Theological Term of the Week

saints
The body of Christ; all believers worldwide, both living and dead.

• From scripture:

And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building upthe body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, (Ephesians 4:11-13, ESV)

• From the Second Helvetic Confession:

Chapter 17

What Is the Church? The Church is an assembly of the faithful called or gathered out of the world; a communion, I say, of all saints, namely, of those who truly know and rightly worship and serve the true God in Christ the Savior, by the Word and Holy Spirit, and who by faith are partakers of all benefits which are freely offered through Christ.

Learn more:

1. Got Questions.org: What are Christian saints according to the Bible?
2. Theopedia: Saint
3. Baker’s Evangelical Dictionary of Theology: Saints

Related terms:

• invisible church
• priesthood of all believers
• sanctification

Filed under Ecclesiology

Do you have a a theological term you’d like to see featured here as a Theological Term of the Week? If you email it to me, I’ll seriously consider using it, giving you credit for the suggestion and linking back to your blog when I do.

Clicking on the Theological Term graphic at the top of this post will take you to a list of all the previous theological terms in alphabetical order.