We believers in Christ are saints of God, those who have been separated and made holy unto God, for we have been sanctified with His redeeming blood positionally and we are being sanctified with His holy nature dispositionally day by day so that we may be holy even as He is holy.
Lord Jesus, thank You for sanctifying us with Your redeeming blood. Hallelujah, we believers in Christ are saints of God, for we are the called saints! Amen, Lord, thank You that You didn’t call us to be saints, that is, to try to be holy, but You made us the called saints! We open to You, Lord, and we allow You to sanctify us. Sanctify us with Your life and nature to make us as holy as You are. Have a way to separate us unto God and to saturate us with God more today! Amen!
How wonderful it is to look at God’s word and see what we are as believers in Christ; we are not merely Christians or those saved by grace, but we are disciples of Christ, believers in Christ, saints of God, and Christians! Praise the Lord! As believers in Christ, we live by faith; we have life and live by faith.
The faith we have is not our own; we don’t build up faith nor do we manufacture it but rather, we hear something about Christ, we are filled with appreciation for Him, and He comes into us to be our faith.
Our faith is the faith of Jesus Christ, for He loved us and gave Himself up for us, and He infuses us with the faith for us to believe into Him. We are now branches in Christ the vine; through faith in Him, we have been grafted into Him, and His rich life is flowing in us to fill us and bear fruit in us.
He is the Head of the Body and we are the many members of the Body of Christ. The relationship we have with the Lord is not merely one of a Master with a servant, but that of organic union, as intimate as the body is related to the head.
We grow up into Christ in all things, and out of Him we gain the growth and also function, according to our measure.
We come to the Lord in His word to eat Him as the bread of life and the living bread, and we drink Him as the water of life. As we call on the name of the Lord, we breathe Him in, for He is our very breath, the breath of life.
He is our wonderful Lord Jesus, our Head, our life, and our everything, and we believe into Him. By faith in Christ, we partake of all that He is, for He infuses us with all His riches, and in the organic union with Him, we live by faith, the faith of the Son of God. Hallelujah!
We Believers in Christ are Saints of God, the Called Saints, who have been Separated and Made Holy unto God
Another designation that we see assigned to us as believers in Christ is saints, even the called saints, the saints of God (Rom. 1:7; 1 Cor. 1:2, 30; cf. Num. 6:1-9). What are we? We are saints of God, those who have been separated and made holy unto God.
This term, saints, has been very much spoiled and misunderstood to the extent that some think that only some very spiritual or holy Christians, after their death, may be called saints. However, the Bible calls us saints, the saints of God; what we are is saints of God, those who are being sanctified.
We are those who have been separated unto God and who are in the process of being made holy unto God. We are not called to be saints; we are the called saints. Hallelujah! This is a positional matter, a sanctification in position with a view to sanctification in disposition.
The church of God in 1 Corinthians 1:2 is in apposition to those who have been sanctified in Christ Jesus. The church of God today is composed of the called saints, the saints of God, those who have been sanctified in Christ Jesus.
This shows us that we believers in Christ are saints of God, and the saints of God, the called saints, are the components of the church.
We need the Lord’s light to shine on this matter so that we may see that, as believers in Christ, we are saints of God.
On the one hand, we are positionally saints of God, being separated unto God, and on the other hand, we are being sanctified in our very nature. We can testify that, after becoming a Christian, we began to be different.
To be saints of God means that we are separated from anything and anyone common unto God. When the Lord had mercy on us and saved us, we began to realise that we are not like those around us.
Not that we were better than them or “holier than thou” but rather, we have something of God’s element in us which makes us holy, sanctified unto God.
Even those around us realise that we are different, not in a weird sense but in a sense that we’re distinct from them. We no longer join them in their worldly events and things, and we do not delight in their gossip and banter.
Sometimes a workmate may even respond to us, as we tell them that we are Christian, that they thought so, for there was something different about us.
We are called saints, for we are saints of God, and wherever we are, whether we do this or that, we are sanctified unto God.
First, God sanctified us in Christ Jesus by redeeming us through His precious blood shed for us on the cross. When we see the Lord’s redeeming work, we repent, believe into Him, and accept His redemption.
