Lutheran Church Missouri Synod

Part II: Identity of the Saints

By Dr. Richard P. Bucher

Who are the saints, exactly? At least since the 16th Century Reformation, this question has been hotly debated. To this very day there is no consensus in Christendom. Roman Catholics, for example, restrict the definition of saints to only a select few who after their death have been canonized by the Pope. According to this definition, the saints are only these few who now are with Christ in heaven. Lutherans and other Reformation church bodies define saints as all believers in Jesus Christ, whether on earth or in heaven. In this section, I will strive to answer the question, "Who are the Saints," according to

(1) the New Testament

(2) the Roman Catholic Church

(3) the Lutheran Confessions and Luther.

The New Testament Evidence

In our attempt to identify the saints, nothing has greater weight than the testimony of the holy Scriptures, especially the New Testament. For it is the Word of God, the teaching of Christ, and therefore the source and final authority of all Christian teaching.

Having said, this, however, still leaves a further question yet unanswered. How do we determine what the New Testament says about the identity of the saints? Do we simply take a concordance our favorite English translation and look up all occurrences of the word "saints"? This is one approach, but not a thorough one. For the word "saints" itself is a translation of a Greek word ( a[gioi - hagioi) which means "holy ones." Therefore, to accurately determine what the New Testament teaches about these "holy ones," we must examine what it says about holy persons and things.

This is the approach I have taken in this study. I have examined the several word families in the Greek New Testament that indicate holiness.1 I investigated (1) the hagios group2, the hieros group3, and the hosios group4. The hagios group is by far the most important since its words occur most frequently. In fact, though I have ignored all references to the "Holy Spirit" in this study, there were still 220 occurrences of this word group in the New Testament.

The two main question I was asking as I examined these words and their contexts was,

(1) Do the New Testament authors identify saints as all Christians or only some Christians? Or put another way, are the saints Christians in heaven only or Christians on earth and heaven?
 

(2) How did those who are called saints become saints?

(1) Who are the Saints?

One way to get at this question is to investigate which people the New Testament authors address as saints. When we do this, we discover that, overwhelmingly, living Christians on earth are called saints in the New Testament.

• An extremely valuable verse in this regard is 1 Corinthians 1:2. Here Paul calls his readers "the church of God which is at Corinth, to those who have been sanctified in Christ Jesus, saints by calling, with all who in every place call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, their Lord and ours." What makes this passage valuable is that Paul defines the church of God at Corinth (the Christians at Corinth, his readers) as "those who have been sanctified (Greek - hagiazo) in Jesus Christ, saints (Greek - hagioi) by calling." There are not two groups here that he writes the letter to, the church and the saints, but one group, the church of God in Corinth, who are saints!

This passage sets the tone for the New Testament, especially Paul's letters. Living Christians at various churches or locations are called "saints":

• Ananias tells Jesus, "I have heard from many about this man [Saul of Tarsus], how much harm he did to Thy saints at Jerusalem (Acts 9:13);
   
• Peter, "came down also to the saints who lived at Lydda" (Acts 9:32);
   
• Paul tells King Agrippa that in while in Jerusalem, he locked up "many of the saints in prisons" (Acts 26:10);
   
• Paul writes to the Christians at Rome, "to all who are beloved of God in Rome, called as saints" (Rom. 1:7);
   
• He addresses his second letter to the Corinthians, "to the church of God which is at Corinth with all the saints who are throughout Achaia" (2 Cor. 1:1);
   
• He addresses several other letters, "to the saints who are at Ephesus, and who are faithful in Christ Jesus" (Eph. 1:1), "to all the saints in Christ Jesus who are in Philippi" (Phil. 1:1), "to the saints and faithful brethren in Christ who are at Colossae" (Col. 1:2);
   
• He tells the Corinthians, "All the saints greet you" (2 Co. 13:13) and the Philippians, "Greet every saint in Christ Jesus" and "All the saints greet you, especially those of Caesar's household" (Phil. 4:21-22);
   
• · He asks the Roman Christians to "Greet Philologus and Julia, Nereus and his sister, and Olympas, and all the saints who are with them" (Rom. 16:15);
   
• He tells the Romans that Christians should be "contributing to the needs of the saints" (Rom. 12:13);
   
• He himself is busy readying a gift to bring to the poor Christians in Jerusalem: "I am going to Jerusalem serving the saints. For Macedonia and Achaia have been pleased to make a contribution for the poor among the saints in Jerusalem" (Rom. 15:25-26; see also Rom. 15:31; 1 Cor. 16:1-6; 2 Cor. 8:4, 9:1, 9:12);
   
• He takes the Corinthians to task for taking one another before secular courts, "Does any one of you, when he has a case against his neighbor, dare to go to law before the unrighteous, and not before the saints" (1 Cor. 6:1)?
   
