I read an article in our local newspaper on Saturday, written for the Associated Press by a Roman Catholic theologian and professor, Dorian Llewelyn, on miracles and how one can be declared a “saint” by the Roman Catholic Church. Pope John Paul I, who served as Pope for 34 days before dying in 1978, will soon be “canonized,” given the title of “Blessed” or “Saint” and formally declared to be in heaven. This process of being declared a “saint” can take years or even centuries. How does it happen?...
I read an article in our local newspaper on Saturday, written for the Associated Press by a Roman Catholic theologian and professor, Dorian Llewelyn, on miracles and how one can be declared a “saint” by the Roman Catholic Church. Pope John Paul I, who served as Pope for 34 days before dying in 1978, will soon be “canonized,” given the title of “Blessed” or “Saint” and formally declared to be in heaven. This process of being declared a “saint” can take years or even centuries. How does it happen? This is what the Catholic theologian described:
A bishop of the church must open an investigation, a rigorous examination of the life and holiness of a person, with several stages. The person has to have had a reputation for exceptional holiness, as shown by the investigation, and then can be called a “Servant of God.” Much more research and investigation must take place, affirming the holiness of the person, and then one can be declared “Venerable.”
Then, the Vatican must confirm that the person performed a “miracle” by interceding with God on behalf of someone. In the case of Pope John Paul I, an 11 year old girl had been very ill and expected to die. There was no hope for her until her mother, the nursing staff, and a priest all prayed to heaven, to this pope, this holy person, and the girl was suddenly healed. To verify this miracle, Catholic theologians had to study the whole situation and agree that it was a miracle. An independent medical team also had to be hired and investigate and by a two-thirds vote had to say that the healing could not be explained in a natural or medical way. Only then, through this miracle, could this former Pope be given the title “Blessed." A second miracle, done by this same person, must also be verified before that person can be officially declared a “Saint.” This whole process can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars, which must be raised by those wishing someone to be declared a saint.
I thought about this description in light of the Scriptures and what we have been reading in 1 and 2 Thessalonians. Have you ever read about any process like this in the Bible, in determining if one is a saint? Clearly, this is a human tradition developed in the history of the Roman Catholic church and not handed down from God Himself. If we have to be exceptionally holy ourselves even to be in heaven, and we are not sure that Popes are there yet, what hope do we ordinary people have?
Above all, this process contradicts the teaching of Scripture. Look at 1 Corinthians 1:2, for example, where Paul speaks of the church of God in Corinth, “to those sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, together with all those who in every place call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, both their Lord and ours.” In v. 4, Paul thanks God for “the grace that was given them in Christ Jesus” and in v. 7 speaks again of “our Lord Jesus Christ Who will sustain you to the end, guiltless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is faithful, by Whom you were called into the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.” We are guiltless saints, not by our exceptional holiness, but by the grace of God and the forgiveness earned for us by Jesus our Savior. See also 1 Corinthians 1:26-31, Romans 1:6-7 and 3:19-24,28, Ephesians 1:1-4, Colossians 1:2, 12-13, and on and on.
Remember again the words we recently studied in 1 Thessalonians 5:9-11: “For God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us so that whether we are awake or asleep we might live with Him. Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing.” Again Paul wrote: “Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He Who calls you is faithful; He will surely do it” (1 Thessalonians 5:23-24). And in 2 Thessalonians 1:11-12, Paul wrote: “We always pray for you, that our God may make you worthy of His calling and may fulfill every resolve for good and every work of faith by His power, so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you and you in Him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.” Again he wrote, “God chose you as the firstfruits to be saved, through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth” (2 Thessalonians 2:13).
The Apostle John also saw a vision of heaven, recorded in Revelation 7:9-17, where there were present not just a select small number of especially holy people, but “a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages” (v.9). They were “clothed in white robes… washed and made white in the blood of the Lamb.” None of these people were in heaven by their exceptional holiness, but by the gift of God through trust in Jesus, the Lamb of God and their Savior. How else could the great promises of the Scriptures have been made?
- “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16).
- “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household… and they spoke the Word of the Lord… and he was baptized at once, he and all his family” (Acts 16:31-33).
- “Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved” (Mark 16:16).
In all of these passages, the focus is upon God and His saving work through Jesus, not on our efforts. Ephesians 2:8-10 puts it all in perspective: “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.” Yes, God wants us to seek to do good, not to earn anything from Him, but in gratitude for what He has made us to be, as a “new creation” (2 Corinthians 5:17-19), headed for heaven (Ephesians 2:4-7). “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them” (Ephesians 2:10).
Remember also that there is no Scripture that teaches us to pray to saints or angels or anyone else other than the Triune God Himself, when we need help or a miracle or anything else for us or others. God is the only one who can ultimately do miracles, though He did sometimes work through a few disciples - who always gave Him the credit. (See Acts 3:1-15, for example,)
The Scriptures say that there is only one “mediator” between God and man, and it is Christ Jesus, true God and true man. Only He is described in the Bible as One “at the right hand of God, Who indeed is interceding for us” (Romans 8:34).
In summary, then, a “saint” is simply any believer in the one true Triune God and who trusts in the saving work of Jesus. That includes you and me, too, as we trust in what Jesus has done for us, and continue in Him and His Word. I conclude with one of my favorite Bible passages, 1 John 5:11-13: “And this is the testimony, that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life. I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God that you may know that you have eternal life.” This passage is talking about you and me, too. We are saints through Christ.
If there is anyone listening who is not so sure about all this, I encourage you to keep listening to the Scriptures and God’s great promises to all in Christ. (This lesson is also not just to speak about concerns we have with some teachings of the Roman Catholic Church. Any time any church or religion mixes faith and our own works and efforts together as the means of being saved, that is a problem according to the Scriptures.) Next week, unless I get sidetracked again, I will have us turn to the Christmas story and what the Scriptures actually say about Christmas. The Lord’s blessings to all.
