Posted on 05/22/2015 9:05:44 AM PDT by RnMomof7
When sharing with catholics the wonderful news about the finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ on the cross for the sins of the world, one of the most tragic and miserable deceptions that many of them have blindly bought into is their worship and idolization of the eucharist.
Breaking bread is something that all Bible believers cherish and take very seriously, especially after reading Paul's solemn admonition not to come to the Lord's table with any unconfessed sin in our hearts (1 Cor. 11:23-34). However, communion is only for those of us that have already been saved from all of our past, present, and future sins; and as such we do so in gratitude for and remembrance of the terrible price that Christ paid for us in dying for our sins to save us from the wrath of God, not in order to 'be saved' or to 'stay saved.'
For catholics, however, it is something they must do in the 'hope' of being saved and staying saved. So, for them it's rather simple: no priest, no mass. No mass, no salvation! And it's also something that they must continue to do right up until they die, otherwise all the 'good' that they've done in their lives will be wiped away upon death. Without meaning to sound crude, it's a bit like a 'pay-as-you-go' situation, a bit like buying 'credit' for their phone in order to use it. Translated, this means that they have to keep going to mass in order to 'stay saved.'
In John 6, which I covered point by point in another article, Jesus makes it very clear that when a person eats His flesh and drinks His blood, they have (present tense) everlasting life.
"Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day."
The above verse proves that eating the Lord's body means one already has everlasting life (present tense) and affirms that this is no mere reference to sitting down and breaking bread each week (I’ll have more to say on this later).
One writer offered the following:
"In ancient ritual blood sacrifices (in pagan religions) the worshipper must consume the blood of the victim as a sacrifice. This idea was incorporated in such manner that now the communing believer takes the bread (the body of Christ) into his own flesh in this the supreme and highest moment of Christian worship. This becomes the central mystery of the Christians’ faith and practice eating the body of Christ."
Up until the 12th century, many popes and church councils had differing views as to the necessity of the mass. For example, Gregory I placed an anathema and automatic excommunication on anyone who didn't participate in this unbiblical and non-bloody sacrifice. Yet Innocent III said that all those who taught that it was necessary and essential to attend mass would be excommunicated. (Also, some church "fathers," like the above popes, believed in the eucharist being literal, divine and essential to salvation, while others considered it only to be symbolic, and no more than that.)
Catholics believe their priests have magical powers to change a wafer and wine (not unleavened bread and fruit juice, both being Scriptural) into the literal body and blood of the Lord Jesus Christ before 'crucifying' Him afresh, and the Scripture that is commonly misused and misunderstood to 'affirm' this is John 6:51-63:
"I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world. The Jews therefore strove among themselves, saying, How can this man give us his flesh to eat? Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you. Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day. For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him. As the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father: so he that eateth me, even he shall live by me. This is that bread which came down from heaven: not as your fathers did eat manna, and are dead: he that eateth of this bread shall live forever. These things said he in the synagogue, as he taught in Capernaum. Many therefore of his disciples, when they had heard this, said, This is an hard saying; who can hear it? When Jesus knew in himself that his disciples murmured at it, he said unto them, Doth this offend you? What and if ye shall see the Son of man ascend up where he was before? It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life."
This kind of Biblical interpretation is called letterism. The concept is quite simple: every passage in the Bible (if one is not careful) ends up being interpreted literally, resulting in many problems, if this is taken to the extreme.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons) have also fallen prey to this theological blunder!
For example, in the above piece of Scripture, the Jewish Messiah is speaking to His Jewish disciples and others present (never forget the historical and religious context) in their Jewish synagogue, and He tells them:
"Whoso eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood hath (present tense) eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day."
According to catholic teachings, no catholic is entitled to have any assurance of salvation, much the same way that Muslims don't either have any assurance that their sins are forgiven. Should they die at any moment, their religion offers them no guarantee that they will go straight to be with the Lord, even though the above text is crystal clear that salvation is eternal and given to those that eat His flesh and drink His blood. Once again, Rome is proven to be teaching falsehoods on matters of one's eternal and unconditional salvation.
May I also take a moment to remind the reader that Jewish culture forbade the drinking of blood (animal or human) before the law, during the law, and after the law (Lev. 17:11-14.) So, obviously, Jesus would not teach against His own law while the Jews were still living under the Jewish law (Acts 15:28-29).
