Many believe that we must die first or be among the preeminent in holiness to be made a saint. The reality is that those called of God now are saints, NOW!
Dictionary Definition of SAINT
1: one officially recognized especially through canonization as preeminent for holiness
2: one of the spirits of the departed in heaven
Here’s where we run into a problem
Comes from the Greek word hagios; Strong’s G40
Interestingly enough, the word most commonly translated saint is also translated “holy”
Similar words, with the same root hagi*; G37-42
Definitions
G37 hagiazō From G40; to make holy, that is, (ceremonially) purify or consecrate; (mentally) to venerate: – hallow, be holy, sanctify.
Total KJV Occurrences: 29
sanctified, 16; sanctify, 6; sanctifieth, 4; hallowed, 2; holy, 1
G38 hagiasmos From G37; properly purification, that is, (the state) purity; concretely (by Hebraism) a purifier: – holiness, sanctification.
Total KJV Occurrences: 10
holiness, 5; sanctification, 5
G39 hagion Neuter of G40; a sacred thing (that is, spot): – holiest (of all), holy place, sanctuary.
Total KJV Occurrences: 10
sanctuary, 4; holiest, 3; holy, 3
G40 hagios From ἅγος hagos (an awful thing) compare G53, [H2282]; sacred (physically pure, morally blameless or religious, ceremonially consecrated): – (most) holy (one, thing), saint.
Total KJV Occurrences: 231
holy, 168; saints, 60; saint, 1; saints’, 1
G41 hagiotēs From G40; sanctity (that is, properly the state): – holiness.
Total KJV Occurrences: 1
holiness, 1
G42 hagiōsunē From G40; sacredness (that is, properly the quality): – holiness.
Total KJV Occurrences: 3
holiness, 3
What we are seeing is sanctification coming to the fore
This is also seen in the Hebrew word for holy
H6942 קדשׁ qâdash
Total KJV Occurrences: 174
sanctify, 64; sanctified, 45; hallow, 15; hallowed, 10; dedicated, 7; holy, 7; prepare, 7; consecrated, 4; dedicate, 3; consecrate, 2;
“Sanctify” is associated also with implies cleanliness, purity, being sacred separation, being blameless, and the elect or select
In fact when you look at the Origin of the word SAINT Late Latin sanctus, [as in the root for sanctified] from Latin, sacred, from past participle of sancire to make sacred — more at sacred
To become a saint, we must become holy or become sanctified
Becoming a Saint or Sanctification
Sanctification definition: 1. is the setting apart for a Godly purpose
Leviticus 20:7 Consecrate yourselves therefore, and be holy, for I am the LORD your God.
Leviticus 20:8 And you shall keep My statutes, and perform them: I am the LORD who sanctifies you.
Consecrate is the same word as sanctifies in :8 [make holy] and holy is a form of the same word used for both of these words. Are we beginning to see how they are interrelated?
When we think of it in these terms what can be holy or sanctified?
How many holy things can you think of in the Bible?
Spirit, city, place, apostles, prophets, angels, John the Baptist, covenant, the firstborn of Israel, ground, firstfruit, the lump, kiss, the body Romans 12:1 1 Cor 3:17, unbelieving mate and children of the believer, brethren, calling, Law, priesthood, nation, mount, commandment, conversation, holy days Ezekiel 20:20; Nehemiah 8:9 ; and of course: Father, Jesus Christ, Sabbath Gen 2:3; Exodus 20:11; Jeremiah 17:22 ; tithes Leviticus 27:30 ;
Exodus 31:13 “Speak also to the children of Israel, saying: ‘Surely My Sabbaths you shall keep, for it is a sign between Me and you throughout your generations, that you may know that I am the LORD who sanctifies you.
Exodus 31:14 You shall keep the Sabbath, therefore, for it is holy to you. Everyone who profanes it shall surely be put to death; for whoever does any work on it, that person shall be cut off from among his people.
Sanctification is in other words a separation to the service of God; Sanctify = Make Holy
In this case it is the Sabbath that God has set apart – He did it. So for us not to use this day in service to God, we are profaning the day or desecrating it b/c god made it holy.
Sanctified by God
God is Holy and the source of it. This is where our sanctification begins, it is how we are made saints or it is how we are made holy.
1 Peter 1:15 but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct,
1 Peter 1:16 because it is written, “BE HOLY, FOR I AM HOLY.”
God is set apart from what? Sin! He has called us to be/do the same
2 Thessalonians 2:13 But we are bound to give thanks to God always for you, brethren beloved by the Lord, because God from the beginning chose you for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth,
2 Thessalonians 2:14 to which He called you by our gospel [truth], for the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Hebrews 2:10 For it was fitting for Him, for whom are all things and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings.
