Search
We have seen that in the New Testament the believers in Christ are designated disciples and believers. In this message we shall cover the two remaining designations of the believers in the New Testament — saints and Christians.
Many verses in the New Testament speak of the believers as saints. Acts 9:13 and 32 refer respectively to the saints in Jerusalem and to “the saints dwelling at Lydda.” Romans 1:7 says, “To all who are in Rome, beloved of God, called saints.” Romans 8:27 tells us that the Spirit “intercedes for the saints.” Romans 12:13 speaks of “communicating to the needs of the saints,” and 15:25, of the ministry to the saints. The word “saints” denotes those who are holy, separated unto God. We are not only believers in Christ — we are saints of God. We are God’s holy people, a people separated unto God for His purpose.
The term “saints” denotes those who have been separated and made holy unto God. Saints are separated ones, those who have been set apart to God. First Corinthians 1:2 says, “To the church of God which is in Corinth, to those who have been sanctified in Christ Jesus, called saints.” The expression “called saints” indicates that the believers in Christ are the called saints; they are not called to be saints. This is a positional matter, a sanctification in position with a view to sanctification in disposition.
According to grammar, in 1 Corinthians 1:2 “to the church of God” is in apposition to “to those who have been sanctified in Christ Jesus.” This indicates that “to the church of God” equals “to those who have been sanctified in Christ Jesus.” This strongly indicates that the church is a composition of the saints and that the saints are the constituents of the church. The two should not be considered separate entities. Individually, we are the saints; corporately, we are the church.
Furthermore, in 1:2 “called saints” is in apposition to “those who have been sanctified in Christ Jesus.” Instead of saying “called saints,” the King James Version says, “called to be saints.” According to this translation, being a saint is pending; it is not already an accomplished fact. But Paul did not say that we are called to be saints; he says that we are called saints. If we turn away from ourselves and look at Christ, in whom we have been sanctified, we shall be able to declare that we are saints. We shall realize that a saint is simply a called one.
To be called by God is to be separated unto Him. For example, those who have been called into military service have been separated from civilian life and drafted into the service. This illustrates God’s calling. When we were called by God we were separated by Him. As a result, we have been sanctified; that is, we have been separated unto God for the fulfillment of His purpose. Because we have been called by God unto His purpose, we are the called saints.
First Corinthians 1:2 tells us that we have been sanctified in Christ Jesus. To be sanctified in Christ Jesus is to be sanctified in the element and sphere of Christ. Christ is the element and sphere that separated us unto God, made us holy unto Him, when we believed in Him, that is, when we were brought into an organic union with Him through our faith in Him.
To be sanctified in Christ means that we have been put into Christ. Christ is a holy sphere, a sphere of holiness. Not only is Christ holy — Christ Himself is holiness. Because God has put us into this Christ (1 Cor. 1:30), we have been put into the sphere of holiness. Now that we are in Christ as the sphere of holiness, we are sanctified. To be sanctified in Christ is to be made holy in Him.
Holiness is actually God Himself, and God is embodied in Christ. Therefore, Christ is our holiness. As our holiness, He is the sphere and element of holiness. Through Christ’s redemption, God has put us into Christ. Now that we are in Christ, who is the sphere and element of holiness, we are sanctified, made holy.
What we have in 1 Corinthians 1:2 is a matter of being in Christ positionally. We should never despise our position in Christ. God has put us into Christ, and this makes it possible for us to experience the divine dispensing of the divine Trinity. Because we have been sanctified in Christ Jesus, we may have the boldness to declare that we are holy, that we are saints. Concerning this, we should not look at ourselves. God does not look at us as we are in ourselves; rather, He looks at us in Christ. Paul does not tell the Corinthians that they were sanctified in themselves, but that they had been sanctified in Christ Jesus. We need to forget ourselves and see that it is in Christ that we are sanctified.
