Posted on 02/08/2015 3:28:55 PM PST by RnMomof7
Just before the Lord Jesus gave up His spirit upon the cross, He cried out, "It is finished!" (John 19:30). His sacrificial work of redemption was done. The Greek verb here is in the perfect tense. "It implies a process, but views that process as having reached its consummation and existing in a finished state." [1] In other words, the saving work of Christ was completed on the cross and continues in a state of completion. The verse can be translated: "It has been finished and stands complete" (John 19:30). [2]
Roman Catholicism misrepresents the finished work of Christ on the cross by saying that the sacrifice of the cross is continued in the Mass. The Church claims that "…God Himself wishes that there should be a continuation of the sacrifice…." [3] And so, Christ "…has offered and continues to offer Himself as a victim for our sins…." [4] According to Roman Catholic theology, at over 120 million Masses each year four things occur: [5]
An Immolation
As we have seen, the Church teaches that at each Mass, through the words and actions of the priest, Christ is immolated—made present in His victimhood upon the altar under the appearance of bread and wine. This, says the Church, is "no mere empty commemoration of the passion and death of Jesus Christ, but a true and proper act of sacrifice…an unbloody immolation…a most acceptable victim…."6
This doctrine terribly misrepresents the present resurrected and glorified state of the Lord Jesus Christ. The Scriptures teach that "Christ, having been raised from the dead, is never to die again; death no longer is master over Him" (Romans 6:9). Christ manifests Himself as "the living One; and I was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore…." (Revelation 1:18). He then adds, "…and I have the keys of death and of Hades" (Revelation 1:18). Shall the living One who holds all power over death be continually presented in His death? And that by those for whom He died? Clearly not. Furthermore, the Bible makes no mention of an unbloody immolation. Scripture teaches that "without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness" (Hebrews 9:22). No blood, no propitiation.
A Re-Presentation
The Church teaches that at each Mass, Christ "…offers Himself a most acceptable victim to the Eternal Father, as He did upon the cross."7 In the Eucharistic Prayer, the priest petitions God, "Look with favor on your Church’s offering, and see the Victim whose death has reconciled us to yourself."8 The Church explains that the priest is praying that "…the Body and Blood of Christ may be the acceptable sacrifice which brings salvation to the whole world. ["]9
This re-presentation of Christ in His victimhood, allegedly occurring millions of times each year at the Mass, misrepresents the accepted work of Christ. The Bible teaches that Christ presented the sacrifice of His life to the Father only once. Upon His death, the Lord Jesus passed "through the greater and more perfect tabernacle" (Hebrews 9:11). His purpose was "to appear in the presence of God for us" (Hebrews 9:24). Jesus entered the heavenly throne room of God "not through the blood of goats and calves, but through His own blood" (Hebrews 9:12). His purpose was "to make propitiation for the sins of the people" (Hebrews 2:17). He "entered the holy place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption" (Hebrews 9:12).
The Father accepted the perfect sacrifice of Christ without reservation. "Worthy is the Lamb that was slain" (Revelation 5:12), shall be the praise of myriads of angels in heaven for all eternity.
On earth the Father signaled His acceptance of Christ’s work by dramatically removing one of the principal symbols of the separation that sin had caused between God and man. In the Temple, as instructed by God, a thick curtain formed a wall between the area in which the Aaronic priesthood could minister and the Holy of Holies where God dwelt. The Scriptures record that as Christ yielded up His spirit, "Behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom" (Matthew 27:51). This removal of the barrier between God and man signaled that Christ’s work of redemption had been accepted.
The greatest manifestation of the Father’s acceptance of Christ’s sacrifice came three days later. The Bible says that Jesus "was raised because of our justification" (Romans 4:25). Christ’s offering for sin had been accepted (1 Corinthians 15:17).
The Scriptures further teach, speaking of Christ: "When He had made purification of sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high" (Hebrews 1:3). He sat down for His work was finished. There He remains until a future day: "He, having offered one sacrifice for sins for all time, sat down at the right hand of God, waiting from that time onward until His enemies be made a footstool for His feet" (Hebrews 10:12-13).
The Roman Catholic Mass distorts these truths by in effect calling Christ off His throne tens of thousands of times each day to reenter the holy place and re-present Himself in His victimhood to the Father. There Christ supposedly stands while a priest on earth petitions God: "Look with favor on these offerings and accept them…." [10] This constant re-presentation is a denial of the finished and accepted work of Christ.
