The woman popularly known as “Mother Theresa” died in 1997, and was canonized as a saint in the Roman Catholic Church on September 4, 2016. [NOTE: I refrain from calling her “Mother,” because of Matthew 23:9.] Anytime the issue of sainthood arises in the national news, we are likely to have opportunities to discuss Christianity with friends and neighbors. It is helpful for Christians to bear in mind the following biblical points:
- Every member of the New Testament church is a saint, or one who has been “sanctified,” forgiven, of his sins. The word saint is used repeatedly in the New Testament for ordinary Christians—every member of the church (e.g., 1 Timothy 5:10; Philemon 5, 7; Hebrews 13:24). Paul wrote, “Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? . . . . And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God” (1 Corinthians 6:9-11, emp. added). God, and no man or council of men, decides who will become a saint.
- There is nothing in the Bible remotely resembling the official Roman “beatification” and “canonization” processes.
- Saints do not intercede with God on behalf of Christians. Christ is the only Mediator between God and man (1 Timothy 2:5).
- Those who lived after the apostolic age, who have been canonized as saints in the Catholic church, were never able to perform miracles. In truth, only apostles could pass along the ability to perform miracles, and so when the last person who had contact with the apostles died, there was no more miraculous ability in the church (see Acts 8:14-17; 1 Corinthians 13:8-12). This is no problem, however, because the New Testament contains “all things that pertain to life and godliness” (2 Peter 1:3).
Everyone reading this article falls into one of two categories: (1) He is a saint already; or, (2) He may become a saint simply by obeying the gospel. Christ one day will take to heaven the sanctified church, as Paul explained: “Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish” (Ephesians 5:25-27, emp. added). Are you on your way to heaven, as a sanctified member of the church that belongs to Christ?