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Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, to the saints who are in Ephesus and are faithful in Christ Jesus\\u2026 \\xa0

I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints, and for this reason I do not cease to give thanks for you as I remember you in my prayers\\u2026 (Ephesians 1:1, 15-16 NRSV)

Saints. \\xa0Our usual NIV translation is somewhat squeamish about using this word, and so I had to flip over to the NRSV translation to find it. \\xa0In the NIV, verse one of this chapter says \\u201cGod\\u2019s holy people\\u201d which is a correct translation of what\\u2019s there in Greek: \\u201chis holy ones.\\u201d \\xa0But in verse fifteen, the NIV reads just \\u201cGod\\u2019s people,\\u201d completely dropping the word \\u201choly\\u201d out. \\xa0But in the original Greek, the word \\u201choly\\u201d is there. \\xa0 And the proper word for a human person who is holy, is \\u201cSaint.\\u201d

We have the same squeamishness as our translators do. \\xa0We have a tendency to avoid the \\u201choly.\\u201d \\xa0Particularly when that label might be applied to us or to other church members. \\xa0We know for a fact that we aren\\u2019t holy. \\xa0We know what we\\u2019ve done. \\xa0We know the thoughts that cross our minds. \\xa0And we certainly know the foibles and failings of others. \\xa0Saint is the last thing we ought to be called.

In our mind, saint has come to mean someone exceptional: someone who has done great deeds, lived a blameless life, worked great miracles, or prayed great transformations and revivals into existence. \\xa0 That\\u2019s not us. \\xa0And so saint is the last thing we ought to be called. \\xa0\\xa0

And yet, that is precisely what the scriptures call us. \\xa0Holy. \\xa0Saints. \\xa0

Paul begins his letter writing to \\u201cthe Saints,\\u201d and he picks that thread up again in verse fifteen by declaring that he has heard of the love of these \\u201csaints\\u201d toward all the other \\u201csaints.\\u201d \\xa0It is for these saints that Paul unceasingly gives thanks in prayer. \\xa0He\\u2019s not talking about the elite members of the church. \\xa0He really does mean to include all of them: from the worst of the unrepentant sinners to the elders up at the front. \\xa0\\xa0

The reason they and we are all saints? \\xa0God. \\xa0If the last twelve verses have not yet convinced you of God\\u2019s total effective work of lavishly choosing, predestining, and redeeming a people for himself through Jesus Christ, then Paul comes back to it again. \\xa0\\u201cYou are saints!\\u201d he says, \\u201choly people!\\u201d \\xa0This is who we are because it is who God has chosen and redeemed us to be. \\xa0We do not achieve this holiness and God himself knows that we do not ever fully live it. \\xa0But by the grace of the Triune God that redeems us\\u2014we are saints all the same. \\xa0It\\u2019s good news. \\xa0Gospel.

Holiness is God\\u2019s gift before it is his calling. \\xa0We are made holy. \\xa0Look in the mirror today and practice saying it: \\u201cI am a saint.\\u201d \\xa0Practice saying it to another Christian too: \\u201cYou are a saint.\\u201d \\xa0Remember who you are and believe\\u2014you are saints. \\xa0Thanks be to God. \\xa0

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