Category Archives: Roman Catholicism

Rome’s ‘Gospel’ Cannot Save

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Transcript from a Conference Question and Answer Session with Dr. R. C. Sproul – Pittsburgh, 2000

Questioner to Dr. R. C. Sproul: “How do you feel about the Vatican and its doctrine? Can you believe in this and still be saved?”

R.C. Sproul: “If they are asking, ‘Can you be a member of the Roman Catholic Church and be saved?’ I would say, ‘Without question, Yes!’ If you understand fully the doctrines of the Vatican and embrace them, then I would say, ‘No, you can’t.’

That’s because to embrace the teaching of Rome, clearly understood, you would have to repudiate the gospel – particularly the doctrine of justification by faith alone, which contrary to the press releases of the accord with the Lutherans and all of that, the Roman Catholic Church has not changed its teaching from the Council of Trent one bit. The Council of Trent (the middle of the 16th Century) was where they set forth their condemnation of the Reformation view of justification and set forth the expression of their own doctrine of justification.

Questioner: “Which is?”

R.C. Sproul: “Well, its complicated, but real quickly, the doctrine of justification in Rome involves several elements. It begins with baptism (sacramentally) where in the sacrament of baptism, justifying grace is infused into the soul of the recipient (its called the righteousness of Christ). It is infused ex opere operato (through the working of the sacrament). That infusion of grace places the infant in a state of grace and two things have to happen: one, they must cooperate with that grace and assent to that grace to be justified, (‘coopere et assentara’ are the exact words of Trent) to such a point that righteousness inheres in the soul for them to be saved. Now as long as righteousness inheres in the soul, you are in a state of justification (you are in a state of grace) until or unless you commit mortal sin. Mortal sin is called mortal sin because it kills the grace of justification in your soul. Now here’s also what is spelled out at Trent – you can commit mortal sin while you still have authentic faith – so you can have faith and not have justification – so faith alone will never suffice.

Faith is determined at Trent to be the fundamentum (the foundation), the initium (the initiation), and the rodex (the root of justification) – so you’ve got to have faith, but faith alone will not do it.

Now if you commit mortal sin, you don’t get re-baptized, even though you have lost the grace of justification, you go to the second plank of justification which is the sacrament of penance, defined by Trent as the sacrament for those who have made shipwreck of their souls. In the sacrament of penance you have to make confession, you have to get priestly absolution, and then you have to do your works of satisfaction which are necessary to gain meritum de congruo (or congruous merit) – merit that does not oblige God to redeem you but makes it fitting for God to restore you to a state of grace. And as long as you stay then in that state of grace and you have inherent righteousness (righteousness that is in you) then you will be saved. But if you die with any impurity on your soul, you go to purgatory (the purging place) until the impurity is removed.

The Protestant and I believe biblical view is that the moment you put your faith and trust in Jesus Christ, all that He is and all that He has – becomes yours in the sight of God. And that the righteousness by which we are justified is not our inherent righteousness but strictly and solely the righteousness that Luther said is extra nos (outside of us) a iustisium alienum (an alien righteousness), somebody else’s righteousness. That’s the gospel – that what saves me is not my inherent righteousness but the righteousness of Christ that was performed in His life. Not in my life, in His life. And the moment I put my faith and trust in Him, I am redeemed forever.

I don’t have to worry about purgatory, I don’t have to worry about works of congruous merit, I don’t have to worry about inherent righteousness – I mean God is going to make me inherently righteous in heaven, but my justification does not rely upon that. It is not the gospel to go tell people, here, the grace of God will help you become inherently righteous, why don’t you come and join our church and we will give you the sacrament of grace to help you. That’s not the gospel.”

The Church Fathers on Justification

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Four quotes:

Tertullian (c. 155-230): God will “impute righteousness to those who believe in him, and make the just live through him, and declare the Gentiles to be his children through faith.”

Basil of Caesarea (330-379): “The is perfect and pure boasting in God, when one is not proud on account of his own righteousness but knows that he is indeed unworthy of the true righteousness and is justified soley by faith in Christ.”

Marius Victorinus: “We know that a man is not justified by the works of the law but through faith and the faith of Jesus Christ… It is faith alone that gives justification and sanctification.”

