This is the second installment in the 1517 articles series, “What Makes a Saint?”
What Does a Saint Look Like?
When people hear the word saint, a few images usually come to mind: glowing halos, acts of heroism, miracle-working monks, or morally unblemished men and women from ages past. In many Christian traditions, saints are revered as spiritual elites, people whose faith and works were so exceptional that their lives stand as enduring models for the rest of us. They're remembered on feast days, invoked in prayers, and canonized by church authority. In this conception, saints are those who, through cooperation with God's grace, have achieved a level of holiness above and beyond the average believer, such that they are lasting, visible examples of what it means to be holy. But what if that's not what makes a saint at all?
The Hidden Work of the Holy Spirit
When it comes to holiness, Scripture provides a different answer, one rooted in the work of the Holy Spirit and the proclamation of the gospel, not in the accomplishments or virtues of individuals. According to Scripture, a saint is not a rare kind of Christian but every Christian. To be a saint is not to be an extraordinary moral example. It is to be made holy by God through his Word and Spirit.
Holiness, that is being a saint, is something done to you, not something you do for God. We see this passive application of holiness in verses like 1 Corinthians 6:11, where Paul highlights the overt sinful behaviors of the Corinthians and how they were overcome by the Holy Spirit. "But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God." The activity of making things holy does not belong to the works of saints but to the work of the Holy Spirit. Luther echoes this passivity of becoming holy in his catechisms:
"I believe that I cannot by my own reason or strength believe in Jesus Christ, my Lord, or come to Him; but the Holy Spirit has called me by the gospel, enlightened me with His gifts, sanctified and kept me in the true faith." (SC, Creed, Third Article)
Holiness is not a badge earned through extraordinary efforts but a gift received daily in the ordinary life of the church
It follows, then, that sainthood is not a visible spectacle but a reality hidden in Christ. Becoming a saint is not an external, visible transformation into a person of obvious public virtue. Instead, it is a hidden act of God, where the Holy Spirit delivers faith through the Word and creates a new heart. "so that he may establish your hearts blameless in holiness before our God and Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his saints." (1 Thess. 3:13) The New Testament Church is full of saints, not because of extraordinary acts, but because for the church, the saint is an amazing title (ἅγιοι Holy) given to all believers (Eph. 3:8, Phil. 5, Heb. 6:10 etc…) not because of their performance, but because of their faith in Christ. Sainthood is a gift bestowed upon us through faith. The hidden reality of our sainthood doesn't imply meaninglessness; quite the opposite! Sainthood marks each believer in Christ, setting them apart as a community of believers who proclaim the gospel and deliver its power of salvation.
Holiness, then, is not a badge earned through extraordinary efforts but a gift received daily in the ordinary life of the church. That life is one of receiving forgiveness and assurance through the means God has established. The means of grace, which delivers holiness, is not personal improvement but the proclamation of the Word, absolution, baptism, and the Lord's Supper. Holiness is not a personal pursuit to avoid purgatory or perform miracles. The holy saints are those set apart by God through the gospel and the means of grace. Sainthood and holiness are hidden: both reside in ordinary life and God's means of grace.
The Lives of the Saints Are Ordinary
The lives of the saints are hidden in the community of believers who gather together as a church. Holiness is being set apart by God for a particular purpose. But that purpose is not a novel public life. Instead, it is an ordinary and common reality shared by all Christians as saints; it is the preaching of God's Word and the administration of his sacraments by the church. As Paul teaches in Ephesians, "And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds, and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ" (Eph. 4:11-13). In the church, saints gather together to call a pastor to be their preacher, and they live life together to maintain the proclamation of the gospel.For this reason, Luther teaches, "Everything, therefore, in the Christian Church is ordered toward this goal: we shall daily receive in the Church nothing but the forgiveness of sin through the Word and Sacraments." (The Large Catechism)
Saints are those who hear the gospel, believe it, and gather in Christ's name to receive his gifts. Their lives are marked by ordinary faithfulness like raising children, confessing sins, singing hymns, forgiving enemies, and clinging to Christ in the midst of suffering. The holiness of the saints is not flashy. It is hidden in baptismal water, the pastor's absolution, the body and blood of Christ, and the gathering of sinners around a crucified and risen Lord.
Luther writes: "In this Christian Church, He daily and richly forgives all my sins and the sins of all believers." (SC, Creed, Third Article) The "daily and rich" forgiveness is not just for the special few but for all believers. This is the core of what it means to be a saint.
Gratitude for the Saints Who Came Before
God's saints are hiding in plain sight.
While we reject the idea of saints as moral celebrities, we do give thanks to those who came before us in the faith. We remember the saints of past generations not because of their exclusive excellence but because they were instruments through whom the gospel reached us. They were pastors, teachers, and parents, faithful not because of their cooperative power and strength but because God worked through them in the proclamation of the gospel.
God's saints are hiding in plain sight. Look around your home and your congregation. Look at the one who comes to church burdened by guilt but eager for absolution. Look at the child baptized into Christ's name. Look at the grandmother praying for her grandchildren. Look in the mirror, and remember your baptism. You are a saint not because you look like one on the outside but because the Holy Spirit has called and redeemed you through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
