Myths and Truths about Anointed Saints

Myths and Truths about Anointed Saints.

SAINT: The basic meaning of the term saint is “holy one,” which is from the Latin word “sanctus.” A saint is one who has been anointed by the Holy Spirit, enabled to grow in “set-apartness” for God’s special purposes. A saint is one who is officially dedicated to God in order to increase one’s usefulness to Him. A saint is one who has been spiritually sainted by virtue of being hidden inside Christ, the Anointed One, and also practically sainted by virtue of choosing the distinctive life of growing in goodness, purity and reflecting God’s character.  A saint is one who has surrendered to the Holy Spirit and then empowered to mature in living out the gospel values of the Anointed One Jesus. A saint is one who has officially declared an intention to remain loyal and faithful to the Anointed One, separated from the ungodly in identity by choosing to be distinctive in personal character and life purpose.

HOLY: One who has been anointed by the Holy Spirit, set apart for God’s service and assigned to a sacred purpose; a person who has been sanctified, consecrated, dedicated to a sacred usefulness; one who has been empowered by the Holy Spirit to grow in the holy nature of the Anointed One; one who has been spiritually separated from all that contradicts the character of God, and instead is united to the vary character of Jesus Messiah.

Christians: Since Christ means “Anointed One,” then it follows that “Christian” means “anointed ones.” All who follow Jesus are anointed ones who are hidden “in” Christ the Anointed One. All Christian believers who are “inside” Jesus share His anointing and partake of His nature. We are anointed by the Spirit of the Holy Anointed One.

So what is a saint, a holy one, an anointed one? A willing member of the holy priesthood of all believers; someone who is determined to be in the Lord’s sanctification process; a follower of Jesus who is intentionally living into holiness, set apart for service to God; an apprentice to the Anointed One who accepts being assigned by God for a sacred purpose; a humble student of Jesus who wisely reminds others of God’s presence in the world; an imperfect person who is designated to represent a perfect God; a spiritually anointed one whose behavior is increasingly separate from the sinful and worldly; a Christ-follower who is engaged in the process of being cleansed and purified in order to increase one’s usefulness to God; a believer whose life is marked by growth in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Messiah. “It is God Himself who has anointed us. And He is constantly strengthening us in joint fellowship with the Anointed One, in union with Christ. He knows we are His since He has stamped His seal of love over our hearts and has given us the Holy Spirit as the security deposit, His guarantee of the fulfillment of His promise.” (2 Corinthians 1:21-22, TPT and Amplified Bible).

Myth #1 – Saints are only those who are intensely pious, more spiritual, and are super-Christians.

Truth #1 –  “There come moments, I think, even in the midst of all our cynicism and worldliness and childishness, maybe especially then, when there is something about the saints of the earth that bowls us over a little. I mean real saints. I mean saints as men and women who are made not out of plaster and platitude and moral perfection but out of human flesh. I mean saints who have their rough edges and their blind spots like everybody else but whose lives are transparent to something so extraordinary that every so often it stops us dead in our tracks. Light-bearers. Life-bearers.” (Frederick Buechner).  “Holy is the best word we have for the all-encompassing, all-embracing life of God that transforms us into a uniquely formed and set apart people. Holy is never a pious abstraction. Holiness cannot be reduced to an emotional devotional experience that we cultivate in order to “feel spiritual.” Holiness is an invitation to enter into what God is doing and intending to get done in the world. And it’s for everyone. Holiness is not targeted to an elite spiritual aristocracy.”  (Eugene Peterson, The  Jesus Way).

Myth #2 – Saints don’t want to be tainted by the world as they live into holiness. 

Truth #2 – Jesus went out of His way to touch the untouchables. He was a friend of sinners, and all those rejected by the religious establishment. Jesus talked with them. He lived with them. He was unafraid to be blemished in some way by His contact with the sinful. On the other hand, Jesus never compromised His character. He never joined in with the sinful life, even when tempted. He kept Himself clean while engaging with the unclean. That’s a picture of sainthood. Someone willing to provide the presence of a pure God in the midst of an impure world. Someone who rubs shoulders with the dishonorable in order to bring the light of healing and hope, forgiveness and redemption. (SL).

Myth #3 – Saints tend to be glum and overly serious, because they don’t know how to enjoy themselves. 

