“I Am a Saint in Christ”
(Eph 1:1-2, Phil 1:19-29)
Some say that you could do all your biblical counselling from Ephesians alone. This is said because Paul, in Ephesians, places so much emphasis on our identity being in Christ alone. As Christians, we live from our identity, not for it. We are defined by who we are in Christ. That’s why Paul begins his letter to the Ephesians this way, he defines himself, and he defines his listeners, both with relation to Jesus.
Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, and Colossians are known as Paul’s prison Epistles and were to the churches established in modern day Turkey and the north Eastern tip of Greece. He was in prison in Rome around 60 AD so these are probably the last letters he wrote to his churches though he did write the Pastoral Epistles to Timothy and Titus after this.
Looking at just these four prison epistles Paul uses the term “saints” in all of them except Galatians. Galatians was a group of churches probably including Lystra, Derbe, and Iconium, and it seems he didn’t use the term saints here because they were not being faithful to the true Gospel and were being led astray. Where he uses the term saints in the other letters he also speaks of their faithfulness, so to get an idea of what he means with these greetings, it’s that he sees saints as Holy, set apart, and faithful people.
The Galatian believers on the other hand are chastised immediately for deserting so quickly him who called them. They were being influenced by those who wanted to distort the gospel. Let me just say that this letter is incredibly relevant to the North American church today where we are under incredible pressure to distort the gospel. In fact the word for church which is ekklesia, literally means called out ones. Anyway, this is likely why he wrote the letter to the Ephesians and the other churches. To warn them of the teaching that was coming their way from the Galatian area. And to remind them who they are in Christ, something the Galatians were forgetting.
Ephesus especially would have been prominent as it was a huge metropolitan centre of about 250,000 people which would be akin to our modern day LA or Chicago. There was a lot of wealth and a lot of pagan worship as the great temple of Artemis was found there. So many people would come from other places to worship this other god there. The churches apparently needed reminding of who they were in order to stay holy and faithful in a place like this, just as we do today in a culture of increasing wealth and non-Christian worship.
So what is a saint, and are we saints according to Paul’s usage of the term?
Let’s first look at Paul’s introduction of himself in the fist verse of Ephesians. He says he is an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God. First, apostle. That word means delegate, representative and messenger of Jesus. And that this is by the will of Jesus. In other words he is very clearly saying that he was chosen or called out to be this apostle of Jesus, and it was not by Paul’s will but by Jesus’ will. That’s important. Do you feel that becoming a Christian was completely your choice, or were you compelled to come to Christ
Now by that term we could say that all faithful Christians are technically apostles of Jesus, but here Paul is distinguishing it from the people in the church by calling them saints not apostles. His use of Apostle indicates his authority along with the original 11 that Jesus chose. But what does unite them is the fact that they are called out by Jesus whether saint or apostle.
Galatians are not called saints, and Ephesians are, and what distinguishes them is what is relevant for us in defining ourselves.
The first thing mentioned is that the Galatians are distorting the gospel, how? The first ten verses in Galatians cover this, and it’s essentially that they are deserting the true authoritative gospel that was brought to them by Paul. And a major component of that is seeking to please man instead of God. Primarily as we see from the rest of the book, by turning to religion of works of the law. In chapter three he says, “Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?”
And listen to this, in case you think he’s saying that works are not important at all, “Does he who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles amoung you do so by works of the law, or by hearing with faith – just as Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness?” Then those who are of faith are blessed along with Abraham.
Now what are the two most famous things Abraham did that were proof of his faith? We see one them in the 11th chapter of the book of Hebrews who some believe may have been written by Paul. What does it mean that Abraham believed God? First we know he uprooted his family and left everything behind to go to a place that God told him to go. Unfortunately God didn’t even tell him where he was going at first, but Abraham immediately packed up and went anyway.
Secondly of course as we read in Hebrews, Abraham offered up his son to be sacrificed because God told him to. He didn’t have to go through with it but he took all the steps to do it until God intervened at the very last second. So the Bible, even Paul, clearly defines faith and belief as action. Basically it says that your faith is credited to you when you do something that shows your faith. Not works of the Law, especially those given by man, but by obedience to God. He says the righteous shall live by faith.
