BIBLICAL SALVATION
vs.
The CATHOLIC CANON
Redemption and Salvation
(through correcting Catholic theology)
(Catholic Canon quoted in red)
One of the most disturbing facts in human history is that a man called Jesus Christ died. Whatever men may believe about His death, they cannot quite forget it. Christ’s death was not the unexpected cutting short of a life. He spoke of it as the one thing He intended to do. He foresaw that it would be violent; but He had no protests against it.
“The Son of Man came to save what was lost” (Matthew. 18:11). That which was lost was the whole human race which had fallen into sin. The Son of Man Who came to seek and to save was God Himself, a person capable of actions of infinite value. His death entered in as the means by which the work of saving man was accomplished.
Why did He need to die to save us? Why does any soldier die? His death forestalls the death of his fellow men for whom he fights, or protects them from some unbearable tyranny. He sacrifices himself, but his sacrifice is not in vain. So, too, Christ sacrificed Himself to redeem us from the eternal death of sin and to restrain the devil from tyranny over us.
St. Paul says that “he has rescued us from the power of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have our redemption, the remission of our sins” (Colossians 1:13-14). The Epistle to the Hebrews says that He died that “through death he might destroy him who had the empire of death, that is, the devil, and might deliver them, who throughout their life were kept in servitude by the fear of death” (Hebrews 2:14-15).
Christ suffered upon the cross because the sacrifices of men were insufficient to erase the infinite debt of sin which man had contracted. Only the God-man by this one supreme act that summed up His whole mission could do that completely and unquestionably.
Christ knew perfectly well that this was why He died. He was Himself the great High-Priest Who sacrificed Himself. A priest stands between God and man, a mediator reconciling the two. In his hands he holds his sacrifice; and his hopes of mediating are more sure as this sacrifice is more precious and pleasing to God.
So Christ on the night before He died took bread and wine in His hands and said, “This is my body. This is my blood of the new covenant, which is being shed for many unto the forgiveness of sins” (Matthew 26:26-28).
CHRIST’S SACRIFICE
His death was a true sacrifice. St. Paul said, “Christ loved us and delivered himself up for us an offering and a sacrifice to God to ascend in fragrant odor” (Ephesians 5:2)
Christ freely offered Himself to His Father in sacrifice. His obedience to His Father’s will stood in contrast to man’s disobedience. “For just as by the disobedience of the one man the many were constituted sinners, so also by the obedience of the one the many will be constituted just” (Romans 5:19). His love for us and His Father made His sacrifice pleasing and appeasing. By the sacrifice of the cross not only was sin taken away, but a new gift was given us, the gift we have previously called grace.
St. Paul says, “We were buried with him by means of Baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ has arisen from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we also may walk in newness of life” (Romans 6:4).
Grace is a gift of new life. We are not to lead just natural lives but supernatural lives, which is something far higher. “For if by reason of the one man’s offense death reigned through the one man, much more will they who receive the abundance of the grace and of the gift of justice reign in life through the one Jesus Christ” (Romans 5:17).
The sin of Adam has involved us all in sin and the sign of that sin was death. At the head of the human race a sinful man had stood; natural life and spiritual death were handed down from man to man in the unbroken chain of human fatherhood and birth, but a new head was given to the race, Christ. We are all His brothers; we stand united to Him, and we can share in the effects of His actions. His death was not just the death of one more man, however noble; it was the satisfactory action of the new Adam, the new head of the race.
(From the Catholic Canon) So to the question, “Are you redeemed?” we may all answer, “Yes”. The new head of the race, Christ, has completely atoned for our sins; He has gained us a superabundance of graces. To the question, “Are you saved?” there is no answer. [MAJOR ERROR - Sadly the Catholic Church cannot give salvation or even guarantee it. They just don’t know! The Catholic Church has left Bible doctrine and made up their own rules, laws and dogmas. They admit here they CAN’T save. So, any Catholic who tries to claim they are saved are either ignorant of Catholic doctrine, or are liars. In fact, Rome has a curse on any Catholic who believes Jesus ALONE can save them: Canon Law #12 - “If anyone says that justifying faith is nothing but confidence in the divine mercy which remits sin for Christ’s sake ALONE, or that this confidence ALONE is that whereby we are justified, let him be cursed.” This Catholic Law is still on the books today. Read Romans 1:16 & 17.]
(From Catholic Canon) Salvation in this sense means being assured of a place in heaven. Man always has wanted to be sure of that; but neither faith, nor “conversion”, nor anything in the ordinary course of events can give him the answer. Only after he has been judged by God will he know whether he has been found worthy of heaven. It is obvious from such a statement that the Catholic hierarchy has NOT done their homework. The Bible says just the opposite.
