Truth is ancient; it's grey hairs may make it venerable;
it comes from Him who is the ancient of days. --Thomas Watson

 

15 November, 2006 - by Chad   comments: (0) Unity At What Cost?   Unity With Rome Means Submission to the Pope and Rejection of Christ. LORENZAGO DI CADORE, Italy - Pope Benedict XVI reasserted the primacy of the Roman Catholic Church, approving a document released Tuesday that says other Christian communities are either defective or not true churches and Catholicism provides the only true path to salvation. There are many Protestants who believe that unity with Rome should be sought and that the doctrines of Rome are not divergent enough from the scripture to qualify as soul damning heresy. The difference between Rome's teaching on Justification which is faith plus various works and the biblical teaching of justification by faith alone in Christ alone has been examined ad nauseam by so many that I won't examine that in detail here. Suffice it to say that the difference in the doctrine of Justification should be enough to show that Rome does not teach the gospel and never has. Anyone who holds to Rome's doctrine on this rejects Christ as his savior and brings the merits of the saints, indulgences, penance, pilgrimages, relics and the co-mediation of Mary and many other things into their merit in a vain attempt to appease God. In plain language those who hold to Rome's doctrines are not saved since they reject salvation by the finished work of Christ. This is no light thing. Justification is the single most important doctrine. On that all things hinge. Rome's doctrine is false, it is a lie and those who believe it will find themselves under the wrath of God. Now, for those who believe that unity with Rome is possible and that the biblical doctrines of the Reformation and the doctrines of Rome are compatible I have to ask you this question. If you are going to ignore the doctrine of Justification and the myriad of other doctrines where biblical Protestantism and Roman Catholicism are polar opposites then what will you do with Pope Benedict's recent statement? He does not agree with you. If the Pope is a genuine Christian then at best you are defective. The only way you will have unity with Rome is to abandon Christ and submit to the supreme authority of the Pope. All the ecumenical efforts made by Rome are for the sole purpose of bringing Protestants under the rule of the Papacy. Rome will never compromise it's doctrines but if you seek unity with Rome you will be forced to. If you don't believe me just ask the Pope, that is if he will grant you an audience. You'll never get past the Swiss Guard. You are far too lowly to be in the presence of the Pope. Quite the opposite attitude of the apostle Peter whom the Pope claims succession from. When did Peter ever elevate himself above the rest of God's people and when did he ever sit on a throne? "You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. It shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant,(MAtt 20:25-26). The Pope claims to have supreme authority over the church. It is no wonder then that every Protestant confession has identified the Pope as The Antichrist, a conclusion that I myself am in perfect agreement with and there can be no fellowship with the Antichrist. Consider first the titles of the Pope. He calls himself; The Holy Father, the Head of the Church, and the Vicar of Christ, . All of these titles belong to God alone and yet the Pope, a mere man takes them to himself. Holy Father is the title of God the Father, the first person of the Trinity(John 17:11). Head of the church is Christ's title and role and his alone and he is to be preeminent in all thing (Col 1:18). Vicar means "vicarious" or "in place of". To say that one is the Vicar of Christ is to say that he is here in place of Christ. The Scriptures clearly teach that this role belongs solely to the Holy Spirit(John 14:15-31). No man has the right to any of these titles and to assume them is to blaspheme God and to elevate himself above God. To call the Pope the Holy Father is to countermand Christ himself for it is Christ who commands; "And call no man your father on earth, for you have one Father, who is in heaven."(Matt 23:9) For this reason as well as many others the Pope has historically been considered The Antichrist. Consider also just a few of the doctrines laid down in the Council of Trent. During the Reformation the Papacy convened the Council of Trent with the expressed purpose of declaring all who depart from Rome's doctrines to be accursed and Rome has never retracted the claims made in Trent. It was convened specifically to combat the doctrines of the Reformation and to anathematize all who reject Rome's authority. Under the section entitled, "Decree Concerning The Canonical Scritures" we see the following doctrine. But if any one receive not, as sacred and canonical, the said books entire with all their parts, as they have been used to be