“…the communion of saints”

In contrast to the bizarre teaching of Rome about saints and sainthood, the Creed is echoing the ubiquitous New Testament language used to describe the people of God. “To all those in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints” (Rom. 1:7). It is worth noting the way “loved by God” and “called to be saints” are parallel with one another. All those whom God loves are also saints. Perhaps most encouraging of all is the way Paul speaks to the church at Corinth, “To the church of God that is in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints together with all those who in every place call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, both their Lord and ours “ (1 Cor. 1:2). As you know, the Corinthians were the least likely to find themselves on the shortlist list to sainthood! However, since sainthood depends upon being “sanctified in Christ Jesus” and “called” by God it is dependent upon his work and his doing and not our own. Therefore, note two things. First, the Roman Catholic notion of saints and sainthood is a myth and should offend anyone who has heard read or read the Bible. Second, when we confess this about saints we are confessing that we have communion with Christians, that’s all.

…the Corinthians were the least likely to find themselves on the shortlist list to sainthood!

Our communion with Christians is another way of speaking of our unity and the bond we have with the people of God, a unity and bond that extends beyond our geographical location as well as our station in history. Thus, by this confession we express our commitment to the church as God’s people and our horizontal relationship with the individual members. We confess that we are not going at this alone, but together. We confess that what we do as Christians we always do as members of the body. Even the most sacred and sinful acts we commit are done as members of the community. When we pray alone we pray as members of the body. When we read the Scriptures alone we read them as members of the body, influenced and shaped by two thousand years of instruction and tradition. Prayer and Bible reading were never meant to be done in isolation. Individually, yes; isolation, no. Similarly, even when we sin we sin as members of the body. As Simon Chan says,

…every sin committed, however, private, is not just my sin against God but also my sin against the church. The one who has an infection is infected as a member of the body. For the Christian, there are no strictly private sins. The only private sins are committed by heathens and heretics, the only two groups of people who are not “in Christ.” One is not yet, the other will not (Spiritual Theology, 121-22).

The implications of this confession are as practical as they are many. As communing members of Christ’s body we serve one another, fellowship with one another, encourage one another and know and are known by one another. We are in this together. Thank you, Lord, for the church.