Saints

To all who are beloved of God in Rome, called as saints… - Romans 1:7
To the church of God which is in Corinth, to those who have been sanctified by Christ Jesus, saints by calling… - 1 Corinthians 1:2
To the church of God which is at Corinth, and all the saints throughout Achaia… - 2 Corinthians 1:1
To the saints who are at Ephesus… - Ephesians 1:1
Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus, to all the saints who are in Philippi… Philippians 1:1

Throughout the New Testament, Christians are regularly called ‘saints.’ How does that make you feel? Often Christians are uneasy about being called saints because it implies a type of holiness or purity or uprightness that we wouldn’t normally attribute to ourselves, and that’s worth pondering. But the focus of this devotional is on the final letter of that word - the ‘s’ - because virtually every teaching in the New Testament is to a group of Christians, not to an individual.

The teachings about doing justice, expressing love, caring for family, and speaking truth (and all the rest) are built around the idea that we can’t do this Christian thing alone. It just doesn't work. And think of some of the commands that we often consider individually oriented, like sexual purity - when you read about those in the Bible, often the justification for these teaching is communal.

For example, in 1 Thes 4, Paul teaches that “each of you should learn to control your own body in a way that is holy and honorable, not in passionate lust… and that in this matter no one should wrong or take advantage of a brother or sister.” Did you see how he ended that teaching - it has to do largely with not breaking community and dishonoring God’s image in others.

Today, go find one of your favorite Bible teachings and ask yourself, “How do I see this differently knowing that it was written to a community and not just to me as an individual?” Talk with God about what you discover.