Notes of an Address
Paul’s use of the Term ‘Saints’
Tonight, I want to speak briefly about the term ‘saint’, the appellation attached to a believer, and principally as it is found in the epistle to the Ephesians. If you take a concordance you will find that Paul, in writing to the Romans, the Corinthians and the Thessalonians uses the term “brethren” more than any other term (14 times in Romans, 36 times in 1 and 2 Corinthians and 24 times in 1 and 2 Thessalonians), but in the epistle to the Ephesians he only uses the term “brethren” twice (6:10, 23) but “saints” 9 times. The reason is this, dear brethren, that in the other epistles Paul is mainly emphasising the relationship of believers to each other in working out the truth, that is, how they stand towards each other, and hence the appellation “brethren” is necessarily predominant. This is the finest term that could be used in so doing. However, when Paul is dealing with the truth in all its height and glory as it stands in relation to God, the term that the Spirit of God directs Paul to use is “saints”, because this is what God has made the believers, this is how He views them, and if we keep this and the underlying thought of the holiness connected with this blessing in mind, then we will see how important all the Scriptural usages of this term are.
“Paul… to the saints and faithful in Christ Jesus” (1:1, J.N.D.)
Paul opens this wonderful epistle by referring to the believers at Ephesus as “the saints and faithful in Christ Jesus”. Immediately, according to the teaching that he would give them, their minds are directed to the wonderful position of blessing that they have outside the realm of nature, outside the realm of man, a position of unassailable blessing, “in Christ Jesus”. It is of the utmost importance that we view ourselves in this light, in the place that God has given to us in Christ Jesus beyond the reach of Satan or any other power. Dear brethren, this is a wonderful place to be in. To be in Christ Jesus brings to our hearts confidence, assurance, peace, hope, stability and joy. It is the finest mark of blessing for any believer. We search in vain in the Gospels for this title and we certainly do not find it in the Acts of the Apostles, we find it almost exclusively in the writings of the apostle Paul (it occurs once only in the writings of Peter—1 Peter 5:10). “In Christ Jesus” indicates the blessings we have, not in the Man who was down here in lowly dependence upon God, but in the glorious Man who is in the presence of God (not that the Man has ever changed, but only His position). When we see Him as Christ Jesus we think of Him in glory, the work of redemption accomplished, and ourselves blessed in Him beyond the reach of any power. We may be conscious of much weakness and failure attaching to us individually and collectively, but there is nothing weak about this position that we have in Christ Jesus, it does not belong to a particular company, it belongs to all believers wherever they are; it belongs to every person who believes in Christ.
We want at the outset to destroy the commonly held opinion regarding saints that they are persons who attain a saintly character, who have a reputation for spiritual attainment and worth so that they are entitled to have this appellation attached to their name. Saints in the Bible are persons who are set apart for God in order to serve Him or respond to Him in holiness in a way pleasing to His heart. God has set apart every person who believes in Christ in this way. Whether we are true to, or whether we are up to, this calling in practice is entirely another matter. However, knowing what God has done for us, it is surely our desire to be true to it. So Paul, in writing to these Ephesian believers, describes them in this way in these opening verses. They may have been a motley crew at Ephesus before they were converted, evil persons given over to much of Satan’s power (Acts 19:18-19), but all that had changed. Paul did not address them as a motley crew, he did not address them as poor failing Christians, he addressed them as what they were “in Christ Jesus” by the purpose of God through the work of Christ and the gift of the Holy Spirit. Dear brethren, two thousand years has not altered that; persons who believe in Christ are still saints, they are still the faithful in Christ Jesus. Oh that we might take account of this, that this is what we are! We are in Christ Jesus! There is nothing in the world, nor in ourselves, nor in any other one that can destroy this place of blessing that we have, it belongs to us, given to us by God, secured for us in Christ Jesus and it is ours forever.
“Wherefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus, and love unto all the saints, cease not to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers” (1:15-16)
There are three things of note here, firstly, their faith in the Lord Jesus, secondly, the love that sprang from this, and, finally, the persons who received this love. Having faith in our Lord Jesus is one thing that is common to all the saints. In practice they may have many different opinions, they may behave in many different ways and unfortunately, as we see today, they may gather together in different groups, but faith in the Lord Jesus Christ is common to all saints. Indeed, it is this that constitutes them saints; they are saints because they have believed in Him. This is what has brought them to light. This being so, they do not love in a partisan or sectarian sort of way. In the corrective epistles, where there are abnormal conditions, Paul does not address himself in a normal presentation of the truth, but to the Ephesians he does, saying, as it were, ‘All those who have faith in the Lord Jesus Christ love each other’. Whenever abnormalities occur there is an interruption in the flow of this love, but if we all have faith in the same Person it is bound to produce love for each other because we love the same Person. Paul heard of their “love unto all the saints”, this is one of the dominant themes in the epistle to the Ephesians, that in order to understand the presentation of the truth that Paul gives we have to encompass in our minds all the saints. There is certainly no sectarian bias in Paul’s truth in Ephesians; it involves all the saints wherever they are at any given moment, or, if we think of them from Pentecost until the rapture, it requires all the saints to set out the truth as it is in the purpose of God. So, in practice, Paul says, ‘Brethren, if we have faith in the Lord Jesus Christ we ought to have love towards all the saints’. This is one of the cardinal requirements for the Christian faith. The Lord said so often to His disciples, ‘Love one another’. If this was put into practice it would remove many of the abnormalities and the difficulties amongst the people of God, taking its direction from the Person of Christ and finding its fulfilment in a practical way amongst all the saints. So he goes on to say that because of this “[I] cease not to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers”.
“The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints.” (1:18)
Here again we find this expression, the riches of the glory of God’s inheritance is “in the saints”. He does not say in the brethren (although that would be perfectly true), but rather in those persons set apart by God for His pleasure. Something of the riches of the glory of his inheritance was to be known in these people. Whenever we find the inheritance in the New Testament it points us on to the future. Christ has not yet come into His inheritance, so we also wait for it, but we are co-heirs, and we are looking forward to the time when we shall enjoy the inheritance that we have through Christ. At the moment it is all future, although at the present time we have the earnest of that inheritance in that we have the Holy Spirit as a gift (Rom. 8:14-17). What the saints are exhorted to learn, to know, and to enjoy, is the riches of the glory of this inheritance that God has, which He has in His saints. God is now receiving in a measure a foretaste of what He will actually obtain in the inheritance. All the great principles and blessings that will attach to the world to come in some measure are expressed in the saints now in the power of the Spirit of God. This brings a great deal of joy to the heart of God. What Paul is here stressing is that it is through the heavenly company that God has secured in Christ at the present moment what He will take possession of in the time to come.
Revelation 5:10 says the heavenly company secured by Christ for God “shall reign over the earth”, and in this sense we will be securing the inheritance for God. So in this company, called the saints, God has great riches of glory. Here again we see the bearing of the term, it is not so much for the blessing between ourselves, but rather what is for God. Paul said to the Corinthians “Do you not know that the saints shall judge the world?” (1 Cor. 6:2), and if that is so, are we not competent at the present moment to deal with some matter between two saints? If there is some matter that needs adjusting, why should we go to secular law about the matter? If in the future we are going to rule the world surely with all the help that is available in the truth and in the Holy Spirit we can settle this matter amongst ourselves. What Paul was pointing out in that matter is ‘The saints are going to rule the world’. They will rule for God’s glory. That is a very wonderful thing. There are many other references such as, “If we suffer [with him], we shall also reign with him” (2 Tim. 2:12), “we are… joint heirs with Christ” (Rom. 8:17), “God hath begotten us… to an inheritance incorruptible” (1 Pet. 1:4), etc., which remind us that the inheritance is in the future but it is sure because we are bound up with Christ in this matter, and it is the saints who are going to provide such riches of glory for God’s pleasure. We may be a nondescript company here upon earth with maybe a great deal attaching to us that requires adjustment, but in the sight of God this elect company that He has set apart for His own holy joy and service is the company, as far as He is concerned, that will bring Him such pleasure and glory.
