What do the following verses imply when the word “saint” is used? 

Acts 9: 13—“Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much harm he did to Your saints at Jerusalem.”

Acts 9: 32—”As Peter was traveling through all those regions, he came down also to the saints who lived at Lydda.”

Acts 26: 10—”And this is just what I did in Jerusalem; not only did I lock up many of the saints in prisons, having received authority from the chief priests, but also when they were being put to death, I cast my vote against them.”

Philippians 1: 1—“To all the saints in Christ Jesus who are in Philippi, including the overseers and deacons.”

Philippians 4: 21—“Greet every saint [in Philippi] in Christ Jesus. The brethren who are with me greet you.” (Philippians 4:21).

The implication is that all who are of the body of Christ, the church on earth, are considered to be saints. That is in opposition to the Catholic point of view. The Catholic teaching is that the saints are those who have died and gone to heaven. Furthermore, they only become saints after being beatified or canonized by the hierarchy of the church, particularly the pope.

Moreover, these catholic saints are held in so much reverence that they are prayed to and are asked to even intercede on behalf of the earthly person doing the praying. This is also contrary to the Bible’s teaching on the state of the dead.*

Again, biblically, saints are those of us who have received Jesus as Lord and Savior. We aren’t perfect people, but we are sanctified and called to be holy. (“Sanctified” and “holy” come from the same Greek word – hagios – that’s translated “saint.”)

Earth-bound Christians are saints who, not yet in heaven, are set apart for the use of the Lord. As saints, we should constantly seek and pray to grow into the Lord’s saintly characteristics, as is called for by His Word (Ephesians 5: 3).

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*Read the article Dead-On Truth About Death. Click here.