Welcome to Church History and Theology, a study where we glean wisdom from those who came before us. Come lay aside today's concerns for a bit and join in a study of the Church throughout the ages. Our forebears have shaped our faith in countless ways. Let's go look into one of those influences today on Church History and Theology. you Good evening, everyone, and welcome to Church History and Theology. As we delve into a theological side of things, we're going to pull out of church history for just a moment and discuss a biblical concept of the definition of saints. Now, if you are a studier of church history, which, let's be honest, if you are listening to this podcast, listening to this show, wherever you are, you are a fan of church history, you will undoubtedly and invariably come across references to Saint so-and-so or Saint Paul or Saint Augustine or Saint Patrick, and this term is used in all manner of ways, But it is used most specifically in the West as a terminology that is meant to describe a very specific type of Christian. And it is that that I want to interact with. There is multiple Definitions of saint both east and west. In the east it's more connected with the concept of theosis. That's a little bit outside of our purview this episode. But in the west it has much more of a judicial ruling by the church, especially connected to papal power in the medieval era. So, once we get to those eras and we start to talk about, you know, the rise of all of that, it's going to be really important to understand this episode as background for that, theological background, because there actually is a biblical definition for saints, and it's truly important, and it's not one of those things that we should pass over lightly. So, one of the things that you're going to find is that the common parlance of saint is just completely absent from the scriptures. And it is because the concept of a first class of Christians and then a secondary or laity class or this whole kind of hierarchy that develops later on has no place in the scriptures and no place in the early church. Nobody is talking like this. the whole idea that there is this group of people commonly understood as having kind of gone above and beyond or that they have so lived in light of the commands of Christ or of the law and have presented themselves, even the term saint comes from the word that means to be holy, this kind of set apart holy person, and that kind of whole concept comes much later. It is born and connected out of the concept of the martyrs being a very particular class of Christian, which I will simply point out, once we get to the cult of the martyrs, and the cult of relics that flow in their wake, really you're talking 3rd, 4th century where that starts, and then it explodes after the imperial church in the 4th century. But in the early century, there's no concept of that. Martyrs are being buried, their bones are not being treated as something uniquely holy or special or anything like that. That comes later on. Um, but when you're, when you're looking at the concept of saint or the concept of a Christian or the concept of being holy, one of the most important things is really going to drive home. How is it that we can come out of the scriptures with an idea that there are levels of Christians? As if those, there are those who are super Christians or first class Christians, shall we say, and then second class Christians. Um, how is it that Christians are stated in the new Testament? and also in the Old Testament, but that's a whole other discussion, as being made holy. I think you will be surprised to find out, or maybe not, that it is always expressed in the passive tense. They are made holy. This is not something that they accomplish, and this is one of the greatest distinctions that we're going to have between a later medieval concept and the biblical concept. So, Before I get into any of those weeds, I just want to say this is not primarily a church history lesson. Tonight is theology. That's why this class is called Church History and Theology. Every once in a while we will take a break on church history and discuss something that's going to be important going forward. Because once we start referring in the historical documents to someone like St. Clement or St. Justin Martyr or St. Ignatius, These terminologies need to be clarified ahead of time. What I mean them as when I use them is not that they are something above someone else. They are servants the same as us all. In fact, I want to sandwich this entire discussion with words of Jesus about this concept. And that is on the very first basis of what Christ teaches us about this. And that is that we are all servants. There's not a single one of us that, having accomplished what Christ has commanded us to do, or having followed the way of the cross, or having followed the narrow path, gets to the end and say, oh my goodness, that is simply phenomenal. You went above and beyond the call of duty. Everything is great. You have accomplished an excess of merit. That's something that comes in the latter centuries of the medieval era. And therefore, by the overwhelming holiness that you are, you have some special place. Well, wouldn't you know it that our Savior actually gives an entire parable on this concept. It's called the Parable of the Unworthy Servants. And it would do us well to remember this. And by the way, if there's any of you who want to write books in theology and you find this kind of concept, I would simply put out to you that Unworthy Servants is an amazing title of a book that somebody should write, if that doesn't already exist. Hear this parable. Will any one of you who has a servant plowing or keeping sheep, by the way, if you're listening, this is Luke 17, seven through 10. Will any of you who has a servant plowing or keeping sheep say to him who has come in from the field, come at once and recline at table? Will you not rather say to him, prepare supper for me and dress properly and serve