Hebrews 2:11 For both He who sanctifies and those who are being sanctified are all of one [John 17], for which reason He is not ashamed to call them brethren,
Ultimate goal : Being one (moving from where we were to where we should be)
Sanctified In and Through Christ
1 Corinthians 1:2 To the church of God which is at Corinth, to those who are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, with all who in every place call on the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both theirs and ours:
God calls all members of His Church to be holy—literally, to be saints as Paul addresses them here
Hebrews 10:9 then He said, “BEHOLD, I HAVE COME TO DO YOUR WILL, O GOD.” He takes away the first that He may establish the second.
Hebrews 10:10 By that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.
Hebrews 13:12 Therefore Jesus also, that He might sanctify the people with His own blood, suffered outside the gate.
Through His sacrifice and the process He started that we have the opportunity now for sanctification or being set apart for the plan of God.
The next step in the process
Sanctified by Faith, Baptism and the Holy Spirit
Acts 26:18 to open their eyes, in order to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who are sanctified by faith in Me.’
This in turn leads to baptism….
Ephesians 5:25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her,
Ephesians 5:26 that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word, [to what end:]
Ephesians 5:27 that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish.
Purification from what we were:
1 Corinthians 6:9 Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites,
1 Corinthians 6:10 nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God.
1 Corinthians 6:11 And such were some of you. But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God.
After baptism and the laying on of hands we further set apart:
Romans 15:15 Nevertheless, brethren, I have written more boldly to you on some points, as reminding you, because of the grace given to me by God,
Romans 15:16 that I might be a minister of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles, ministering the gospel of God, that the offering of the Gentiles might be acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit.
Calling sets us apart and answering that calling to the point of baptism and the receiving of the holy spirit further sanctifies us and makes us holy and saints!
Notice this further in:
1 Corinthians 3:16 Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?
1 Corinthians 3:17 If anyone defiles the temple of God, God will destroy him. For the temple of God is holy, which temple you are.
Like many of the gifts of God, we have no power over receiving them, hence the reason that they are called gifts. Our initial sanctification is not something that we can earn, but as we have just gone over it is part of the plan of God in bringing many sons to glory. BUT, we have a very crucial and important part to play being a saint and remaining set apart, sanctified and aiming for the holiness of God.
Sanctification definition 2. is the process by which Christians actually remain righteous… putting on the righteousness of Christ through developing holy righteous character by and through the power of the holy spirit in them.
Process / Progression when God is working in our lives. Not once saved always saved, one thing happens and then that is it.
As we read before:beginning chose you for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth,
Philippians 2:12 …. work out your own salvation with fear and trembling;
by the Spirit [which we now have after the laying on of hands] and belief in the truth,
Sanctified by Truth
John 17:15 I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one.
John 17:16 They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.
John 17:17 Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth.
John 17:18 As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world.
John 17:19 And for their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they also may be sanctified by the truth.
Becoming one with God, coming out of the world separating ourselves by God’s word / God’s truth
Ezekiel 22:26 Her priests have violated My law [truth] and profaned My holy things; they have not distinguished between the holy and unholy, nor have they made known the difference between the unclean and the clean; and they have hidden their eyes from My Sabbaths, so that I am profaned among them.
Ezekiel 44:23 “And they shall teach My people the difference between the holy and the unholy [in God’s word], and cause them to discern between the unclean and the clean.
Ezekiel 44:24 In controversy they shall stand as judges, and judge it according to My judgments. They shall keep My laws and My statutes in all My appointed meetings, and they shall hallow My Sabbaths.
Sanctified by Action [Doing the Truth]
We continue to set ourselves apart from sin as we observe keep and do the holy things of God, the things that are set apart from the things that are in the world
Let’s read 1 Peter again in this vein
1 Peter 1:13 Therefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ;
1 Peter 1:14 as obedient children, not conforming yourselves to the former lusts, as in your ignorance;
1 Peter 1:15 but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct,
1 Peter 1:16 because it is written, “BE HOLY, FOR I AM HOLY.”
1 Peter 1:17 And if you call on the Father, who without partiality judges according to each one’s work, conduct yourselves throughout the time of your stay here in fear;
We are greatly encouraged to do this:
1 Thessalonians 4:1 Finally then, brethren, we urge and exhort in the Lord Jesus that you should abound more and more, just as you received from us how you ought to walk and to please God;
1 Thessalonians 4:2 for you know what commandments we gave you through the Lord Jesus.
1 Thessalonians 4:3 For this is the will of God, your sanctification: …
Here is the direction that we are to heading:
Ephesians 4:11 And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers,
Ephesians 4:12 for the equipping [perfecting] of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ,
Ephesians 4:13 till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; [Matthew 5:48 Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.]
Ephesians 4:14 that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting,
Ephesians 4:15 but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ—
Ephesians 4:16 from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.
Ephesians 4:17 This I say, therefore, and testify in the Lord, that you should no longer walk as the rest of the Gentiles walk, in the futility of their mind,
Ephesians 4:18 having their understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart;
Ephesians 4:19 who, being past feeling, have given themselves over to lewdness, to work all uncleanness with greediness.
