Posted on 03/02/2015 11:21:42 AM PST by RnMomof7
The New Testament is clear about the nature of saving faith. “For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from works of the Law” (Romans 3:28). “A man is not justified by the works of the Law but through faith in Christ Jesus . . . since by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified” (Galatians 2:16). “But when the kindness of God our Savior and His love for mankind appeared, He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit” (Titus 3:4-5).
According to Scripture, salvation is by faith in Christ alone through God’s grace alone. When you put your trust in Jesus Christ He declares you righteous—not because you are, but because He imputes His righteousness to you, and because He paid the penalty for your sin. Christ bears our sin and we receive His righteousness. That is the indescribable glory of the doctrine of justification (2 Corinthians 5:21).
The teaching of the Roman Catholic Church stands in stark opposition to that biblical understanding. Rather than salvation by grace through faith, they preach a false gospel of works.
The words of the Council of Trent—convened to affirm and codify the teaching of the Catholic Church in response to the Reformation—clearly spell out the Catholic version of justification that still stands today. “Hence, to those who work well unto the end and trust in God, eternal life is to be offered, both as a grace mercifully promised to the sons of God through Christ Jesus, and as a reward promised by God himself, to be faithfully given to their good works and merits.” Salvation in the Catholic system is something you earn “by those very works which have been done in God, fully satisfied the divine law according to the state of this life and to have truly merited eternal life.”
That is an absolute and total contradiction of the Word of God. It’s a completely foreign gospel, manufactured by the Catholic Church and able only to condemn, not save. No amount of repetitious prayers, veneration of the saints and other church relics, or masses attended can redeem a sinner’s soul. No priest has the power to forgive sins, and no indulgence bought and paid for can hold back the due punishment of those sins.
At the heart of the merit-based Catholic system is the unbiblical concept of purgatory. In fact, it’s the invention of purgatory that makes Catholic dogma attractive at all—without it, Catholicism would be a very hard sell. Catholics are never really on solid spiritual ground. They can’t know for certain if they’re saved or whether they will ever make it into heaven. And even confident, pious Catholics live in perpetual fear of committing a mortal sin that will throw them out of favor with God and the church.
It’s the false doctrine of purgatory that provides Catholics their spiritual safety net, bringing false hope to people trapped in a hopeless system. It’s the one relief in their entire guilt-ridden, fear-ridden system of works righteousness. And it is complete fiction—a tragic farce that’s led countless souls to hell.
The apostle Paul could not have been clearer about the true nature of justification: “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast” (Ephesians 2:8-9). That gracious, glorious gospel has been rejected by the Catholic Church, and they have replaced it with a corrupt, unbiblical system of works righteousness and merit-based salvation.
Presiding over that twisted system of satanic lies is the pope. And that is where we’ll pick it up tomorrow.
“For example, I listened to a message from John MacArthur which was quite negative about the Catholic Church. What I found was he had no substance or validities in his comments. What was seen though, John MacArthur was full of arrogance and hatred. I had read books he had written in the past. I took what he said as gospel. I had even quoted him. Can these negative statements he was making really be of Christ? This is what I mean, there are many who will take what MacArthur said as truth, then they come to believe what they wrongfully believe about the Catholic Church without checking it out for themselves. This may mean going to a Sunday Mass.” http://www.catholicconvert.com/wp-content/uploads/Story-2-22-15-Steve.pdf
His stuff is so typical, so routine, it is a crashing bore to discuss it. A thousand Catholic apologists have dealt with these lies about Catholic “works-righteousness.”
NOW you'll make their heads explode!
As a former Catholic (now Evangelical Christian) I can attest to that statement being 100% true.
Once, I sincerely asked a Catholic priest how I could attain God's forgiveness and be assured that I would escape Hell and go to Heaven.
He looked at me with a puzzled and nervous expression on his face, stammered a bit, and then blurted out:
"Well, that's a Great Mystery."
No Catholic believes he is saved by “works of the Law.”
“The Law” means something.
Words mean things.
Pathetic.
Blah blah blah. You and some others use the language of propagandists and astroturfers. It’s easy to spot the techniques used to shut down discussion. No one I know of here is against Catholic people. If we didn’t care for the souls of Catholics we wouldn’t bother telling them the truth. We are, however, strongly opposed to your system of religion because it doesn’t teach a saving gospel. Your church is an apostate body leading men into the pit.
http://sharylattkisson.com/top-10-astroturfers/
“The language of astroturfers and propagandists includes trademark inflammatory terms such as: anti, nutty, quack, crank, pseudo-science, debunking, conspiracy theory, deniers and junk science. Sometimes astroturfers claim to “debunk myths” that aren’t myths at all. They declare debates over that aren’t over. They claim that “everybody agrees” when everyone doesn’t agree. They aim to make you think you’re an outlier when you’re not.”
Good thing “astroturfer” isn’t a “trademark inflammatory term.”
No deception, no lying here, no sirree. Pitiful.
Whatever we do are the Fruits of His Works in us.
Do you agree with the above statement?
Uh. No.
Ephesians 2 pretty much puts that Papist pap away for good. No matter how often the Roman Catholic Church cherry-picks, and misinterprets scripture, it will NOT change the simple fact that the only work that was needed was done by Christ on the cross -- the FINISHED work.
We are saved by grace through faith in Christ.
Faith and nothing -- the works are the FRUITS of our salvation.
Hoss
Absolutely. I say to the LORD, "You are my Lord; apart from you I have no good thing." ... Psalm 16: 2
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.