Book 4 of Musings A Saint

The Apostle Paul does not refer to believers as Christians but as saints.

While "Christians" is a Bible expression, it is apt to apply to members of a religion and not necessarily to cross-carrying disciples. The term "saint" means "holy one" and better describes a member of God's elect.

To be a saint is the highest calling possible for a human being. It means God has chosen the person from the beginning of the world to be specially close to Him.

We can think of degrees of holiness as concentric circles radiating out from God's Person. The smaller the circle the more holy the person is. For example: Aaron and his descendants were more holy than the Levites; the Levites were more holy than the rest of the Israelites; all of the Israelites were more holy than the remainder of mankind.

Holiness, therefore, speaks of closeness to God.

Righteousness, on the other hand, has to do with our relationships with people.

All people are commanded to be righteous or they will not be accepted by the Lord.

Holiness, however, is by Divine calling. Some people are more holy than others because God has chosen to draw them to Himself.

We have to be called to be a saint, a holy one. If we are called, we will come to Jesus. All whom the Father has given to Jesus will come to Him.

The Church is made up of saints. They compose a Kingdom, a royal priesthood. They eventually will be expressed in the form of the new Jerusalem. They will be surrounded by a massive wall because they are separate from the remainder of mankind.

The Church, the called-out ones, began when Abraham was called out of Ur.

The Lord Jesus told us pointedly that He shall give eternal life to those whom the Father has given Him. They are not of the world just as He is not of the world. Therefore the world hates them, just as Joseph's brothers hated him because of the call of God on his life.

We Americans live in a democratic society. The concept is that all people should have equal opportunity to become whatever they wish to become.

The Kingdom of God is not like this. The Kingdom of God consists, as I said, of concentric circles radiating out from God's Person.

We see this concept of ranks in the Kingdom in the arrangement of David's warriors. There were the three; then the thirty; then the remainder of the soldiers in the army.

We see the three whom the Lord brought with Him to the Mount of Transfiguration; the remainder of the Twelve; the seventy; and then the rest of the disciples.

The fact that God would call some people to be closer to Himself than others may be distasteful to us Americans. But this is the way the Kingdom of God is.

Actually, no individual can be content until he has found himself in the role and rank appointed to him. We might desire to be higher or lower in rank, given more or less responsibility; required to live a stricter or less strict life. It doesn't matter what we desire. What matters is God's will. If we will consent to abide in God's will we shall be content. If we strive to be greater or lesser, we will be regarded as ambitious or lazy.

How wonderful to be in untroubled rest in God's will, being neither ambitious nor lazy!

Yet, it is true that each one of us ought to be pressing forward with all his might that he might attain to that for which he has been called. It may be that God has a higher place for him than he had anticipated.

If God calls us to be a saint, then that is our calling in life. We may work as a salesman, an electrician, a clerk, or an architect. But our calling is that of saint, that of a holy one of God. Because of the importance of being called as a saint, we must give first place to this calling, making certain what we do to make a living does not interfere with our calling.

We may we at work, at play, at home resting. But we have been chosen by the Lord to offer sacrifices of praise to God at all times. We must never let other responsibilities or ambitions interfere with our primary calling.

To all in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints: Grace and peace to you from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ. (Romans 1:7)