Replies

Re: your comments on the Rapture, etc.

Thankfully, none of the beliefs you listed involves a person's salvation.

Men are free to read the Bible and believe a variety of eschatalogical perspectives. It makes for interesting dialogue between Christians.

But eschatalogy does not determine whether or not a man will be saved and go to heaven (much to the disappointment of many Roman Catholic apologists who seek to divide the body of Christ rather than edify it.)

Far more serious to a man's eternal well-being are the papist teachings of praying to Mary as a "co-redeemer" and believing its priests are "another Christ." Those foul errors are total idolatry. Nothing else. And those given eyes to see know this and flee from it.

Likewise, it shames the cross of Christ to believe His one-time, perfect, completed sacrifice on the cross was not enough to save His sheep. It reveals a real lack of faith in Christ and God's promises.

And to believe fallible old men and their traditions are the equal if not superior to the word of God is blasphemy for it denies God's own instruction and Christ's teaching.

The list goes on and on. Rome's bloody history reveals its true intent - domination over all men. That is not the intent of Protestant churches who know that only God gives ears to hear and that real liberty is only achieved by God's grace through faith in Jesus Christ. And so we preach the Gospel to all men. We don't desire a return to the Inquisition, as several Roman Catholics have called for on this forum.

Please note that the excerpts from the OPC website you quote are written by one man; not a magisterium. A particular perspective on the end times is not a requirement for salvation. If you want to learn what Presbyterians believe, read the WESTMINSTER CONFESSION OF FAITH or the HEIDELBERG CATECHISM.

But here's the part that must really unglue the Roman Catholic apologist who seeks to stir up division as if all disagreements equaled the unparalleled idolatry of Rome...

Those two confessions are denominational distinctives. IMO they are Scriptural and bring the believer into a right alignment with God's word.

Other true Christians are free to differ about a lot of what is written there, according to their God-given conscience. As has been said many times, most of us Protestants could sit in a pew of most Protestant churches and gratefully join with the congregation in worshiping the God of our merciful salvation with gratitude and joy.

I, personally, could not say that about a Roman Catholic mass. I am repelled by the alter which is turned away from the congregation. I am put off by the glitz and gold and fluttering cherubs which seek to take my mind off the risen Christ. I decry the lack of a sound sermon based on the word of God alone, which is the very reason we meet in church in the first place. And most of all, I cannot sit and watch men attempt to perform pagan alchemy on the Lord's Supper. It's all I can do not to rise up, like Cromwell, and knock the table over (which, in heels, would definitely end up with me in a cast.) Who needs the aggravation?

Therefore, without these glaring, anti-Scriptural insults to the church of Christ on earth, it's not so difficult for most Protestants, knowing full well that only God knows the heart, to look beyond the various distinctions in most Protestant churches to discern whether or not a man has true faith in Jesus Christ ALONE as revealed by the fruits of the Holy Spirit in his life. If a man kneels to the stock of a tree, prays to images of dead men, considers a "co-redeemer" as intrinsic to their salvation, believes they are led by "another Christ," and has no real confidence in Christ's finished work on the cross, then we are not foolish to view that attitude with skepticism and disdain.

OTOH, if a man displays a heartfelt belief in Jesus Christ as his ONLY Savior, King, Redeemer and God, then Christ's particular, transforming directive has been fulfilled...

"Be not afraid; only believe." -- Mark 5:36

The rest of the Christian religion will be accrued according to that person's sanctification, a long and steady walk towards Paradise, God willing.

And finally, one of the greatest errors of the church in Rome is that it literally denies the Holy Spirit in the lives of Christ's sheep. Instead Rome says the Holy Spirit works on the church, which then in turn works on its members. By arrogantly inserting itself between God and men, Rome effectively denies the personal, individual work of the Holy Spirit within us.

This error was one of the hallmarks of the Reformation - Rome cannot usurp the role of the Holy Spirit, try as it might.

"Faith is a steady and certain knowledge of the Divine benevolence towards us, which, being founded on the truth of the gratuitous promise in Christ, is both revealed to our minds and confirmed to our hearts, by the Holy Spirit." - John Calvin, Inst. III.ii.7

And since I'm partial to Calvin's perspective, let me conclude this effort with this from him...

"Rome's whole doctrine contains nothing else than big words and bombast, because it is inconsistent with the majesty of Scripture, the efficacy of the Spirit, the gravity of the prophets, and the sincerity of the apostles. It is an absolute profanation of real theology." - Calvin, Past. Epp. 174