read in the Catholic Church, and as they are contained in the old Latin vulgate edition; and knowingly and deliberately contemn the traditions aforesaid; let him be anathema. That list of books that are canonical according to the Fourth session of the Council of Trent includes the apocryphal books which likely none of your bibles even contain, unless you have a Roman Catholic bible or a very old translation of the bible where the Apocrypha is printed but noted as being non-canonical. Jerome, the original translator of the Vulgate at first refused to translate the Apocrypha citing it as non-canonical. I guess Jerome, a saint whom the Catholics hold in the highest esteem is anathema. So, according to Trent, denying the canonicity of Tobit, Judith, 1 and 2 Macabees, etc. condemns you to Hell. Looking at the Fourth Session under :Concerning the Edition, and Use of Sacred Books, Rome strictly forbids the interpretation of the scriptures which differ from the interpretation of Mother Church that sense which holy mother Church",--whose it is to judge of the true sense and interpretation of the holy Scriptures,--hath held and doth hold;" Also, Rome declares; and that it shall not be lawful for any one to print, or cause to be printed, any books whatever, on sacred matters, without the name of the author; nor to sell them in future, or even to keep them, unless they shall have been first examined, and approved of, by the Ordinary; under pain of the anathema So if you happen to own any book that teaches theology that the of the RCC has not first approved you are anathema. In Canon 1 on the Sacraments in General; if you deny that there are seven sacraments then according to Rome you are going to Hell. If any one saith, that the sacraments of the New Law were not all instituted by Jesus Christ, our Lord; or, that they are more, or less, than seven, to wit, Baptism, Confirmation, the Eucharist, Penance, Extreme Unction, Order, and Matrimony; or even that any one of these seven is not truly and properly a sacrament; let him be anathema. Under "Decree Concerning Original Sin" Trent says; if he denies that the said merit of Jesus Christ is applied, both to adults and to infants, by the sacrament of baptism rightly administered in the form of the church; let him be anathema: Canon 3 On Baptism states that if you disagree with Rome's doctrines concerning baptism you're damned. If any one saith, that in the Roman church, which is the mother and mistress of all churches, there is not the true doctrine concerning the sacrament of baptism; let him be anathema. Notice that this statement also confirms Rome's claims that she is the mother and mistress of all churches. O.K. we'll do one more. This one is regarding the Lord's Supper and is found under Canon 4 of the Most Holy Sacrament of the Eucharist. If any one saith, that, in the holy sacrament of the Eucharist, Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, is not to be adored with the worship, even external of latria; and is, consequently, neither to be venerated with a special festive solemnity, nor to be solemnly borne about in processions, according to the laudable and universal rite and custom of holy church; or, is not to be proposed publicly to the people to be adored, and that the adorers thereof are idolators; let him be anathema. So read that one carefully, if you don't adore, worship or venerate the sacrament itself or if you call such a practice idolatry as all of the Reformers and the Puritans did then you're anathema. By the way, I call that practice idolatry too since it's a direct violation of the Second Commandment. According to Rome that spells doom for me. Remember, the decrees of Trent have never been revoked and the Pope Benedict XVI still maintains that Rome has the only true path to salvation. There can be no fellowship with Rome unless you abandon the truth of Christ and submit the supreme authority of the Roman Pontiff. For those Protestants who think all of the doctrinal differences between them and the Roman Catholic Church is not important and that we are all brothers in Christ; you are greatly deceived. The "Holy See" doesn't agree with you. Rome seeks your allegiance to her as Mother Church. The Reformation brought true biblical doctrine and the true knowledge of Christ back to the world, Trent was convened to specifically counter that. Will you give up Christ for the Pope? Will you join with her and partake of her murder of the saints? Christians who are seeking unity with Rome are partaking of her adulteries and must repent. The scripture says in Rev 18:4 Come out of her, my people, lest you take part in her sins, lest you share in her plagues; The gospel must be preached to Roman Catholics or they will be lost and true Christians must separate from Rome and her doctrines. Posted by: Jim B.   Link: http://www.oldtruth.com/blog.cfm/id.2.pid.1018   Be the first to post a comment about this article        Home  |   About  |  Videos   |  Calvinism