Today (Sunday 27 April 2014), Pope Francis declared two of his predecessors, John XXIII and John Paul II, saints of the Roman Catholic church in an unprecedented double-canonisation mass in St Peter's Square.
But who are saints and how are they made? What did the Bible say about saints?
Saints are living Christians, like you and I, once alienated from God, but now reconciled by the cross of Jesus Christ.
For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father. So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. (Ephesians 2:18-21 ESV)
They stayed in houses in towns and cities, like you and I.
Now as Peter went here and there among them all, he came down also to the saints who lived at Lydda. (Acts 9:32 ESV)
They populate the churches.
To all those in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. (Romans 1:7 ESV)
To the church of God that is in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints together with all those who in every place call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, both their Lord and ours: (1 Corinthians 1:2 ESV)
Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother, To the church of God that is at Corinth, with all the saints who are in the whole of Achaia: (2 Corinthians 1:1 ESV)
Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, To the saints who are in Ephesus, and are faithful in Christ Jesus: (Ephesians 1:1 ESV)
Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus, To all the saints in Christ Jesus who are at Philippi, with the overseers and deacons: (Philippians 1:1 ESV)
To the saints and faithful brothers in Christ at Colossae: Grace to you and peace from God our Father. (Colossians 1:2 ESV)
You can write letters to greet them and they can greet you.
Greet every saint in Christ Jesus. The brothers who are with me greet you. All the saints greet you, especially those of Caesar’s household. (Philippians 4:21-22 ESV)
They can be persecuted, imprisoned or killed.
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)
And I did so in Jerusalem. I not only locked up many of the saints in prison after receiving authority from the chief priests, but when they were put to death I cast my vote against them. (Acts 26:10 ESV)
God gave some special gifts, so that the saints are well-equipped for His work.
And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, (Ephesians 4:11-12 ESV)
When you need justice, you can come before the saints.
When one of you has a grievance against another, does he dare go to law before the unrighteous instead of the saints? (1 Corinthians 6:1 ESV)
Some saints are urged to submit to other saints.
Now, brothers and sisters, you know about the household of Stephanus, that as the first converts of Achaia, they devoted themselves to ministry for the saints. I urge you also to submit to people like this, and to everyone who cooperates in the work and labors hard. (1 Corinthians 16:15-16 NET)
Some saints are poor and need contributions.
Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality. (Romans 12:13 ESV)
At present, however, I am going to Jerusalem bringing aid to the saints. For Macedonia and Achaia have been pleased to make some contribution for the poor among the saints at Jerusalem. (Romans 15:25-26 ESV)
Pray that I may be rescued from the unbelievers in Judea, that the gift I am bringing to Jerusalem may be acceptable to the saints, and that, by God's will, I may come to you with joy and be refreshed together with you. (Romans 15:31-32 HCSB)
For the ministry of this service is not only supplying the needs of the saints but is also overflowing in many thanksgivings to God. (2 Corinthians 9:12 ESV)
Sometimes they need help when they are on a journey.
I commend to you our sister Phoebe, a servant of the church at Cenchreae, that you may welcome her in the Lord in a way worthy of the saints, and help her in whatever she may need from you, for she has been a patron of many and of myself as well. (Romans 16:1-2 ESV)
Sometimes, they need exhortation.
But sexual immorality and all impurity or covetousness must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints. (Ephesians 5:3 ESV)
Their hearts need to be refreshed.
For I have derived much joy and comfort from your love, my brother, because the hearts of the saints have been refreshed through you. (Philemon 1:7 ESV)
Saints need help in prayer.
Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. (Romans 8:26-27 ESV)
We need to pray for the saints, but we do not pray to them, because they are living Christians, like you and I. What can I do for you if you pray to me? Am I God? But I need you to pray for me.
Pray at all times in the Spirit with every prayer and request, and stay alert in this with all perseverance and intercession for all the saints. (Ephesians 6:18 HCSB)
May you be strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy, giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. (Colossians 1:11-12 ESV)
The Holy Spirit dwell in the hearts of all the saints.
For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith - that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. (Ephesians 3:14-19 ESV)
Saints have a glorious inheritance in future.
I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you will know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe. (Ephesians 1:18-19a)
They will be coming back with Christ.
To the end he may stablish your hearts unblameable in holiness before God, even our Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all his saints. (1 Thessalonians 3:13 KJV)
They will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might, when he comes on that day to be glorified in his saints, and to be marveled at among all who have believed, because our testimony to you was believed. (2 Thessalonians 1:9-10 ESV)
Saint Jude's appeal to us, one saint to all the saints, to contend earnestly for the faith, that God has entrusted once for all time to us.
Beloved, while I was making every effort to write you about our common salvation, I felt the necessity to write to you appealing that you contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all handed down to the saints. For certain persons have crept in unnoticed, those who were long beforehand marked out for this condemnation, ungodly persons who turn the grace of our God into licentiousness and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ. (Jude 1:3-4 NASB)
Be a saint while you are alive. You can never be one when you are dead.
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