Sainthood

It hit us at Starbucks; not an aroma, any sentiment from a particular piece of interior design in the shop or image struck into our minds by a melody being played out over the speakers. It had nothing to do with our temporary location or present condition of our emotions, but the very fact of our identity and what it granted us;

Sainthood.

Skimming over the first two chapters in Ephesians, a very dear sister in Christ sat before me asking why we so rarely remember that each of us in Christ are saints. I wondered in response why this very fact didn’t appear to be enough to free so many Christians from living in bondage to sin when they are indeed free (John 8:36). Why aren’t we focused on our infallible identity that is literally placed in Christ so that it might cause us to live and act according to our true position rather than our temporary circumstances?

Or is it that this life is just too much, and the Christian life is too difficult? The thought of the “narrow road” becomes a crippling fear rather than a straight sprint for the freedom Christ gives.

Remember that I said our identity in Christ is infallible? Yet for so many the gift of grace is “not enough” to move us out of our comfort zone or to lift our burdens because this life is just too heavy. Didn’t Jesus promise us that his burden is light? (Matthew 11:30)

Think on this quote from the introduction to Bill Gillham’s book, Lifetime Guarentee; “The Christian life is not difficult to live. It's impossible to live…God never intended for you to live it… Jesus Christ is the only one who has ever successfully lived the Christian life, and His plan is to live it through you.”
How’s that for an “Aha” moment!

With caffeine and divine inspiration running through our veins, we turned back to our passage in Ephesians; I couldn’t help but to notice that the phrase in Christ occurs ten times in the first thirteen verses of Ephesians 1, along with in Him, through Jesus Christ, through His blood, alive with Christ, through the cross, and through faith in Him reoccurring through the first four chapters of Paul’s letter to the church in Ephesus. Clearly he wanted us to understand something very crucial to our Christian walk and our very motive for living.

And then that word again, the saints. Who are the saints? See if you can figure it out;

“I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may be called to know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints and his incomparably great power for us who believe.” –Ephesians 1:18 & 19

If you have been saved by grace through faith in Christ, sainthood is for you. It’s what he has to offer you, and it is of nothing of your own doing, but it is the gift of God (Ephesians 2:8).

I wish more dear brothers and sisters understood this in order that they may more efficiently and freely live the life Christ has offered them and walk that narrow road in full confidence of their identity, in Christ. After all, you can’t live to the fullest, and in the abundance that is stored for each of us, until you know who you are; a topic I hope and look forward to writing on more fully in coming essays.