Catholic Church no longer swears by truth of the Bible

I will let Mr Spurgeon reply for me here...

Salvation by ceremonies?

Spurgeon, "Hope, Yet No Hope. No Hope, Yet Hope"

I turn with loathing from gaudily decorated churches,
dedicated to salvation by ceremonies, daubed with paint,
smothered with glitter, and bedizened with pictures,
dolls, and all sorts of baby prettinesses.

I turned aside from them uttering, "If your god accepts
such rubbish as this, he is no God to me- my God is too
sublime, too noble, too great minded to take delight in
your genuflections, and stage play devotions."

When I behold processions with banners, and crosses,
and smoking censers, and see men who claimed to be
sent of God, and yet dress themselves like Tom-fools,
I do not care for their god, but reckon that it was some
heathenish idol whom I scoff at and despise.

Has it never struck you that ceremonial salvation
would be a very wicked way of salvation?
What is there, for instance, about drops of baptismal
water which could make men better? What is there
about confirmation that should assure you of the
forgiveness of your sins? What is there about
receiving a piece of bread and drinking a drop
of wine that should confer grace?
Might you not remain as bad at heart and as wicked
after all these ceremonies as you were before?

And is it not a violation of the eternal principles of
morality that a man should be endowed with grace
while still his soul clings to sin?

Now, if there be no effect in water to make you hate
sin, and no result from the priest's hands to make you
love God, and no result from sacraments to make you
holy and heavenly-minded, why do you trust in them?

Surely it is immoral in the highest degree to tell a
man that by outward ceremonies, which cannot
change the life, he shall have his sin forgiven!

The gospel gives not a vestige of confidence to anybody
who hopes to be saved by the performances of ritualism.

The gospel is so simple, so divine; how is it that so
many cast it aside, and take up with these sillinesses
which are the inventions of man?

Only divine grace can turn you from the delusive path
of trusting in vain religious ceremonies for salvation!
-------------------------------------------------

Can any man command the King of Kings and Lord of Lords to come down from heaven not only once but millions of times down thru the centuries to reside in a "Cracker"...??? As a perpetual sacrifice of Himself...FOR WHAT?? Behold your RCC's "trinity" in all it's degrading shame of our Saviour...!

ONLY CHRIST SAVES!

 

The Spiritually deluded: are seldom persuaded by personal attacks on their beliefs--many of which were handed down through many generations.

God calls; The Holy Spirit convicts; Jesus saves. (Christ is His title not His name) "There is no other name in heaven or earth whereby we must be saved". The connotation of "name"has to do with "authority". Jesus said all authority was given Him--in heaven and in earth.

Pray for those deluded--that Jesus would save their souls and bring them into the peace that passes understanding.

Selah,

Bro. James

 

Amen! However if even one Catholic, or one Protestant can see the folly of the RCC then it would be well worth it...There are 1 billion Catholics in the world, many protestants who view the RCC as another Christian denomination...

Hundreds of Millions who flock to Marian shrines every year...People who are honestly seeking the Lord but are being told lies to keep them in darkness...Yes I pray, that Jesus will open their eyes to His "Free Gift"...but if someone does not tell them what their church teaches and the meaning behind it's doctrines, then the "dark" only becomes darker...!

Only Christ Saves!

 

There is nothing that justifies spreading inaccurate information. If one, or if ten million, are shown the folly of the RCC by such methods, it is not worth it.

Only by remaining credible and accurate in our witness can we be effective witnessers.

 

Amen Johnv!


We must seek after Jesus' righteousness for justification and certainly not our own tainted corrupted self-righteousness (Phil 3:9).

Lloyd

 

You are absolutely wrong! Catholicism does not teach that we need to be perfect to be saved. They teach that we must be perfect to enter heaven. Protestants teach that this happens instantly and Catholics teach that we are made perfect over a lifetime through the sacraments.

 

Better that the dogs should
eat my worthless carrion!

The following is from Spurgeon's sermon,
"Life by Faith" #814. Galatians 3:11.

I am afraid many professors live a
kind of listless, dreamy, comatose life.

I mean some of you. You have been honest,
you have subscribed to church funds, have
done your duty outwardly as a Christian, but
there has been very little vitality in your godliness;
it has been surface work, skin-deep consistency.
You have not been exhilarated by a sense of
divine love and a delightful recognition of your
interest in it. You have gone on dreamily.

O for a thunderbolt to wake you,
for this is dangerous living!

I would quite as soon not be,
as live to be a useless thing.

Better far to fatten the fields with
one's corpse, than to lie rotting
above ground in spiritual idleness!

To be a soldier in Immanuel's ranks, and
never fight, never uphold a banner, nor
hurl a spear-- better that the dogs
should eat my worthless carrion, than
that such should be the case.

ONLY CHRIST SAVES!

 

It must be nice to be able to bash a group when no one from that group is here to defend or explain.

 

Better look at your own backyard before making a comment like that! The RCC has accursed Christians to hell over 100 times in their "anathemas" because of our belief in Salvation thru faith alone in Christ alone...! Talk about bashing? Sheesh!

BTW, Do you also think Jesus is bound by men to do as they please? That a mere man can order Christ to come down from heaven and reside in a "cracker"? If that be the case, I am staying up this Christmas to wait for Santa Claus...!

Only Christ Saves!

 

Group bashing:

I am a member of a Christian group which is neither Catholic or Protestant. One of our basic beliefs is that everyone is free to worship according to their own conscience. By the same token, no one is allowed to force their belief on anyone.

Is it possible to have a debate--instead of a bash?

"Faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the Word of God--how shall they hear without a preacher?"

Consider the Apostle Paul--bashing his way to Damascus--with authorization to kill more Christians. The Lord took care of it.

God is still on His throne.

Jesus is still The Way, The Truth and The Life.
"No one comes to The Father except through Him"--the scripture exposes the false doctrine every time. Satan cannot deal with The Word of God.

Selah,

Bro. James

 

Greetings

Debate would be nice! It is frustration when you debate with those who don't understand even their own position. Consider ptlforever's remark:

He thinks that the important subtle difference is purgatory. Saved but soiled sinners need to spend some time washing themselves before they are purified enuf to enter into heaven.

So he supports one errant idea (that we can be perfect from within) with a second fantasy (purgatory).

At every turn when confronted with the truth ptlforever chooses to be cling to his error and become personally insulted rather than cling to Christ.

Lloyd

 

Amen Lloyd! To have a debate without being personally attacked, would be nice! I would challenge anyone to refute what I have said using Scripture, but only please do so without the Personal insults...

If a particular doctrine is true it will stand the test of Scripture! If it is False, Scripture will surely tell us so!

Any Takers?

Only Christ Saves!

 

Hi Pickerel: Coming from a Fundamentalist background I was always taught that the Catholics were not a cult, but certainly were not Christian. I recently, about a year and a half ago I made friends with a very devout Catholic through a home school program. This family was absolutely on fire for the Lord and no doubt in my mind they were saved. Hell will be populated by those that consider themselves Baptists, Catholics, Methodists…etc as well as Heaven.

My mother, bless her heart, condemned them to Hell without ever even hearing their testimony or even meeting them and seeing first hand their love for Christ. Yeah, there are some things they do that I don’t agree with, but it’s more about the interpretation of scripture.

You say you want a debate and that the doctrine needs to be backed up by scripture. You can look no farther than your local bookstore for a debate, with yourself. Get yourself a copy of the Catechism and read through it. All of their practices and doctrines are all supported by scripture and is laid out very nicely.

The problem is not that the Catholics can’t back-up their doctrine, which is what I was always taught and believed, until I was sadly mistaken, but it’s in the interpretation of the scripture that we are in disagreement with.

There are over 1500 different denominations just here in the US and all get their doctrine from their interpretation of the scriptures. So, who’s right and who’s wrong…

 

Hey riverm

Poignant words! The 1500 denominations have 1500 changes in presuppositions!

Any debate must be a fair exchange of ideas on these presuppositions. Our theological opponents are actually are best resource for sorting out truth from error - - - if our egos will allow it.

Lloyd

 

That is no excuse for the blatatantly rude posts that people have made on this thread.

 

I am not talking about Catholics who are truly Born again(I was Born Again as a Catholic), I have Friends who are Born Again(Catholics)! Because they and I are Born Again does not Justify or Validate what the RCC teaches!! I was a Catholic for 45yrs, my whole family on both sides Catholic as far back as anyone can remember!

The RCC holds Tradition on Par with that of Scripture...Saint so and so said that it is OK to venerate/worship Cadavers...What does the Bible say on that? It is hardly the claim as you make it as an interpretive argument, but more along the lines as a lack of discernment and a total lack on the Word of God to lead, Teach, Rebuke, and Exhort...Instead they rely on the opinions of mere men to justify their teachings...!

The doctrines that you espouse to be Christian, are just a shadow of the REAL truth...However I would gladly like to hear what you think the RCC teaches as "Biblical"...(and I will show you how they have perverted that teaching)

Only Christ Saves!

 

Hey Pickerel

Nice explanation. We must be careful not to condemn a person who holds to heresy. Condemnation of the heresy is difficult because well-intentioned God-loving people nevertheless embrace heresy for a number of reasons.

Some have strong loyalties to their upbring. Some confuse the zeal of works with the requirements of justification.

Regardless of the wrong reasons, we must also uphold Christ Who alone can save - apart from self-righteousness, works of endurance, human faithfulness, and other such monstrous perversions of the gospel message.

Only Christ Saves!
Lloyd

 

Thanks Lloyd! The way I see it there are two types of people on earth, irregardless of denomination...Saved or Unsaved! By Who and How are we Saved...Only Christ Saves and Only the Blood of Christ cleanses us from our sins!

How can something so simple be so hard for some to understand?

Only Christ Saves!

 

I’m not a Catholic apologist, and I’m not going to be your sacrificial lamb to try and ridicule and degrade, but by all means PM me and I will gladly supply you with links to many, many popular Catholic apologist message boards and you can debate until your blue in the face. That’s only if you’re truly up for the challenge my friend…

I have been a lurker on this board for more than 5 years and any Catholic that posts on here is banned within weeks, so you’ll find no Catholics to debate and if so, it usually doesn’t last long before they are banned. What I’ve found is that Baptist aren’t tolerant of other denominations in debating especially when they are being taken to the wood shed…

I look forward to your PM. I’d love to see you or ascund debate some real Catholic apologists. Maybe you guys could team-up?

 

Jesus preached The Truth--we crucified Him.

Jesus told His disciples that the world hated Him and would hate them too--and so it is.

It is written: "They that live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution". Scripture says we are to rejoice when persecuted.

Are we offended by a little verbal abuse? We know not what it means to suffer for the testimony of Jesus. Consider the millions who died in the past 1600 yrs.--refusing to bow to Rome.

Bless them that curse you--it heaps coals on their heads--it is the scriptural way.

See further: The stoning of Stephan and the conversion of Saul.

Is it not amazing how God uses the bad to make something good?

Selah,

Bro. James