me while I eat and drink and afterward you will eat and drink? Does he thank the servant because he did what was commanded? Listen to these words from Jesus. So you also, he says to all of his apostles, so you also, when you have done all that you were commanded, say, we are unworthy servants. We have only done what was our duty. I believe the concept of humility to be the entire backdrop of the Christian life. If it is not, everything gets out of balance. If humility is not sitting behind every attempt to follow Christ, then we will end up self-righteous or we will end up in the ditch because we are actually blind. If we think that on some level we are matching the holiness of his commands, his commands are out of reach. His commands are perfect. And if we come across something that is holy in our lives, we owe that glory to God for doing that. The grace of God has appeared and it trains us for righteousness. It is not something that we look deep inside ourselves and find holiness. uh, that, that God did not put there, God did not develop in us. Those things are things that God has done. And that kind of expresses to us something a little bit more important because all of the men that Jesus was speaking to about this parable, he's there speaking to his disciples. He's saying, look, when you've done everything that you were commanded to do, This carries with it the same kind of fervor that that passage about when the disciples went out and they were casting out demons, they came back leaping and rejoicing. They were so happy. They were saying, because even the demons believe in us, or excuse me, even the demons listen to us because of your name. And then Jesus throws this whole kibosh on that concept and says, look, don't rejoice for that. Rejoice only in that your names are recorded in heaven. That, that humility of the practical, pragmatic following of the Lord should be evident in Christians lives. In fact, it's one of those, it's one of those points of maturity that comes to us where we actually recognize these things are not our own doing. These things are. These things are part of it, part of God's salvation, part of God's plan. In fact, it is not even to be surprised to us that this is not even a New Testament concept. The term itself is an Old Testament term. Holy ones. It's a rare Old Testament term, but it is an Old Testament term to be sure. In fact, you will find it in the Psalms and you will find it also in the prophets, mostly Daniel, that refers to those whom God is seen as feared in their eyes. Those who truly believe on the Lord, those who have found favor in his sight are defined as saints. So let's go to there. Psalm 34, 9. O fear the Lord, you his saints, for those who fear him have no lack. Or Psalm 30 verse 4, sing praises to the Lord, O you his saints, and give thanks to his holy name. Again, that terminology, that passage is addressing this idea that the very ones who are praising the Lord for his holy name are themselves ones who are holy. Now we define that as saints. Why? Well, it comes from the same root word in our language, sanctified. This idea of being made holy, this idea of one who is holy. The term in Hebrew is just the word holy, but applied to a individual person or a group of persons. Those who are holy, holy ones, are saints. You say, well, you look into ancient Israel and you go like, well, aren't there levels there, right? So you have those who are in the nation of Israel and then you have saints. Yeah, there's distinction in the Old Testament, right? Because not everyone who's of the nation of Israel are believers in the God of Israel. Sorry to break that to you. They're not all saved, right? I mean, we have the count of it during Elijah's life as, as, as few as 7,000, which was a lot more than Elijah thought there was, but there's not that many people in the nation of Israel in the old Testament days that are actually true saved individuals. I hope it is not news to you that salvation has always been the same way by God's grace and through faith. It's been that way since Genesis. It will be that way to the very end at the incoming of the Eschaton. That is the point. That is the focus of all of these things. And so when we see this in the Old Testament, we see really unique laying out of this here and that those who are truly there fearing him are called his saints. Right? He'll even express it directly in Psalm 97 verses 10 to 12. O you who love the Lord, hate evil. He preserves the lives of his saints. He delivers them from the hand of the wicked. Light is sown for the righteous and joy for the upright in heart. Rejoice in the Lord, O you righteous, and give thanks to his holy name. That same concept. He preserves the lives of his saints. His saints are ones who are holy. What is their relationship to evil? They hate it. Right? What is their relationship to the wicked? They need to be delivered from them. Right? What is it that sits in their heart? Righteousness. Their heart is upright. They're called righteous. It is synonymous. This is through and through in the Psalms. The same thing also is present in the prophets. Though, again, in the Old Testament, we're not dealing with a terminology that's very common. We're dealing with something that's actually quite unusual. But once we get to the New Testament, it just explodes, and rightly so, because the very focus of holiness, the very focus of how we are made holy, the very focus of all of our trust and faith has actually been born as one of us. died in our place, was risen again, seen, witnessed, ascended, and is coming again. All of those things pour together to show us that the reality is not incredibly complicated. In fact, it's quite simple. Saints are those whom God has saved. It is true in the Old Testament. It is true in the Prophets. It is true in the New. Let's look at the Prophets for a second. Daniel chapter 7 verses 17 to 22. Now, Daniel 7, we're dropping right into the middle of a vision here, but it's really important passage