Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,
- Hebrews 12:1
Good day to you, Saints. Yeah, Saints. Yeah you. That greeting may be difficult for some of my dear readers to accept. Those who have a familiarity with the view of the saints in the catholic and liturgical protestant churches might squirm some at being called a saint. There are protestants who really only have a vague idea from secular sources of what those churches mean by saints who would squirm even more. Those in various recovery programs often declare, sometimes with a little pride (sometimes with a lot) that "we are not saints." Some are right, but some are both right and wrong. As the world and some religious folk understand the word saint, we who have been broken and bruised and bound but who have now been unshackled and set free by the sacrifice of Christ and the Spirit of adoption are indeed not saints. What I quoted above goes on to see that "we claim spiritual progress, not perfection." The idea that many have of who and what qualifies as a saint is someone so perfect, holy and powerful that they almost don't need grace. They appear to be perfect, faultless and flawless. There are statues and everything. But I am not perfect, and while I strive (sometimes with more diligence than at other times) for the goal of perfect righteousness, I understand that I will never attain in on this side of eternity.
No, if being a saint means perfection, then I can truthfully say that I am not a saint. So can you. Oh, and by the way, so can the saints of the past. St. Augustine, St. Peter, St. John (the one who under the guidance and inspiration of the Holy Spirit wrote that those who abide in Christ do not sin), and any other folks with St. in front of their name in religious and history books - none of them - were not saints. Not if perfection and being so righteous they don't need help are what makes a saint.
But those great cloud of witnesses that have lived before us and written words we study and grow closer of God through, like St. John, St. Peter, St. Augustine, as well as the folks in our spiritual family tree who, although they may have never written anything spiritual or preached a day in their life, walked with Jesus, found themselves free and shared that solution and freedom through word and deed with us or with someone who eventually shared it with us, they were saints. Saint Ma Woody who walked the floor at night praying for my father directly lead to the message being brought to me. And St. Thomas showed me through example that even a murderer could find freedom, a life worth living and a reason to smile by accepting forgiveness and loving God before someone else took his life was indeed a saint. There are many more in my life and in yours. Some we know. Some we don't. Everyone one of us has a genealogy that goes back to one or more of the original crew that met with Jesus. Someone had a personal encounter with Jesus Christ that led to others meeting Him all the way down to you and me. Some of those saints were martyred. Some are still alive, sharing their relationship with Jesus with us, encouraging and guiding us closer to God.
And yes, dear reader, I am one of them, and so are you, if you trust in Christ for your salvation. The Bible doesn't say that we are to pray to saints(Matthew 6:6), or through them (I Timothy 2:5), but it does say that those who were in Rome at the time of Paul, and, by implication, those who followed them and accept the rest of that epistle to be for us are called to be saints in Romans 1:7. Saints, defined by dictionaries as those people recognized as holy and righteous.
That's not me. That's not you either, At least not if we look at our record or our ability. I don't recognize myself as holy or righteous, not me, not on my own anyway. And no one else would be recognized either. No one who has ever followed Jesus has been able to do so on their own strength or power. We are all powerless over our sin and our sin nature. But calls us to be saints, and he calls us saints by definition as well, for the perfection and righteousness of Jesus has been placed on us to cover and replace our own righteousness, which is as filthy rags.
The church has traditionally said that in order to be a saint one must have either been martyred, killed for Christ, lived an exemplary life of goodness and virtue worthy of imitation or undergone a major conversion of heart where a previous immoral life is abandoned and replaced by one of outstanding holiness In addition to one or more of the three things just listed, there must be two verified miracles performed by that person, which really means performed by God through that person. A miracle, by the way, is something so contrary to the course of nature that only God's intervention could account for it. The church doesn't say perfect or sinless. The requirements are actually so simple that any Christian should be able to qualify. In fact, all Christians do.
First the miracles. Is your life different now that you've surrendered your life to Jesus? Those things that you used to be powerless to do, do you now find yourself doing them less and less or even not at all? Well, developing power over things that we are powerless over is about as natural as a leopard changing its spots. Doesn't happen in any lasting way without the intervention of God. Miracle. Do you find yourself loving God and desiring to be with and around Him? Miracle. It's totally against our sinful and selfish nature to have any desire to fellowship with and submit ourselves to God. Our natural state is to be enemies of righteousness. Now no one reading this has been martyred as of yet, although we are to die to ourselves daily in the following of Jesus, but those of us who are Christians fit the rest. A life that was immoral, as all were without God (some of us just hid it a lot less than others) has been replaced with the outstanding and perfect holiness of Christ Himself and it is the love of God that gives us the grace and power to live a life of love, virtue and goodness that is worthy of imitation. It is our life that is the light of Christ to the world, the way we love.
If that last part doesn't feel like "you" rest assured that it doesn't always feel like me either. We fall shot. We fail. We even quit trying to live righteously at times. Examining where you are now. If it doesn't seem you should qualify by living a life worth imitating, then ask for forgiveness and grace and rejoice knowing that it is yours. He is faithful to forgive all of our sins. And He gives us grace, which is the power we need to do what we can not do, walk righteously with Him. If it is the past that seems to disqualify, then remember that same forgiveness. The past is gone, old things have passed away and Christ has made us new. Now, with that understanding of forgiveness and grace let us press on toward the goal of walking rightly with God and pursuing Him in all we do, and let us not forget the great cloud of witnesses, the saints that have gone on before us, that have been our example, our help, our inspiration and who have paved the way for us to find the cross.
Unshackled Life Ministries is grateful for every person that reads the daily Unshackled Moments and or listens to the messages. I want to thank those who have clicked "like" on something that blessed or ministered to them. It is encouraging to know that God is using this ministry to help and bless others. Please remember that if God used something from this ministry to help, encourage or bless you, it could also bless someone else. Would you help get the devotions to more people by sharing the Moments and messages that you read or listen to? Hitting the share button instead of or in addition to the like button will help us reach more people with the good news of freedom and the encouragement to live an Unshackled Life. Thank you and God bless.
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