A biblical saint is not a sinless person with a halo, but a believer whom God declares righteous through faith and on whose account He imputes His righteousness.
Les Feldick teaches that the standing of a saint comes from God's work, not human merit. The moment a person believes the gospel, God justifies him freely (Clip1), sanctifies him as part of salvation (Clip4), and imputes His righteousness to his account (Clips5,7). This is what makes someone a saint in the biblical sense.
Romans 4:3 — It gives the clearest biblical example in Les's teaching of how a person is made righteous: Abraham believed God and it was counted to him for righteousness, with nothing else added.
Ephesians 2:8-10 — It shows that salvation is by grace through faith, not works, and that the believer becomes God's workmanship—both truths are central to Les's description of a saint's standing.
Scripture shows that a person's standing before God is not built on human perfection. In Romans 4:3, the Bible records that 'Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness.' Romans 3:24 says that the one who believes is 'justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.' Romans 5:1 adds, 'Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.' Ephesians 2:8-10 says, 'For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.' And Romans 8:1 concludes that 'there is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus.' Together these passages describe a person who is not sinless in himself, but who has been graciously justified, forgiven, and made a new creation by God.
Les defines faith in simple terms: 'It's just simply taking God at His Word, believing what He said' (Clip3). He then explains that justification is 'that judicial act of God where the sovereign God in all of His holiness and righteousness, the moment He sees the sinner believe the gospel, then God declares him justified, just as if he had never sinned' (Clips3,6). In Clip5, Les says God has 'imputed His righteousness to our account' as a result of faith, and then God makes the believer a new person—'we are His workmanship.' Les also directly dismantles the popular picture of a saint. In Clip4 he says, 'You're not going to look in the mirror and see a halo around your head. You're not going to sprout wings.' Instead, he lists what God actually does at the moment of belief: 'He forgives us. He justifies us. He sanctifies us. He glorifies us.' This is why, for Les, a saint is not a super-spiritual achiever, but a believer who rests entirely on what God has done—just as Abraham did in Romans 4:3.
Les directly challenges that image in Clip4: 'You're not going to look in the mirror and see a halo around your head. You're not going to sprout wings.' He says the believer doesn't need to feel or see anything, because salvation is what God has done, not what the person has achieved. Justification, he adds, is God declaring the guilty sinner 'just as if he had never sinned' (Clips3,6). So a saint is a person God has declared righteous, not a person who never sinned.
For Les, the answer is simple: the same way Abraham did. In Clip7, he points to Romans 4:3: 'Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness.' The moment a person believes the gospel, God declares him justified (Clip3) and imputes His righteousness to his account (Clip5). At that same instant, God performs the whole work of salvation—forgiveness, justification, sanctification, glorification—with no human energy added (Clips2,4).
No. Les stresses that salvation is 'not of works, lest any man should boast' (Clip5). In Clip1, he points to the word 'freely' in Romans 3:24—'no strings attached.' The reason is that everything needed was accomplished by Christ's death, burial, and resurrection, and the believer's only role is to rest on that finished work (Clip2). The saint is then made God's workmanship for good works, not saved because of good works (Clip5).
Why Paul Is THE Apostle to the Gentiles — Romans 1 Explained
in the world so far as a Christian is concerned. We have the hope of the power of resurrection. First in salvation, out of deadness, as we're going to see somewheres down the road. Ephesians 2 verse 1, You hath He quickened, made alive, who were, what? Dead in trespasses and sins. How did He do it? The power of resurrection. All right, come back to the text.
First Step of Faith
Les says the first step of faith is believing what God says about us—that we are sinners—and then believing that God has justified us freely, with no strings attached.
Justification Is God's Work
Les explains that everything needed for justification has been accomplished by God, and the believer had no energy or fleshly works in it; he rests on the promises.
Justified by Faith, Not Feelings
Les defines faith as taking God at His Word and describes justification as the judicial act of God that makes the believing sinner 'just as if he had never sinned.'
Salvation Includes Sanctification
Les lists what God does at the moment of belief—forgives, justifies, sanctifies, glorifies, seals, and fills—and says you won't see a halo or sprout wings; you know by trusting the Book.
Righteousness Imputed, Not Earned
Les teaches that as a result of faith in Christ's finished work, God imputes His righteousness to our account, and then makes us a new person—His workmanship.
The Judge Declares the Sinner Righteous
Les pictures God as the judge who looks at the helpless sinner who believes the gospel and declares, 'You're just as if you've never sinned'—that is justification.
Abraham Modeled the Saint's Faith
Les uses Abraham as the pattern: Abraham simply believed God, and God imputed the very righteousness of God to him; he had done nothing but believe.
Romans 3:24: Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:
Les uses this verse when he says God declares sinners justified 'freely'—with no strings attached.
Romans 4:3: For what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness.
This is the pattern Les repeats: a person becomes righteous by believing God, not by doing works.
Romans 5:1: Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:
Justification by faith is the Bible's basis of peace with God, which is part of the believer's standing.
Romans 8:1: There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
Because God has accomplished salvation, believers in Christ no longer face condemnation.
Ephesians 2:8: For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
Salvation is a gift received through faith, not something human effort can produce.
Ephesians 2:9: Not of works, lest any man should boast.
Les explicitly teaches that works are excluded so no one can boast about earning God's favor.
Ephesians 2:10: For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.
After saving the believer, God makes him a new creation for good works—works that follow, not cause, salvation.
A saint is not a perfect, halo-wearing person. In Les Feldick's teaching, the word describes what God makes of a believer: God justifies him freely, sanctifies him, and imputes His righteousness to him through faith.
The same way Abraham did—by believing God's promises. At the moment a person believes the gospel, God declares him justified and imputes His righteousness to his account. He does nothing to earn it.
No. Les explicitly quotes 'not of works, lest any man should boast.' Good works come after salvation because the believer becomes God's workmanship, but they are never the reason God saves or sanctifies him.
Watch the Teaching: Why Paul Is THE Apostle to the Gentiles — Romans 1 Explained