Therefore, the promise comes by faith, so that it may be by grace and may be guaranteed to all Abraham's offspring–not only to those who are of the law but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham. He is the father of us all. As it is written: “I have made you a father of many nations.” He is our father in the sight of God, in whom he believed–the God who gives life to the dead and calls things that are not as though they were.Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him, “So shall your offspring be.” Without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead–since he was about a hundred years old–and that Sarah's womb was also dead.

Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised. This is why “it was credited to him as righteousness.” The words “it was credited to him” were written not for him alone, but also for us, to whom God will credit righteousness–for us who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead. He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification. (Romans 4:16-25)

The Issue Remains Exactly The Same

Connecticut River Baptist Church, the small local church where I am pastor, is located in Claremont, NH, which itself is a small community heavily influenced by the apostate Church of Rome. As some of you who follow my work here at Apprising Ministries already know I am a former Roman Catholic having been raised within this religious system. The above text from the Bible is the Apostle Paul wrapping up his logical argument regarding justification by faith alone, an argument he had begun back in verse 1 of Romans 4 using Abraham as his example. One major point that needs to be stressed here is that quite obviously Paul—under the direct inspiration of God—is teaching the Lord’s view on this issue, which itself happens to be the exact same Biblical doctrine that would be reaffirmed by the Protestant Reformers. As a matter of fact, regarding the only means of salvation given by our Creator to mankind, this would also be the very position concerning the Gospel that is allegedly affirmed by the evangelical community today. Namely, that salvation comes only by God’s grace alone; through faith alone; in Christ alone.

While I do not always agree with him, on The John Ankerberg Show Reformed theologian Dr. R.C. Sproul does well here as he elaborates on this for us:

so the issue in the 16th century was, not whether God demands righteousness in order for Him to declare somebody just, but the issue is: "Where do we get that righteousness?" The Protestant view was…the only righteousness that has the merit necessary to meet the requirements of the holiness of God, is that righteousness that was achieved and performed by Jesus Christ—and by Jesus Christ "alone!"

There is where the word "alone" comes in…because all Protestants have acknowledged, historically, that the phrase, "justification by faith alone," [is] really…shorthand for, "Justification by the righteousness of Christ alone—that only His righteousness is sufficient to save us."

The Roman Catholic Church said: that the only way God will ever declare me righteous, or you righteous, or anybody else righteous, is if they have a righteousness that inheres within them, an intrinsic righteousness, a righteousness that really [does] belong to [the individual person being saved]… They would say that you can't be righteous,…apart from the help of Christ, and the grace of Christ, and the infusion of His power and so on, with which you must assent and cooperate (assentari (sp.), cooperari (sp.), is the (L.) language they use). And so you can't be saved without the help of Christ, or without grace, or without faith. But, added to that faith, added to that grace, added to that Christ—must be the contribution of [the person themselves], without which God will not declare you just.

Now, that is all the difference in the world! The word "alone" is trying to draw a line in the sand and say that the Gospel of Jesus Christ says that, "The only way that a person can be saved is by the righteousness of Christ imputed to us by faith" (The John Ankerberg Show, Irreconcilable Differences: Catholics, Evangelicals, and the New Quest for Unity Parts 1 - 6, Pt. 1, transcript on file).

Reading Into The Text

Which I might add is exactly what the Bible itself literally says as we have seen in the opening text of this work. It must be understood here that what I have called The Ecumenical Church Of Deceit (ECoD) is throwing people into confusion regarding this crucial issue, but the truth is that a false gospel—as Paul lucidly tells us in Galatians 1—is really no gospel at all. I’m sure you’ve all heard the phrase, “on the outside looking in.” Well sadly, everyone–no matter how “Christian,” or religious they might appear to be–everyone not born again into the Kingdom of God, by His grace alone; through faith alone; in Christ alone, will be thrown outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth (Matthew 8:12). The lie of new evangelicalism, arrived at through their contemplative spirituality, which is really nothing but repackaged Gnostic mysticism, is that God dwells within all human beings. But you see, if God does already live within all of mankind there is no need for the traditional understanding of being born again.

However in the case of the Church of Rome, what they are doing to texts such as I opened with is to eisegete, or “read into,” the Scriptures a meaning they are imposing into God’s Word. Here’s a quick definition of eisegesis which, “is the approach to Bible interpretation where the interpreter tries to ‘force’ the Bible to mean something that fits their existing belief or understanding of a particular issue or doctrine. People who interpret the Bible this way are usually not willing to let the Bible speak for itself and let the chips fall where they may. They set off with the up-front goal of trying to prove a point they already believe in, and everything they read and interpret is filtered through that paradigm. Stated another way, they engage in what the Bible refers to as ‘private interpretation.’ ” But this is what the Lord says – See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ (Colossians 2:8). What a chillingly vivid picture of the new evangelical community in this nation today with their ever itching ears.