This causes us to receive a new element, the element of God, which is holy! Then, as we live our Christian life, without us trying to express something or do something to show others that we are saints of God, we simply are living a sanctified life.
We come to the Lord in His word, we read and pray His word, we are sanctified in His word, and we live a holy life. We are sanctified both positionally and dispositionally.
If we do not cooperate with the Lord, however, by opening to Him and allow Him to sanctify us in our very disposition, we will live, behave, and do things just like the people in the world.
But as we remain under the Lord’s sanctifying work, by the washing of the water in the Word (Eph. 5:26), we are being sanctified and made holy, even as He is holy to express Him.
The God of peace Himself sanctifies us wholly, and our spirit and soul and body are being preserved complete, without blame, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ (1 Thes. 5:23-24).
Faithful is He who called us, for He will also do it! As long as we cooperate with Him, He sanctifies us more and more until we are fully like Him!
Lord Jesus, thank You for sanctifying us in Christ Jesus to be the called saints! Hallelujah, we believers in Christ are saints of God, the called saints! Amen, Lord, we love You, we believe into You, and we open to Your sanctifying work! Thank You for first sanctifying us in Christ by His redeeming blood on the cross to make us holy. We open to Your daily sanctification so that You may make us holy even as You are holy. Keep us in Your sanctifying word day by day. Wash us by the water in the Word and grant us to be sanctified in our very nature. May we live a holy life in the church life today by remaining under the Lord’s sanctifying work! Oh Lord Jesus, may we realise that we are saints of God, those called saints, who compose the church of God! Keep us calling on Your name and pray-reading Your word so that we may be daily sanctified in our very disposition! May we be those set apart unto the Lord, not participating in the same flood of dissoluteness as the rest, by being in the Lord’s sanctifying word day by day! Amen!
We have been Sanctified with Christ’s Redeeming Blood Positionally and we are being Sanctified with His Holy Nature by His Spirit Dispositionally
Only God is holy; holiness is His very nature. How can we be holy, if only God is holy? Holiness is just God Himself, and God is embodied in Christ. In Christ, we are holy; by faith in Christ, we are being made holy. We are the called saints, the saints of God by being in Christ.
When we believe into the Lord Jesus as we see the Lord’s redemption, we are organically joined to Christ to be one spirit with Him.
Now that we are in Christ, He is the sphere and element of holiness; we are now being sanctified in Christ, being made holy even as God is holy.
There are two main aspects of sanctification: first, we have been sanctified with Christ’s redeeming blood positionally (Heb. 13:11-12), and now we are being sanctified with His holy nature dispositionally (2 Thes. 2:13; Heb. 2:10-11; 1 Cor. 6:11; Eph. 5:26; 1 Thes. 5:23-24).
God cannot make sinners holy without first having redemption accomplished. Christ came as the perfect God-man, the Lamb of God without spot or blemish, and He suffered the death of the cross outside the gate.
He brought His blood into the Holy of Holies for our sanctification and made propitiation for us before God. In the book of Hebrews, we see how God’s heavenly calling is to make us a heavenly people (3:1), a people sanctified unto God.
The One who sanctifies is Christ (2:11). He suffered the death of the cross; He shed His blood on the cross and entered into the Holy of Holies with His blood (9:12) so that He may be able to do the sanctifying work by His heavenly ministry (8:2, 6) of His heavenly priesthood (7:26).
This is what He did before God even before we were born. Now we can enter within the veil (6:19) by His blood to participate in Him as the heavenly Sanctifier.
By faith in Christ, the blood of Christ sanctifies us positionally. Thank the Lord for His redeeming blood which sanctifies us positionally, giving us the position to come forward to God, even to enter into the Holy of Holies through the blood!
Now we can come as we are, apply the Lord’s blood, and enter into God to be sanctified, made holy, even as He is holy. This is on the positional side, and we receive it and apply it by faith.
Now as saints, we are being sanctified in our disposition by the Holy Spirit with God’s holy nature. Even though God made us holy in Christ in position, our disposition is still not holy.
As we go on with the Lord, we realise how unholy we are, for there are many aspects of our being and our living that are not according to God’s holiness.