“For through him we both [Jew and Gentile] have access through one Spirit unto the Father. Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow-citizens with (or ‘of’) the saints, and of the household of God” (2:18-19)
I remember my father saying to me when I was a young lad about certain persons who lived in the village where I lived. ‘Frank,’ he said, ‘they were not born here, they are foreigners’. They may have been there about forty years, but as far as the local inhabitants were concerned they were foreigners. This is exactly what Paul is presenting. The Gentiles, as far as the Jews were concerned, were outsiders and had no part in the blessings of God, having no right to them, ‘Now,’ says Paul, ‘all that is finished, God is not concerned about a person whether he is a Jew or a Gentile, He is concerned about them accepting Christ, and because of this they have access to His presence in the power of one Spirit. All the distinctions have gone’; and to the Gentiles who were formerly outcasts Paul says ‘You are no more strangers and foreigners but you are citizens with equal rights to the other citizens’. In Medieval times in this country there were cities which very zealously guarded their rights and they would not allow those rights to be infringed upon (it is the same today in many parts of the world). Other persons could not claim these privileges, they could only be claimed by persons belonging to the city. Granting the freedom of the city to a certain person is connected with this right and privilege. Now Paul says ‘Dear brethren, Gentiles, formerly outcasts, all these distinctions have gone and you can now come into the city. You have the freedom of the city, and you can enjoy it with others’. There is fellowship involved with this. They are now “fellow citizens with (or ‘of’) the saints”. Here are the saints viewed together in fellowship with each other, all having equal privileges and rights, enjoyment and blessings. This is a very wonderful thing. A careful study of this epistle will destroy forever in our minds any form of sectarian attitude. If you say, ‘Well, how can we get through all the confusion that exists at the present day?’ That is another problem; but if every believer appropriated the truth as it is presented in the epistle to the Ephesians these abnormalities would disappear because Paul is indicating here that the blessing of the saints is, in the sense of fellowship, equal all around. We all have equal rights, equal privileges and equal blessing, and we ought to enjoy them together. So in this section through Christ “we both, Jew and Gentile, have access by one Spirit unto the Father”. The Jew could not say to the Gentile ‘I am more entitled to come into the Father’s presence than you have’, neither had the Gentile any right to say the same to a Jew, because they both have equal right, both have access to the Father. They are all “built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief corner stone” (v. 20). The saints are not a special company gathered around some particular leader, they are a company that is built upon one foundation, the foundation of the inspired New Testament apostles and prophets, and Jesus Christ Himself is the chief corner stone “in whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord. In whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit”. So as we read these verses together we are left with the impression of a compact building, each component fitting in, an integral part of the building, and no component can be done without, all are necessary, and most importantly, it is centred in Christ. This is for God’s glory, it is holy and pleasurable for Him.
“Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ” (3:8)
Here we find this devoted servant of the Lord taking this very humble place among this remarkable company called the saints. He does not say that he is less in spiritual attainment or devotion or service, he says that, in his estimation, he is less than the least of all the saints. He would take this place willingly, he would take this low place amongst them. I suppose he was thinking in his mind of the time when he was so bitter in his enmity towards the Lord Jesus Christ and towards the saints too. He is spoken of as persecuting the saints and giving his vote against them, and when the martyr Steven was being slain he was standing by consenting (Acts 22:20, 26:10, 1 Cor. 15:9). This would be in the mind of the apostle when he said ‘Just think of it, such a person as I was, and yet I am taken up and given such a remarkable service to accomplish, to preach the unsearchable riches of the Christ! Why was that not given to somebody more devoted than I am, someone who was in the service of the Lord long before I was converted?’ The statement in itself bears striking witness to the humility that marked this devoted man—less than the least of all the saints.
“That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; and to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fullness of God” (3:17-18)
Here is one of the passages which clearly indicates that we require every believer in order to apprehend the greatness of the thoughts of God; we cannot miss any out. We have got to apprehend that all the saints are in the good of the previous verses, “strengthened with might by [the Father’s] Spirit in the inner man; that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love…” (Eph. 3:17) and only then are we able to “comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height” (v. 18). It has been rightly said that now we are approaching infinitude. We have four dimensions here without any measurements, we get some impression of the vastness of the thoughts that God has for His beloved people. As we are strengthened by His Spirit, as Christ is dwelling in our hearts by faith, as we are rooted and grounded in love, we become (can I use the expression?) capable to take in something of the vastness of God’s plans for us, and this again, not involving any select company of believers within the church, but rather, all the saints, that we might be filled with all the fullness of God. Who can explain that, dear brethren? This is what God has in mind, that we might be filled unto all the fullness of God (whatever that expression might mean), in its depth and its greatness. So here we touch something of the infinitude of God’s thoughts for His beloved people. It is difficult to define but we can see that we require the Father’s thoughts in relation to it, we require the Spirit’s power, we require the Lord Jesus Christ Himself because without their help, their guidance and their control we can never possibly arrive at what God has in mind for us, that we might be filled unto all His fullness. What a wonderful thing to be filled with thoughts of His mercy, His grace, His patience, His care and all the riches that He has made available for us, but I cannot explain what it means to be filled unto all His fullness. I believe, in a sense, it is unexplainable. However, there is something very attractive, very great and glorious, that the believers are going to be “filled unto all his fullness”. For this reason Paul says “Now unto him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask of think, according to the power that worketh in us, unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen” (vv. 20-21). We cannot go further than this, dear brethren, we cannot reach any higher. Paul is saying this is a point we can reach in faith at the present moment and this envisages glory to God throughout never-ending ages in the company called the saints, but here given this appellation, the church (or, assembly); the church being composed of every saint secured in Christ Jesus. No wonder that Paul says ‘Let us worship God! Unto Him be glory!’