An Appeasement
Roman Catholicism teaches that the Sacrifice of the Mass is a "truly propitiatory sacrifice"11 of "infinite value" 12:
…it is quite properly offered according to apostolic tradition not only for the sins, penalties, satisfactions and other needs of the faithful who are living, but also for those who have died in Christ but are not yet fully cleansed. (Council of Trent) [13]
Through each Mass, says the Roman Catholic Church, God’s anger against sin is pacified [1371, 1414]:
…this is a truly propitiatory sacrifice….For the Lord is appeased by this offering, he gives the gracious gift of repentance, he absolves even enormous offenses and sins. (Council of Trent) [14]
To the contrary, the Lord is offended by the offering of the Sacrifice of the Mass. God has already told us that He is fully satisfied with the once for all offering of Christ on the cross: "In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace" (Ephesians 1:7). The "Holy Spirit also bears witness to us…saying…their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more" (Hebrews 10:15-17). The conclusion naturally follows: "Now where there is forgiveness of these things, there is no longer any offering for sin" (Hebrews 10:18). For this reason, Scripture repeatedly calls the cross the "once for all" offering of Christ (Hebrews 7:27, 9:12, 9:26, 9:28, 10:10; Romans 6:10, 1 Peter 3:18). To continue to try to appease God with an ongoing sacrifice is an act of unbelief.
An Application
Finally, Roman Catholicism teaches that at each Mass, the blessings of Calvary are meted out to Catholics:
The august sacrifice of the altar is, as it were, the supreme instrument whereby the merits won by the divine Redeemer upon the cross are distributed to the faithful…. (Mediator Dei) [15]
Since the merits of the cross are primarily available through the Mass, the Church urges priests to celebrate the Eucharist, "the sacrament of redemption,"[1846] frequently, daily if possible. Priests are to do this with the salvation of the world in view:
We recommend that they celebrate Mass daily in a worthy and devout fashion, so that they themselves and the rest of the faithful may enjoy the benefits that flow in such abundance from the Sacrifice of the Cross. In doing so, they will also be making a great contribution toward the salvation of mankind. (Mysterium Fidei) [16]
And again [1405]:
In the mystery of the eucharistic sacrifice, in which priests fulfil their principal function, the work of our redemption is continually carried out. (Second Vatican Council) [17]
Pope Pius XII wrote that Christ:
…daily offers Himself upon our altars for our redemption, that we may be rescued from eternal damnation and admitted into the company of the elect. (Mediator Dei) [18]
This relationship between the work of redemption and the Mass is also expressed in the Liturgy of the Eucharist. The priest prays over the gifts:
May we celebrate these sacred rites worthily, O Lord, for each offering of this memorial sacrifice carries on the work of our redemption. (Roman Missal) [19]
All of this stands in contradiction to the Bible. Scripture teaches that God freely and immediately bestows upon each true believer "every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places" (Ephesians 1:3). These He lavishes upon His children in Christ (Ephesians 1:7-8). Nowhere does God require a Christian to participate in an ongoing sacrifice in order to obtain his or her blessings in Christ. The Roman Catholic Church’s teaching that the Sacrifice of the Mass is "the supreme instrument whereby the merits won by the divine Redeemer upon the cross are distributed to the faithful"20 is just one more way in which the Church makes people dependent upon it for the blessings of God.
Adapted from The Gospel According to Rome by James G. McCarthy, Harvest House Publishers, © 1995.
Notes
This article is indexed to the numbered paragraphs of the Catechism of the Catholic Church. The paragraph numbers are in brackets.
1. H. E. Dana and Julius R. Mantey, A Manual Grammar of the Greek New Testament (Toronto, Canada: Macmillan Company, 1955), p. 200.
2. Kenneth S. Wuest, The New Testament, An Expanded Translation (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1956), p. 262.
3. Pope Pius XII, Mediator Dei, no. 79.
4. Pope Pius Xl, Quas Primas, December 11, 1925.
5. This figure is based upon each of the 404,031 Roman Catholic priests of the world offering the Mass 300 times each year. The annual total would be 121.2 million Masses. (Number of priests based on figures from 1994 Catholic Almanac (Huntington, IN: Our Sunday Visitor Publishing Division, 1993), p. 367. Figure is as of December 31, 1991.)