The Holy Spirit is working in us and around us to change our disposition by causing it to be mingled with the holy disposition of God. Hallelujah, we are being subjectively sanctified!
This is a lifelong process that the Holy Spirit takes us through. We begin with regeneration (1 Pet. 1:2-3; Titus 3:5), and our whole Christian life is a lifelong process of being sanctified (1 Thes. 4:3; Heb. 12:14; Eph. 5:26).
The completion of this process of dispositional sanctification is at the time of rapture, at the maturity of life (1 Thes. 5:23). As we see in 2 Thessalonians 2:13, the salvation unto which we were chosen by God is salvation and sanctification of the Spirit.
While the Holy Spirit is sanctifying us, God is saving us; our being saved is in the sanctification of the Spirit.
This is the inward metabolic process of transformation; by this we are being thoroughly saved from all old and negative things and we are made a new creation to obtain the Lord’s glory.
May we daily cooperate with the dispositional sanctification of the Spirit so that we may be in reality and practicality saints of God, the called saints.
On His side, the Holy Spirit has been commissioned to sanctify us; He has been given to us to complete the work of sanctification.
On our side, we have such a practical, living, and subjective Sanctifier in us, and we need to cooperate with Him.
We need to be in His sanctifying word, for His word is the truth, and the truth sanctifies us (John 17:17). As we read the Bible with the exercise of our spirit, we are being sanctified.
Christ washes us in the Word to sanctify us by removing any spots, wrinkles, and any such things, so that we may be holy and without blemish before Him in love.
However, He needs our cooperation; we need to come to Him. We need to be in His word. We need to be in the meetings of the church.
The word of God has sanctifying power, and we place ourselves under the washing of the water in the Word through the hearing of faith to be made holy even as He is holy. Amen!
Lord Jesus, thank You for sanctifying us with Your redeeming blood. Thank You for being the Sanctifier. Thank You for suffering the death of the cross, shedding Your blood on it, and entering the Holy of Holies with Your blood to do a sanctifying work by Your heavenly ministry! Hallelujah, by faith in Christ we are washed and cleansed from every sin and we are sanctified positionally! Praise the Lord, now we can enter into the Holy of Holies in God’s presence through the Lord’s blood. Amen, Lord, we open to You today. We come to You in Your word to be sanctified in the truth, for Your word is the truth. Have a way to change us in our disposition by mingling us with God’s holy disposition. Sanctify us wholly in our spirit, soul, body. Save us much more today by sanctifying us as the Holy Spirit. Remove anything of the old and add Your holy and new element. Amen, Lord, keep us daily in Your sanctifying work until we are made holy even as God is holy. Praise the Lord, the Spirit has been commissioned to sanctify us, and we are daily under the Lord’s sanctification as the Spirit! Amen!
References and Hymns on this Topic
- Inspiration for this article/sharing comes from the Word of God, the enjoyment in the ministry, a sharing by brother Ricky Acosta on this topic, and portions from, The Conclusion of the New Testament, msg. 106, by Witness Lee, as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, The Believers (1) (2026 July Semi-Annual Training), week 1, “Disciples, Believers, Saints, and Christians” – day 5.
- Hymns on this topic:
– Church of God, beloved and chosen, / Church of Christ for whom He died, / Claim thy gifts and praise the Giver, / Ye are washed and sanctified. / Sanctified by God the Father, / And by Jesus Christ His Son, / And by God the Holy Spirit, / Holy, Holy, Three in One. (Hymns #825 stanza 1)
– Oh, sanctify us, Lord; now add Thyself to us, / In our experience, Thy Person spread in us, / That in reality the church be glorious, / O Lord, do add Thyself, we pray. / Oh, sanctify us, Lord, today; / Lord Jesus, You’re the only way. / We take Your Person, Lord; / Oh, spread Yourself abroad. / Oh, sanctify us, Lord, today. (Hymns #1135 stanza 1 and chorus)
– We’re children of the day, / We’re children of the light; / That day should never come to us / As does a thief at night. / Lord, wholly sanctify / And blameless let us be / In spirit, soul, and body too / For that blest day with Thee. (Hymns #1306 stanzas 6-7)