Truth #3 – “He who has the faith has the fun!” (G. K. Chesterton). “From gloomy Christians, Lord, deliver us.” (Teresa of Avila). “These Christians are a quiet and holy people. They have discovered a joy which is a thousand times better than any pleasures of this sinful life. They are despised and persecuted, but they care not. They have overcome the world.” (Cyprian of Carthage, 250 AD); “A saint was once asked, while playing happily with his companions, what he would do if any angel told him that in a quarter of an hour he would die and have to appear before the judgment seat of God. The saint properly replied that he would continue playing because I am certain these games are pleasing to God.” (St. John Bosco)

Myth #4 – Saints are all tame and domesticated, living a bland life with no personality of their own.

Truth #4 – “Holiness is wild  and undomesticated. Holiness is an interior fire, a passion for living for God, a capacity for exuberance in living out the life of God in the details of our day-to-day lives. Holy is not a word that drains the blood out of life. It’s a word that gets the blood pumping, pulsing life through our veins and putting color in our cheeks.”  (Eugene Peterson, The Jesus Way). Sinners tend to be boringly similar because they sin in the same ways, while saints tend to be good in unique and exciting ways and add spicy seasoning to the world. (SL).

Myth #5 – Being set apart for God’s purposes, saints tend to live at a distance from the everyday world and real life. 

Truth #5 – Human beings are called to holiness because God their Creator is holy. God is indeed distant from the world, is transcendent, set apart, distinctive. But He is also vitally present and active within the world. Rabbi Sacks called it a “calibrated distance.” Just as God remains present in daily life despite being set apart, saints are called to live in and be active in the world. God does not participate in the unholy, because of His purity. Saints are not to participate in the unholy because we have put on Christ, wearing our new nature. Saints do not make peace with unholy alliances of any sort. Saints are intentionally involved in God’s sanctifying process, remaining saints-in-making, holy servants of God in everyday life. (SL).

Myth #6 – Saints are too narrow-minded to live a well-rounded, beautiful life. 

Truth #6 – “The new thing in this little Jewish community in Eastern Europe (during the 18th and 19th centuries) was that holiness, the highest of all values, became so real and so concrete that it became as perceptible as beauty. How was it possible not to feel the presence of God in the world? How could one fail to see that the whole earth is full of His glory? Such longing for the higher endowed them with an almost superhuman quality. They did not write songs, they themselves were songs. They often lacked outward brilliance, but they were full of hidden light.”  (Abraham Joshua Heschel, The Earth is the Lord’s).

Myth #7 – Sainthood is not meant for everyone. You have to be specially called to be a saint.

Truth #7 – “If you consult your own soul with complete honesty, you will see that there is one and only one reason why you are not even now a saint: You do not wholly want to be.”  (William Law, A Serious Call to a Devout and Holy Life). “All of us, if we only knew it, are on a hunt for the holy, for a life that cannot be reduced to the way we look or what we do or what others think of us. We are after something – more life than we get simply by eating three meals a day, getting a little exercise, and having a decent job. We’re after the God-originated and God-shaped life – a holy life.” (Eugene Peterson, The Jesus Way).

Myth #8 – Saints are so heavenly minded they are no earthly good.

Truth #8 – How did Christ live here on earth? He did good deeds. He healed everyone within reach, and some who were long-distance. He liberated the demon-possessed. He sought out those on the margins. Since Christians are called to be “little Christs,” (C. S. Lewis), a believer is one who does much the same as the Master. Ever since Christianity was established, believers have been pioneers in human care. They created the first hospital, the first hospice, the first prison reform, the first crisis pregnancy center, and have had the most direct hand in developing those institutions ever since. Christians were the first to run to the aid of plague victims in the Middle Ages. They brought and developed learning to unlearned populations. They established health care in leper colonies. The list goes on. Christians are the opposite of all-talk and no-action. Believers have the same inner promptings to demonstrate compassion as Jesus . Christians have excelled at initiating mercy and kindness wherever it is needed. Believers have been of immense earthly good wherever they have lived.  (SL).

Myth #9 – Saints are self-righteous, proud of their saintliness, holier than thou, and love to make a public production of their goodness.

Truth #9 – “A saint is a human being released from the love of self and enslaved by the love of God.”  (Douglas Steere). Saints are content to be known by God, and unknown in the world.” (a thought by Thomas A’Kempis, The Imitation of Christ). The legitimate saints and Christ-followers are those who are thrilled that God’s grace has enabled them to be hidden inside Christ, and that when God looks at each of us, He sees us first through the prism of Jesus. (SL).