Do Not Be Unequally Yoked

Now can you see the deadly deception that far too many evangelical leaders themselves have been falling for? The Purpose Driven Church, as the logical outgrowth of the sinner sensitive Church Growth Movement, the Emergent Church embodying the Gnostic new evangelicalism, and the Word Faith Church for those obsessed with material gain, a little something for everyone in these major cogs within the ECoD. But don’t these poor misguided fools remember that God the Holy Spirit clearly warns the true Christian not to be yoked together with unbelievers like the long apostate Church of Rome? We go to 2 Corinthians 6:14-18; a passage of the Bible with which we had best become very familiar with, as I point out in And So It Begins, these deceptions being spread by the ECoD figure to multiply very quickly:

Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness? What accord has Christ with Belial? Or what portion does a believer share with an unbeliever? What agreement has the temple of God with idols?

For we are the temple of the living God; as God said, “I will make my dwelling among them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Therefore go out from their midst, and be separate from them, says the Lord, and touch no unclean thing; then I will welcome you, and I will be a father to you, and you shall be sons and daughters to me, says the Lord Almighty” (ESV).

Let’s meditate here for a moment, why do you suppose that God doesn’t want His people mixed up with unbelievers and their faulty philosophies which depend on human tradition and the basic principles of this world? And by the way, as we further contemplate this question, I point out that verse 17 above uses Isaiah 52:11 and Ezekiel 20:34,41 and verse 18 uses 2 Samuel 7:14,8. So you can clearly see, it’s not like God hasn’t said these things before. Now, why do you think He is telling those of us who are His true Christians are not to be yoked together with unbelievers like the teaching magisterium of the Roman Catholic Church? The reason itself is rather simple, it’s because the Lord knows how easy it is for you to fall right back down the mountain into that sewer of sin and bondage that He pulled you out of in the first place. Men and women, we must not forget that the Master did say – “Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the body is weak” (Matthew 26:41).

If you have read my article The Deceivers then you would already know that it is the lying Church of Rome who is actually behind this modern syncrestic ecumenical movement in the ECoD that attempts to spiritually hypnotize evangelical Protestants into continuing fruitless dialogues with the Roman Catholic Church. Men and women, who but Satan – the god of this world (see–2 Corinthians 4:4) and the father of lies (see–John 8:44) would try and lure unsuspecting sheep away from the Great Shepherd to take them captive through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ. Dear Christian open your eyes; for Martin Luther was right when he said there can be no peace with Rome until she abolishes her papacy. However, she has not, and she will never change. The whole idea of an infallible Pope–the Vicar of Christ and universal Bishop over the entire Church–makes it impossible for Rome to ever really change. You see, if the Roman Catholic Church were to ever change her core dogmas then she would then have to admit that her Pope and his magisterium are not infallible, and further she would have to reliquish her claim to be God’s one true Church.

The Church Of Rome Has Not Changed

But here’s the present dilemma within the Christian Church in America. The current less than lukewarm stand that the vast majority of the evangelical community’s leaders have taken concerning the clearly apostate dogma of Roman Catholicism is diametrically opposed to how the Apostles regarded the issue of the purity of our Christ’s only Gospel. For example, on the website of the Christian Research Institute under “the Roman Catholic Church” it says: “Christian church in need of great reform.” Well, have I got some news for you Hank Hanegraaff, this has been tried before; or maybe you’ve never heard of the Protestant Reformation, and as I have pointed out it’s just not going to happen. So a clear line of demarcation has now been drawn in the sand and the question before us is this: “Could the original Apostles, and the Reformers who would come later, possibly have been wrong in their defense of the purity of the Gospel of Jesus Christ?”

I’ve written extensively on the subject of Roman Catholicism because in the community where the Lord has placed my church this is a vast mission field that no one is touching. So at this point it would seem to be a good place to circle back around into the false gospel promulgated by the apostate Church of Rome who left her first love so many long years ago. First, Dr. John Ankerberg and Dr. John Weldon remind us of what is so imperative that we get people to understand as we discuss this issue with them: “the decrees made by the Council of Trent on justification remain the standard of Roman Catholic theology. These decrees have never been modified, altered, or rescinded by Rome. This is why leading Roman Catholic apologist Karl Keating maintains that the views of Trent on justification are not only true Catholic doctrine, but they are biblical doctrine as well” (The Facts On Roman Catholicism, pp.39,40, emphasis added).

