“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

Paul not only knew how precious he was to God, he understood what He wanted him to do with his life and knew that he could find strength in Jesus Christ to become all that he was called to be in Him.  And just as he was called to carry out a godly work in the name of Jesus Christ, those who were members of the church at Corinth were called to do something too. That is, they were called to be saints.

But weren’t they sanctified in Jesus Christ? Wasn’t that good enough? Why the need for anything else?

Well, here’s where it gets interesting. The word for sanctified is, hagiazo; it essentially denotes the idea of being separated from that which is common, but the word for saint is, hagios, and it essentially refers to purity and moral perfection. So what Paul appears to be saying then, is that even though they were sanctified in Jesus Christ, there was still work left for God to do within their hearts.

“For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people” – Hebrews 8:10 KJV

Now, I want to draw your attention to something that you might not be aware of. 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 for us to know this? It is important for two reasons:

1. It is likely that Paul worded it this way to make the point that those who have given their lives to Jesus Christ are acknowledged as saints simply because they have become sons and daughters of God by grace through faith in Jesus Christ. In other words, it could be that Paul was trying to emphasize the point that Christ is the one who makes sainthood possible, not our works, nor our ability to accomplish moral perfection, and not even intellectual development for that matter.
2. It is likely that he put it this way because he wanted to remind the Corinthians that they were called to live a certain way in Jesus Christ. For they weren’t just separated from that which was common in terms of what they believed in, they were expected to demonstrate their faith by living righteously before God.

“He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked.” – 1 John 2:6 KJV

And so it is the same with us; even though we are sanctified in Jesus Christ, we haven’t arrived yet, which means our hearts need more refining. But please keep something in mind here: just because our hearts are in need of refining that doesn’t mean we are any less a part of Jesus Christ or that He loves us any less.

“For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.” – Ephesians 2:8-9 KJV

Of course, there is something else to keep in mind here too, and that is this: if we expect God to save us from our sins, then we need to be honest with ourselves about our sins, and more importantly, we need to be honest with God about the reality of our condition.

I would dare say that we’re all carrying baggage around with us that we should have left at the cross.  In other words, there are things that we’re still holding on to that are hindering our growth in Jesus Christ, and we need to let them go by casting our cares on Him, believing that He cares enough about us to put them where they ought to be; that is, out of our lives for good.

How much faith do you really have in God? Do you believe that He can save you from your sins? How big is God to you?

Dear Reader, whatever it is that you might be holding onto that is hindering your growth in Christ, I encourage you to give it to God. By doing this you will not only awaken to a more profound understand of His love, you will also experience peace which surpasses all understanding as you continue to grow in His grace more and more by surrendering everything that you have to Him.