We make a terrible mistake with the apostles. We treat them as if they were some special category of saint, as if the word meant something different when applied to them than it does for the rest of God's children. But listen: everyone whom God has called by his grace and sanctified by his Spirit is a saint. Everyone. Yet we look at Paul and Peter and John as if they were superhuman, barely touched by the same weaknesses and temptations that drag us down.

But here's what we forget: the closer someone walks with God, the more intensely they mourn over their own evil heart. The more the Master honors them in service, the more the flesh vexes and teases them, day after day. You want to know the truth? If you had met Paul face to face, you would have been shocked at how ordinary he seemed. If you had sat down with him, you would have said, "His experience and mine are much the same." Oh, he was more faithful, more holy, more deeply taught in the ways of God. But he faced the selfsame trials. In fact, in some respects he was more sorely tried than we are.

So stop it. Stop looking at the ancient saints as if they never struggled with infirmities or sins. Stop giving them that mystical reverence that almost makes us idolaters. Their holiness is attainable even by us. You are "called to be saints" by that same voice that constrained them to their high vocation. The same voice!

It is a Christian's duty to force your way into the inner circle of saintship. And yes, these saints were superior to us in their attainments. So what should we do? Follow them! Emulate their ardor and holiness. We have the same light they had. The same grace is accessible to us right now. So why should we rest satisfied until we have equaled them in heavenly character?

They lived with Jesus. They lived for Jesus. Therefore they grew like Jesus. Live by the same Spirit as they did, "looking unto Jesus," and our saintship will soon be apparent.