“Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, To the saints who are in Ephesus, and are faithful in Christ Jesus…”

Ephesians 1:1 ESV

God has chosen to bestow upon you the reality of “saint.” Feel strange reading that? Not even sure what that means? Feel unworthy thinking that? That’s ok; join the club of mere mortals trying to grasp the “width, length, height and depth of God’s love” (Eph 3:18).

When we think saints we think holy, perfect, blameless and pure. And then we look at our lives for a nano-second and disqualify ourselves. This is why the Apostle Paul said in Ephesians 2:8 ESV “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God.”

To accept you are chosen by God to know Him, starts by understanding we have been chosen by God to receive a gift we could never earn. The Hastings Bible Dictionary explains the power of the greek word for ‘saint’ used here; hagios.

“It is evident that hagios… expresses something more and higher than hieros; sacred, outwardly associated with God;… something more than semnos; worthy, honorable; something more than hagnos; pure, free from defilement. Hagios is… more comprehensive… It is characteristically godlikness”

(G.B. Stevens, in Hastings’ Bib. Dic.).

We have been chosen to know God and to know Him is to be gifted saintliness; ‘characteristically godlikeness.’ It’s Christ living within us; not just changing status, but changing of our very being. Think new creation. You’re not a sinner any longer, you are a saint because God has chosen you to know Him and become who He says you are.