• He gives instruction to Timothy that a true widow is one who "has washed the saints' feet" (1 Tim. 6:10);
   
• the author of the letter to the Hebrews tells his readers to "Greet all of your leaders and all the saints" (Heb. 13:24).
   

In other passages, Christians communities are referred to as a holy "temple," "building," or "house"; or they are called "priests" or a "priesthood," which surely refers to their holy status before God.

• Paul tells the Corinthians, "Do you not know that you are a temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? If any man destroys the temple of God, God will destroy him, for the temple of God is holy, and that is what you are" (1 Cor. 3:16-17);
   
• He tells the Christians in Ephesus, "So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints, and are of God's household, having been built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the corner stone, in whom the whole building, being fitted together is growing into a holy temple in the Lord; in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling of God in the Spirit" (Eph. 2:19-22);
   
• Peter tells the readers of his first letter that they "you also, as living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ" and "you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation" (1 Pet. 2:5,9);
   
• John begins his Apocalypse by extolling Jesus Christ as the One who "has made us to be a kingdom, priests to His God and Father" (Rev. 1:6);
   
• The heavenly creatures praise Jesus because of what He has done for Christians: "Thou hast made them to be a kingdom and priests to our God; and they will reign upon the earth" (Rev. 5:10).
   

There are other passages which speak of saints or holiness where it is not clear whether saints on earth or saints in heaven are meant. Some of these passages contain the phrase "all the saints," which seems to point to the reality that was later captured by the phrase in the Apostles' Creed, "communion of saints," that is, Christians both on earth and in heaven.

• Paul reminds the Corinthians, "Or do you not know that the saints will judge the world" (1 Cor. 6:2)?
   
• Paul prays that the Ephesians "may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints" (Eph. 1:18);
   
• He later prays that the Ephesians "may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth" (Eph. 3:18);
   
• Paul commends the Colossians because of "the love which you have for all the saints" (Col. 1:4); he does the same to Philemon: "I hear of your love . . . toward all the saints;"5
   
• Paul speaks of Christ's second coming as a time "when He comes to be glorified in His saints on that day" (2 Th. 1:10);
   
• John sees the heavenly creatures, each one holding a bowl of incense, which he tells his readers are "the prayers of the saints" (Rev. 5:8; see also Rev. 8:3-4).
   

There are many more passages which describe Christians living on earth as saints or use holiness language to describe them. The reader is encouraged to read them all (e.g., Matt. 27:50; Acts 9:41; Rom. 16:2; 1 Cor. 14:33; Eph. 5:3, 6:18; Col. 3:12; Phm. 1:7; Heb. 3:1, 6:10, Jude 1:3).

What is surprising is how few passages there are which indisputably speak of the saints in heaven only. The only "saints" verse that I could locate that undeniably refers to saints in heaven is 1 Thessalonians 3:13:

• and may the Lord cause you to increase and abound in love for one another, and for all men, just as we also do for you; so that He may establish your hearts unblamable in holiness before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all His saints (1 Th. 3:12-13).

The following passages seem to refer to heavenly saints, but even these are not certain.

• God the Father has qualified the Colossians, "to share in the inheritance of the saints in light" (Col. 1:12);

Several passages in Revelation speak of the "blood of the saints": "for they poured out the blood of saints and prophets" (Rev. 16:6); "And I saw the woman drunk with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the witnesses of Jesus" (Rev. 17:6); "And in her was found the blood of prophets and of saints and of all who have been slain on the earth" (Rev. 18:21).