As saints, we have been sanctified by Christ with His redeeming blood positionally. Hebrews 13:12 says, “Wherefore also Jesus, that He might sanctify the people through His own blood, suffered outside the gate.” Christ’s body suffered the death of the cross outside the gate, and His blood was brought into the Holy of Holies for our sanctification (v. 11). The book of Hebrews unveils that God’s heavenly calling is to make us a heavenly people (3:1), a people who are sanctified unto God. Christ is the Sanctifier (2:11). He suffered the death of the cross, shed His blood on it, and entered the Holy of Holies with His blood (9:12) that He might be able to do the sanctifying work by the heavenly ministry (8:2, 6) of His heavenly priesthood (7:26) and that we might enter “within the veil” (6:19) by His blood to participate in Him as the heavenly Sanctifier.
Christ’s redeeming blood sanctifies us positionally, not dispositionally. The reason the blood of Christ can sanctify us only positionally is that the blood is not able to accomplish anything in us with respect to the inner life. This is the work of the Holy Spirit with God’s holy nature to sanctify us dispositionally. The blood of Christ, however, can only separate us unto God, make us holy, positionally.
As saints we are also being sanctified dispositionally by the Holy Spirit with God’s holy nature. The Holy Spirit is changing our disposition by causing it to be mingled with the holy disposition of God. This is subjective sanctification.
Sanctification is not only a matter of position, that is, to be separated from a common, worldly position to a position for God, as illustrated in Matthew 23:17 and 19 (where the gold is sanctified by the temple and the gift by the altar, in changing their position), and in 1 Timothy 4:3-5 (where food is sanctified by the saints’ prayer). Sanctification is also a matter of disposition, that is, being transformed from a natural disposition to a spiritual one, as mentioned in Romans 12:2 and 2 Corinthians 3:18. This is a matter of a long process, beginning with regeneration (1 Pet. 1:2-3; Titus 3:5), passing through the whole Christian life (1 Thes. 4:3; Heb. 12:14; Eph. 5:26), and reaching completion at the time of rapture, at the maturity of life (1 Thes. 5:23).
Concerning subjective, dispositional sanctification, Romans 15:16 says that the believers are being “sanctified in the Holy Spirit.” Christ died on the cross primarily for our justification. Now, in resurrection as the life-giving Spirit in our spirit, He lives within us for our sanctification. As the life-giving Spirit, He is our life, and He is saturating our being with His holy nature so that we may be thoroughly sanctified dispositionally. This is the reason that in Romans sanctification is not positional by the blood but dispositional by life, even by the Spirit Himself. The Spirit is working within our spirit, spreading Himself from the center of our being throughout every part of us until He reaches the circumference. Then we shall be completely saturated with God’s holy nature. Eventually, our whole being will be sanctified by Christ as the life-giving Spirit.
To be put into Christ is a once-for-all matter, but to be sanctified by the Spirit is a life-long matter. At the very moment we called on the name of the Lord Jesus, believing in Him, we were put into Christ. In this way we are now sanctified in Christ. Because God has put us into Christ, the Spirit has entered into us and has become the sanctifying Spirit within us. Now this Spirit is sanctifying us all the time, and will continue to sanctify us during our entire life. Therefore, today we are still under the sanctifying work of the Spirit.
Another verse that speaks of dispositional sanctification is 2 Thessalonians 2:13: “God chose you from the beginning unto salvation in sanctification of the Spirit.” The salvation unto which we were chosen by God is salvation and sanctification of the Spirit. We are being saved in sanctification of the Spirit. While the Holy Spirit is sanctifying us, God is saving us. Therefore, we are being saved in sanctification of the Spirit. This sanctification of the Spirit is actually the divine transformation. By this we are thoroughly saved from all old and negative things and made a new creation to obtain the Lord’s glory.
The Spirit is in us to sanctify us with the divine element, which is the nature of God. In 1 Thessalonians 4:3 Paul speaks of sanctification, and this sanctification is of the Spirit. The indwelling of the Spirit is actually our sanctification. The Spirit indwells us with one goal — to sanctify us, to transform us, to change us metabolically. This is sanctification of the Spirit.
