Jun 5, 2014

Saints Galore

All, I think, would agree as to  what is meant by the word, “galore” (plentiful), but not so with the term, “saint. There are two major definitions of this word. This possibly is do to the influence the Church of Rome has had on society world-wide. The main difference between the Catholic and Protestant Church is one of interpretation. All other distinctions between the two stem from this singular doctrine. Rome holds that the Church is the soul interpreter of the Bible; whereas Protestants believe in the priesthood of all believers. That is, each child of God is to read the Holy Scriptures through their own specks, so to speak.

Rome’s traditional interpretation of a saint, for the sake of simplicity, is a special person. To enter sainthood is a long process that involves meeting certain standards, such as miracles associated with the recipient, etc. But the making of a saint is all God’s work! It doesn't happen when the Church canonizes a soul, but when Christ converts a sinner.

In Paul’s Epistles, he refers to each Christian in that particular assembly he addresses as, “saints.” Even those in the carnal church at Corinth. To the church at Rome he admonishes them to receive Phebe “...as becometh saints.” And to the Ephesians, such sins as fornication, all uncleanness, and covetousness, is unbecoming to a saint! The Apostle’s words could not be any clearer. In essence, he tells all of us, “If you're a saint, then live like one.” The question is, are we?

A little boy was sitting in a church where the sunlight was shining brightly through stained glass windows. The boy asked his mother who the figures in the glass represented, “They are saints,” she replied. After a moment the child said, “O, so a saint is someone who lets the light shine through them.”  

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