Some years after this event, Peter would say: "I have never eaten any thing that is common or unclean" (Acts 10:14). Yet, according to Rome, he had done this but didn't know what he was talking about!
As catholic doctrine desperately needs to affirm John 6 as being literal, I find it rather odd that other verses, such as Matt. 5:29 "If thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee," are not interpreted literally, but only metaphorically. (One church leader, Origen, did foolishly mutilate himself, when reading this Scripture.)
So, how should Matt. 5:29 be correctly understood and interpreted? Jesus is warning His Jewish audience about the drastic consequences of unrepentant sin (Rom. 12:1 should be cross-referenced here). Correctly, nobody within catholicism or Biblical Christianity would take this verse to be literal but metaphorical, which of course is the only correct way to exegete it.
And what about John 6:54? Well, Scripture with Scripture, and we read how some of the unbelieving Jews, when hearing about eating and drinking Christ's body, later complained (vs. 61). This is reminiscent of what happened with Moses and his followers, when they were still wandering in the wilderness (Ex. 16:2). Also from the same chapter, we read about the "Bread of Heaven," which God gave as a test to Israel to see who would obey His laws or not.
John 6 comes to its natural completion, with the false disciples departing from Jesus, even though He made it clear in vs. 63 that His words weren't literal. They had already made up their minds, however, and "walked no more with Him," and with this, Christ allowed them to depart permanently (John 6:66; 1 John 2:19).
So then how should one understand what Jesus means when He says they must eat Him and drink Him? The most sensible and logical conclusion for any honest and open-minded person to come to would be to understand this as being metaphorical. Therefore, the Lord was underscoring the fact that He would soon die and taught His followers that they would need to partake of this spiritual memorial, i.e., believe in Him and on Him, if they wanted to be saved (John 1:12).
Two other things should be said about the eucharist:
1) If receiving it (pre-Vatican II) warrants eternal life, then grace through faith alone is thrown out and works for salvation is taught alongside it, something that the cults believe. Please also remember that communion hadn't yet been officially instituted by Christ.
2) Today's catholic church (post-Vatican II) no longer holds to the urgent need for catholics to take communion in order to be saved; for they state that Muslims and Jews can be saved without any faith or repentance in Christ.
No sane person would take a literal interpretation of other Scriptures such as "Whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst" (John 4:14); "I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever" (John 6:51); "I am the door" (John 10:7), and finally, "He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust: his truth shall be thy shield and buckler" (Ps. 91:4). This is known as letterism. Rather, these verses are understood figuratively, based on the loving understanding that God does and will look after His own and will feed those that believe in Him literally and spiritually.
Thus, redeemed sinners will never thirst again if they feed on Him and His word daily. And we know that God is not a bird (Ps. 91:4), but is a Spirit (John 4:24) and is also invisible (Col. 1:15).
Later in the Bible we read how Paul ridiculed his pagan audience in Acts 17:25, when he totally dismantled their nonsensical belief:
"Neither is [God] worshipped with men's hands [out goes transubstantiation], as though he needed any thing, seeing he giveth to all life, and breath, and all things."
One should also read Acts 19:26-27 where Paul once again reiterates this position, and what follows from his pagan crowd? Much persecution and violence. Why? Because they, like Rome, know, that Paul's rebuke of their foolish notion of creating gods, i.e., statues, etc, etc, is very bad for business (like church membership and attendance is for Rome). How times never change!
Lastly, on this note, 1 Cor. 8:8 is the final clincher that eating food (the wafer miraculously becoming 'the body of Christ') doesn't save sinners:
"But meat commendeth us not to God: for neither, if we eat, are we the better; neither, if we eat not, are we the worse."
Each of these verses totally obliterates the warped view of the catholic eucharist being a Biblical doctrine, let alone being able to save lost, ignorant sinners!
May I say the reason why I have titled this article, "The blasphemy of the mass" is not only in remembrance of the following victim of this cruel and heretical belief of a wafer being transformed into the literal body of the Lord Jesus, but because the church of Rome have created yet another idol and stumbling block to catholics all over the world, something God detests and will judge them severely for.