Many times Paul says you are justified by faith in Christ rather than works of the law. So is he talking about a mental thing or a physical thing here? In Galatians 2:16 I want you to listen carefully. “A person is not justified (made right with God) by works of the law, but through faith in Christ.”
Have you ever wondered why he didn’t just say “works” and “faith”? A little later he says “I have been crucified with Christ, it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the son of God.” The life I live in the flesh (does that sound like just mental belief?) I live by faith (I do life by faith). It’s after this he talks about Abraham to confirm what he’s talking about.
The reason Paul always puts faith in Christ alongside works of the law is to show that both faith in Christ and works of the law involve works, but one is done in accordance with a law that cannot save, and the other is done in obedience to Christ our Lord. It’s not just about belief versus works. You could say it’s a difference of where the works come from. An internal faith and trust in Jesus, or an obligated activity of law. It’s a heart thing, more than an action thing. Where do my actions stem from? It’s very similar to why we stay at or near the speed limit and stop at stop signs. Do we do it just because it’s the law, or because it’s the right thing to do and we want to keep ourselves and others safe on the roads?
Even his great saying about being saved in Romans tells us this. “Confess with your mouth that Jesus is what? – Lord. That’s an action. And believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, and you will be saved.” Then a little later he says that faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ. The mental aspect of salvation is believing that Jesus did what he said he did, but if we believe that, the first aspect of saving faith is confessing or agreeing with your mouth that Jesus is your master, your Lord.
Why that’s important is because it’s like a contract. They didn’t have written contracts back then, they had spoken ones with witnesses. Essentially what that means is you are signing a contract publicly that states that Jesus is your master or Lord who purchased you. Now if you confess that with your mouth, but then live as though it’s not true, are you being legitimate, or are you being a hypocrite and breaking the contract you signed with your mouth in front of witnesses? Therefore is that contract binding? Is anyone going to believe that you believe what you say you believe?
You might go to church, read the bible, even tithe, but remember all the Pharisees did those things probably more faithfully than we do, but in some sense those are works of the Law if we don’t obey Jesus and love like Him, and follow all that he has commanded. Notice Jesus never said you must attend church, tithe, or read the Bible. What most Christians do today are not what Jesus has commanded, yes tithing, reading the Bible and going to church are encouraged in the Bible, but we can do those without true faith, and without a firm belief in our heart and desire to have Jesus be Lord of our whole life in every area.
I could go on and on about this using many different texts, but hopefully you get the idea. Faith is counted to us as a saving faith when we act in faith, when we live by faith. So back to Ephesians, Paul says to those saints who are faithful in Christ Jesus. We already discussed the faithful part, now what about the more difficult in Christ part? Paul also says in chapter 3 of Galatians that in Christ Jesus you are all children of God. So clearly we have to be in Christ Jesus, but what does that mean?
The more famous passages from Paul about being in Christ confirm what I have been saying so far. Again Galatians 3 is crucial here as it is written to those who have lost their identity in Christ. It’s a chapter about being justified by faith and not works of the law.
Verse 27 of Galatians 3 says those of you who were baptized in Christ have put on or clothed yourself with Christ. Also in Colossians 3 verse 3 it says “For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God.” 2 Corinthians 5:17 “Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away, the new has come.”
Do you see a theme there? It very clearly states that when we are in Christ, our old self is unrecognizable. When we are in Christ we are unrecognizable as ourselves, and are new creations that look like Christ. Now how is that possible if not through what we do and how we live? Biblically, to be in Christ essentially means that we cannot be seen. It is similar to being in our house. Maybe we can be seen in the window, but essentially if we are in our house someone is going to see our house from the outside and not us. That’s the idea, we are wearing our house as we are to wear Christ. We live in him as we live in our house. The difference is that our house cannot also live in us, but Jesus can through the Spirit.
What is apparent to me is that a lot of folks have at one time or another gone to a church and answered an Altar Call or something similar where they repeated a Sinner's Prayer. After they are declared to be a new Christian upon finishing the prayer, they are typically sent home with a typical five finger illustration as their discipleship instruction. You know, read your Bible every day, pray every day, tell someone about Jesus, go to Church every service and don't forget to give in the offering.
