By Grace Alone through Faith Alone

I read an article this morning about Mother Teresa and her struggles with feeling God's presence and believing in God toward the end of her life. There is a truth that we can teach about her life.

Looking at her life and work with the poor and sick in India, we see a woman that, by the world's standard, is as righteous as you can get. Yet, we know that by God's standards, her righteousness was like filthy rags to God. Reading the excerpts that Fox News decided to use, you can't help but see that she wonders for what purpose she is striving in doing her good works. It reminds me of the life of Martin Luther who tried to be as good as he could on his own, and eventually came to the realization that "the righteous man lives by faith." Only by the grace of God do we receive the faith we need to believe in Christ and repent. It is only at that point that we are justified, not by works, or we would have something to boast about. Now I am not saying that Mother Teresa was not a Christian (although we cannot know for sure that she was because that is a matter of the heart), but what I am saying is that it is sad that she was trapped in a faith that teaches works. It is sad that she was trapped in a faith that teaches you should strive to do more and more good in order to obtain your salvation instead of teaching that doing good is evidence of the work God has done in your life. We need to remember this as we are striving to do good works. Is it because we are motivated by wanting to be good enough? for our own glory? or to be a witness to the world of what God has done in our life (for His glory alone)?