with regards to this topic, saying these four great beasts are four kings who shall rise out of the earth, but the saints of the most high shall receive the kingdom and possess the kingdom forever, forever and ever. Then Daniel says, I desired to know the truth about the fourth beast, which was different from all the rest, exceedingly terrifying, with his teeth of iron and claws of bronze, and which devoured and broken pieces and stamped what was left with its feet, and about the ten horns that were on its head, and the other horn that came up from before it, where three of them fell, the horn that had eyes and a mouth that spoke great things, and that seemed greater than its companions. Listen here, As I looked, this horn made war with the saints and prevailed over them, until the Ancient of Days came, and judgment was given for the saints of the Most High, and the time came when the saints possessed the kingdom. Now I do not want to get into the interpretation of these things. You can follow along my up-and-coming Sunday School lesson on the Old Testament backgrounds of the Book of Revelation if you want to hear my dealings with this passage, but here we have this expression, this understanding that there are the saints who are seen in a different class from just a citizen of Israel in the Old Testament. What has happened after the first advent of our Lord and Savior is that that understanding that there is a unique group that are super holy, and then there's everyone else, has been imported directly into the New Testament church as though we have that same layering that is seen in the nation of Israel. We don't. That's one of the things that makes the new covenant in the New Testament so much better. It is not about ethnicity. It is not about family lineage. It is not about who your parents are. This is one of the reasons why I do not, um, I do not hold to certain parts of the covenantal theology because it seems to miss this point. One of the great things about the new covenant is that it is not tied to families and bloodlines. One of the most marvelous aspects about this is that every single one of us is saints. We actually see that there are those who were truly Israel were those who were changed in heart and mind. Those who feared the Lord and turned away from evil. The same thing is said of the entire church. This is who we are. And so as an old Testament term, it settles in the back of our minds and we need to actually define the concept. Answer the question. Who is holy? Who is holy? You know, your answer to that question tells me where you will end up on this concept of saint or sanctified. Who is actually holy? Now you may take the theological bend and say, well, God alone is holy. Okay. Yeah. God has a very unique holiness all to his own self. Absolutely. His glory, he doesn't share with another. And yet there are those called holy ones. And so there is a creature holiness that is gifted. I would simply say that a gifted creature holiness that is to be found in certain creatures. What is it and who are they? And how did they get that way? Right? Because if we already take Jesus's words in Luke 17 and see this concept that those who are following the Lord and just doing everything they're told. If that's, if that's the basis of being this sanctified, holy, top of the line, best of all of us, he wouldn't be coming back and saying, we are unworthy and we are only servants and we have only done what is our duty. There should be something we should expect to see something far more than that there, but we don't. What we see is that we, no matter how much we have accomplished in the body, if it is measured only by what we have done, we are unworthy. This is the essence of salvation by grace. God does these things. Who is holy in the church? All who are sanctified. You say, Oh my goodness. Uh, does that mean everyone who has all of their works completely, uh, accurate, they don't sin anymore. I didn't say that. There's no such thing as a Christian who doesn't sin anymore. Unless they're dead. But in this life, no. In this life, Christians wrestle. In this life, Christians confess. In this life, Christians repent and turn back to Christ over and over again. We live, as John Calvin says, a life of repentance. It is who we are. As, as John says in first John chapter one, that if we say that we have no sin, we, we lie. We do not practice the truth. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Make us holy. The term sanctified in the new Testament comes from the exact same root. Holy. Agiazzo. I want you to see it. Here in first Corinthians chapter one, we start to build this case for who it is that is holy, who is a saint, who is sanctified. By the way, they're all the same terminology. to the church of God that is in Corinth, to those, watch this list, sanctified in Christ Jesus, notice the passive tense, right? Notice that it, or excuse me, the passive mood. Notice it is not in the, or tense, no, I was right. Notice it's not in the active. It doesn't say to those who sanctify themselves, well actually that'd be middle, to those who, Actually, there's no way to even say it in the active. It's simply here, those sanctified in Christ Jesus. It is something that is done, it is done to them. Watch this. Those who are 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. In fact, there's really no more efficient way to draw the line. All Christians, all Christians are sanctified, all Christians here in the Church of Corinth. Now, if you know anything about the letter to the Church of Corinth, you're the first one, you know that that is an amazing statement. Because here he is calling these Christians sanctified in Christ Jesus, that they are called to be saints, not called to be saints as though it's like a, a higher calling to them. No, they are called to be saints. They are that together with all those who in every place call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. How far does that go? Everywhere to everyone, wherever