Before I move on, I wish to share with the reader, the following and most profound statement made by an Anne Askew, whilst been tortured to death for Christ by a catholic bishop, for failing to submit to the mass:
"I have read that God made man, but that man can make God, I have never read."
(Anne was 25 years old when she was tortured and later taken out and burnt alive!)
One writer had the following to say about the madness of how Rome deals with a wafer:
"If a Catholic gets the wafer (not the Biblical unleavened bread) stuck in his false tooth, he is to scrap "Jesus" out of his mouth with a knife or finger, dip Him in water and drink Him...If a person vomits up the wafer, they must pick up their vomit."
One last example of this type of wooden and woolly interpretation would be when the Mormons take 1 Cor. 15:29 literally:
"If the dead rise not at all? why are they then baptized for the dead?"
After reading this passage, the founder of the Mormon religion, Joseph Smith, (who was also a freemason and witch) started baptising dead people. This form of exegesis is sheer madness, for when did a dead unrepentant person ever benefit from being baptised after they died?
(The Mormons have been known to baptise dead people at random, regardless of their religious backgrounds, and then add their names to their own private computer, which incidentally has billions of names of people from around the whole world and dating back many years in their many underground secret tunnels in Utah).
1 Cor. 15:29 simply means that if Christ had not died and then been raised from the dead, our baptism and faith in Him would be totally in vain.
For non-catholics, the whole concept of what the mass is was clearly defined and explained by an archbishop, John F. Whealon:
"Sacrifice is the very essence of religion. And it is only through sacrifice that union with the Creator can be perfectly acquired. It was through sacrifice that Christ Himself was able to achieve this for man. It is only through the perpetuation [continuing] of that sacrifice that this union may be maintained."
This part of Scripture is partially true, apart from the perpetual aspect. And then Whealon goes on to say:
"What makes the mass the most exalted of all sacrifices is the nature of the victim, Christ Himself. For the Mass is the continuation of Christ's sacrifice which He offered through His life and death. Jesus then, is the priest, the offerer of the sacrifice. But Christ was not only the priest of this sacrifice (of the cross), He was also the victim, the very object itself of this sacrifice. The Mass is thus the same as the sacrifice of the cross. No matter how many times it is offered, nor in how many places at one time, it is the same sacrifice of Christ. Christ is forever offering himself in the Mass."
(Note: The mass is performed around 200,000 times a day, all around the globe, meaning Jesus, according to catholic belief, is continually being 'summoned' down from Heaven like a bellboy, to be repeatedly 'sacrificed' afresh for the sins of catholics. 'Salvation' at best is only temporary and most certainly 'conditional', and as such, catholics are constantly in limbo and fear of dying outside their so-called 'state of grace.')
One of the greatest blessings for people that had been trapped in organized religion was the protestant reformation of the 16th century. Much to their credit, the reformers re-discovered how sinners are saved solely and exclusively by their faith alone in the shed blood of Christ.
By Christ's precious and divine blood, anybody who believes on Him and in His substitutionary death on the cross for their sins can be totally forgiven and pardoned, regardless of anything they do to 'help' them earn 'favour' with God!
Of course, such an amazing re-affirmation of God's incredible grace was met with absolute fury from the priests of Rome because, for them, only they could act as little 'mediators' between God and man. To cut them out of the equation meant the end of livelihoods and strongholds over members of their religion.
So, Rome launched a counter-reformation movement, and one of the first things they did was to convene in Trent, northern Italy, where they issued over 100 curses on worldwide non-catholics, which in essence meant eternal Hell fire upon death!
The council of Trent and its many curses, which is still binding on non-catholics to this present day, had the following to say to anyone who didn't agree with them on this:
"If anyone shall say that a blasphemy is ascribed to the most Holy sacrifice of Christ performed on the cross by the sacrifice of the mass let him be accursed."
Well, before I respond to the curses promised by Rome, may I remind the reader of one very important point: if the mass is a continuation of the work of Calvary, than catholicism has a rather difficult problem. For the Bible says, "And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission" (Heb. 9:22).
The mass is a non-bloody sacrifice. The sacrifices in the Jewish temple were bloody. Jesus' death was bloody. The mass is not. Therefore according to Biblical theology, the mass is totally nullified, and subsequently worthless!
