Saints

[l'Chante]

What are saints?
How does one obtain the status of ‘Saint�
Are they prayed to?
What is their function?

 

[Forgiven83]

By the Bible standards saints, are any person who believes and trust Christ as Saviour. (I Corinthians 1:2; II Corinthians 1:1; Ephesians 1:1; Philippians 1:1)
Acroymn for this is:
Sinner
Accepting
Immanuel
New
Testament
Sacrifice

The Roman Catholic Church and Eastern Orthodox Church have a different definition if I understand right.

 

[TRUTH over TRADITION]

What are saints?
How does one obtain the status of ‘Saint�
Are they prayed to?
What is their function?

Do you want the answer from the standpoint of the scriptural description or the church's definition as the two differ quite substantially?

 

[TRUTH over TRADITION]

The word translated as saint in scripture is the Greek word "hagios" which means “consecrated to God, holy, sacred, pious." Some translations rather than translating the term as 'saints', instead translate it as Holy Ones. The idea of the word “saint†is that a person has been set apart for the Lord and His kingdom. So a saint according to scripture is a person who has been sanctified (set apart for use) by the Holy Spirit of the Lord having been cleansed by the blood of Jesus. Here are some scriptural references:
2Th 2:13, 1Pe 1:2, Eph 5:26, Rom 12:1-2

It seems that the scriptures indicate that one became a saint when one received the gift of God's Holy Breath (Spirit) which acted as a "seal" of sorts marking those as sanctiified. (see Eph. 1:13 ; 2Cor 1:21 & Rev 9:4)

 

[l'Chante]

Thanks for the responses.

I was actually looking at a particularly beautiful St Christopher pendant the other day when I wondered what saints were all about. I'm familiar with the St Christopher legend, but I'm uncomfortable with buying it. It's kind of like seeing a beautiful pentagram pendant. I don't want to wear something that I don't feel comfortable with - mainly because I don't know what it represents. Can you maybe give me a little insight if you know?