John Chrysostom (c. 347-407): God’s grace “has allowed Him that did no wrong to be punished for those who had done wrong… Him that was righteousness itself, ‘He made sin,’ that is allowed Him to be condemned as a sinner, as one cursed to die, so that we might be, not just ‘righteous’ but ‘righteousness,’ indeed the righteousness of God.”

The Reformed Tradition

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“Calvin, right out of the gate in his Institutes (1559) has an address to the King of France telling him, ‘I hope your Majesty will see from this brief summary of the Christian faith, not the Reformed faith, the Christian faith, that this is simply the catholic faith believed throughout all ages.’ That gives an example of how our tradition, at its best has always seen itself as first of all catholic, not Roman Catholic, but catholic in the sense that, and Calvin pointed this out, ‘Roman Catholic’ is a contradiction of terms. Catholic means ‘universal’ – so that’s like saying, ‘I’m a California Nationalist.’ No, to be catholic is to say, ‘no one locale – no one particular bishop – has sovereignty over the whole church.’”

– Dr. Michael Horton

Can we talk about that word ‘catholic’?

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The word ‘catholic’ simply means universal. It is actually a good word rather than a bad word. The Reformers did not see themselves as separate from the catholic (universal) faith. In fact, they saw themselves as the true proclaimers of the historic faith of the Bible, embraced by all orthodox Christians throughout the ages of the Church. They were more than happy to align themselves with the ancient creeds of the Church and recited them in the Reformed worship services. These creeds affirmed the great essential doctrines of Christianity, including the Bible as the word of God, the Holy Trinity, the full deity and humanity of Christ, His sinless life and atoning, substitutionary death, as well as His physical resurrection from the dead. Though vehemently opposed to Rome’s aberrant doctrines they would describe themselves as truly catholic, though not of the Roman variety.

When Martin Luther and the Protestant Reformers opposed the Roman Catholic Church, what was being proclaimed was not some new doctrine never seen before. Instead, justification by grace alone, through faith alone in Christ alone was something the Bible proclaimed in both the Old and the New Testaments, and affirmed by many in the early Church fathers, even to men like Augustine (who was often quoted in the Reformers’ writings). The Reformation was a back to the Bible movement and marked a return to, and a recovery of, the one true biblical gospel embraced by all true believers in Christ. There was nothing new; nothing novel at all! This was the universal faith once for all delivered to the saints.

– John Samson

Is the Reformation Over?

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Dr. Leonardo de Chirico has spoken at a number of Ligonier Conferences in recent years. Italian himself, and pastoring a Protestant Church in the heart of Rome, Italy, he has a strong desire to reach those entrapped in Roman Catholic doctrine. Leonardo recently traveled to Munich, Germany (September 25-27, 2020), and while there, taught two public lectures on the theme “Is the Reformation Over?” The talks were captured on video and include a German translation.

Lecture1:

Lecture 2:

‘Grace’ According to Rome

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Article: “Understanding the Roman Catholic ‘state of grace’” by Simon van Bruchem, pastor, All Nations Presbyterian Church, Perth, Western Australia. – original source here: https://writtenforourinstruction.com/understanding-the-roman-catholic-state-of-grace/

The word ‘grace’ is a simple word; it means getting something good that you don’t deserve. You experience grace when someone gives you a gift. Grace is not something you earnt or worked for; it was simply given to you by someone who loves and cares for you. The concept of grace is at the heart of what it means to be a Christian.

Yet words can sometimes mean entirely different things to different people. The word “grace”, when heard by someone who has grown up in the Roman Catholic Church, is understood to mean something entirely different, and rather more complicated, than when it is heard by someone used to the kind of definition I gave in the last paragraph.

In Roman Catholic doctrine, when Jesus died and rose again, he won a storehouse of grace for his people. This storehouse of grace is distributed to believers through the ministry of the priests. As you take part in the sacraments, you receive grace from the storehouse Jesus won.

Now, that’s quite different from the simple Biblical description of grace. That’s because this doctrine is not only derived from the Bible, but it is the result of various scholars and Popes over the centuries adding to the simple Biblical teaching.

