If You're a Christian, the Bible Already Calls You a Saint
Did you know the phrase "I'm no saint" — used by Christians and non-Christians alike to claim humility — is biblically backwards? The New Testament calls every living, ordinary believer a saint — more than 60 times.
The Greek word is ἅγιοι (hagioi, plural of hagios, "holy one" or "set-apart one"). Paul opens nearly every letter by addressing his readers as saints:
— Romans 1:7 — "To all those in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints."
— 1 Corinthians 1:2 — "To the church of God that is in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints."
— 2 Corinthians 1:1 — "To the church of God that is at Corinth, with all the saints who are in the whole of Achaia."
— Ephesians 1:1 — "To the saints who are in Ephesus, and are faithful in Christ Jesus."
— Philippians 1:1 — "To all the saints in Christ Jesus who are at Philippi."
— Colossians 1:2 — "To the saints and faithful brothers in Christ at Colossae."
Paul wasn't addressing exceptional Christians. He wasn't writing to canonized super-believers or to the spiritually elite. He was writing to the church — every member, every congregation, including the disastrously dysfunctional Corinthian church (called "saints" in 1 Cor 1:2 in the same letter that rebukes them for divisions, sexual immorality, lawsuits, and disorder at the Lord's Supper). The Corinthians were saints. They were also a mess. Both things were true at once.
The same usage runs through the rest of the NT. The book of Acts describes "the saints" simply as the Christians (Acts 9:13, 26:10). Hebrews refers to "the saints" as the living church (Hebrews 6:10, 13:24). Jude writes to "those who are called, beloved in God the Father and kept for Jesus Christ" — and calls them saints (Jude 3). Revelation 13:7, 14:12, and 19:8 use hagioi for the living church facing persecution. Nowhere in the NT does "saint" mean exceptional Christian or canonized historical figure. It always means a living, ordinary believer set apart by God in Christ.
So how did "saint" come to mean what most modern Christians mean by it?
In the early church, hagioi retained its NT usage — the term for any Christian. Over the 4th-6th centuries, as the cult of the martyrs developed and the church began commemorating exceptional believers, "saint" gradually narrowed in popular usage to mean those particular exceptional believers commemorated by the church. By the medieval period, the Roman Catholic Church formalized this with the process of canonization — official declarations that a particular deceased Christian was a "saint" worthy of veneration. The NT meaning didn't disappear from theological writing, but popular usage shifted decisively.
The Protestant Reformation pushed back hard. Luther, Calvin, and the Reformed confessions all emphasized the priesthood of all believers and the NT usage of "saint" for every Christian. The Heidelberg Catechism (Q55) treats the "communion of saints" as fellowship among living believers in Christ. The Westminster Confession (XXVI) defines the "saints" as all those who are united to Christ through the Holy Spirit. Reformed liturgy still opens letters and prayers with the NT pattern — "to the saints at [city]."
But popular usage — even among Protestants — never fully followed the Reformation's recovery. "Saint" still carries the medieval connotation of exceptional Christian in everyday English speech. "I'm no saint" is a phrase used by Christians who would be addressed by Paul, in a letter, as saint.
The Reformed theological frame: sainthood isn't about what you've done; it's about who Christ is and what He's done for you. You're a saint because you're in Christ. You're set apart because He set you apart. Imputed righteousness, not achieved righteousness. Sola gratia.
When Paul wrote "to all those in Rome who are called to be saints," he wasn't writing to the future-canonized. He wasn't writing to a special category. He was writing to every Christian in the Roman church — including the struggling, the immature, the failing, the still-learning. If you're in Christ today, that salutation is addressed to you. Not "future saint." Saint. Now.
📖 Passages: Romans 1:7, 1 Corinthians 1:2, 2 Corinthians 1:1, Ephesians 1:1, Philippians 1:1, Colossians 1:2, Acts 9:13, Hebrews 6:10, Jude 3, Revelation 13:7