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How Do YOU
Determine
Who Is
Pro-Catholic Or Anti-Catholic?
Introduction
The term anti-Catholic is used by many people to label a
person a bigot even if all the person is doing is warning people
about the false teachings of the Catholic church. Now think about
this: if someone discovers that they have been taught something
false about how to get to heaven and they try to bring that to
the attention of other people whose spiritual welfare they care
about, are those people bad for trying to alert others? According
to the Bible, these people are not bad, but rather they are doing
what God commands them to do in the Bible because the Bible says
that we are our brother's keeper. Jesus made this point very
clear in the story of the good Samaritan. This commandment to
give warnings to others is most dramatically stated by the
prophet Ezekiel: "When I say unto the wicked, O wicked
man, thou shalt surely die; if thou dost not speak to warn the
wicked from his way, that wicked man shall die in his iniquity;
but his blood will I require at thine hand." [Ezekiel
33:8].Now if someone who was born and raised a Catholic (like the
author of this leaflet) found out that he was not told the truth
about how to please God and about how to get to heaven would you
want him to tell you what he knew so that you could make sure
that you had not also been deceived? If you are interested in the
truth about how to get to heaven and want to know if you were
told the truth by your church, then you may wish to continue
reading this leaflet. If you want to believe that someone has
something against you because you are Catholic you can believe
that too. If you want to trust the eternal destiny of your soul
to a religious organization that is not even teaching the true 10
commandments to its followers then that is up to you also. At
least I have fulfilled my obligation to God to proclaim the truth
of God's Word (the Holy Bible) to you. What you do with that
truth is your responsibility. I hope that like me, you will
delight yourself in God's truth as found in the Holy Bible.
God's biblical requirements for salvation:
1. God must grant a sinner spiritual birth: This event is NOT a result of
something man does such as water baptism but
rather a supernatural act of God apart from any human
intervention by a priest or anyone else - a one-time event when
the Holy Spirit takes up residence in the person God is saving at
that moment. Salvation is something God does for a person, not
something they do for Him to earn favor with Him: "A new
heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put
within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your
flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. And I will put my
spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye
shall keep my judgments, and do them." [Ezekiel 36:26-27]
(See Jeremiah 31:33, Ezekiel 11:19, Romans 8:15, John 3:3, 1
Peter 1:23)
If and only if God produces the new birth in an individual, they will
become new creatures in Christ who are CAPABLE of...
A. Conviction of sin: A new creature in Christ recognizes that
without Christ, he is a
hopelessly lost, hell deserving sinner who has repeatedly
violated the laws of an infinitely holy God: "But we are
all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as
filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities,
like the wind, have taken us away." [Isaiah 64:6]
(See Jeremiah 59:2, Luke 18:10-18, Romans 3:10&23)
B. Repentance: A new creature in Christ possesses a God-given desire to stop
sinning while realizing that he is incapable of doing so
without God's help: "Hide thy face from my sins, and blot
out all mine iniquities. Create in me a clean heart, O
God; and renew a right spirit within me." [Psalm 51:9-10]
(See Psalm 51:11-17, Romans 7:21-24 & 1 John 2:3-5)
C. Belief in Christ: A new creature in Christ has faith in the complete and all
sufficient sacrifice of Christ at Calvary, and that one-time
sacrifice alone, to pay for ALL a person's sins - past, present,
and future: "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and
that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works,
lest any man should boast." [Ephesians 2:8-9] ... "And
every priest standeth daily ministering and offering oftentimes
the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins: But this
man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever,
sat down on the right hand of God" [Hebrews 10:11-12]. ...
"There is therefore now no condemnation to them which
are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the
Spirit." [Romans 8:1].
(See Romans 5:1, Titus 3:5, 1 John 1:7, 1 John 5:13)
NOTE: Points A, B & C above are not CAUSES of salvation. They are
fruits of a saved person.
Evidence of true salvation is a changed attitude about sin as
described by the fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5:22-24 plus a
desire to warn the lost to flee the wrath of God (1 Corinthians
9:16, 2 Corinthians 5:20) and a love for Biblical truth (Psalms
1:2) as well as a love for other true believers in Jesus Christ.
Rome's unbiblical requirements for salvation:
1. Trying to DO something, anything, to earn salvation or to contribute to it
or participate in some way such as through any
of these things:
-
being baptized or christened
-
participating in the sacrament of communion
-
participating in the sacrament of confirmation
-
receiving the sacrament of last rites
-
going on pilgrimages to Lourdes, Rome, etc.
