God’s way of becoming a saint is through faith in Jesus Christ.

My brother Tom is a saint. He died last December and is now in heaven. The angels rejoiced, and God cherished the moment.

Of course, my brother isn’t a saint the way the world thinks. The world thinks saints are people who lead exceptionally godly lives. They don’t curse, are always kind and ready to help, and go to church regularly. Because of their saintly lives, they get to go to heaven.

The problem is that this isn’t what God says. It totally ignores the problem of sin (or believes the good outweighs the bad). However, if people rely on the good they do to get to heaven, they won’t make it. When it comes to being good enough to get to heaven, the apostle Paul wrote, “There is no one who does good; not even one” (Romans 3:12). Good enough before God means being perfect. That is impossible for everyone.

“Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his faithful servants” (Psalm 116:15).

That’s why Paul also wrote, “It is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast” (Ephesians 2:8,9). That’s God’s way of becoming a saint—through faith in Jesus Christ. When Jesus died on the cross for everyone’s sins, God declared the whole world righteous in his sight. And when the Holy Spirit works through the Word and sacrament to lead people to believe this, they become sanctified (made holy) before God—saints.

Apply this truth to your life. Jesus died for you. If you repent of your sins and believe your sins are forgiven because Jesus has saved you, it makes no difference how many sins you have committed or what other people think. You are a saint. When you die, you go to heaven. God promises.

Members of Tom’s family mourned their loss when Tom died, but they also rejoiced. And so did the angels. Think about it this way: When God sends his angels as honor guards to lay the Christian flag—figuratively speaking—over the earthly remains of a saint and escort his or her soul to heaven, there is rejoicing among all the saints and angels in heaven. What a homecoming!

It’s also a precious moment for God. That’s what his plan of salvation is all about.

Author: Philip Zarling
Volume 112, Number 11
Issue: November 2025