Every day we are being sanctified, and the One who sanctifies us is the Spirit. This is the reason the Bible speaks of the sanctification of the Spirit. All day long the Spirit is sanctifying us, applying to us what the Father has planned and what the Son has accomplished. The Spirit has been commissioned to sanctify us; He has been given to us for the purpose of completing the work of sanctification. As saints, we have such a practical, living, and subjective Sanctifier.
With sanctification the emphasis is on separation unto God for His purpose. Our sanctification began even before our repentance. When we heard the gospel, the Holy Spirit began to sanctify us, to separate us. Then we experienced regeneration, which is also a part of sanctification. After regeneration, we are in the process of being sanctified dispositionally. Eventually, we shall be glorified, and our glorification will be the final, the ultimate, sanctification. When we are glorified, we shall be fully separated unto God for His purpose.
Although with sanctification the emphasis is on being separated unto God, this does not mean that sanctification does not involve the divine dispensing. The dispositional aspect of sanctification especially involves God’s dispensing. For this reason, subjective sanctification, which is dispositional sanctification, is actually transformation. Through our experience we have come to realize that, as the sanctifying Spirit, the Spirit is dispensing His element into us. This dispensing of the Spirit is the sanctifying work of the Spirit. Therefore, the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit is to dispense His element and essence into our being to sanctify us dispositionally. As a result, we are fully saturated with the Triune God and wholly separated unto Him for His purpose.
In the New Testament the believers are also designated as Christians. Acts 11:26 says, “The disciples were first called Christians in Antioch.” In Acts 26:28 Agrippa says to Paul, “By a little talk are you persuading me to become a Christian?” In 11:26 “Christian” is a term of reproach. That the disciples in Antioch were given such a nickname as a term of reproach indicates that they must have borne a strong testimony for the Lord, a testimony that made them distinct and peculiar in the eyes of the unbelievers.
The designation “Christian” is used again in 1 Peter 4:16, where it denotes those who are adherents of Christ, bearing His reproach. The context of this verse concerns sharing the sufferings of Christ. Verse 14a says, “If you are reproached in the name of Christ, you are blessed.” “In the name of Christ” is actually in the person of Christ, in Christ Himself, because the name denotes the person. The believers, having believed into Christ (John 3:15) and having been baptized into His name (Acts 19:5), that is, into Himself (Gal. 3:27), are in Christ (1 Cor. 1:30) and one with Him (1 Cor. 6:17). When they are reproached in His name, they are reproached with Him, sharing His sufferings. After speaking of being reproached in the name of Christ, Peter goes on to say in 4:16 that if a believer suffers “as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in this name.”
The Greek word for Christian is Christianos, a word of Latin formation. The ending -ianos, denoting an adherent of someone, was applied to slaves belonging to the great families in the Roman Empire. Those who worshipped the emperor, the Caesar — Kaisar — were called Kaisarianos, which means the adherents of Kaisar, the people belonging to Kaisar. When people believed in Christ and became His followers, this caused some in the Empire to consider Christ a rival of the Kaisar. Then at Antioch some began to call the followers of Christ Christianos (Christians), adherents of Christ, as a nickname, a term of reproach. Hence, 1 Peter 4:16 says, “as a Christian, let him not be ashamed”; that is, if any believer suffers from the persecutors who contemptuously call him a Christian, he should not feel ashamed but glorify God in this name.
Whereas in the time of Peter and Paul Christian was a term of reproach, today it should bear a positive significance, that is, a man of Christ, one who is one with Christ, not only belonging to Him but having His life and nature in an organic union with Him, and who is living by Him, even living Him, in his daily life. If we suffer for being such a person, we should not feel ashamed, but be bold to magnify Christ in our confession by our holy and excellent manner of life to glorify, express, God in this name.