-
fasting
-
wearing ashes
-
lighting candles
-
praying to the 'virgin' Mary
-
praying to dead 'saints'
-
using holy water
-
performing the stations of the cross
-
making the sign of the cross
-
going to mass on Sundays, holy days or any day
-
doing good works or good deeds
-
being involved in church societies and activities
The Bible says that salvation is "Not by works of
righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy
he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the
Holy Ghost" [Titus 3:5]
2. Being a 'good' person by trying to keep the
commandments, etc. The Bible says: "There is none
righteous, no, not one" [Romans 3:10] ... "For all
have sinned, and come short of the glory of God"
[Romans 3:23]
3. Praying repetitious prayers like the Rosary, etc.
Jesus spoke against this when he said: "But when ye pray, use
not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that
they shall be heard for their much speaking." [Matthew 6:7]
4. Thinking that being a 'good Catholic' is what God
requires of us to get to heaven. The Bible says: "For they
being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to
establish their own righteousness, have not submitted
themselves unto the righteousness of God." [Romans 10:3]
5. Devotion to Mary as mediator and co-redeemer. This
is contrary to the Bible which says: "For there is one God,
and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ
Jesus" [1 Timothy 2:5].
6. Prayers of others for your departed soul. The Bible
teaches that once you are dead, your fate is sealed - you are
either saved or damned: "Blessed are the dead which die in
the Lord" [Revelation 13:14] ... "he that believeth not
shall be damned." [Mark 16:16].
7. Believing in the immaculate conception of Mary.
According to the Bible, Mary was a sinner who needed a Saviour as
she admitted in Luke 1:47 when she said: "my spirit hath
rejoiced in God my Saviour".
8. Spending time in a non-existent place called
purgatory. The Bible mentions judgment after death, NOT
purgatory: "And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but
after this the judgment" [Hebrews 9:27].
9. Displaying, wearing, and bowing down to crucifixes,
medallions, sacred heart pictures and other kinds of statues and
images. The Bible says: "Thou shalt not make unto thee
any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in
heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the
water under the earth: Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them,
nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God"
[Exodus 20:4-5].
10. Seeking forgiveness of sins from a priest . The
Bible says: "Why doth this man thus speak blasphemies? who
can forgive sins but God only?" [Mark 2:7].
11. Allegiance to the authority and teachings of the
Catholic Church even if they contradict the Bible. The Bible
says: "Howbeit in vain do they worship me, teaching for
doctrines the commandments of men. For laying aside the
commandment of God, ye hold the tradition of men," [Mark
7:7-8].
Classes of sins according to the Bible:
God has no classifications. He hates all sins - no matter how
trivial men may think them to be. Even liars will be cast into
the Lake of Fire: "But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the
abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and
idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the
lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second
death." [Revelation 21:8]. And yet, through Christ, God has
forgiven all kinds of sins of those He came to save: "Even
as David also describeth the blessedness of the man, unto whom
God imputeth righteousness without works, Saying, Blessed
are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are
covered. Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute
sin." [Romans 4:6-8]
It is the duty of very true believer to diligently search the scriptures to
determine whether or not they are being obedient to God's word.
Classes of sins according to the Catholic catechism:
It is the Catholic priest's job to determine which sins fall
into the 2 categories.
Final authority for a Christian according to the Bible:
Final authority for a Catholic according to the Vatican:
-
Council of Trent, Vatican I & II Councils, other
councils, Decrees of Popes, The Baltimore Catechism, The
Catechism Of The Catholic Church - 1994, and other
Catechisms
Kinds of Christians according to the Bible:
-
bishops & elders (See 1 Timothy 3:2 & 1 Peter
5:1)
-
deacons (See 1 Timothy 3:8)
-
ordinary brothers & sisters in Christ - referred to
as saints (See Romans 12:13, Romans 15:26, Romans 16:15,
etc.)
Kinds of Catholics according to the Vatican:
-
popes, cardinals, archbishops, bishops, priests, monks,
nuns, deacons, eucharistic ministers, alter boys,
Jesuits, Blue Army nuns, Sisters of Charity, Carmelites,
Knights of Columbus, dead saints, laity
The head of the true Christian Church on earth:
The head of the Roman Catholic church: the pope
Ordinances mentioned in the New Testament:
-
Baptism - for those who are already saved,
symbolic of the cleansing of sin the Holy Spirit does
when God saves a person (See Ephesians 5:26, Ezekiel
36:25-27)
-
Communion - a memorial of Christ's once-for-all
sacrificial death, for true Christians only, symbolic
only (See 1 Corinthians 11:25 & Hebrews 10:10-12)
Ordinances taught by the Catholic church:
-
Baptism - a ritual where a priest pours water on the
forehead of an infant, that is supposed to cause a
spiritual rebirth and make a person a child of God
-
The Mass - a ceremony where the communion wafer is
supposed to literally turn into Jesus' body and blood and
yet it still looks and tastes like a wafer
-
Confirmation - a ritual Catholic children go through at
about age 12 or 13, that supposedly gives them help to
live a good Catholic life
-
Last Rites - rituals a priest performs before you die
that supposedly get you ready for heaven
Summary:
If you are member of the Catholic church you may wonder why
your church never brought any of the things mentioned in this
article to your attention. Perhaps some priests and catechism
teachers are not aware of these things or perhaps they
know that a lot of people would leave the Catholic church if they
knew that their church was not faithfully following the teachings of Jesus
Christ.
SEE ALSO:
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