Today most people think of saints as a select few Christians who live exemplary lives. In the bible saints are synonymous with "the church", with "those who are sanctified in Christ Jesus", and with "all who...call on the name of Jesus Christ our Lord." (1 Cor. 1:2) The general meaning of saint is one who is called out of the world to live a holy life for God.
The Roman Catholic church has made sainthood into an honor bestowed upon certain notable individuals by the church after their death. These individuals are then able to bestow blessing and merit upon those who pray to and worship them. This doctrine is foreign to the scripture.
Among Protestants today, the word "saints" has almost totally lost its original denotation, that is, of being set aside for the exclusive ownership and use of the Triune God. Very few people in the Christian Church today would consider themselves to be "saints", for the word today has the [Roman Catholic] meaning almost universally. Unfortunately the original meaning of the word "saints" has largely fallen into disuse. (The Zondervan Pictorial Encyclopedia of the Bible)
