Saints Alive
A recent news bulletin provided a reminder of the approach to sainthood that is adopted by the Roman Catholic Church. The report concerned a nun who helped to protect many people from the Nazis during World War II [1]. As a result of her good deeds she is in the process of being considered for sainthood - a special status that Roman Catholics preserve for just a few people.
However, to anyone who is reasonably familiar with the New Testament this approach is obviously very different from that adopted by the apostles and elders of the early church. As Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones emphasised, the apostles wrote to the saints in the churches: the saints at Ephesus, the saints at Philippi, etc. They regarded every Christian in every church as a saint. And this is the point that the Doctor sought to emphasise in his second sermon on the Letter to the Ephesians [2], when he said:
“You can’t be a Christian without being a saint.”
For those of us unfamiliar with Roman Catholic teaching, another news article from 2009 is quite revealing [3]. In describing the case of Cardinal John Henry Newman it reveals that they think a person needs to be a miracle worker in order to achieve sainthood. A miracle under consideration for Cardinal Newman is one that is claimed to have taken place when someone prayed to him; not someone who was prayed for by him. Indeed it seems that Roman Catholic saints need to be credited with two miracles that take place after their death. And so another teaching that is very different from the Scriptures becomes apparent.
When we consider that half of the people in the world who claim to be Christians are Catholics [4], this difference in teaching is a significant cause for concern. The matter is of great importance because sainthood is not limited to just a few people in this way. It is to do with sanctification – being set apart for God – and that is the situation for every genuine believer in Jesus Christ. In practice this means that all Christians should be noticeably different from the people around them.
That difference should not involve strange practices like praying to dead people. Despite praying so powerfully that he saw someone raised from the dead, Simon Peter was quick to rebuke anyone who started to worship him:
‘But Peter made him get up. “Stand up,” he said, “I am only a man myself.” ’ [5]
For Christians the difference involves: recognising their sins against God, repenting of those sins, believing in Jesus Christ as their Saviour, and exhibiting a deep sense of gratitude to Christ alongside a deep sense of joy in life. This sense of joy does not disappear even in adversity. It stems from the personal assurance of forgiveness through Christ. That assurance comes from God’s own words and from the testimony of the indwelling Holy Spirit.
From amongst millions of examples, a very clear one came from singer/songwriter Cathy Burton in 2010. In this YouTube video she speaks of how God helped her through a time of significant distress following a miscarriage [6].
A second example comes from another singer/songwriter, Laura Story. In her song titled Blessings, she captures the challenge that all Christians face when they run into difficulties. It seems that blessing from God can actually come in the form of difficulties, or even tragedies [7].
Christians behave differently from other people in a number of respects, not just in the way that they cope with tragedy or adversity. This is their witness to the fact that Jesus Christ is alive today, and it is so important for everyone who claims to believe in Christ that they understand this point. Christians are different from the other people around them and it is vitally important for the whole world that Christians are confident in being different.
So as Martyn Lloyd-Jones said all those years ago:
“We must learn to shed once and forever that false dichotomy which Roman Catholicism and its thinking and its teaching have introduced ... They canonise certain people, as they say, and call them saints.
It’s utterly unscriptural!” [2]
First published on 3rd February 2012, this article was updated on 8th February 2012.
REFERENCES
[1] Wartime saviour nun from Brighton on road to sainthood
BBC News Online, 31st May 2010
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/10195036
[2] MLJ.4002 ‘Saints ... and Faithful in Christ Jesus’
http://www.mlj.org.uk/pages/ephesians
[3] Pope recognises cardinal miracle
BBC News Online, 6th July 2009
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/west_midlands/8135867.stm
[4] Global Christianity: A Report on the Size and Distribution of the World's Christian Population, Pew Research Center, 19th December 2011
http://stage.pewforum.org/Christian/Global-Christianity-exec.aspx
[5] Acts 10:26, The Holy Bible, New International Version, 1984
[6] Cathy Burton - Talking about Refuge
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VyQ20kmosdA
[7] K-LOVE - Laura Story "Blessings" LIVE, 2011
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pGmKC34UZ68