Saints
 We
acknowledge St. Valentine on February
14th.,, This day is celebrated with chocolate
candy, cards and saying to our true love,
"Be My Valentine?". This is
erotic love, from the Greek word
eros.
St. Valentine was a Roman
priest, who gave up his life for his love
of Jesus Christ. He died under the persecution
of Emperor Claudius Gothicus. He was an
example of the God kind of love, willing
to lay down his life for the truth he
believed. This is divine love,
from the Greek word agape.
Catholic Saints are considered
to be people who have died, and due to
their good works and exemplary life on
earth, have attained the righteousness
needed to enter heaven. In the January
31, 2005, issue of Newsweek, Sainthood
made the news. People like Pope John XXIII,
Mother Teresa and several others are candidates
for Sainthood, but they lack the necessary
miracles credited to them, either before
or after death. The view being, a Catholic
believer can pray to a candidate and if
a miracle happens and is confirmed by
proven evidence, the miracle will be credited
to the candidate. Hindus, Buddhists and
Muslims are expected to have worked miracles
for their being confirmed as having attained
heaven or paradise as well.
The working of miracles
is not a requirement for Sainthood
in the Holy Bible. The working of miracles
is one of the nine spiritual gifts listed
by the Apostle Paul in his first book
to the Corinthians in chapter 12 verse
10. These gifts come from the power or
ability of God, given to all Saints by
our Heavenly Father as He wills. These
are gifts of grace from the Greek word
charismata where we get the English word
"charismatic".
It is God Who creates
Saints. He is the One Who works the miracle
of salvation in the believer's life. The
sign of the New Covenant to the believer
is the miracle of the virgin birth, when
Mary conceived and gave birth to Jesus
Christ, through the power of the Holy
Spirit. Similarly, the Holy Spirit regenerates
our lives, bringing forth the greatest
miracle -- salvation.
Sainthood is given freely
to all who truly believe in Jesus Christ,
asking Him to come into their heart. The
Greek word for "Saint" is hagios
from the root word hagiazo, meaning
to make holy or sanctify, to set apart
or be separated unto God. The word for
"sanctuary" is hagion.
As Christians we are Saints, God's sanctuary,
sanctified or made holy, because the Holy
Spirit lives in us as born-again believers.
We are sanctified by the Holy Spirit (Rom.
15:16; 1 Cor. 6:11).
The Apostle Paul wrote
the church in Rome calling all believers
Saints (Rom. 1:7). He addresses his letters
to the Saints at Corinth (1 Cor. 1:2;
2 Cor. 1:1), at Ephesus (Eph. 1:1), at
Philippi (Phil. 1:1), and at Colosse (Col.
1:1). Jesus is coming with His Saints
(1 Thess. 3:13), for His Saints (2 Thess.
1:10), and hears the prayers of the Saints
(Rev. 5:8).
This is Good News. It
is our Heavenly Father, Who makes us Saints,
because of the finished work of the cross:
"...God commended His love [agape,
divine love] toward us, in that, while
we were yet sinners, Christ died for us"
(Rom. 5:8). Sainthood is not based on
what we do, but what God did to make us,
"... a chosen generation, a royal
priesthood, a holy nation, His own special
people, that you may proclaim the praises
of Him who called you out of darkness
into His marvelous light" (1
Pet. 2:9 NKJV).
That is why the Scriptures
say, "when He [Jesus] ascended
to the heights, He led a crowd of captives
and gave gifts to his people"
(Psa. 68:18). Notice that it says "He
ascended." This means that Christ
first came down to the world in which
we live. The same one who came down is
the one who ascended higher than all the
heavens [resurrected], so that His righteousness
would be available to all who believe
in the work He finished, His death, burial
and resurrection.
Jesus is the one who
gives these gifts to the church and enables
us to be: apostles, prophets, evangelists,
and pastors and teachers. Our responsibility
is to equip God's people to do his work
and build up the church, the body of Christ,
until we come to such unity in our faith
and knowledge of God's Son that we will
be mature and full grown in the Lord,
measuring up to the full stature of Christ.
Then we will no longer
be like children forever changing our
minds about what we believe because someone
has told us something different or because
someone has cleverly lied to us and made
the lie sound like the truth. Instead,
we will hold to the truth in love, becoming
more and more and in every way like Christ,
who is the head of His Body, the church.
Under His direction, the whole body is
fitted together perfectly. As each part
does its own special work, it helps the
other parts grow, so that the whole body
is healthy and growing and full of love
(Eph. 4:8-16 NLT).
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