When the people of God are pictured in heaven (e.g., Rev. 7:9-17), the holiness/saint language is not used. This does not mean that those in heaven are not saints, far from it. It is just very interesting that those in heaven are so seldom described as "saints."

Conclusion

So who are the saints, according to the New Testament? The preceding passages amply demonstrate that the New Testament consistently considered living Christians on earth to be saints, holy ones, holy priests before God. Furthermore, there is no evidence of a distinction being made between "ordinary" Christians on the one hand, and saints on the other. Christians are saints and saints are Christians. Finally, though living Christians on earth are most often referred to as saints or holy, there are many passages which seem to point to all believers on earth and in heaven together, a reality later described as "the communion of saints."

(2) How did those who are called saints become so?

Our work is not complete once we have identified the identity of the saints. We also need to know how they became saints. Fortunately, the New Testament is not silent on this point. It has much to say.

According to the New Testament, the holiness that a saint possesses, that makes him a holy one, is not his own holiness, but the holiness of Jesus Christ that has been imputed to him through baptism and faith. Put more simply, a saint has become holy by receiving the holiness of Jesus Christ by baptism through faith. It is a holiness received not a holiness achieved.

• Paul tells the Corinthians that Jesus, by His life and death became "sanctification/holiness" for us: "He is the source of your life in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification and redemption (NRS - 1 Cor. 1:30);
   
• Paul tells the Colossians that the result of Christ's death on the cross for them was reconciliation with God and holiness: "yet He has now reconciled you in His fleshly body through death, in order to present you before Him holy and blameless and beyond reproach" and that the only way to remain holy in God's sight is to continue to believe the Gospel, "if indeed you continue in the faith firmly established and steadfast, and not moved away from the hope of the gospel that you have heard" (Col. 1:22-23);

The author of the epistle to the Hebrews waxes eloquent on this theme, that Christians have been sanctified (hagiazo - made holy) through the atoning death of Jesus Christ.

• He writes, "Therefore Jesus also, that He might sanctify the people through His own blood, suffered outside the gate" (Heb. 13:12);
   
• The same author writes, "For if the blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkling those who have been defiled, sanctify for the cleansing of the flesh, how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without blemish to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God" (Heb. 9:13-14);
   
• And again, "For both He who sanctifies and those who are sanctified are all from one Father; for which reason He is not ashamed to call them brethren . . . Therefore, He had to be made like His brethren in all things, that He might become a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people" (Heb. 2:11,17);
   
• Finally, "And every priest stands daily ministering and offering time after time the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins; but He, having offered one sacrifice for sins for all time, sat down at the right hand of God, waiting from that time onward until His enemies be made a footstool for His feet. For by one offering He has perfected for all time those who are sanctified" (Heb. 10:11-14);

So Christ's atoning sacrifice on the cross is the source of our holiness. For there our sins were forgiven. But how is His holiness communicated to us and how do we receive it. The answer is, through holy Baptism and faith.

• Paul writes to the Ephesians that "Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her; that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, that He might present to Himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she should be holy and blameless" (Eph. 5:25-27); notice that the Church (all Christians) were made holy by the "washing of the water with the word," a clear reference to Baptism!
   
• The Apostle reminds the Corinthians, "And such were some of you; but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, and in the Spirit of our God" (1 Cor. 6:11); Please be aware that the Greek verbs that are translated "but you were washed" (apolousasthe) and "but you were sanctified" (hagiasthete) are aorist passives. This means that the washing (Baptism) and the sanctifying already happened in the past AND that these actions were performed by someone else. The Corinthians did not wash or sanctify themselves by their efforts. Rather it was completely done by Someone Else, namely, God!
   
• The Holy Spirit's role in all this, is, of course, crucial! "For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free, and we were all made to drink of one Spirit" (1 Cor. 12:13).

By the power of the Holy Spirit, those who are Baptized are given the holiness that Christ won for them on the cross. But this holiness must be received by faith in Jesus.

• When Christ appeared to Paul, He explained Paul's mission in these words, "I am sending you, to open their eyes so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the dominion of Satan to God, in order that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who have been sanctified by faith in Me" (Acts 26:18);
   
• Notice the prominence of faith the words of Peter, spoken at the first ecumenical Council in Jerusalem: "Brethren, you know that in the early days God made a choice among you, that by my mouth the Gentiles should hear the word of the gospel and believe. And God, who knows the heart, bore witness to them, giving them the Holy Spirit, just as He also did to us; and He made no distinction between us and them, cleansing their hearts by faith" (Acts 15:7-9).