Now don't misunderstand where I’m coming from - these are all good and needful things. The problem is the subliminal message that being a Christian is all about what you do and not about the relationship you just entered into, or the eternal person you became as you were birthed from heaven. They’re sent home knowing their sins are forgiven but not knowing who they are, and are inadvertently told to obey the laws of church.
When we are reborn, we should naturally and greatly desire to do those things as well as everything else Jesus and the word of God tells us to do. Too many Christians are carrying around the dead man of their old nature and wanting to know why their new Man is not Holy and has no power. They might be going to church and possibly even reading their bible, but with no noticeable fruit.
Our doing flows out of our being as I said last week, so it is always more important to concentrate on who the new or old Believer has become, than on what they do. But we should see a difference in what they do, or maybe more accurately, who they are, which of course can only be seen by what we do. As a believer discovers who he is "in Christ" his doing will take care of itself. When new converts figure out they are not the old man just forgiven of past sins, but a new Man completely set free from the old nature, there is a freedom to live for God that one cannot imagine until he or she experiences it.
The fruit of the Spirit, the character of Christ, should flow freely out of us because of the new nature in us. A pear tree does not struggle to produce pears instead of poison berries, it just produces in fruit what is inside of it. A pear tree is in a pear tree not a berry bush, and you can’t get a berry bush to produce pears. Read and meditate on John 14:20 where Jesus says, “In that day, when I go and send the Holy Spirit to you, you will know that I am in the Father and the Father in me, and I in you.” How will we know this, “Whoever keeps my commandments.” And He reinforces this three times in John 14.
The Bible says a person is known by their fruit not by what they say, you can’t know their insides, we can all put on a good front for a while. We can’t see people’s fruit if it never leaves their mind. And I cannot neglect to mention what Jesus himself says about us branches that are supposed to be in Him the vine, from John 15. “Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and even the ones who bear fruit he will prune. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in me, neither can you… apart from me you can do nothing. And anyone who does not abide in me withers up and is thrown into the fire.”
See here how he equated abiding in Him or living in Him with bearing fruit. If you say you abide in Him and do not bear fruit, you are probably lying maybe inadvertently. John in his first letter says whoever keeps his commandments abides in God. He then equates that with love, and says if you say you love God and hate your brother you are a liar.
John continues in his first letter, that everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ (Messiah) has been born of God. This is the love of God, that we keep his commandments, for everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world (meaning no longer lives for the world but for Christ). And this is the victory that has overcome the world – our faith. That relates to the earlier part of this message, that faith is action, because you cannot overcome the world if you don’t do anything different from it. And who is it that overcomes the world except the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God. It is by that belief that we have the power to overcome.
I won’t give you all the references about “in Christ” in the New Testament, but there are at least 40. I’ll quickly run through just some of the things I found that we are in Christ: faithful, redeemed, alive to God, eternal, free, united, a body, approved by God, sanctified, grace filled, chosen, resurrected from the dead, triumphant, a new creation, reconciled to God, children of God, blessed with every spiritual blessing, raised to heavenly places, created for good works, near to God, forgiven by God, righteous, guarded, needless, complete, stable, thankful, persecuted, strengthened, and established. Are you in Christ, do you experience those things regularly? Do you want to be in Christ?
All this we can get from one sentence in verse 1 of Ephesians. So what is a faithful saint in Christ? In a nutshell it is someone who believes that Jesus is Lord and the son of God, who strives with all their might to obey everything he commands, and bears fruit through their lives, primarily the fruit of love. That is what the Bible says Christians are, that is who we should be, are we? And I think we can clearly conclude then that if we are that, we are in Christ, if we are not that or at least obviously heading in that direction, we are probably not in Christ, and that’s an emergency. So we need to work on being in Him, which we have discovered today involves dying to self and living for Him. In order to do that we need to know Him better, and be willing to surrender our lives to Him because we trust Him so much, from really knowing Him.
Then Paul says in verse 2, and I’ll close with this, “to you saints, grace and peace to you”. And next time we will see that there are many other incredible blessings in Christ for his saints.
