From the beginning of Christianity, simply referred to as “the way” in the bible, men have tried to add to and take from the Word of God and somehow get an edge on their fellow man; thus, making it almost impossible for men to achieve the salvation that was promised by the gift of grace from God through faith in Christ. As Christians we have a duty to expose the doctrines of devils so that our fellow brothers and sisters will not fall to the seducing spirits that promise salvation through other means than is promised us in scripture.
The Catholic Church has issued many such false doctrines (those that are not supported by scripture) over the years and we have every intention of warning our brothers and sisters of these falsehoods, so that they should not fall into the lies that are issued outside of God’s Word. We have no need to bring railing accusations, as God will rebuke the wrongs of this world. We will simply attempt to present their own doctrines and compare them to what we know of the infallible Scriptures.
This week’s piece of Catholic Catechism is accredited to, and can be found in entirety at: http://www.kofc.org/un/catechism/
“Outside the Church there is no salvation”
846 How are we to understand this affirmation, often repeated by the Church Fathers? 335 Re-formulated positively, it means that all salvation comes from Christ the Head through the Church which is his Body:
Basing itself on Scripture and Tradition, the Council teaches that the Church, a pilgrim now on earth, is necessary for salvation: the one Christ is the mediator and the way of salvation; he is present to us in his body which is the Church. He himself explicitly asserted the necessity of faith and Baptism, and thereby affirmed at the same time the necessity of the Church which men enter through Baptism as through a door. Hence they could not be saved who, knowing that the Catholic Church was founded as necessary by God through Christ, would refuse either to enter it or to remain in it. 336
847 This affirmation is not aimed at those who, through no fault of their own, do not know Christ and his Church:
Those who, through no fault of their own, do not know the Gospel of Christ or his Church, but who nevertheless seek God with a sincere heart, and, moved by grace, try in their actions to do his will as they know it through the dictates of their conscience – those too may achieve eternal salvation. 337
848 “Although in ways known to himself God can lead those who, through no fault of their own, are ignorant of the Gospel, to that faith without which it is impossible to please him, the Church still has the obligation and also the sacred right to evangelize all men.” 338
The unabashed and sordid self-righteousness and piety that spews forth from the Vatican and nefariously creeps it’s culpable fingers into every corner of the earth is nothing short of deplorable. Make no mistake about it; God will not find favor in boastfulness, but instead in the humbleness that is in the spirit of those that fear him and believe. “A man’s pride shall bring him low: but honour shall uphold the humble in spirit.” (Proverbs 29:23)
This is a blatant substitution for the true Word of God. No man can add to God’s plan for salvation, but unfortunately, they do and many people will fall victim to their deceits. Believe me, no membership in any denomination of Christian worship will send you to heaven. Despite the above statement by the Catholic Church there is not a one-way flight to heaven with a layover in Rome. If the pope is the pilot, then you can count me out. “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” (Eph 2:8-9). That faith will qualify you for inclusion in the Church in which Jesus is the cornerstone. I, for one, will not be the one at the judgment seat of Christ and tell him, “Thanks, but no thanks. I really didn’t think that you had all the answers, so I added some requirements.” Salvation is not achieved through the work that it takes to become a catholic, and certainly not from following doctrines that were never passed down through the Word of God. Any church that makes the claim that they are the link to heaven is guilty of heresy and blasphemy. The link between humanity and eternal life is Jesus Christ. Let’s pray that they will humble themselves before it is too late. “For whosoever exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.” (Luke 14:11)
Friends, the Catholic Church is trying to teach the world that if you have knowledge of their existence and reject them that are subject to eternal damnation. Well, I daresay that I have knowledge of the Catholic Church and feel blessed to have that knowledge, because it is biblically unacceptable and therefore easily rejected. I’ll not serve the pious whims and ramblings of imperfect men in hopes of finding salvation. “…as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.” (Josh 24:15)
If any church tries to tell you that you must assimilate or be damned please find comfort in the Word of God. “Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” (John 14:6) If it was good enough for the thief on the cross almost two thousand years ago, then pray tell, why would it not be good enough today? The fact of the matter is that God was so loving of the species that he created that he made it very simple to join him in everlasting life: belief in His Son, Jesus Christ. (John 3:16)
As a final thought please remember these verses in Paul’s second epistle to the church at Corinth:
“But what I do, that I will do, that I may cut off occasion from them which desire occasion; that wherein they glory, they may be found even as we. For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works.“ (2 Corinthians 11:12-15)
And when worldly organizations try to convince you that you have no salvation outside of the complexities of their conundrum of a belief system, please, friends remember that Paul himself had these fears for the churches that he helped found almost two thousand years ago:
“But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.” (2 Corinthians 11:3) ——Anthony Dentler
and these are the Signs of the Times…….