Conclusion

In this second section I cited various Scripture passages which answer the question, "How did those who are called saints become saints?" After surveying the Biblical literature, some observations are needed.

(1) According to the passages cited, the goal of Christ's atoning death on the cross was to sanctify and make holy. This goal was fully accomplished. Because of the death of Jesus Christ, those who have been baptized and who believe the Gospel, are now considered by God to be holy, to be sanctified, to be blameless. This is true of the entire Church, of all believers.

(2) What confuses some is that Scripture in some places speaks of our holiness as completed in the past (e.g., 1 Cor. 6:11; Acts 26:18; Col. 1:22ff.) and in other places as ongoing (e.g., 1 Th. 4:3; 2 Cor. 7:1; Heb. 10:14). This has long been noted and should not cause any difficulty.

Through faith in Christ, God declares the Christian to be completely holy and blameless. As a new creation of God (2 Cor. 5:17) and according to the new man (Eph. 4:24) the Christian IS holy in God's sight because the holiness of Christ is credited to His account. This holiness (like our salvation) is a gift that is received through faith and not achieved by our works. But according to the "old man," the sinful "flesh" that wars against the new man, the sinful nature we still have, our sanctification is not complete. Therefore the Christian must ever strive to be holy, to love and do good works, so that the old man not gain the upper hand. Sanctification in this sense is often called "inner renewal," the progressive growth in faith that follows justification.

So both truths are true, according to Scripture. Through Baptism and faith in Jesus Christ, according to the new man, we are saints/holy ones in God's sight, for God no longer counts our sin against us for Christ's sake (2 Cor. 5:19). But according to the old man, there is much sin and unholiness in us. In this sense the Christian continues to grow in sanctification by the Holy Spirit working through the Gospel.6
 

An Introduction
Part I: The Meaning and Origin of the Feast of All Saints
Part II: The Identity of the Saints - Who are They and How Did They Become Saints

according to

the New Testament
the Roman Catholic Church
the Lutheran Confessions

Part III: The Function of the Saints in Heaven - What They Do

according to

the New Testament
the Roman Catholic Church
the Lutheran Confessions

1. For a good summary of holiness words in the New Testament, the reader is directed to The New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology, Vol. 2. Ed. Colin Brown (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1976), 223-238.
 

2. the hagios family includes:

a. the adjective hagios, holy, sacred, set apart;
b. the verb hagiazo, to make holy, to sanctify, to consecrate, set apart;
c. the noun hagiasmos, sanctification, holiness, process of making holy;
d. the noun hagiotes, holiness;
e. the noun hagiosune, holiness.
 

3. the hieros family, including

a. the adjective hieros, holy;
b. the noun hierateuma, priesthood;
c. the noun hierosune, priesthood;
d. the noun hiereus, priest;
e. the verb hierateuo, to perform priestly service;
f. the noun hierateia, priestly service.

This group contains 41 occurrences.
 

4. the hosios family includes:

a. the adjective hosios, holy, devout, pious;
b. the noun hosiotes, holiness, devoutness, piety. This words in this group occur 11 times.
 

5. Though it is highly likely that passages such as these are referring to saints on earth rather than those in heaven, I include them here to be fair and because the context doesn't make it explicitly clear.
 

6. Theologians often refer to sanctification in the "wide" sense and sanctification in the "narrow" sense. The wide sense refers to ALL that the Holy Spirit does for us, which would include the fact that we are saints already through Christ. The narrow sense would refer to the Christian growth that follows conversion. Normally, theologians use the word "sanctification" to refer to the inner renewal and transformation that follows conversion and justification. In this sense they distinguish between justification and sanctification. Justification takes place outside of man and is God's forensic declaration that he is righteous by faith. Sanctification (in the narrow sense) takes place inside of man, in which God helps the Christian to increasingly overcome the sinful nature. For a good discussion of this, see Francis Pieper, Christian Dogmatics, Vol. III (St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1953), 3-37.