Saints, Sinners, and Christians

A friend of mine recently pointed out that we should be careful using the word “Saint” when speaking of a Christian. I think he is right. The world has adopted a carelessly generalized Catholic definition of Saints and expects that if someone is called a “Saint”, the person must be perfect and sinless. Have you ever met a perfectly sinless Christian? The Bible teaches us that saints are simply believers in Christ.

Who is a Christian? Are there differences between Saints and Christians? No – not according to the Bible. (Romans 1:7, 1 Corinthians 1:2, 2 Corinthians 1:1) The problem emerges when we talk about Saints and Sinners. We know that Sinners reject the God of the Bible and that Sinners sin. Saints (Christians), however, may believe in the God of the Bible, acknowledge Jesus Christ as Lord, and still sin in thought or deed sometimes. This is probably very perplexing to the Sinner who witnesses the Saint sinning. “What is the difference between us?” he may ask. “What is a Christian (Saint) supposed to be?”