6. Pope Pius XII, Mediator Dei, no. 68.
7. Pope Pius XII, Mediator Dei, no. 68.
8. Third Eucharistic Prayer.
9. Second Vatican Council, "Sacred Liturgy," "General Instruction on the Roman Missal," no. 2.
10. First Eucharistic Prayer, The Memorial Prayer.
11. Council of Trent, session 22, "Decree and Canons on the Most Holy Sacrifice of the Mass," chapter 2.
12. A. Tanquerey, A Manual of Dogmatic Theology (New York, NY: Desclee Company, 1959), vol. II, p. 279. Also compare Ludwig Ott, Fundamentals of Catholic Dogma, (Rockford, IL: Tan Books and Publishers, 1960), p. 414.
13. Council of Trent, session 22, "Teaching and Canons on the Most Holy Sacrifice of the Mass," chapter 2.
14. Council of Trent, session 22, "Teaching and Canons on the Most Holy Sacrifice of the Mass," chapter 2.
15. Pope Pius XII, Mediator Dei, no. 79.
16. Pope Paul VI, Mysterium Fidei, no. 33.
17. Second Vatican Council, "Life of Priests," no. 13. See also the Code of Canon Law, canon 904.
18. Pope Pius XII, Mediator Dei, no. 73.
19. Roman Missal, "Prayer Over the Offerings," ninth Sunday after Pentecost. This prayer is cited by the Second Vatican Council, "Life of Priests," no. 13, footnote 14.
20. Pope Pius XII, Mediator Dei, no. 79.
Is this your final proof that Rome is the "true church "?
mat 12: 27"If I by Beelzebul cast out demons, by whom do your sons cast them out? For this reason they will be your judges. 28"But if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.…
Josephus also mentions some, but they are mere impostures; he says ('Ant.,' 08:02.5), "Solomon left behind him the manner of using exorcisms, by which they drive away demons, so that they never return, and this method of cure is of great force unto this day; for I have seen a certain man of my own country, whose name was Eleazar, releasing people that were demoniacal in the presence of Vespasian, and his sons, and his captains, and the whole multitude of his soldiers. The manner of the sure was this: he put a ring that had a root of one of those sorts mentioned by Solomon to the nostrils of the demoniac, after which he drew out the demon through his nostrils; and when the man fell down immediately, he abjured him to return into him no more, making still mention of Solomon, and reciting the incantations which he composed" (cf. also Dr. Cheatham's article on "Exorcism," in 'Dict. of Christian Antiq.'). Therefore they. Emphatic (αὐτοί), and hence, presumably, the transposition in the Revised Version, shall they. Shall be your judges.
Our Lord asks the preceding question, neither denying nor affirming for himself the fact that their disciples cast out devils, but only by way of argument. He implies, "You will answer that they do so by God's help. If so, then your sons shall be your judges, convicting you of insincerity. You acknowledge that they work miracles by God's help, and you do not acknowledge that I do. But you cannot stop short there. You must acknowledge that I also cast out devils by God's help." (Pulpit Commentary)
Satan does not "obey" the command of men..he obeys only the command of God .. so if God so chooses.. just as the demons fled for Solomon and the sons of the Pharisees he would flee at the command of a Presbyterian minister
People keep talking about that guy and I didn’t even know who he was. If you hadn’t noticed I appeal to scripture not some man. And those Catholics who laugh can just go right ahead. It’s probably not they who God is calling to be His. Those who He is calling will recognize His voice from scripture.
After this, aware that everything was now finished, in order that the scripture might be fulfilled, Jesus said, “I thirst.” There was a vessel filled with common wine. So they put a sponge soaked in wine on a sprig of hyssop and put it up to his mouth. When Jesus had taken the wine, he said, “It is finished.” And bowing his head, he handed over the spirit. (John19:28-30)
These seem to be few and far between.
Why don't you take the words of Jesus seriously?
Rome says:
Bonaventure: …the gates of heaven will open to all who confide in the protection of Mary. Blessed are they who know thee, O Mother of God, for the knowledge of THEE is the high road to everlasting life, and the publication of thy virtues is the way of ETERNAL SALVATION . Give ear, O ye nations; and all you who desire heaven , serve, honor Mary, and certainly you will find ETERNAL LIFE.
Ephem: …devotion to the divine Mother…is the unlocking of the heavenly Jerusalem.
Blosius: To the, O Lady, are committed the KEYS and the treasures of the kingdom of Heaven.