Now as far as the 100+ curses, which have so 'lovingly' been placed on all non-catholics are concerned, all I would say is this: I shall return such curses back to Rome via FedEx! Because as far as I am concerned, the mass is not needed at all. For we read the following in the book of Hebrews:
"But this man [Jesus], because he continueth ever, hath an unchangeable priesthood. Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them. For such an high priest became us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens; Who needeth not daily, as those high priests, to offer up sacrifice, first for his own sins, and then for the people's: for this he did once, when he offered up himself. For the law maketh men high priests which have infirmity; but the word of the oath, which was since the law, maketh the Son, who is consecrated for evermore" (Heb. 7:24-28).
"Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us" (Heb. 9:12).
This monumental Scripture, which the apostle Paul also affirmed in his epistle to the Romans (6:10), has a most beautiful connotation to it. Such verses would echo the words of the Lord as He hung naked on Calvary's cross, "It is finished" (John 19:30).
And before I move on, please permit me to share what a real curse is, when concerning false teachers and their teachings, from a true servant of God:
"I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel: Which is not another; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ. But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. As we said before, so say I now again, If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed" (Gal. 1:6-9).
So, it appears the Rome has actually cursed themselves, when seeking to curse true Bible believers!
To the observant student of Scripture, none of the above verses state that works of any kind are necessary for salvation; it's simply by one's faith alone in Christ alone!
So, what further need do we have to emphasise that the sacrificial aspect of the catholic mass is a farce and blasphemy in the eyes of God. Jesus has paid the price for the sin of the world (John 1:29), and no church, group, priest, vicar, guru, prophet, or god has the right or even the audacity to say or teach otherwise.
Those “catholics” you speak of are both devious and unbelieving of Catholic doctrine.
>>“Outside the Church there is no salvation” (extra ecclesiam nulla salus) is a doctrine of the Catholic Faith that was taught By Jesus Christ to His Apostles, preached by the Fathers, defined by popes and councils and piously believed by the faithful in every age of the Church. Here is how the Popes defined it:<<
>>“There is but one universal Church of the faithful, outside which no one at all is saved.” (Pope Innocent III, Fourth Lateran Council, 1215.)
“We declare, say, define, and pronounce that it is absolutely necessary for the salvation of every human creature to be subject to the Roman Pontiff.” (Pope Boniface VIII, the Bull Unam Sanctam, 1302.)<<
>>“The most Holy Roman Church firmly believes, professes and preaches that none of those existing outside the Catholic Church, not only pagans, but also Jews and heretics and schismatics, can have a share in life eternal; but that they will go into the eternal fire which was prepared for the devil and his angels, unless before death they are joined with Her; and that so important is the unity of this ecclesiastical body that only those remaining within this unity can profit by the sacraments of the Church unto salvation, and they alone can receive an eternal recompense for their fasts, their almsgivings, their other works of Christian piety and the duties of a Christian soldier. No one, let his almsgiving be as great as it may, no one, even if he pour out his blood for the Name of Christ, can be saved, unless he remain within the bosom and the unity of the Catholic Church.” (Pope Eugene IV, the Bull Cantate Domino, 1441.)<<
I am comfortable with that. I am willing to stake my eternity on the fact that I don't really worry much about what men say. I am far more concerned with what God says, and many times, it is directly opposed to what men say. Elsie, am I officially on your heretic list? 😱
Hey!
If you’re going to start by claiming I added something, I’m stoping right there.
The author included the phrase “and future sins”, for which I phrased “excuses all future behavior,”.
Now, if you’d like to explain to us how my rephrasing is a mischaracterization, we’re all ears.
Hey, what do you know? More pointless religious bickering. Another black eye for FR. Nice work.
“Any chance you could give up anti-Catholic rants, and take up golfing, or something? Forgive me, but you’re really not very good at this, even by Protestant standards.”
She smoked you out, didn’t she?
“and future sins”, for which I phrased “excuses all future behavior,”.
I don't see those as being equal. Not in the least. That Jesus died for future sins is not the same as have a an "excuse" for future behavior. My entire post was dedicated to showing we do NOT view Christ's death as an excuse for misbehavior, and I cited Paul in defense of the fact that this is a very old misconception.