Ephesians 4:20 But you have not so learned Christ,
Ephesians 4:21 if indeed you have heard Him and have been taught by Him, as the truth is in Jesus:
Ephesians 4:22 that you put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts,
Ephesians 4:23 and be renewed in the spirit of your mind,
Ephesians 4:24 and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness.
Ephesians 4:25 Therefore, putting away lying, “LET EACH ONE OF YOU SPEAK TRUTH WITH HIS NEIGHBOR,” for we are members of one another.
Ephesians 4:26 “BE ANGRY, AND DO NOT SIN“: do not let the sun go down on your wrath,
Ephesians 4:27 nor give place to the devil.
Ephesians 4:28 Let him who stole steal no longer, but rather let him labor, working with his hands what is good, that he may have something to give him who has need.
Ephesians 4:29 Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers.
Ephesians 4:30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.
Ephesians 4:31 Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice.
Ephesians 4:32 And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you.
Through it we are made ready for more good work
2 Timothy 2:19 Nevertheless the solid foundation of God stands, having this seal: “The Lord knows those who are His,” and, “Let everyone who names the name of Christ depart from iniquity.”
2 Timothy 2:20 But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay, some for honor and some for dishonor.
2 Timothy 2:21 Therefore if anyone cleanses himself from the latter [dishonor], he will be a vessel for honor, sanctified and useful for the Master, prepared for every good work.
Paul outlines this process in:
Romans 6:16 Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one’s slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness?
Romans 6:17 But God be thanked that though you were slaves of sin, yet you obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine to which you were delivered.
Romans 6:18 And having been set free from sin, you became slaves of righteousness.
Romans 6:19 I speak in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh. For just as you presented your members as slaves of uncleanness, and of lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves of righteousness for holiness. [or sanctification]
Romans 6:20 For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness.
Romans 6:21 What fruit did you have then in the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death.
Romans 6:22 But now having been set free from sin, and having become slaves of God, you have your fruit to holiness [sanctification], and the end, everlasting life.
Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Paul outlines the progression for us: Obedience leads to righteousness, righteousness for sanctification, and sanctification to eternal life… our:
Final Sanctification
Because, without holiness no one will see the Lord: Hebrews 12:14
This is His goal for us
Colossians 1:21 And you, who once were alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now He has reconciled
Colossians 1:22 in the body of His flesh through death, to present you holy, and blameless, and above reproach in His sight— [removed from sin and what the world is and has to offer]
Colossians 1:23 if indeed you continue in the faith, grounded and steadfast, and are not moved away from the hope of the gospel which you heard…
1 John 3:1 Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God! Therefore the world does not know us, because it did not know Him.
1 John 3:2 Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.
1 John 3:3 And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies [from the same hagni* root; means sanctifies] himself, just as He is pure.
1 John 3:4 Whoever commits sin also commits lawlessness, and sin is lawlessness.
1 John 3:5 And you know that He was manifested to take away our sins, and in Him there is no sin.
1 John 3:6 Whoever abides in Him does not sin. Whoever sins has neither seen Him nor known Him.
Our goal
1 Thessalonians 5:23 Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
1 Thessalonians 5:24 He who calls you is faithful, who also will do it.
Conclusion
Revelation 22:11 He who is unjust, let him be unjust still; he who is filthy, let him be filthy still; he who is righteous, let him be righteous still; he who is holy, let him be holy still.”
2 Corinthians 6:14 Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness?
2 Corinthians 6:15 And what accord has Christ with Belial? Or what part has a believer with an unbeliever?
2 Corinthians 6:16 And what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For you are the temple of the living God. As God has said: “I WILL DWELL IN THEM AND WALK AMONG THEM. I WILL BE THEIR GOD, AND THEY SHALL BE MY PEOPLE.”
2 Corinthians 6:17 Therefore “COME OUT FROM AMONG THEM AND BE SEPARATE, SAYS THE LORD. DO NOT TOUCH WHAT IS UNCLEAN, AND I WILL RECEIVE YOU.”
2 Corinthians 6:18 “I WILL BE A FATHER TO YOU, AND YOU SHALL BE MY SONS AND DAUGHTERS, SAYS THE LORD ALMIGHTY.”
Hebrews 6:1 Therefore, leaving the discussion of the elementary principles of Christ, let us go on to perfection, not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God,
Hebrews 6:2 of the doctrine of baptisms, of laying on of hands, of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment.
Hebrews 6:3 And this we will do if God permits.
If all God wanted to do was save us, then He would have done so immediately after our baptism when our sins were washed away and we were clean. But here we are admonished to go on to perfection, a trek of character building and putting on the express image of God. This does not happen for us by fiat or in an instant, it is an ongoing process of growing, overcoming and changing by the power of God in us that sanctifies us, makes us holy, and sets us apart from man’s ways so that TODAY we may be truly called saints.