Ambrose: …constantly pray ‘Open to us, O Mary, the gates of paradise, since thou hast its KEYS.
Fulgetius: …by Mary God descended from Heaven into the world, that by HER man might ascend from earth to Heaven.
Athanasius: …And, thou, O Lady, wast filled with grace, that thou mightiest be the way of our SALVATION and the means of ascent to the heavenly Kingdom.
Richard of Laurence: Mary, in fine, is the mistress of heaven; for there she commands as she wills, and ADMITS whom she wills.
Guerric: …he who serves Mary and for whom she intercedes, is as CERTAIN of heaven as if he were already there…and those who DO NOT serve Mary will NOT BE SAVED.
Anselm: It suffices, O Lady, that thou willest it, and our SALVATION is certain.
Antoninus: …souls protected by Mary, and on which she casts her eyes, are NECESSARILY JUSTIFIED AND SAVED.
Why don't I take the words of these guys seriously?
Because it is
Nah, you're all still Catholics.....you're kind of like the people who say they don't want to be a boy or a girl anymore....still are.
You may be able to play hockey better than I can, I never really liked the game...but in your wildest dreams you could never outskate me, neither on ice nor roller skates.We had a lakeside home in Pewaukee Wisconsin from the time I was a sophomore in high school until I left to get married. I was born and raised in northern Wisconsin where there was nothing else to do from November to April except ski and skate.I taught young peple to dance on roller skates at the Elm Skate club in Elmhurst Illinois when I lived there for a few years....Hockey...probably, skating NEVER.
Yeah, it was those pesky Catholics....there was no one else there. They took the old testament books from the Jewish people and combined them with the new testament books which they collected, transcribed, interpreted, edited, and saved for 2,00 years so you'd have a bible which you claim they had nothing to do with.....sigh
In your opinion????? who cares??
Peter will do....thanks!
Once I saw your incoherent babbling on mormanisn I just knew the naughty pope list couldn't be far behind (Mary's time line can't be far behind this)
I have no idea where the souls of those men are.....did they repent of their sins as they were aware that they could do????
maybe they turned protestant and shouted halleluia, I am born again....according to you that would pretty much have done the job.
OSAS...discussed here earlier....maaybe they were already saved and could do anything they wanted to and been saved anyway....no need to worry about one's behavior in that case.
Thanks for your error free bible.
I like it.
A LOT!
Therefore, they might NOT be.
Are you praying for their deliverance from Purgatory?
Do you agree with your PRESENT pope?
I was born and raised in North Dakota. Instead of November to April, it was OCT to April. We got a jump on you. Hockey is a manly sport. I took great pleasure in running people into the boards. I skated a few months ago at Mall of Asia. I could still pick em up and lay em down. I saw people recording my exploits :-)
Elmhurst, Illinois huh? Horror of horrors. How dare you even live in the same state as my beloved Chicago Blackhawks :-) I have to admit, I started out as a figure skater, but went on to bigger and better things, by playing hockey. Kind of like, I started out as a catholic, and then went on to bigger and better things, and became an evangelical. No swimming the Tiber for me :-)
If you REALLY believe that, do you have any idea what a Satanic element That is?
I was reared in a quasi Catholic home, without my permission ... and sprinkled without my permission and did various and sundry actions without any knowledge of what I was doing nor instruction whether it was good or bad ... just ... made to do it
Then I grew up, started thinking for myself and made a conscious, intelligent decision to no longer identify as a Catholic,
and you want to keep me prisoner of a diety I deny ??
Get thee behind me, Satan: thou art an offence unto me: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men.
Hmmm...Seems that if a person was smart, he check with God in the scriptures to see who was telling the truth...
Why not??? Catholics do it...How do you guys get away with it???
Catholics like to claim ownership of all souls whether they like it or not, or agree or not.
I’ve been told many times that my Catholic baptism left an indelible mark on my soul and that I am still a Catholic.
But it left no mark on my soul because getting sprinkled as a baby did not effect any change for the better in my life.
And even IF it did, that *mark* was washed off in the blood of Jesus when I died in Him. My sin was forgiven and I now have a new nature, having been born again. And that new nature has no mark on it from the RCC.
Why not? Even their popes do.
Ian Paisley is a bigot and bible worshipping anti-catholic hate baiter.
He is the Alan Sharpton of Protestants.
I CAN do all that i like ....
Since I got saved, my likes have been directed towards HIM, so ... YES ... I CAN do anything I like
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