Two significant words for this week are “saint” and “holy.”
Both the word “saint” and “holy” are translations of the same Greek word, ἅγιος. This means that the context is critical in determining the appropriate meaning and translation. In one context, ἅγιος should be translated “saint,” while in another context it should be translated “holy.”
Individual contexts within the New Testament have determined that the authors use the word ἅγιος (“saint”) 60 times to refer to people who belong to God and His Kingdom.
For example, Paul uses the term “saint” in order to highlight the distinction between those who do not belong to the family of God and those who do.
“So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints (ἁγίοις) and members of the household of God.”
Eph. 2:19
Paul writes to the “saints” as those who have been called to be members of God’s people.
“To the church of God that is in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints (ἁγίοις) together with all those who in every place call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, both their Lord and ours.”
1 Cor. 1:2
But since God is holy (ἅγιος), in order to become a member of God’s family, one would first need to be made holy (ἅγιος). Otherwise, it would be impossible to enter into God’s presence and receive a place in His family.
That’s why the word “saint” (ἅγιος) and “holy” (ἅγιος) are the same. Saints (ἅγιος) are people who have been made holy (ἅγιος) before God.
This means that the atonement of Jesus the Christ has been applied to them so that their sins have been forgiven and they now enjoy right standing before God.
Also, although ἅγιος (“holy”) often describes people in God’s family who been made into ἁγίοις (“saints”), it is also used 170 times to describe other things and persons as well.
For example, ἅγιος (“holy”) is used most often in the NT to describe God’s Spirit (80 times).
It’s also used to describe the city of Jerusalem (Matt. 4:5; 27:53), angels (Mk. 8:38; Lk. 9:26; Acts 10:22), prophets (Lk. 1:70), God the Father (Jn. 17:11), the scriptures (Rom. 1:2), and others.
The point for us today is that, in union with Christ, we have become “saints” (ἁγίοις) by being made “holy” (ἅγιος) through the faithfulness of Jesus the Christ.
We now enjoy full standing citizenship in God’s Kingdom because of His grace to us.