the Lord is Lord. You say, I don't know, is that exactly what's going on here? Yeah, that's exactly what's going on here. Turn to Hebrews chapter 10, or if you're on the video thing, or if you're watching on the video, you're able to actually just view it straight up, because I have it here on the screen. Hebrews chapter 10, verses 9 through 14. Watch, then he added, Behold, I have come to do your will. And he does away with the first in order to establish the second. And by that will, we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. Now, before I finish this section, I want to help us understand a little bit more because I kind of grew up with this idea that salvation and justification was on the Lord and sanctification was up to me. I don't know if any of you else shared that experience or shared that pride of mine, but it is something that the Scriptures have gone a long way to just absolutely rid me of. and say, there's just literally nothing I add to this. Because any of this sanctification is not something that I can simply accomplish. This is something that through faith in Christ, he must develop in me, he active, me passive. Watch what he does. And he does this through his own sacrifice. Verse 11, Hebrews 10, And every priest stands daily at his sacrifice, offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, waiting from that time until his enemies should be made a footstool for his feet. For by a single offering He has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified, being made holy. Those who in heart and soul and in action and intention and in mind are being made holy. Now there is a whole split here, and I think it's important to point out, a whole split here between what has already been accomplished and what is being accomplished. Now, one of the great things about the scripture is that it talks about the future in ways that are so solid because it's fully aware that the one who made these promises is sure. And so you can speak of future realities in the past tense, such as, for instance, the golden shade of redemption found at the end of Romans chapter eight, where it expresses that those whom he called, excuse me, those whom he foreknew, he called. Those whom he called, he predestined. Those whom he predestined, he justified. Those whom he justified, he glorified. Notice glorified is in the past tense. even though for 99% of that, that is future still. And yet it is so solid, the promise, and that whole section is all about, there's nothing that can separate us from the love of God that's in Christ Jesus. But there is a, excuse me, there is a, Expression to this is saying there is a certain amount of sanctification that is taking place, will take place. And then in the ultimate sense, our identity as sanctified ones, our identity as holy ones will come to full awareness and fruition at the very end. Not by our death, but after our death. So there is a past tense to it, there is a real sense to it. In the ultimate sense, sanctified ones, holy ones, these Christians are holy. Watch what he says here at a later point in Hebrews 13. Hebrews 13 verses 11 through 13. For the bodies of those animals whose blood is brought into the holy places by the high priest as a sacrifice for sin are burned outside the camp. So Jesus also suffered outside the gate, watch this, in order to sanctify the people through his own blood. Sanctify means to make holy. To justify means to make righteous. To sanctify means to make holy. The outcome of this is verse 13 there in chapter 13. Therefore, let us go to him outside the camp and bear the reproach he endured. In other words, this identity of who we are as holy ones spills over into our lives. Practically. Everyone gets this backwards. You do not earn the identity of holy ones by doing holy things. You do holy things because you have been sanctified. That way, the glory stays with the Lord. And we, having become partakers of life, learn this. So who is holy? Every Christian is holy through faith in Christ. You want to see it? Let's see it. The first place that we see this is found in second Thessalonians chapter two, verses 13 to 14. This is where the Apostle Paul expresses, but we ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers, beloved by the Lord, because God chose you as the firstfruits to be saved through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth. There we have the terminology of salvation, we have the terminology of faith, we have the terminology of truth, and right there, being made holy, sanctification right in the center of it. As he says to this, he called you through our gospel so that you may obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. And there's even the glorification at the end of it all. That whole expression is written to church, just like the church in first Corinthians chapter one, that expresses to them all that they are saints. The book of Philippians says the same thing. In fact, almost all of Paul's introductions to these entire churches calls all of them, without disclaimer, saints. All of them. Look at the opening to Philippians, Philippians chapter one, verse one, Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus to all the saints in Christ Jesus who are at Philippi with the overseers and deacons. He says at the very end of the book of Philippians, chapter four, verses 21 and 22, 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. The expression is not possible to be more all-encompassing, to state that in the presence here, whether or not there's distinctions being made as to those who are overseers or deacons or those who are in Caesar's household or those who are the brothers who are with me, the overarching terminology is all the saints, every saint, all the saints. Everyone here is a saint. You say, well, maybe he's just describing the leaders of the church. Maybe that's what he's doing. He's just describing the leaders of the church. No. Look at Ephesians 4. He gave the apostles to equip