So, yes, to me, that looks like you added something that goes beyond the intent of the OP. And as we are all the time having to deal with that faulty Catholic interpretation that we engage in easy believism, that is the context for my response.
But I am genuinely open to you setting me straight. Your comment, if it is not "additive," should not have used the charged word "excuse." But perhaps you only meant "forgiven?" Again, I am open to trying to understand you the best I can.
Peace,
SR
Sometimes the LDS get on here, and Elsie gets after them. 😇 (Good work Elsie)
I have never seen the INC or Quiboloy's people caucus here either, but if they did, we would be all over them too. INC doctrine is even more far out than catholic doctrine, and they are rabidly anti catholic. I have asked a few why, and they said they really did not know, except their church told them they were supposed to be. If the INC and Quiboloy had a caucus, I would be against them, but they never come.
Well then, you are wrong.
The only “future behavior” in question is “SIN”, and the author has declared that a non-problem.
Satan prefers that people not believe in him or his demons.
Then you are NOT saying we evangelicals would treat Christ’s death as an “excuse” to engage in future sinful behavior? Because that’s what I sincerely thought you were saying, and if not, then we are all good and can return to our respective corners. :)
But if that’s the case, it leaves me wondering what your objection actually was, because if you weren’t actually criticizing the idea of “excuse” as a bad thing, then I really don’t know what you were getting at.
Peace,
SR
I don’t understand why the author apologized for “sounding so crude”. It IS crude, and there is no way to make it sound appealing. It is the foundation of a system built on fraud, deceit, superstition, spiritual darkness and soul bondage. Celebrating everything that honors and lifts up the carnal man with fallible rules, doctrines and traditions that make a mockery of the work of Christ on our behalf. “Crude” does not begin to describe the whole picture that is associated with this system of debauchery.
Probably the same reason converted Mormons do not seek to convert JWs or Rc's...
A hearty “AMEN!”
Especially to “soul bondage.”
Satan uses human nature to cause people to think they must do something. God says it is a free gift. Catholics teach that grace comes and goes, depending on their works.
As someone said earlier, in the process, they render grace to be of no effect. “After beginning with the Spirit, are you now trying to attain your goal by human effort?” (Gal 3:3 ?) In fact, read the whole chapter - it deals directly with the Catholic error re. Works and Grace.
Yes. “Error”
Christ never apologized for sounding “crude “
That isn’t the case, not at all.
You’re truly not seeing the matter as evangelical Christians see it.
You know we oppose what God tells us is sin. We agree with Him on it. We know God is holy and hates sin. Sin is opposite of real love, and it grieves God. If we truly see God and His love and holiness as they are, and righteousness and sin as God sees them, how could we virtually delight to sin, as you suggest, while saying, “Glad I’m free to do wrong now”? Would it make sense, for example, for someone to believe that God hates adultery and abortion and then think that by Jesus’ sacrifice it’s now okay for him to engage in them, as if these things are now approved by God? If someone has truly been converted, then they recognize that they have rebelled against God and see sin as He does and are heartbroken about it. That’s what God seeks, “a broken and contrite spirit.”
Just as it is today with our adversaries. Forgive them God, they have no idea what they do.
Ask yourself, could a murderer get born again after committing murder? If your answer is yes, then you are part the way to comprehending why the Promise of God includes all your sin, past, present, and future. If a man is born again from above before he dies, then to believe there is some sin he could commit after being born again that would cancel his status of born again from above is to assert there is some sin which is stronger than God's Promise. There is no such sin, regardless of how hard satan drives that into your head. Once He 'borns you' ain't nothing nowhere nohow that can snatch you from His Grace AND Power.
The very act of admitting you are a sinner in need of His Grace makes you just what God is searching the whole Earth for, for His Spirit goes to and fro throughout the whole Earth seeking any boy, girl, man or woman who will let God be God IN THEM ... 'For it is God Who is in you, both to will and to do of His good pleasure.' 'You are bought with a price'. and if there some sin that the purchase won't cover --past present or future-- then the purchaser is in default, and God doesn't make mistakes. I am prime evidence of His love and long suffering with His creation.
What is ‘INC’ and Quiboloy? ... I’m so old!
Both are rooted in the Philippines.
Search for “Iglesia ni Cristo” and “Apollo Quiboloy.”
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