in the King James “New Testament” the Greek word for “saint” is hágios. The same is also true of the word “Holy” in the expression “Holy Ghost.” Christians are therefore holy ones, set apart for God’s service.

It is Jehovah God who makes holy or sets apart the Christian, even as Christ testified regarding himself: “Do you say to me whom the Father sanctified and dispatched into the world, ‘You blaspheme,’ because I said, I am God’s Son?” (John 10:36, NW) In the case of Christ’s followers God does this by Christ Jesus: “Both he who is sanctifying and those who are being sanctified all stem from one.”—Heb. 2:11, NW.

These sanctified ones or “saints” are not limited to a miracle-working few, but include all the spiritual body of Christ. Thus Paul repeatedly addresses his letters to the sanctified ones, called to be “saints” or holy ones.—See Romans 1:7; 1 Corinthians 1:2; Ephesians 1:1; Philippians 1:1; Colossians 1:2.

On what basis does Jehovah God sanctify these? On the basis of Christ’s ransom sacrifice: “We have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all time.” “Hence Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered.” (Heb. 10:10, 29; 13:12, NW) God’s Word of truth also plays a vital role in the work of setting these apart for God’s service. That is why Christ prayed: “Sanctify them by means of the truth; your word is truth.” (John 17:17, NW) Additionally God’s active force or power at work is needed, and so we read that Christians are “sanctified with holy spirit.”—Rom. 15:16, NW.

Jehovah God and Christ Jesus do their part of sanctifying the Christian by means of Christ’s blood, the truth of God’s Word and the holy spirit. But there will be no resultant sanctification unless the Christian also does his part. He must first of all exercise faith, for we are told that Christians are “sanctified by their faith in” Christ; by their “faith in the truth.”—Acts 26:18; 2 Thess. 2:13, NW.

Further, the Christian must also separate himself from the unclean world; not by entering a monastery or convent, but by not spotting himself with this world’s greedy commerce, its corrupt politics, its false religions. (Jas. 1:27;1 John 2:15-17, NW) And he must also keep himself morally clean, as Paul emphasized in his letters to the Thessalonians and to Timothy: “For this is what God wills, the sanctifying of you, that you abstain from fornication; that each one of you should know how to get possession of his own vessel in sanctification and honor, not in covetous sexual appetite.” “Be a vessel for an honorable purpose, sanctified, useful to his owner, prepared for every good work. So, flee from the desires incidental to youth, but pursue righteousness, faith, love, peace, along with those who call upon the Lord out of a clean heart.”—1 Thess. 4:3-5; 2 Tim. 2:21, 22, NW.

The foregoing words of Paul also give us the purpose of sanctification, namely, to be an instrument useful to God, prepared to do his work. Yes, while keeping clean along such lines is the requirement of all, it is especially incumbent upon Christians to cleanse themselves, for they have the privilege and responsibility of bearing the vessels of Jehovah, the truths of God’s Word and the privileges of service that go with the understanding of them.—Isa. 52:11.

Sanctification primarily concerns those Christians who have a heavenly hope, those who, because of their faith and dedication to do God’s will in the “acceptable season,” have been declared righteous by Jehovah God and given a heavenly hope. (Rom. 5:1; 2 Cor. 6:2, NW) They are referred to as a “little flock”; as “the bride, the Lamb’s wife”; as of “Abraham’s seed,” which is to bless all the families of the earth. (Gen. 22:17, 18; Luke 12:32; Gal. 3:29; Rev. 21:9, NW) They are called a little flock, for their number is limited to 144,000, as Revelation 7:4-8 and Re 14:1, 3 clearly show. It is only to these that Paul’s words are directed: “Pursue peace with all people, and the sanctification without which no man will see the Lord.”—Heb. 12:14, NW.

However, the Bible also shows that there are “other sheep,” a “great crowd” of dedicated Christians who have an earthly hope. (John 10:16; Rev. 7:9-17) An earthly hope? Yes, for God’s Word assures us that the earth abides forever and was created to be inhabited; that it is the place of God’s feet and that he will make it glorious. (Eccl. 1:4; Isa. 45:18; 60:13; 66:1) In that glorious new earth men will build houses and inhabit them, plant vineyards and eat the fruit of them; men will be at peace with one another and with the lower animals; and gradually death and all its concomitants of sickness, sorrow and pain will be done away with.—Isa. 65:17-25; Rev. 21:4.

In the days of Israel’s typical theocracy, God had one law for the homeborn and the stranger in a great number of things. The same is true today, in a number of respects God has one law for his spiritual Israel and the “strangers,” the Christians who have dedicated themselves to Jehovah God but who have an earthly hope. Though not strictly considered as sanctified ones or “saints,” these nevertheless are benefited by Christ’s ransom sacrifice at the present time, have the truth of God’s Word and receive of his active force or holy spirit. They also must exercise faith, keep themselves separate from the world and morally clean as they serve as God’s instruments to make his truths known to others.

Principle Ignored 800 Years

The Biblical principle condemning the honoring of a man because of wealth and position is stated by James: “For if there shall come into your assembly a man having a golden ring, in fine apparel; and there shall come in also a poor man in mean attire: and you have respect to him that is clothed with the fine apparel and shall say to him: Sit thou here well; but say to the poor man: Stand thou there, or: Sit under my footstool: do you not judge within yourselves, and are become judges of unjust thoughts. Hearken, my dearest brethren: Hath not God chosen the poor in this world, rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom which God hath promised to them that love him?”—Jas. 2:2-5, Catholic Douay Version.

The Knights of Malta do not believe that. Time magazine reported, April 20: “The Knights of Malta . . . after their emergence during the 12th century as a crusading order of warrior-clerics . . . built up strong dynasties in Palestine, Rhodes and Malta successively. . . . Membership in the order, for all except the lowest category, has been restricted to men of noble blood.” In April “the Vatican, after making a long study of the Knights and their modern works decided that . . . the higher degrees of Knights need no longer be of noble birth.”

Was this so they would conform at last to the Christian principle stated at Galatians 3:28 that there would be neither Jew nor Greek, bond nor free, male nor female divisions severing the Christian congregation? Oh, no! That was not mentioned at all. Money was involved. Rich Americans and prominent men elsewhere who had no claim to royalty had been excluded from the higher orders of the Knights. Time explained that a Vatican official had said: “Had it continued to exclude blood other than blue blood, [the order] would have been bound to extinction.” If it holds to this principle God will extinguish it anyway, its financial situation notwithstanding.