the saints. That means these ones that are holy, these holy ones, these Saints still need to be equipped. Why? For the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the son of God to mature manhood. That means it is possible. In fact, nay, I would say likely normal and typical that saints who are saints are also immature. In fact, He even says further on in this passage that the reason why teachers, pastors are given to the church, the reason why the apostles and the prophets and the evangelists have their testimony codified in the scriptures, the reason why these things exist is that we may mature as Christians, as saints, so that we may no longer be children. I mean, he defines the whole thing in this passage. Tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning and craftiness and deceitful schemes. Rather speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head into Christ. Saints is not a terminology for some super uber Christian. Saint is terminology to describe every single Christian. Every single person who has placed their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ has found salvation in Him who is justified, who is being sanctified, who is sanctified. All of these terminologies mixed together are saints, without exception. You should, Christian, take great solace from the fact that the scriptures save this terminology for those who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. You are those who are holy. Behave like it. You say, well, I don't feel holy. Okay. The scriptures aren't about your feelings. It expresses to you who you are by birthright. You have come to saving faith in Christ Jesus. You are his holy bride. He sanctifies his church. And the church is sanctified by her groom. It is one of these things that it frustrates me when I When I see people talking in church history and in the scriptures of just other Christians, as if they are on pedestals so high. And it causes us to be led astray by people who will let us down. It causes us to place our extended faith into the righteousness, the practical righteousness lived out of fallible humans. Humans in this life, saints or not, Christians or not, will let you down. Pastors will fail. Saints such and so, you only think highly of them because you didn't know them personally, I promise you. Most of these people, you probably would not like. A few of them you might, just by happenstance. But they are not perfect. They are not uber righteous. They are unworthy servants. Same as me. Same as you. And those who are most mature would actually recognize that. It's painful to hear Christians speak in a dismissive way to the work of Christ in their life, and then to call it humility. It is not humble to think less of yourself than Christ does. It's lying. It is not humble to take an identity of sinner over saint. We are justified. We still sin, but we are saints. It is a tremendous truth. It is a wonderful reality. And it is something that sets us up to recognize our identity as sons and daughters of our father who is in heaven. And then we live out of that knowledge. We're not trying to earn sainthood. You can't. Any more than you can earn salvation. You can't earn this. This is given to every Christian. If you doubt it, let's hear Jesus's thoughts on the matter. Last passage here. And one of the best. It's in Acts chapter 26, and you may go, wait, what in the world? What are we doing with Jesus's words here? Ah, they're quoted by the apostle Paul. But I want you to see something here. Luke recounts this. And Paul is expressing this as he stands before the king. In this connection, he says, I journeyed to Damascus with the authority and commission of the chief priests at midday. O king, I saw on the way a light from heaven brighter than the sun that shone around me and those who journeyed with me. And when we had all fallen to the ground, I heard a voice saying to me in the Hebrew language, Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads. And I said, who are you, Lord? And he said, I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. but rise and stand upon your feet for I have appeared to you for this purpose, to appoint you as a servant and a witness to the things in which you have seen me and to those in which I will appear to you, delivering you from your people and from the Gentiles to whom I am sending you." Now watch what he's sending him to do in verse 18 here. to open their eyes, so that they may turn from darkness to light, from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me. If after this whole study you can't appreciate the weight of that promise, that in their forgiveness they are given a place among those who are saints. Because of their reliance in him, because of his grace in giving them their faith, in gifting them their repentance, this is our God who makes his people holy. This is our God who is able to save to the uttermost. And so the question comes to us as we look through church history, as we continue on into the history of the church, when we see people referred to as saints, when I refer to them simply because of common parlance, always understand, I am only referring to them that way in a way of identification and familiarity. I am not in any way a part of the belief that this is some super righteous person or super sanctified person or super holy person. No. We all have been given all things pertaining to life and godliness. We all have been gifted the righteousness because of our hunger and thirst for it. Christ has gifted his own righteousness. We are all justified. We are all sanctified. We will all be glorified. And it is simply a remarkable promise of the Christian life. And I want you to be encouraged in it. And before we go on any further in church history, I thought it was important for me to cover it. And now we have the answer to the question, who is holy and who are saints? The answer is all Christians are saints. All saints are Christians. To the glory of God. I'll see you next time. you