What Is a Saint - Who Can Be a Saint?
Who determines sainthood; does God or man? Many people throughout history have been given the illustrious title of saint: Saint Peter the apostle, Saint Nicholas (i.e. Santa Claus), Saint John the apostle, Saint Bernard of Clairvaux, Saint Augustine of Hippo, Saint Patrick of Ireland. Mother Teresa (1910-1997) was canonized as a Saint by the Roman Catholic Church on September 4, 2016 – nineteen years after her death. The word saint is the Greek word hagios. Saint is connected to the word holy. A saint is one that is holy, sanctified and separated to God. A saint is anyone who is a Christian (Eph 1:1; Jude 3; Rev 13:7) or in the Old Testament those whom God chose as His own (Psalm 116:15; Dan 7:22,25). A saint is a position that God confers upon those He saves. Jude 1:14b says the Lord comes with ten thousand of His saints. The New International Version (NIV) uses the words holy ones instead of saints. Both versions are correct. Contrary to popular belief, sainthood is conferred