BETWEEN REDEMPTION AND SALVATION
(From the Catholic Canon) After lecturing the Philippians about the deed of believing, St. Paul added that they must work out their salvation with fear and trembling (Philippians 2:12). If all that was necessary was to rest in the faith of Christ, it would be impossible to understand why they should fear and tremble, or even why they must work out their salvation. (However, if you notice, it says “work OUT” your salvation, NOT work “for” your salvation. Once saved, you are to SHOW others you already ARE saved.)
Christ speaks in like manner. “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven; but he who DOES the will of my Father in heaven shall enter the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 7:21).
(From the Catholic Canon) We read in St. Matthew 25:31 - 46 that at the last judgment, men will be given heaven or sent to hell on the basis of their help to their neighbor. (But continue to read.) Surely we may presume that faith is implied here. What we may not presume is that the deeds which are mentioned are not necessary. An enormous chasm exists between redemption and salvation, and that chasm must be filled up by our free will cooperation with the grace of God. The plain truth is that Christ and His Apostles said that many things were necessary for salvation. (Once again, this is simply not true. Ephesians 2:8 & 9 states: “For by GRACE you HAVE BEEN SAVED through faith; and that NOT OF YOURSELVES, it is a GIFT of God; NOT AS A RESULT OF WORKS, that no one should boast.” No sacraments or works were needed.)
First, of course, faith, “Man is justified by faith” (Romans 3:28). Note that the rest of this passage says, “Man is justified by faith independently of the works of the Law.” It is of these “works of the Law” that St. Paul speaks when he says that man is not justified by works. Many of the new Jewish-Christians of his time believed that salvation came from obeying the Mosaic Law with only a respectful bow in the direction of Christ. St. Paul was not speaking of “works” in the sense that we talk of “good works” done by Christians.
(From the Catholic Canon) Baptism is also necessary for salvation. (Wrong interpretation of the word “baptism”.) “Unless a man be born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God” (John 3:5). (Holy Spirit baptism, not water baptism, is being spoken of here. It cannot be assumed that every time the word “baptism” is mentioned, that it is speaking of “water baptism”. They are not simultaneous as Catholicism teaches.)
(From the Catholic Canon) The wondrous life of grace which Christ has obtained for us in the redemption means nothing unless we are born into it by Baptism. (Once again, wrong interpretation of “baptism”. The context is Holy Spirit baptism through believing, NOT “water baptism”.)
(From the Catholic Canon) The Lord’s Supper, too, is spoken of with compelling necessity. (Again, not necessary work for salvation.)
Catholicism’s fatal error is John 5:39 & 40: “You search the Scriptures, because you think that in them you have eternal life, and it is these that bear witness of Me; and you are unwilling to come to Me, that you may have life.”
Catholicism tries to reach God on THEIR terms, not on God’s terms. They stubbornly refuse to believe that Christ paid the entire, full, complete and total payment for ALL sins on the cross WITHOUT help from us. There is nothing, I repeat NOTHING, that we can do to better or improve what Christ has already done. God proves it by telling us in Isaiah 64:6: “For all of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a filthy garment...”. God wants us coming to Him empty-handed, relying on the death of Christ ALONE for our salvation.
Now here is what TRUE Christians believe:
Acts 15:11 - "But we believe that we are saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, in the same way as they also are."
Acts 16:30 - 34 - “and after he brought them out, he said, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved? And they said, ‘Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you shall be saved, you and your household’. And they spoke the word of the Lord to him together with all who were in his house. And he took them that very hour of the night and washed their wounds, and immediately he was baptized, he and all his household. And he brought them into his house and set food before them, and rejoiced greatly, having believed in God with his whole household.”
Hebrews 7:25 - “Hence, also, He is able to save forever those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.”
Hebrews 10:22 - “let us draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.”
John 3:16 - "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life.”
John 3:36 - "He who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him."
John 5:24 - "Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life.”
John 6:47 - "Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes has eternal life.”
John 20:31 - “but these have been written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name.”
Romans 6:23 - “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Romans 10:9 & 10 - “that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you shall be saved; for with the heart man believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.”
Romans 10:13 - “for ‘Whoever will call upon the name of the Lord will be saved.’”
Romans 10:17 - “So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.”
1 Corinthians 1:17 - “For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel, not in cleverness of speech, that the cross of Christ should not be made void.”
2 Timothy 1:9 - “who has saved us, and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was granted us in Christ Jesus from all eternity,”
2 Timothy 3:15 & 16 - “and that from childhood you have known the sacred writings which are able to give you the wisdom that leads to salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness;”
2 Timothy 4:18 - “The Lord will deliver me from every evil deed, and will bring me safely to His heavenly kingdom; to Him be the glory forever and ever. Amen.”
Titus 3:5 - “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,”
1 John 5:13 - “These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, in order that you may know that you have eternal life.”
1 John 5:20 - “And we know that the Son of God has come, and has given us understanding, in order that we might know Him who is true, and we are in Him who is true, in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life.”
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GOOD NEWS BIBLE CHURCH
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