by Jeremy Brown

Is the Pope the only authority on earth that has the power to carry out canonization, in other words appoint someone as a “saint”? First of all, what is a saint? A saint is someone who has been set apart for God (1 Peter 2:9). Is being a saint something for those who are elite?! Is it an elite status or the top tier for Christians to seek? What if I told you all Christians (Christ followers) are saints!? (1 Corinthians 1:2). It is not something that puts you at another tier above your fellow Christians, which could possibly promote jealousy and envy within the Christian church.

As saints, we give up ownership of “our” lives and say “not my will, but your will be done Lord.” We give ourselves over to God.(1 Corinthians 6:19-20). Jesus Christ owns the deed to every Christian’s life, since He gave His life to save ours. We were purchased at a high price with the blood of Jesus the Christ. We must strive to make sure we are doing all things for God’s glory since we do not own this life that we are blessed with (1 Corinthians 10:31). Just look at many of us, at how we strive to please our boss/supervisor in our daily job. The question is, are we going above and beyond that for Jesus our Lord and Savior? 

Since we are saints, we know that this life does not belong to us, so let this be our guide in striving to do all tasks whether big or small for God, our Father (Colossians 3:23). God is constantly working to help us become more spiritually mature. He does not make us participate, but God gives us free will to show Him we are thankful for His sacrifice by living for Him and not for ourselves. Checkout the book, Who Am I? Identity in Christ by Jerry Bridges. It has some great insight to better help us appreciate the sacrifice Jesus Christ made for us and the fact that it came at a cost. This sacrifice requires us as professing Christians to take action and do our part for Christ, our Elder Brother who sits at the right hand of the Father.