy person who has died and gone to heaven, but that is not how Scripture uses the word. Paul wrote to the church in Corinth, "to those sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints" (1 Corinthians 1:2). He was writing to living people. God told Israel, "Be holy, because I am holy" (Leviticus 11:45), and Peter asks, "What kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives" (2 Peter 3:11). A saint is someone who lives a godly life in Christ, and the word is always used of the living, who can walk, live, and act.
Being a saint is not about being perfect, because our perfection is Christ. We may err, yet the blood of the One who is holy and true keeps washing us, and He has reconciled us to present us holy in His sight, without blemish and free from accusation (Colossians 1:22). As Christ's ambassadors, we are called to show His glory to mankind here on earth, not after we die. If holiness were only for heaven, we could live in sin and repent at the gate. God saved us and called us to a holy life, not because we deserved it, but because of His grace in Christ Jesus (2 Timothy 1:9). You are a saint of God now. Live like one, and bring others to repentance.
Lord, thank You for calling me to a holy life by Your grace. Help me to live as a saint here on earth, not by my own perfection but by Your power. Let my life show Your glory to everyone I meet and draw them to You. Amen.