Related to this ‘storehouse of grace’ idea is the concept of a ‘state of grace’. The Roman Catholic doctrine is that we are born sinful, but when we are baptised in the church, we have our sins washed away and enter into a state of grace. That means that if we were to die after being baptised, we would be OK with God. Baptism is not seen as permanently removing your sin, however. As you continue to sin, you can drop out of a state of grace and be under God’s judgement once more. You return to a state of grace by going to confession, doing whatever penance is necessary, and then regularly taking part in the mass. All of these are seen as sacraments; all of them are ways in which you receive grace from the storehouse Jesus won through the priests and the sacraments. Just before you die, ideally you would receive the last rites (seen as another sacrament) which would return you to a state of grace before you stand before God.

This means, in practice, that a committed Roman Catholic would need to attend mass consistently, regularly go to confession, and even then they might be worried that they are not in a state of grace. How much is enough? The result can be a sense of duty and religion and not a lot of joy in what Jesus has done. The focus shifts from what Jesus has done to all the sacraments and religious duty you have to do to be OK with God.

Grace should be simpler than that. Jesus died for your sins if you trust in Him. This is a gift you receive by the kindness of God (Eph 2:4). There is no middle man. You don’t need to take the sacraments to remain in a state of grace. It is all to do with what God has done for you in Jesus, not what you do through your religion. What Jesus won for us is applied to our hearts by the work of the Holy Spirit, not a priest.

Understanding grace is a freeing thing. If we know that it is all about what God has done, and not what we do, that means we should be joyful. We should be confident about our status before God because it cannot be ruined by our lack of religion or our mistakes. We should want to be involved in church as a response to Jesus’ work, not to remain in God’s good books. Grace, rightly understood, will truly change your life.

Christians & The Mass

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Article: Why You Should Never Take the Mass by Jordan Standridge – source – https://thecripplegate.com/why-you-should-never-take-the-mass/

One of the most frequent questions I’ve gotten over the last few years has gone something like this:

“My friend has invited me to their Roman Catholic service (funeral, wedding, church). There will be a priest who will offer the Eucharist. Should I partake or abstain?”

It has been an encouragement to receive this question because I know that the person asking is conflicted for the right reasons. They know that Roman Catholics have a different understanding of the Lord’s supper, and at the same time they love the Gospel and want their loved ones not to be offended unnecessarily so that they won’t close a door for a Gospel conversation in the future.

The question is this:  is this a hill to die on? 

I would say, quite emphatically, that this is a huge deal, and I truly believe that this is a matter of the utmost importance. I want to give you three reasons why you should never, ever take the mass!

The mass is a blasphemous celebration

Jesus declared on the cross that it is finished! (John 19:30) In other words, He was declaring in that moment that He was accomplishing everything needed to bring peace between us and God while on the cross that exact moment.

The writer of Hebrews details exactly what that meant in Hebrews chapter 10, when he said these words.

“Day after day every priest stands and performs his religious duties; again, and again he offers the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But when this priest had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, and since that time he waits for his enemies to be made his footstool. For by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy…And where these have been forgiven, sacrifice for sin is no longer necessary” (Hebrews 10:11-14,18).

This passage is so clear! While in the Old Testament, priests (glorified butchers) had to kill countless innocent lambs to provide atonement for individuals in Israel, Jesus the perfect Lamb of God, had to sacrifice His own body only one time.  And through that one act, He was able to satisfy God’s wrath for all those who would believe in Him once and for all!

Saying that he must continue dying is blasphemous. It literally belittles Christ to being unable to do what He said He did. 

I once asked a priest why Jesus had to continue dying over and over again.

He said because once you take communion, it doesn’t wipe away future sins. If you take the mass on Sunday, you will sin on Monday, so you have to take it again to help purge your future sins.

This priest was honest in his understanding of how salvation worked. In his mind, consistent with Roman Catholic doctrine, salvation isn’t a one-time event.  Rather, it is something that must occur over and over again many times (even daily!) in a person’s life. And then in purgatory.

The mass denies the doctrines of regeneration, justification, and even sanctification!

When you take the mass, you are telling Jesus that His death on the cross was insufficient and that He must continue dying in order to continually save you. And even if you don’t believe that, the people around you do, and by partaking in the ceremony you are approving and sharing in this blasphemous understanding of communion.

