Proverbs 2:8: Saint Paul Lytle the Handsome

“guarding the paths of justice and watching over the way of his saints.”
-Proverbs 2:8

Is there a patron saint of blogs? Sadly, I would be half surprised if there were not. I was going through some of the Roman Catholic Saints once because I needed one for a book I was writing. The book was set in medieval times, and I needed a saint’s name to use as a location. There were so many I eventually had to find a list of strictly medieval saints just to get a handle on things.

But actually, that list is remarkably short, since there have been countless saints that have not been acknowledged by the Roman Church.

Like me, for one.

Seriously. I think I may start writing not as “Paul Lytle,” but as “Saint Paul Lytle.” Maybe I could put a cool title on the end too to distinguish me. “Saint Paul Lytle the Younger.” “Saint Paul Lytle the Proverbs-Guy.”

When we start talking about saints, we sometimes run into trouble. I love tradition, but this is one of those times when tradition has really messed it up. So when I saw that this verse was talking about the saints, I knew I needed to clarify some stuff right away.

A saint is not someone who was a great person, who died and was “inducted” by a church, and then who did some miracles like appear in a loaf of bread. No, that’s not what the Bible says a saint is. A saint is a Christian.

Take a look, for example, at Jude 1:3: “Beloved, although I was very eager to write to you about our common salvation, I found it necessary to write appealing to you to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints.”

Hebrews 13:24: “Greet all your leaders and all the saints. Those who come from Italy send you greetings.”

You’ll notice, for one, that the saints aren’t dead. Huh. You’ll also notice that all Christians seem to be lumped into that category. I cannot go into every mention of the word saint in the Bible, but do a search. You’ll find that the word “saint” means “Christian.”

But wait, you are saying. Isn’t a saint someone who’s really holy? Who’s blameless? Who’s got a direct line to God?

Yes. Those are Christians.

The Greek word for saint is hagios. It means pretty much that. Someone who is pure, holy, blameless. The Hebrew word means pretty much the same thing.

That’s us.

You see, everyone has sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. Everyone has. Our pride, selfishness, lust, and ambition have separated us from the perfect holiness of God. In this way, there is no one we can call a saint.

But then Jesus came. He is the Son of God, and He came as a man to guide us. He died on the Cross, and in that death He took on our sins and paid the price we should have paid.

And in so doing, He has given us His righteousness. “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1). Because He took our sins, we are now blameless before God. We are saints. And as saints, we have eternal life.

Do you believe that? If you have not repented of your sins to God and ask His forgiveness, I ask you to do so. Ask Him to take Jesus’ sacrifice for your sins. Repent and follow Him.

Think of baptism as the canonization process.