“How to Become a Super Saint”
October 7, 2007
If I were to ask you if you were a saint, most of you would probably say no. The reason is because the popular definition of that word is someone who is perfect or almost perfect. We think of saints in the catholic sense of someone like “Saint John” or “Saint Christopher” or “Saint Paul”. A saint is someone, we think, who is mature and godly and always does the right thing. But that isn’t the biblical definition. The biblical definition of a saint, according to the “Interpreters Dictionary of the bible” is someone one who “is set apart for God’s purpose”. The IDB also says, “Christians are saints by virtue of being in Christ Jesus.” In other words, if you are a Christian you can also be called a saint. Saints aren’t perfect – they are just saved. Saints aren’t absolutely correct – they are just absolutely Christians. Consequently, saints need to grow and learn and become better saints. You are a saint, but you aren’t perfect – yet. You are a saint – but you aren’t mature yet. You are a saint – but you still need to grow.
I think it was Burger King who had the slogan out recently that said, “Super Size me!” And if you get the ‘super size’ all the time – it WILL super size you! I don’t think that’s a good choice when it comes to eating. But I DO think it is a good prayer when it comes to our spirituality. We need to pray “Super Size” me, Lord!” Jesus said we need to “hunger and thirst for righteousness.” Paul said,
“Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me.” (Philippians 3:12)
Paul presses on toward perfection. And we need to strive toward Christlikeness, too. We need to pray “Super size me, Lord.” Is that the prayer of your heart? Do you desire to grow? Do you desire to become better? Do you desire to be more mature? It won’t happen until you desire it. It doesn’t happen accidentally or as a natural result of becoming a saint. We have a fallen earthly nature we have warring against our spirit – so we have to make a willful choice to grow. We need to desire it – and then do something about it. We have to seek spiritual growth on purpose.
There are three stages of spiritual growth I want to talk about this morning. The first stage is salvation. That’s the part where we become Christians. That’s the stage we are saved from our sins. Salvation begins when we realize that Christ is inviting us to join His team. Salvation begins when we recognize that we are sinners and not saints – and that God wants us to come into His family. Jesus said,
“Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in…” Revelation 3:20
"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light." Matthew 11:28-30
Jesus is always out there inviting, asking us to come to Him. Salvation begins when we realize it. We hear His voice. The salvation process continues when we respond to the message.
“Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God” John 1:12
"Very truly I tell you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be judged but has crossed over from death to life.” John 5:24
Do you see? We have to not only “hear” God’s voice – we need to respond. Paul tells the early Roman Church how to be saved. He says,
“If you declare with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved.” Romans 10:9-10
So the way to salvation is 1. Hear Jesus’ voice calling us. 2. Respond to the call. 3. Confess or profess to the world that you are a Christian.
There is no such thing as a silent witness. If you are ashamed to let people know you are a Christian – Jesus is ashamed of you. (Mark 8:38) I don’t think we have to be pushy about it – but we need to share the fact of our belief in Christ. One of the things I do to help you in your walk, is after every service, I give people a chance to respond to the Gospel message. I think it’s important to raise your hand when we pray the ‘Sinners Prayer’ or whatever prayer we pray at the end of the service – but that is not enough. We need to boldly share our faith at home, and where we work, and in our neighborhood. We need to believe in our heart – but we also need to profess with our mouth.
One way we do that is through baptism. Baptism is a public profession of our faith. Every Christian needs to be baptized as a sign of his faith. But more than that – witness of our faith needs to be shared every opportunity we get.
In becoming a “Super Saint” you need to continue on in your quest for spiritual growth. After becoming a saint, you will find God is asking you to stop sinning. God does not want us to rebel against Him any longer. So we ask forgiveness of our sins – and God wipes the slate clean. We are forgiven every time we confess our sin. HE is faithful. HE is just. He will forgive us. (1 John 1:9) But as we walk with the Lord, we find our flesh fails us. Even with the best intentions – we fall. Before we know it – that swear word pops out of our mouth or we’re back at that porn site or we bought another bottle or we’re sharing juicy gossip or we –--- YOU fill in the blank. Our spiritual walk is one of falling and forgiveness. We are up and down- up and then down – then up – then down. Like Paul we say, “O what a wretched man (or woman) I am! Who can save me from this body of death!” (Romans 7: 24) The problem is that, although the sins are forgiven, we need to do something about the sin nature. We need to do something about the ‘cause’ of the sin. We need ‘sanctification’. We need to purify our hearts.
