Distinguishing "Saints" and "Faithful" in Ephesians 1
Question
Why do you distinguish the saints from the faithful in Ephesians 1:1? Is Ephesians 1:13 the reason?
Originally published in Vol. 1, Number 9, September 2026, Ask The Theologian Journal.
Answer
Paul’s wording in Ephesians 1:1 can be taken in more than one way, but the safest starting point is always the normal, default sense of the grammar. The conjunction “and” (Greek kai) normally joins two distinct items: “this and that,” “me and you,” “Jews and Greeks,” and so on. Only when context forces us away from that default do we interpret it as appositional (“even,” “that is,” “also”).
In Ephesians 1:1 we read:
“Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, to the saints which are at Ephesus, and to the faithful in Christ Jesus.”
If we follow the default value of kai, Paul is addressing two groups: (1) “the saints which are at Ephesus” and (2) “the faithful in Christ Jesus.” To collapse them into a single group (“the saints, that is, the faithful”) requires clear contextual justification. The question is whether the context of Ephesians supplies such justification, or whether it instead confirms the presence of two groups.
The default sense of kai
The New Testament overwhelmingly uses kai in its simple coordinating sense. A straightforward example is 1 Corinthians 1:24:
“...unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks...”
Paul is not identifying Jews as Greeks, nor Greeks as Jews. He is uniting two distinct groups under one statement. Likewise, when we read of “the Pharisees and the Sadducees,” no reader assumes they are the same group. The default of kai is additive, not explanatory.
A sound hermeneutical principle is this: we begin with the normal sense of the word and depart from it only when context makes the normal sense untenable. If we override the default without compelling reason, we substitute our whim for exegesis.
Applied to Ephesians 1:1, the default reading is:
“To the saints which are at Ephesus, and to the faithful in Christ Jesus.”
Absent any contrary indication, we should look for two related but distinguishable audiences.
The appearance of “we” and “ye” in chapter 1
The larger context of chapter 1 is crucial. In Ephesians 1:12–13 Paul draws a sharp distinction between “we” and “ye”:
“That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ. In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise.” Ephesians 1:12–13
Notice several features:
“We who first trusted in Christ” are distinguished from “ye also trusted.”
Grammatically, “we” and “ye” cannot be the same group. If Paul blurs first-person plural and second-person plural, his pronouns become unreliable and exegesis collapses.
The phrase “who first trusted in Christ” is difficult, if not impossible, to apply to Paul and a purely Gentile body of Christ alone. Paul explicitly was not among the first to trust Christ; he persecuted those who were.
The most natural identification of “we who first trusted in Christ” is with the believing remnant of Israel, often called the “little flock,” associated with the kingdom offer under Peter and the Twelve. They are, historically, those who first trusted Christ in the gospel records and early Acts.
Then, in verse 13, “ye also trusted” introduces another group added later. They heard “the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation,” and upon believing were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise. The wording implies “your” gospel, over against “their” context. That is, there is at least a distinction of historical position and possibly also of message emphasis.
Up to verse 12, the language is “us” and “we.” At verse 13, Paul introduces “ye” in contrast to that prior “we.” When we see consistent we/ye alternation, we are obliged to ask whether this is the same twofold distinction as in verse 1: “saints” and “faithful.”
The burden of proof and the flow of pronouns
If throughout the epistle we find two groups—“we” and “you/ye”—treated in tandem, that pattern strongly supports reading kai in its default sense in verse 1. The burden of proof then rests on the interpreter who wishes to dissolve the distinction into a single audience.
From Ephesians 1:12 onward, the alternation is evident:
Verse 12: “we ... who first trusted in Christ”
Verse 13: “ye also trusted ... ye believed ... ye were sealed”
Verse 14: “which is the earnest of our inheritance”
Verse 15: “after I heard of your faith”
Verse 16: “make mention of you in my prayers”
Verse 17: “the God of our Lord Jesus Christ ... may give unto you”
Verse 18: “the eyes of your understanding ... that ye may know ... his inheritance in the saints”
Through chapters 1 and 2 Paul continues to move back and forth between “we/us/our” and “you/ye/your,” sometimes reuniting them under common blessings, sometimes distinguishing their histories:
Ephesians 2:1: “And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins”
Ephesians 2:3: “Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past...”
The pattern “you ... we ... you ... we” is pervasive. That pattern matches the twofold address in verse 1 much more closely than a single undifferentiated audience would.
If we say that in verse 1 “saints” and “faithful” are one and the same group, we are then claiming that in the one place where grammar would naturally signal two groups, it does not; and yet throughout the letter Paul vigorously distinguishes two sets of recipients by pronoun. To maintain that consistency of pronoun distinction and then deny a corresponding distinction in the opening salutation is to place a heavy and unargued burden on the text.
Who are the “saints” and who are the “faithful”?
On this reading:
“The saints which are at Ephesus” are the already-existing set-apart ones, likely Jewish believers associated with the earlier kingdom program, now in Ephesus.
“The faithful in Christ Jesus” are those believers (predominantly Gentile, but in the body of Christ sense “neither Jew nor Greek”) who have trusted the gospel of their salvation and been sealed by the Holy Spirit.
The two are not in opposition; rather, Paul is addressing both sets together in one epistle, explaining how their respective histories and blessings converge in Christ, while still recognizing their distinct origins and descriptions.
Why not collapse the two groups?
It is often objected that to distinguish “saints” from “faithful” might imply that “saints” are unfaithful. That objection, however, rests on an unnecessary assumption. One can easily have two overlapping sets, both of which involve genuine believers. The distinction is not “spiritual vs. carnal,” but “prior set-apart remnant” and “those who have believed this later message.”
The key points are:
The default meaning of kai is additive, not explanatory.
We see unquestionable evidence of two groups in the “we/ye” pattern of chapter 1 (and beyond).
“We who first trusted in Christ” cannot reasonably be restricted to Paul and his later Gentile converts.
Once two groups are clearly present later in the chapter, there is no exegetical pressure to override the default reading of kai in verse 1.
Thus, the reason for distinguishing “the saints” from “the faithful” in Ephesians 1:1 is not simply verse 13 in isolation, but the cumulative grammatical and contextual evidence of the chapter and the epistle. Ephesians 1:13 is a key piece of that evidence because the “we/ye” distinction there is especially sharp: “we who first trusted in Christ” versus “ye also trusted.” That contrast confirms that Paul is indeed working with two related audiences, and the salutation in verse 1 is best read in line with that reality.