To: SkyDancer
The word saint comes from the Greek word hagios, which means consecrated to God, holy, sacred, pious." It is almost always used in the plural, saints. "
Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much harm he did to Your saints at Jerusalem" (Acts 9:13). "Now as Peter was traveling through all those regions, he came down also to the saints who lived at Lydda" (Acts 9:32). "And this is just what I did in Jerusalem; not only did I lock up many of the saints in prisons
(Acts 26:10). There is only one instance of the singular use, and that is "Greet every saint in Christ Jesus
" (Philippians 4:21). In Scripture there are 67 uses of the plural saints compared to only one use of the singular word saint. Even in that one instance, a plurality of saints is in view:
every saint
(Philippians 4:21).
Therefore, scripturally speaking, the saints are the body of Christ, Christians, the church. All Christians are considered saints.
15 posted on
04/27/2014 8:52:26 AM PDT by
Former Fetus
(Saved by grace through faith)
To: Former Fetus
small ‘s’ saints, yes.
capital ‘s’ Saints — in heaven, canonized, etc. A little different meaning there.
While we are on earth, we are all sinners.
As you pointed out, though, evangelists and Paul used the word ‘saints’ in greetings, etc.
16 posted on
04/27/2014 9:00:43 AM PDT by
Salvation
("With God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26)
To: Former Fetus
“Therefore, scripturally speaking, the saints are the body of Christ, Christians, the church. All Christians are considered saints.”
Yes, but there is more to Christianity than the literal word of the Bible. The Bible, after all, was written in languages that you most likely can’t even read. You, I, and just about everyone you know, rely on translations, lexicons, concordances, etc. Thus, over time, a word like “saint” can develop in how it is used. Today, we use “Saint” denote a saved person whose name is actually known to us. There’s no harm in that.
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