The Festival of All Saints

November 5, 2023 —

Usually when people think of saints, they think of famous people in the Bible, mainly from the New Testament, that have had churches named after them. St. Matthew, St. Mark, St. Luke, St. John. Those are the “Four Evangelists” who wrote the four Gospels about the life of Jesus. Other apostles have churches named after them too, especially St. Paul.

But the Bible definition of a “saint” is “a person who has been declared righteous by God,” and according to Scripture, that applies to everyone who believes in Jesus as Saviour. That means you are included in that number as a Christian believer.

On All Saints Sunday, we think especially of those believers who have already gone ahead of us into glory, who are gathered around the throne of God in heavenly Jerusalem. They have not only been declared righteous, they have now become righteous and holy.

Scripture tells us to remember their example of faith and imitate them in life, so that we can join them in eternity—and that’s what we do on this special Christian holiday.