As Christians, we have an organic union with Christ, an organic oneness in life. When we believed in Christ, an organic union took place between us and Him. By believing in Christ we believed into Him and thereby became one spirit with Him (1 Cor. 6:17). This is what we mean by the expression organic union.
Our organic union with Christ also involves our being baptized into Christ (Gal. 3:27). God’s intention in His economy is to put us into Him and to come into us and live in us. Therefore, to be baptized into Christ is to enter into an organic union with the embodiment of the Triune God, which is able to transform our whole being.
In addition to believing into Christ, which is inward and subjective, we also need to be baptized into Him, an act which is outward and objective. We need both the inward action of believing and the outward action of being baptized. In this way we make one complete step to enter into Christ. In Galatians 3 Paul often speaks about faith and believing, but at the end of this chapter he speaks of being baptized into Christ. The step that begins with believing into Christ is completed by being baptized into Him. In this way there takes place in full an organic union between the believers and Christ.
Now as Christians, those who are of Christ and are one with Him, we need to live by Him, and even live Him, in our daily life. You may have heard of living for Christ, living out Christ, and living by Christ, but not of living Christ. To live by Christ and for Christ and to live Christ out are all somewhat different from simply living Christ. If we are living by Christ, we are still doing the living. To live Christ means that Christ is our life (Col. 3:4). When we live, He lives. When He lives, we live.
The central thought in the Bible is that Christ must be our life and that we must live Him as our living. The goal of being a Christian is to live Christ. Furthermore, the destiny God has ordained for us in His economy is that we live Christ. God’s economy is to dispense Himself into us and to work Himself into us that we may take Christ as our life and life supply in order to live Him. God’s desire is that we live Christ. If we are truly seeking the Lord, the day will come when we shall see that what God desires is not our doing, behavior, or virtues, but Christ. Christ is to be our life, our daily walk, our everything.
The key to living Christ is to realize that, as Christians, the life we have received is Another’s, yet it is not lived by Him but by us. There are two persons but one life to be lived. The life is Christ’s, yet He wants us to live it out. The two, Christ and we, have one life with one living. We should live Christ by Christ’s life. The life is His, and the living is ours. This is the proper Christian life.
Although we and Christ are two, we should not have two lives, nor should we have two livings. The one life that we both have is His, but the living is ours. Our living must be by His life, expressing Him, not ourselves. Therefore, the Christian life is a life involving two persons, but these two persons have only one life and one living. The life is the Lord’s, and the living is ours.
The Apostle Paul lived Christ. In Philippians 1:21 he says, “To me to live is Christ.” In Galatians 2:20 Paul declared, “Christ lives in me.” Paul could say not only that Christ lived in him, but also that to him to live was Christ. On the one hand, Christ lived in Paul; on the other hand, Paul lived Christ. Inwardly Christ was Paul’s life, and outwardly Christ was Paul’s living. Paul and Christ thus had one life and one living. Christ’s life was Paul’s life, and Paul’s living was Christ’s living. The two, Christ and Paul, lived as one. First Corinthians 6:17 refers to such a living. In this verse Paul says that we are one spirit with the Lord. The organic union that has taken place between us and Christ causes us to be so close and intimate with Him that we are even one spirit with Him.
To live Christ is not merely to live a holy life or to live holiness. To live Christ is to live a person. This is to live a life that is Christ Himself. Paul’s life was to live Christ. He lived Christ because Christ lived in him. He was one with Christ both in life and living. He and Christ had one life and one living. They lived together as one person. Christ lived within him as his life, and he lived Christ without as his living.
As Christians, we are privileged to have Christ as our life. Now He wants us to live Him. “Because I live, you shall live also” (John 14:19). This indicates that we and Christ may live together, having one life and one living. Day by day we need to practice living Christ, taking Him as our life and person. This is the Christian life. When we live Christ in this way, it will be our experience that we have been crucified with Christ and that it is no longer we but Christ who lives in us. Then we shall be able to say with Paul, “To me to live is Christ.”
