Christ is All I Need: Saints

 

to the saints, the faithful brothers and sisters in Christ, at Colossae. Grace and peace to you from God our Father! Colossians 1:2

 Saint. What does the word bring to mind? Do you see someone with a glowing halo about them? A disgusting picture of a person being tortured to death? An alcove in a cathedral dedicated to their story?

 The book of Colossians is addressed to the, “saints, the faithful brothers and sisters in Christ, at Colossae.” Paul is clearly addressing the letter to all of the brothers and sisters in the congregation, not special people set apart by the church due to miracles or wonders. In our modern era, the idea of a “saint” has been influenced by the catholic church and its practices, but biblically, we are all saints that have found our righteousness in Christ Jesus.

 This letter was written to the “saints,” our brothers and sisters in Colossae, but it was also written to us. Like them, we heard about the message of truth, the gospel (v 5), and we have faith in Christ Jesus and love for the saints (v 4). And, like them, we are prone to wander.

 You see, despite the encouraging introduction, Paul wasn’t writing to this church because of how great it was doing and how proud he was of them. Quite the opposite. Turns out, they had been influenced by some worldly ideas like Gnosticism and elements of mystical and legalistic Judaism. These concepts had twisted the gospel and directed them away from the initial truth by which they had been saved, and Paul was passionate about pointing them back to Jesus.

Here’s the Thing: Just because we start this book out with the idea that it is being written to “saints” doesn’t mean that the author is proud of them and what they are doing. We are saints because of our right standing in Christ, not because of any good works or value we individually bring to the table. We are all fallible and at risk of falling prey to worldly ideas and concepts that can confuse and twist our understanding of God’s Word. It is so critically important that we learn to keep the main thing the main thing and Jesus at the center of it all!

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