1 Corinthians 1
To the church of God in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus and called to be His holy people, together with all those everywhere who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ—their Lord and ours: 1 Corinthians 1:2 NIV
All believers of Christ are set apart and chosen by God to live holy lives, just as those in the Corinthian church were. According to the Bible, every true believer is a saint. We are holy because of our belief in Jesus, and because we have the presence and the power of the Holy Spirit to guarantee our holiness. “For God’s will was for us to be made holy by the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ, once for all time” (Hebrews 10:10, NLT). Now that we know that we are saints, we need to make sure that our thoughts, words, and actions are saint-like. How do we do that? The first thing to understand is that it is impossible with our own power. We can try as hard as we want to “turn over a new leaf”, but sin will always be a powerful problem until we give our lives over to Jesus. This is similar to the story of the woman with the issue of blood before she came to Christ: “She had suffered a great deal under the care of many doctors and had spent all she had, yet instead of getting better she grew worse” (Mark 5:26). Jesus told us, “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in Me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from Me you can do nothing” (John 15:5). And so it is with holiness. Holiness comes from Christ. It is the result of a vital union with Him and of being a living branch of the true Vine. Understand who you are, that you were chosen to be a Son or Daughter of God. When in doubt about His ability to make you holy and keep you holy, remember this: “By His divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life. We have received all of this by coming to know Him, the one who called us to Himself by means of His marvelous glory and excellence” (2 Peter 1:3, NLT). So what does it look like practically to live like a saint? First, you have to know God’s Word so that you can obey it and apply it to all areas of your life. Living in obedience to God keeps you separate from evil. The Bible is our guidebook on how we can become and stay holy. Romans 6:11 says, “…count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus.” Immerse yourself in God’s Word and surround yourself with people that will support and encourage you in your faith. Avoid situations that you know will cause you to stumble and be tempted. Pray for help and guidance when you need it. And when you do make a mistake: repent, ask for forgiveness, learn from it and make changes to prevent it from happening again. Don’t dwell on your sin and burden yourself with guilt, for “…there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1). Remember that part of being holy means that we have a Heavenly Father who will never give up on us, will always forgive us, and will never stop loving us.