The Faithful Saints

Ephesians 1:1,2  Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, to the saints which are at Ephesus, and to the faithful in Christ Jesus: Grace be to you, and peace, from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ.

The Apostle Paul when writing to the church of Ephesus called the born again believers in that church "the saints." There has been confusion over the term "saint" over the years, primarily because of the false teachings of the Catholic church. If you ask someone to name a saint, they tend to think in terms of a select few devout figures in the history of Christianity. However, when the Apostle Paul addresses the members of the church of Ephesus, he calls ALL believers "saints."  The moment a person is born again his title is changed from Mr. Sinner to Mr. Saint. When Paul wrote to the Corinthian church he said in verse 2 of chapter 1, "Unto the church of God which is at Corinth, to them that are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, with all that in every place call upon the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both theirs and ours::"  The simple truth regarding who a saint is found in the operation of initial sanctification. When you were saved God sanctified or set you apart from being a sinner to being a saint. Paul continues in 1 Corinthians 6:9-11 "Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God."  When you were saved, you were washed, sanctified and now are no longer view in God's eyes as a sinner condemned, but rather a saint sanctified. When God's children assemble together at church it truly is when the saints come marching in.  In addition to addressing the Ephesian congregation as saints, Paul complements them for their faithfulness: "and to the faithful in Christ Jesus."  The church of Ephesus was made up of "faithful saints!"  This is what we need today.  We need church members (saints) who are faithful to ALL the services of the church. We need church members who are faithful to read their Bible. We need church members who are faithful to praying, witnessing and tithing, The greatest ability is dependability, but most church members you can no longer depend upon. If God's saints that have been saved by the blood of Christ would just be faithful to the mission of the local church then we would see a great move of God in our churches. Faithfulness is not dependent upon whether it's convenient! True faithfulness is when something else interferes with your obligations to the Lord and yet you still choose the Lord. That's being faithful.  Hebrews 10:25 says, "Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching." It's getting late! The return of Christ is near so get to church! Let's be faithful! Our churches need "The Faithful Saints" to stand up and come marching in!