“But fornication, and all uncleanness, or covetousness, let it not be once named among you, as becometh saints; neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, not jesting, which are not convenient: but rather giving of thanks.” (5:3-4)
This is extremely practical. Paul has considered something of the heights of glory that God has in mind for those who are called saints, that being so, there is a conduct that becomes those who are called to this wonderful place, and all the things that he mentions here are certainly not becoming to those who are called saints, instead they ought to be marked by a gravity and a dignity that is becoming in the sight of God, they ought to be free from sin and wickedness that is a dishonour to Christ and to God, and they ought to be marked by a demeanour that brings glory to God Himself. So, without in any way emphasising any of these features mentioned in these verses we have read, we can see clearly that to be a saint involves the greatest possible glory in the future, and has the greatest possible hope attached to it, but it also brings with it a great responsibility as to our demeanour in this world. I remember hearing an amusing story of a school teacher who asked the children their religious persuasions, to which church did they belong, and they gave varying answers, until at last a little boy was left who went to the meetings of those known as ‘brethren’. Which church did he belong to? ‘Oh’, he said ‘I belong to the saints, miss.’ ‘Ah,’ she said, ‘I know you do not’. So it may have been that in the little lad’s character at school there was something sadly wanting, not befitting the character of a saint, but he was quite right in his reply. However, it would serve to illustrate that there is something expected of us if we use this expression ‘saint’—and we are free to use it. We say such things as, ‘We were with the saints’, and we have used this expression quite correctly, because it is a Scriptural one, that being so, there ought to be a demeanour, a dignity, and a behaviour in life that is in keeping with it.
“Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints” (6:18)
I believe, dear brethren, that here is one area where perhaps it is so easy to fall into, if not a sectarian attitude, then perhaps a selfish or an unthinking attitude. Perhaps we are not conscious of problems that face other believers, and for that reason we cannot pray for them as we ought, but if we do know of areas where prayer is required for other believers that we do not walk with, or do not have fellowship with in a practical sense, it should be a challenge to us. We are to pray for all saints, Paul does not make any difference at all, he says we have got to pray for them all. In his day there was not the confusion that exists today, the abnormalities did not exist. How Paul would have reacted to the abnormalities that exist today is another matter, but what he is laying down is that we ought to pray for each other. I am to show no reserve, no partiality, but to show instead the love and consideration that is required of those who take account of the people of God in their needs in any given circumstance.
Conclusion
I have tried to cover these verses briefly and simply. I am sure much more could be said, but we have said sufficient to indicate that as far as the epistle to the Ephesians is concerned, the appellation ‘saints’ is a very important one and is not given in an indiscriminate manner. It is used by the Spirit of God for a very special reason, the reason being that the epistle is taking account of the saints in relation to the great thoughts that God has in mind for them, and so He uses an appellation that does not admit of any failure, any sense of deterioration. To be a saint is always to be a saint. To be a saint is to blessed in such a way that cannot be altered or be destroyed. It is something that God has done, it is something that we have not arrived at, God has done this for us.
We might mention in passing that in the Authorised Version, we find at the beginning of the epistle to the Romans and also in 1 Corinthians the expression “called to be saints” (1:2). These words as they stand would suggest that we have been called out and then through some process we arrive at the position of being saints, but that is not the case. We understand that a better translation should have the two words ‘to be’ omitted, and it really means ‘persons who are called saints’, that is, they are ‘saints by divine calling’. This completely eliminates the thought of attainment and emphasises what we are through the work of God. May we understand these things better for His name’s sake.
“Where the saints in glory thronging,
Where they feed on life’s blest tree—
There is stilled each earnest longing,
Satisfied our souls shall be.”
“Object of eternal pleasure,
Perfect in Thy work divine!
Lord of glory! without measure
Worship, joy and praise are Thine.”