Who Are the “Saints” in Revelation?
Revelation repeatedly speaks about “the saints.”
They suffer.
They are persecuted.
They endure.
The beast makes war against them.
And they remain faithful to God.
But who are they?
That question becomes especially important if we believe the church has already been removed from the earth before these events occur.
Some interpreters therefore identify these people as a different group—perhaps believing Jews or people who become Christians after the church has been raptured.
But before deciding that, there is a much simpler question to ask:
Does Revelation itself tell us who these saints are?
Start With the Word “Saints”
The word saints simply means God's holy people.
Paul regularly uses the word for Christians.
He writes:
“To all in Rome who are loved by God and called to be his holy people...”
— Romans 1:7
He addresses the Corinthians as those:
“called to be his holy people.”
— 1 Corinthians 1:2
And he begins Ephesians by addressing:
“God's holy people in Ephesus, the faithful in Christ Jesus.”
— Ephesians 1:1
Older translations often use the word “saints.”
The important point is simple:
“Saints” was ordinary New Testament language for believers in Christ.
So when Revelation speaks of “the saints,” we should not automatically assume John has created an entirely different group.
But we don't have to depend upon the word alone.
John tells us more.
Let John Identify Them
Revelation 12 describes the dragon's war against God's people.
At the end of the chapter we read:
“Then the dragon was enraged at the woman and went off to wage war against the rest of her offspring...”
— Revelation 12:17
Who are these people?
John continues:
“those who keep God's commands and hold fast their testimony about Jesus.”
That last phrase matters.
They belong to Jesus.
They are not merely ethnic descendants of Israel.
They are people identified by their testimony concerning Christ.
And John isn't finished.
Revelation 14 Makes It Even Clearer
Later John describes the pressure placed upon those who refuse to worship the beast.
Then he writes:
“This calls for patient endurance on the part of the people of God who keep his commands and remain faithful to Jesus.”
— Revelation 14:12
Some translations call them “the saints.”
So who are Revelation's saints?
John has given us his own description:
They keep God's commands.
They hold to the testimony of Jesus.
They remain faithful to Jesus.
Whatever else we say about them, these are believers in Christ.
But Aren't They “Tribulation Saints”?
This is where the question becomes important.
A common end-times interpretation says the church is removed from the earth in a rapture before a future tribulation.
Yet Revelation later shows saints on earth suffering persecution.
The usual explanation is that these are not members of the church. They are people who come to faith after the rapture and are sometimes called “tribulation saints.”
But now we need to ask another textual question:
Can someone belong to Christ and yet not belong to Christ's body?
Paul says:
“For we were all baptized by one Spirit so as to form one body.”
— 1 Corinthians 12:13
And what is that body?
Paul answers:
“the church, which is his body.”
— Ephesians 1:22–23
That creates a serious difficulty.
If these “tribulation saints” truly have faith in Jesus, on what biblical basis are they excluded from the body of Christ?
Calling them something different does not answer the question.
Where does the New Testament establish a class of redeemed believers in Jesus who are not part of Christ's church?
That is the text we need to find.
Revelation Keeps Showing These Believers
This is not one isolated verse.
Revelation repeatedly portrays God's people enduring opposition.
The dragon makes war against those who hold to the testimony of Jesus.
The beast is:
“given power to wage war against God's holy people and to conquer them.”
— Revelation 13:7
Then Revelation 14 calls for the endurance of the saints who remain faithful to Jesus.
Later John describes those who refused to worship the beast or receive its mark.
They remained faithful even when faithfulness cost them their lives.
The saints are not incidental characters in Revelation.
Their endurance is one of the major themes of the book.
Remember the First Readers
This also takes us back to the beginning of Revelation.
The book was addressed to seven churches.
Again and again Jesus tells those churches to overcome.
To Ephesus:
“To the one who is victorious...”
To Smyrna:
“Be faithful, even to the point of death...”
To Pergamum:
“To the one who is victorious...”
And the pattern continues through the seven letters.
Then the visions begin.
What do we find?
People belonging to Jesus suffering, remaining faithful, and overcoming.
That sounds remarkably like what Jesus had just told the seven churches to expect.
So Why Would We Change Their Identity?
This is the question worth considering.
At the beginning of Revelation, Christians are told to endure persecution and overcome.
Later, John shows saints being persecuted and overcoming.
And John identifies these saints as people who:
hold to the testimony of Jesus
and
remain faithful to Jesus.
Why should we assume these are an entirely different people of God?
We should require a clear textual reason before making that change.
What About Jewish Believers?
Certainly Jews can be among these saints.
The first Christians were Jews.
Paul was a Jew.
Peter was a Jew.
The gospel is for Jew and Gentile alike.
The question is not whether Jewish believers are included.
Of course they are.
The question is whether Revelation divides believers in Jesus into two redeemed peoples—one called the church and another group of believers who belong to Christ but somehow do not belong to His body.
Where does John make that distinction?
Read John's Description Again
Don't begin with a rapture chart.
Don't begin with amillennialism.
Don't begin with premillennialism.
Start with John's words.
Who does the dragon attack?
Those who hold to the testimony of Jesus.
Who must endure the beast?
The saints who remain faithful to Jesus.
Who are saints throughout the New Testament?
God's people in Christ.
Then ask the obvious question:
If people who believe in Jesus are still on earth suffering and remaining faithful to Him, what biblical reason do we have for saying Christ's church is no longer there?
That question deserves an answer from the text.
Let Revelation Identify Its Own Saints
We don't need to invent an identity for the saints.
John identifies them for us.
They belong to Jesus.
They testify about Jesus.
They remain faithful to Jesus.
They suffer because of Jesus.
And they overcome through Jesus.
Whatever prophecy system we eventually adopt must make room for what John actually says.
The saints are not difficult to identify when we allow Revelation to describe them.
Read the description first.
Then build the timeline.
Read First. Conclude Later.
“Where does the New Testament establish a class of redeemed believers in Jesus who are not part of Christ's church?”