“Paul, called to be an apostle of Jesus Christ through the will of God, and Sosthenes our brother, Unto the church of God which is at Corinth, to them that are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, with all that in every place call upon the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both theirs and ours: Grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ.” – 1 Corinthians 1:1-3 KJV
Indeed, Paul understood what his purpose was and found strength in Jesus Christ to carry it out; but he wasn’t the only one who was called to perform godly work: the members of the church at Corinth were also called to do something. That is, they were called to be saints. But didn’t Paul say that these were sanctified in Christ? Wasn’t that good enough? Why the need for anything else? Taking a closer look at the words sanctified and saints will help to provide us with an answer to these questions.
The word for sanctified is hagiazo; it essentially denotes the idea of being separated from that which is common. And the word for saint is hagios; it essentially refers to purity and moral perfection. So what Paul appears to be saying then is that even though the members of the church at Corinth were sanctified in Jesus Christ there was still work left for God to do within their hearts (Hebrews 8:10).
It is important to note that whenever words in the Bible appear in italics that means they are not written in the original text as such, but were added by the translators to help the reader to make better sense of what was written. Therefore the words ‘to be’, as put in 1Cor. 1:2, aren’t in the original. To the contrary, it should look like this: “sanctified in Christ Jesus, called saints…” Why is it important to make a note of this? It is important for two reasons:
- It’s likely that Paul wanted to make the point that those who have given their lives to Jesus Christ are acknowledged as saints simply by grace through faith in Him, not by works (Ephesians 2:8-9).
- It’s likely that he wanted to remind the Corinthians that they weren’t just separated from that which was common in terms of what they believed in, but were also expected to demonstrate their faith by living righteously before God (1 John 2:6).
Of course, the same goes for us; that is, even though we are sanctified in Jesus Christ our hearts are still in need of refining. But if we are to live up to the reputation of a saint we need to be honest with ourselves about our sinfulness and allow God to change our hearts. For to be a saint is to love God, and to love God is to keep His commandments (Revelation 14:12). What we choose to do with our lives will be reflective of how much of our hearts we have entrusted to Jesus Christ. Will we live like saints or will we choose to be something other than what God wants us to be?
May God mold and fashion each one of our hearts into something remarkable, that we may truly live up to the high calling of being saints in Jesus Christ.