Myth #10 – A saint is basically a nice person who does good things, an eager activist in righteous causes.

Truth #10 – A saint is one who is picking out a new spiritual wardrobe, priestly garments of splendor. Saints are in the process of taking off their old nature and putting on their new nature in Christ. Saints wear a robe of righteousness and are clothed in Jesus. They are not merely putting on a comfortable costume. Saints aren’t merely playing a part in a religious play. The new wardrobe is not just for appearance’s sake to look good. Putting on Christ means a saint’s outer life of virtue is in synch with his/her inner life of faith. That’s why wearing Christ transcends a generic goodness intended for cultural acceptance. The saint seeks to emulate Christ, demonstrating the very character of God, not participating in whichever social goodness is trending. (SL).

Myth #11 –  It is pretty much impossible for an anointed person to live the life of a saint, to live the holy life. 

Truth #11 –  The biblical fact is that we can do all things through the Anointed One who strengthens us in our daily walk with Him, empowered by His Holy Spirit. Everyday saintly actions in the holy priesthood of all believers:

1. Bring God to the People: Demonstrate God’s character through the Fruit of the Spirit( 5:22-23); Develop a lifestyle of blessing others in God’s Name.
2. Bring the People to God: Intercede for others through disciplined prayer; Remind others of God’s presence in the world through word and deed.
3. Offer yourself Daily as a Living Sacrifice: Read God’s mind by studying Scripture;  Minister to “one another” in God’s Name;  Offer up a constant sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving.
4. Put On Christ as your Priest’s Clothing: Take off the Old You in sin, rejecting the attitudes and behavior of the old nature; Put on the New You in Christ, growing in faith and goodness. (SL).

Myth #12 – The only true, legitimate saints are those who have been officially declared saints by a church’s tradition.

Truth #12 – It’s true that there are churches that have a traditional, centralized system to determine who are “saints.” In the Catholic Church, a person must have demonstrated “heroic virtue” and have performed at least two miracles. Their system of “canonization” requires a very careful investigation into a person’s life in order to be even nominated for official sainthood. The potential saint is first called a “Servant of God,” then “Venerable,” then “Blessed,” before the final step of reaching “Saint” status. In the Orthodox Church, the system is a little less centralized but based more on local nominations of people who have demonstrated “exceptional holiness and virtuous piety.” No miracles are necessarily required in the Orthodox tradition, but it certainly won’t hurt one’s chances for “glorification.” My view is that the standardized system of declaring someone a saint isn’t really based on what a saint truly is… set apart, dedicated for God’s purposes, anointed by the Holy Spirit to serve God’s will. A saint is not someone that needs to be evaluated by a human system and judged as to holiness. A saint is not someone who is somehow more blameless, holier, more perfect than the average faithful Christian going through a difficult life. A saint is someone who has already been declared a saint by virtue of being hidden inside Jesus the Anointed One. Saints don’t have to be a perfectionist, a wondrous  miracle-worker, or pure as the driven snow. Look at what the miracle workers in Matthew 7 discovered.  They were rejected into the kingdom because thy simply didn’t “know” Jesus personally and Jesus didn’t personally “know” them. That’s what a saint is. Saints don’t have to be publicly recognized or appreciated for apparent sinlessness, since no person will ever be completely sinless until we’re in heaven after we die. The truth is that heaven will be honoring as saints those who have courageously faced life’s challenges and overcome them through the power of the Spirit. In heaven the people who have quietly lived a faithful, virtuous life without being recognized in the world will be highly lauded.as heroic. The unknown followers of Jesus who have been successful in representing God’s character in the world and privately living the Jesus life in love and goodness will be the ones celebrated in the new Kingdom, rather than the celebrity Christians who seem to wear their effectiveness as a badge of  honor. Certainly, it’s good for the Church to lift up and celebrate those believers who are virtuously heroic, especially the martyrs. But the spirit of Jesus’ life on earth seems to suggest that the unofficial saint who present themselves every day as living sacrifices will be the first to be embraced by Him on the other side of the pearly gates.

Bruce Springsteen with the Sessions Band – When the Saints Go Marching In (Live In Dublin)