How to be a saint by character does not mean you are a person a religious organization officially recognizes as being holy or worthy. Saints by character are unique people for they are the sons of God, as in Christ all true believers are sons or children of God, Galatians 3:26.

Instant Christianity

Many people accept salvation through Christ as a one-off experience, then go on living life their own way. They give little thought to their spiritual growth.

Hundreds of thousands accepted Christ as their Saviour in the global Billy Graham crusades. How many of those 3.2 million people continued until they became saints by character, and were not just a name on a commitment card that said they had made an emotional decision for Christ?

Many others had their life impacted by Christian revivals across the centuries. Unless those people pressed on to the goal of their high calling of God in Christ Jesus, Philippians 3:10-14, their spiritual experience had as much substance as a MacDonalds hamburger.

Growth

The spiritual life is a way of life, just as a baby is born in the natural. That child has all the potential of an adult, but it takes nourishment, exercise and nurture to develop. First the baby learns to talk and walk before embarking on an academic journey, making choices all along the way.

Some succeed, but very few reach their full potential. Everyone makes mistakes and gets side-tracked along the way. However, if they are courageous and patient, never quitting, they will achieve some of their potential.

No one can remain as a newborn baby, for the law of development runs through all creation. Like the ever-expanding universe, the true follower of Christ knows no limitation.

Remaining as a Baby

It is the same in the spiritual world. Many people decide to remain as Christian babes, preferring only the milk of the Word of God. They choose not to progress onto the solid meat of the Word of God, Hebrews 5:14.

They think that accepting the free gift of salvation is all that is required of them. However, one emotional act does not create a saint of character. It’s all about a Christ-filled life, for life on this planet is where we are prepared for the glorious life to come.

Never Satisfied

A person must strive in the natural to be all that God intended them to be, and it is the same in the spiritual realm. Paul wrote, Not that I have obtained or have already become perfect, but I press on so that I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Jesus Christ, Forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus, Philippians 3:12-14.

The saint by character is never satisfied for he knows that however much he attains there is much more to understand. There is always more to discover in God and new horizons to reach, that is why the Bible is called the Living Word.

Spiritual growth is a life-time task, for things which eye has not seen and ear has not heard and which have not entered the heart of man, all that God has prepared for those who love Him, 1 Corinthians 2:9.

Commitment

Saints by character are those who take their commitment to Christ very seriously. Like Paul on the road to Damascus, Acts 9, the salvation experience turns them around. They are truly born again of the Spirit of God, John 3:7.

They exhibit the qualities of Jesus Christ, with moral and spiritual integrity that sets them apart and makes them unique. Compassion, selflessness, humility, forgiveness, peace, courage, devotion, and patience, are to name just a few characteristics of how to be a saint of character. To that you need to add wisdom and insight, gratefulness and joy. Their lives are examples to others as they strive to uplift, act with integrity and set their minds on heavenly things, not earthly things, Colossians 3:2.

Performing religious acts do not create saints by character. Hundreds go to a church service on a Sunday, yet Monday morning they just live their old life. True saints of character do not belong to this world for they live contrary to the ways of the world, John 17:16. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him, 1 John 2:15. Whoever wishes to be a friend of the world, makes himself an enemy of God, James 4:2.

Holiness

Being a saint by character does not make a person holy. All men are born sinners, apart from Jesus Christ who was without sin for He was total God and total man. He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him, 2 Corinthians 5:23.

God chose to redeem fallen man by sending the Lamb that was slain before the foundation of the world, Revelation 13:8. He died in our place and took our just punishment, that we might be given the Way back in to fellowship with a holy God, John 14:6. A relationship that is even better than what Adam had in the Garden of Eden for God indwells the believer who is the Temple of the Holy Spirit, John 14:23.

Relationship

How to be a saint of character is all about the mortal having an intimate relationship with the immortal, Almighty, I Am that I Am, Exodus 3:3. This is like trying to say that cold and hot water can live together and each retain its own identity. In the natural this is not possible. However, as the mortal fellowships with the immortal, the mortal is changed into a new creature, 2 Corinthians 5:17.

Just as the moon reflects the light of the sun, so the saint of character reflects the nature of a holy, just, loving and eternal God. That in turn affects those around them.

Authority

Saints of character are to operate in the authority given to them through Christ, with power to overcome darkness and all things evil, plus the ability to defeat Satan, James 4:7. They are sons and heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, Romans 8:17. All that Christ is, they are, because He died and rose again and is seated at the right hand of God, Hebrews 1:3,4.

That authority emanates not from themselves, but from Christ, through the Holy Spirit, Ephesians 3:20. Yet, they are to have the heart of a servant, for they are servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God, 1 Corinthians 4:1.

The saint of character knows he belongs to a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation. He is a people for God’s own possession, 1 Peter 2:9.

How to be a Saint by Character

Being a saint by character is a privilege that brings its own peculiar joy, for it makes the Christian unique and the greatest treasure on earth. They are the Bride of Christ who is more precious than jewels, and nothing you desire compares with her, Proverbs 3:15. How to be a saint of character is to have faith in God and grow to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ, Ephesians 4:13.

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