The Cult of the Saints

In the Early Middle Ages, a concept was developed. The idea of sainthood, canonizing holy people was promulgated, and as result the newly converted barbarians who had torn down Rome, found themselves in homes and shrines of Christian martyrs and holy folk, hoping to derive merit from their spiritual purity and piety. The idea of saint followings actually does date as far back as 200 A.D., with those being slain in great persecutions of the Roman Emperors Nero, Caligula, Diocletian, and Domitian, being immortalized by other Christians for their bravery and devotion to Christ. However, this developed from mere honor and remembrance into reverence and later worship. The Cult of Saints is strong to this day in Eastern Orthodoxy and Roman Catholicism. Its entry into the churches of antiquity, is combination of mystery and mysticism.

The chief problem with Cult of Saints is that it is an assault on Christ. The idea of sanctification (holiness, being right with God and able to come to Him) in the church varies greatly between Protestants, and Eastern Orthodox/Roman Catholics. For the Protestant and albeit the Apostles themselves (see Acts 15, John 3:16, John 6:40, Romans 10:9-10), sanctification and salvation was achieved only by Jesus Christ and only through believing in Him is a person then sanctified from all sin. In the Eastern and Roman Churches, the Cult of Saints adds to this the merits of Virgin Mary and the Saints, that living Christians may benefit from through pilgrimages, touching shrines, sacred objects, and relics that impute holiness, despite the Apostles saying, "And by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. And by that will, we have been sanctified through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all," (Hebrews 10:10), "And that is what some of you were. 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 6:11), "It is because of Him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God: our righteousness, holiness, and redemption," (1 Corinthians 1:30), and "Peter stood up and said to them, Now, therefore, why are you putting God to the test by placing a yoke on the neck of the disciples that neither our fathers nor we have been able to bear? We believe that we are all saved the same way, by the undeserved grace of the Lord Jesus." (Acts 15:7, 10-11).In essence, the Cult of Saints is turning saints into demi-gods who do additional pious acts to help sanctify living believers, and in this way they are antichrists, for only Blood of Jesus sanctifies, "So Jesus also suffered outside the gate in order to sanctify the people through his own blood," (Hebrews 13:12), and only Christ has accomplished the total salvation for Christians, "Jesus Christ, Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved." (Acts 4:10,12).

The saints, figures like Jerome, Augustine, Francis of Assisi, Benedict of Nurisa, Antony of Egypt, Basil of Rus, Bernedette, and more have become mute idols, "You know that when you were pagans, somehow or other you were influenced and led astray to mute idols. So I want you to know that no one speaking by the Spirit of God will curse Jesus, and no one can say Jesus is Lord, except by the Holy Spirit." (1 Corinthians 12:2-3).While Jerome and Co. were real men and women, they have been transformed into demi-gods through dogmas, and their lives are written to appear sinless and as if they were perfecti, who sinned not. Take Benedict of Nursia, he so resisted the sin of lust, he threw himself on thorn bushes, and Jerome chose to never bathe so as to totally reject this world's comforts, and finally Antony of Egypt lived in deserts, seeking to be a hermit and fighting devilish spirits via literally wrestling. All of these men and women saints appear perfect, with only a few such as Augustine of Hippo giving a total account of his debaucheries prior to 'divine' unction to become a clergyman [But even he falls short of Grace when Augustine becomes deceived by spirit of light, the devil in His Confessions, see 2 Corinthians 11:13-15, "Satan disguises himself as an angel of light."]. These saints are painted as sinless, but it is written, "But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses (sanctifies, makes holy) us from all sin, If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. If we claim we have not sinned, we are calling God a liar and showing that his word has no place in our hearts." (1 John 1:7-10). For Christ alone is the only Man who has not sinned because He is God, "For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ," (1 Corinthians 5:21 NLT), "For to this you were called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in His footsteps, He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth," (1 Peter 2:21-22), "Therefore, since we have such a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to what we profess. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are--yet he did not sin." (Hebrews 4:14-15), and "He is the kind of high priest we need because he is holy and blameless, unstained by sin. He has been set apart from sinners and has been given the highest place of honor in heaven." (Hebrews 7:26). Christ alone is sinless, and yet these saints in their marble statues and stories are depicted as sinless and perfecti, and their examples even sacrilegiously have been used to eclipse Emmanuel in many churches.The Cult of Saints is cult of false christs, false prophets, and antichrists (Matthew 24:24, 1 John 2:18). While the actual people depicted in the shrines and emblems of saints are real God fearing folk, they weren't perfect or sinless, in fact the Apostles themselves had struggles, Peter had denied Jesus three times, Paul had killed Christians prior to His conversion, Thomas doubted Jesus, John and James were overzealous, and more. Only Jesus Christ, who is God in body (flesh) is perfect.

The other issue with Cult of Saints is that we are all saints who believe in Jesus, "To the church of God that is 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," (1 Corinthians 1:2), "But Ananias answered, "Lord, many people have told me about this man and all the harm he has done to Your saints in Jerusalem," (Acts 9:13), "To all in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints: Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ," (Romans 1:7), "The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all the saints. Amen," (Revelation 22:21). As aforementioned, we are all saints, for saint is Hagios (Greek) for "sacred, sanctified, called by God," which happens through Jesus alone,  "And by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. And by that will, we have been sanctified through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all," (Hebrews 10:10), "And that is what some of you were. 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 6:11), and belief in Him (Romans 10:9-10, John 6:40, Acts 4:10-12).There is not some caste system where a select few, mostly from Middle Ages, are on higher plateau or echelon than believers today. The Cult of Saints is a sham, with only one goal, to devote and direct disciple's attention elsewhere and to take their eyes of Christ, "We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith. Because of the joy awaiting him, he endured the cross, disregarding its shame. Now he is seated in the place of honor beside God's throne," (Hebrews 12:2), "Let us then approach God's throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need," (Hebrews 4:16), and "And so, dear brothers and sisters, we can boldly enter heaven's Most Holy Place because of the blood of Jesus." (Hebrews 10:19).

The Cult of Saints is cut people off from Christ. It is another law, Canon Law (for making saints in both Eastern Orthodoxy and Catholicism is called canonization, including them into canons of the church), and those who practice any Law to be saved and sanctified, in this case the Cult of Saints, have fallen from grace, "Listen! I, Paul, tell you this: If you are counting on circumcision to make you right with God, then Christ will be of no benefit to you. ³ I’ll say it again. If you are trying to find favor with God by being circumcised, you must obey every regulation in the whole law of Moses. ⁴ For if you are trying to make yourselves right with God by keeping the law, you have been cut off from Christ! You have fallen away from God’s grace." (Galatians 5:2-4). As for following any saint, the Apostle Paul discouraged veneration of anyone except Jesus Christ, "Some of you are saying, "I am a follower of Paul." Others are saying, "I follow Apollos," or "I follow Peter," or "I follow only Christ." Has Christ been divided into factions? Was I, Paul, crucified for you? Were any of you baptized in the name of Paul? Of course not!," (1 Corinthians 1:12-13), and "When one of you says, "I am a follower of Paul," and another says, "I follow Apollos," aren't you acting just like people of the world?5What then is Apollos? And what is Paul? They are servants through whom you believed, as the Lord has assigned to each his role. I planted the seed in your hearts, and Apollos watered it, but it was God who made it grow. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth." (1 Corinthians 3:4-7). We are all saints, Hagios, sanctified by Jesus and His blood when we repent of our sins and believe in Him and confess Him as Lord and God (Romans 10:9-10).