As Paul takes up the pen and plunges it into his inkwell, he likewise plunges at once into the midst of a great and profound truth. Here right in his salutation, the apostle cannot even address the Ephesians without an extraordinary description and definition of what it means to be a Christian. Beginning with his own calling by the will of God, Paul addresses the saints of God. What is a saint? We must shed once and for all the false dichotomy that Roman Catholicism has introduced on this matter. In addressing saints, this does not mean that Paul is addressing an exceptionally holy group within the church, but he addresses ordinary church members, calling them “saints.” We must not be afraid of this designation; we are no more and no less than “saints;” this term is the irreducible minimum of what constitutes a Christian. You cannot be a Christian without being a saint, and you cannot be a saint without being a Christian.
The first thing he means by the designation saint, is that we are set apart by God. We are taken out of the world and granted a uniqueness by God; we become His peculiar possession. He is cleansed from the pollution of his sin – that which pollutes his mind, heart and actions. The saint is man like any other man, yet he is very different. Are you truly separated, essentially different from the world? Are you a saint?
