When Is A Saint A Saint?

The Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church teach that people who live exemplary lives can be granted the status of sainthood by the decision of church officials. The �saint� is elevated to this title because of the good deeds they have done. For example, the photos above are of four different human beings who have either been proclaimed to be a saint or are in the process of becoming one.

Then there is the other group who take the Bible literally. They see their ticket to heaven is not based on human effort but entirely upon the realization that faith in Jesus is the only way. As the Apostle Paul wrote to the Ephesians: �For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God, not by works, so that no one can boast.� [1]

In order to resolve which group is right and which group is wrong, we need to spend time searching the Scriptures. There is not one verse in the Bible that justifies a person being called a saint based upon human effort. In fact, those who place their faith in Jesus alone see human works as nothing more than �filthy rags.� No matter how good you are, you just cannot be good enough, they say. So if this is the case, why are so many people taught that sainthood can be earned by good deeds?

Some say she may have been one of the holiest women to have ever lived on planet earth. Better known as �Mother Teresa of Calcutta,� Pope John Paul II has placed this lady on the �fast track� to sainthood. But while Mother Teresa may have done a lot of good deeds, her diary reveals that this �holy woman� had some serious problems with faith.

The beatification process for Mother Teresa is presently underway. In November of 2002, ZENIT Catholic news agency released a study by the postulator of the cause, Missionary of Charity Father Brian Kolodiejchuk. ZENIT published a portion of Mother Teresa�s diary and some private letters that she had written, along with the following statement:

�When Mother Teresa died at the age of eighty-seven, she was greatly admired for her generous love of God and dedicated service to the poor throughout the world. Yet because she resolutely revealed so little about what transpired within her, one could only surmise the intensity of her love for God and souls. Now, thanks to discoveries made during the process for her beatification and canonization, we are given a new and privileged view into Mother Teresa's soul, into that mystical communion with God that formed her life, teaching, and works of charity.� [2]

This �new view into Mother Teresa�s soul� based upon the documents that have been released to the public, reveal some very significant points. Based upon Pope John Paul�s decision to �fast tract� Mother Teresa to sainthood, one would expect the beatification and canonization process would be a slam dunk. However, there may be some problems for those who adhere to a biblical standard for sainthood. Was Mother Teresa, truly a saint, in a biblical sense, or was she merely a good person, doing good deeds but without a true sense and understanding that Jesus was her Savior and Lord?

Several journalists are now informing the public what Mother Teresa really believed. For example, in an article called �Mother Teresa�s Diary Reveals Her Crisis of Faith,� the following statement is made:

�Mother Teresa, who was put on the fast track to sainthood by the Pope after her death five years ago, was tormented by a crisis of belief for 50 years, her writings reveal. Her letters and diaries present a completely different picture of the nun and Nobel peace prize winner from her public image as a woman confident of her faith.� [3]

Or consider these following statements made by Mother Teresa during her life time that cause one to wonder if this �holy woman� destined to become a �Catholic saint� is actually a biblical saint. On one occasion she wrote, �My smile is a great cloak that hides a multitude of pains.� [4] Another time she said, �Because (I) was forever smiling, people thought my faith, my hope and my love are overflowing and that my intimacy with God and union with his fill my heart. If they only knew.� And finally this heartbreaking statement: �I feel that God does not want me, that God is not God and that he does not really exist.� [5]

Il Messeggero, Rome�s popular daily newspaper summed up Mother Teresa�s life this way: �The real Mother Teresa was one who for one year had visions and who for the next 50 had doubts � up until her death.� [6] While Mother Teresa�s diary records numerous personal conversations that she claimed to have with Jesus, based on her own admissions, one could ask, was this the �Jesus� of the Bible she was having conversations with.

How fast the �fast track� to sainthood will be, remains to be seen. However, based upon the number of other �saints� who have already attained �sainthood� by beatification and canonization, there seems to be very little doubt that Mother Teresa will still pass with flying colors.

While Mother Teresa may have been a good person who did a lot of good deeds, she may have missed the truth about who Jesus Christ is and what He has done. According to the Bible, the only way to become a saint is to know Jesus as Savior and recognize that we are sinners saved by His grace. As Paul proclaimed:

Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God's wrath through him! For if, when we were God's enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life! Not only is this so, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation. [7]

In order to understand the true meaning of how to become a biblical saint, it is necessary to know the reason why Jesus died on the cross. Sin, the Bible states, is the transgression of the law, and condemns mankind to death and hell.

But Jesus lived and died so that we could know Him, if we by His grace we choose to accept the sacrifice He made for us. As Paul explains further:

For until the law sin was in the world: but sin is not imputed when there is no law. Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam's transgression, who is the figure of him that was to come. But not as the offence, so also is the free gift. For if through the offence of one many be dead, much more the grace of God, and the gift by grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many. [8]

The idea that a person can be �beatified� and the �canonized� and given status of �saint� by a pope who is merely a man, is foreign to the Bible. A biblical saint is a saint because one accepts the works of Jesus, and it not based on human effort. St. Nicolas, Mother Teresa, Paul, or Padre Pio will be in heaven, only if they knew Jesus as their personal Savior and Lord, not because of their goodness.

When a Christian leader claims someone is a �saint� because of their works, they are wrong. It is a serious offense to lead people astray.

And one final point. Is it right to pray to a �saint� with the belief such a practice will get the person who is praying closer to God? The Bible states that praying to a dead person is an abomination. [9] Such activity will not bring one closer to God; it can only separate them further.

If you are still confused about who can be a saint, take the time to read your Bible. Jesus said that He was the only way. [10] If He wanted us to place our trust in imperfect humans He would have told us to do so. Place your trust in the finished work of the cross. Whether or not you spend eternity in hell or in heaven will depend on the decision you make.

[1] Ephesians 2: 8-9

[2] http://www.zenit.org/english/visualizza.phtml?sid=28283

[3] http://portal.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml;$sessionid$YMVZNBC45IPWTQFIQMFC

[4] Ibid.

[5] Ibid.

[6] Ibid.

[7] Romans 5: 9-11

[8] Romans 5: 13-15

[9] Deuteronomy 18: 12

[10] John 14: 6