2. After Salvation – the need is Sanctification. We need to believe that there is deliverance from that death cycle Paul talked about. Jesus provided the power for our purity as well as providing for our salvation. Salvation is excellent – but we need more to be a super saint. We need heart cleansing. We don’t have to live in that failure cycle of sinning. How do we break the cycle? 1. Realize our need. 2. Desire deliverance. 3. Believe the power is available to you. 4. Ask for the power of the Holy Spirit. 5. Receive Him into your life.
I need to explain something to you. The Holy Spirit only comes to a surrendered heart. The Scripture says,
“We are witnesses of these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him." Acts 5:32
Are you willing to be totally obedient to the Lord? Are you willing to do anything He asks of you? Are you willing to go anywhere He asks you to go? Are you willing to become anything He asks you to become? Most Christians aren’t. That’s why so many are up and down. They are “sinning Christians”. God only allows the very immature to do that. He WILL bring you to a place of decision. You will have to surrender fully to His Lordship – or backslide into the way that leads to death. Why not surrender to Him as soon as you can. It will save you so much pain and difficulty. Pray for purity. Pray for cleansing. Pray for the infilling of the Holy Spirit in your life. Pray to be totally obedient. It is only after you receive the power of the Holy Spirit in your life that you can become the effective and productive Christian God wants you to be.
And God wants you to be effective and productive (2 Peter 1:8). After Salvation and Sanctification comes 3) Service. As I have researched the Scriptures over in my mind – I can’t think of a single instance where God saved someone or sanctified them and then stopped there. The closest I can come is the thief on the cross. He accepted Jesus as his Savior and then that day He was with Him in Paradise. But that thief’s single choice continues to work and be productive -even today. All the disciples were saved, then sanctified, and then went into service in the Kingdom in some way. That’s true of Paul, Peter, John, and all their converts that I can find. The lesson is that we are saved and purified to serve in the Kingdom.
We used to say that some people got saved and sanctified and then petrified. They didn’t do a thing for the Lord. They went to church and did a few religious things – and learned to speak Christianese – but didn’t find any ministry to get involved in. I believe that the Bible teaches that EVERY Christian is a minister. Like the song says, that we like to sing, “The Devil is a Rustler” – “You’re workin’ for the devil or you’re workin’ for the Lord!” I think one of the greatest hindrances to the Kingdom and the cause of Christ are Christians who talk the talk but don’t walk the walk. Paul, in writing to the young preacher, Titus, said of a people,
“They claim to know God, but by their actions they deny him. They are detestable, disobedient and unfit for doing anything good.” Titus 1:16
Don’t wait until you are perfect or reach a certain level of maturity before you find a ministry. Find one now. You have gifts and talents God has given you to use to build His Church in some way. Find out what they are and get involved.
I made the outline this morning of Salvation, Sanctification, and then Service. But it may not be that way. It may be Salvation, Service – then Sanctification. It might even be Service, Salvation and Sanctification, for some people. I’m not going to quibble about the order of the process. That’s up to God and each individual. But I do know that you and I and every saint – needs those three things to be a “super saint”. Would you pray, this week, that God would ‘Super Size’ you? Would you seek to grow in faith and in your ministry this week?
Dear Jesus,
Thank you for loving me so much that you gave your life for me. Thank you for dying for my sins. Forgive me of all my sin. I give my life; my will; my all to you right now. Purify my heart. Give me the grace to be obedient in every area of my life. Use me to accomplish you will on earth. Help me to find my area of ministry. Help me to be effective and productive in it. Thank you for the joy of serving you.