Our Christian brothers and sisters died because of their unwillingness to take the mass

Many of our brothers and sisters had opportunities to keep their heads if only they ate the Eucharist. But because of their commitment to the true Gospel, they were unwilling to eat and drink in order to save their lives. They loved Jesus too much.

David Platt, in a sermon preached at the Together for the Gospel conference said,

“The question was, did they or did they not believe that the body and blood of Christ were corporally, literally, locally, and materially present under the forms of bread and wine after the words of consecration were pronounced? Did they or did they not? That was the simple question. If they did not believe and admit it, they were burned.

John Rogers recounted his interrogation by the church, saying: 

“I was asked whether I believed the sacrament to be the very body and blood of our Savior Christ, who was born of the virgin Mary and hanged on the cross, really and substantially? I answered, “I think it to be false.” I cannot understand “really and substantially” to signify otherwise than corporally. But corporally Christ is only in heaven, so Christ cannot be corporally in your sacrament.”

John Rogers marched to his death in front of thousands after a long time in prison. He only met his newborn son as he saw him in the crowd as he marched to his death, after a long time of pleading to be able to meet him and to speak to his wife. Hugh Latimer, Nicholas Ridley, John Holyer, Agnes Snoth, Anne Wright, Joan Soale, and Joan Catmer, just to name a few of the hundreds of men and women who boldly chose Christ above comfort and were martyred for their stance against the Roman Catholic Mass. 

What are we to say to them? For us, it might cost us some awkwardness with a family member or friend, for them it cost them their lives!

If you were to take the mass, you’d be telling your brothers and sisters who’ve gone before you that they foolishly died. That their efforts to please Christ and to preach the Gospel were unnecessary, and that it would have been wiser to simply relent and take the mass so that they could avoid the awkwardness and keep their lives.

Compromise isn’t a door for the Gospel

It is very popular these days to meet people halfway. To dumb down certain doctrines in order to be able to win people to the Gospel. We know this happens in the Seeker Sensitive Movement. Hell and sin are rarely mentioned in order to be able to win over those who might get offended at the mention of these words.

While there is wisdom in focusing on the Gospel in evangelism, and not getting sidetracked by rabbit trails, it is imperative that we tell the whole truth without being embarrassed by any part of the Bible. Compromising doctrine or uncomfortable truths for the sake of opening a door to preach the Gospel leads to Gospel preaching. In fact, more often than not this compromising rises out of a heart that is ashamed of the true Gospel of Jesus Christ (Rom. 1:16).

Many might think that in the vein of Paul in 1 Corinthians that we should not offend unbelievers so that we can share the Gospel with them later. But the situation here is much different. 

Paul, in order not to offend, didn’t ask if the meat was offered to idols. The reason for the uncertainty was that not all meat was offered to idols and the host would be foolish to assume that Paul knew that. With the Roman Catholic Mass, the meaning of it is the same every time, therefore a Christian knows for certain that every time a priest offers it, it is a diabolical offering. It is always offered to idols. So, unlike the uncertainty that Paul faced, we know for sure and can definitively say that it is wrong every time. 

Simply put, we don’t offend the Lord in order to not offend someone the Lord created. In fact, with many of my friends, not partaking was the vessel God used to open up a conversation about the Gospel.

When you take the mass, you are telling the unbelievers around you that you are willing to compromise the Gospel in order to build a bridge. And you are telling the Lord of Glory that offending Him is better than offending your loved one.

Obviously, this post is strongly worded. I write this to believers who understand the Gospel and who are already leaning towards abstaining in such a situation. One hundred percent of those who asked me what they should do were already planning on abstaining, but were trying to crystallize in their minds the reasons why. If you are a Roman Catholic who has stumbled onto this post, I would first thank you for reading up to here, I know it is so hard to have your faith challenged! Second I’d like to invite you to visit this post that I wrote with you in mind!

May God gift us with the wisdom to walk in wisdom towards outsiders (Col. 4:5), not unnecessarily offending them if we don’t have to, but boldly preaching the Gospel each day, striving to please Christ above all else!