I have already established here and elsewhere that the second part of that statement from Keating is patently false. However, Trent’s importance in Roman Catholic theology is confirmed in the classic 1952 book Fundamentals Of Catholic Dogma by Roman Catholic theologian, Dr. Ludwig Ott, which is actually recommended by Dr. Keating himself. While articulating Roman Catholic theology as it applies to our topic of justification Dr. Ott tells us:

The Council of Trent teaches that for the justified eternal life is both a gift or grace promised by God and a reward for his own good works and merits. As God’s grace is presupposition and foundation of good works, by which man merits [earns] eternal life, so salutary works are, at the same time gifts of God and meritorious acts of man… Blessedness in heaven is the reward for good works performed on this earth, and rewards and merit are correlative concepts… A just man merits for himself through each good work…eternal life (if he dies in a state of grace)” (pp.264,267, as cited in William Webster, Roman Catholic Tradition: Claims and Contradictions, n.110, p.72, emphasis added).

One can attempt to equivocate any way they might wish to but we have just read for ourselves the position of the Church of Rome that God “assists” man to do the good works necessary in order to actually become worthy of the Lord’s “reward” of Heaven. Protestant writer William Webster also correctly points out that the “Roman Catholic Church teaches that justification is a process originating with infused grace implanted in the soul, which is effected through water baptism” (ibid., p.72). In point of fact, Session VI, Canon 24 of Trent says: “If anyone says that the justice received is not preserved and also not increased before God through good works,[125] but that those works are merely the fruits and signs of justification obtained, but not the cause of its increase, let him be anathema” (copy on file, emphasis added). And Session VII, in its Canons on Baptism, warns us: "If anyone says 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" (Canon 3, emphasis added). And: “If anyone says that baptism is optional, that is, not necessary for salvation, let him be anathema" (Canon 5, emphasis added).

Saved Through The Sacraments

As I have repeatedly pointed out in my writings concerning the apostate Church of Rome, and what you also need to make sure you get those involved with Roman Catholicism to see, is that it is beyond all question that Trent does speak authoritatively as official dogma for their church. Even in the Catholic Encyclopedia under II. INDIVIDUAL SALVATION it most clearly says: “The Council of Trent describes the process of salvation from sin in the case of an adult with great minuteness (Sess. VI, v-vi).” Which as we continue next time will lead us into a brief look at the Sacramental System of the Church of Rome. For now though as we get set to wrap this up let me tell you a little bit about Richard Bennett, whom I am pleased to say is my friend. Raised in an Irish Catholic family, Bennett was an ordained priest in the Roman Catholic Church for 23 years until the Lord led him out and now Richard heads a fine Christian ministry called The Berean Beacon.

I make the time to point all of this out so you will see that Bennett is in a very good position to know exactly what he is talking about in his article “Salvation, not in the sacramental system, but in Christ alone” when he says: “The Church of Rome proclaims [as dogma] her seven sacraments as necessary for salvation and that justification before God is given through the sacrament of Baptism.” So now let’s turn our attention to the official Catechism Of The Catholic Church, which the late John Paul II himself said “is a statement of the Church's faith and of catholic doctrine,” for an exact list of these seven so-called “sacraments of the New Law.” In section 1113 we read: “The whole liturgical life of the Church revolves around the Eucharistic sacrifice and the sacraments. (n.29) There are seven sacraments in the Church: Baptism, Confirmation or Chrismation, Eucharist, Penance, Anointing of the Sick, Holy Orders, and Matrimony (n.30).” Incidentally note 30 references the Council of Trent ([1547]:DS 1601) as the source of authority for this teaching.

Then a little further on in section 1129 we are indeed specifically told exactly what former Roman Catholic priest Richard Bennett has just explained to us. “The Church [of Rome] affirms that for believers the sacraments of the New Covenant are necessary for salvation (n.51). The reader should know that again this footnote references Trent for its authority. In fact Session VII, Canon 4 of the Council of Trent emphatically states: “If anyone says that the sacraments of the New Law are not necessary for salvation but are superfluous, and that without them or without the desire of them men obtain from God through faith alone the grace of justification,[2] though all are not necessary for each one, let him be anathema” (copy on file, emphasis added). This is a clear denial of the historic orthodox Christian faith which teaches that the only thing necessary for salvation is the imputed righteousness of Jesus Christ Who accomplished everything necessary for God the Father to pronounce a sinner justified through His grace alone; through the believer’s faith alone; in Christ alone.

Men and women, please think here: If these sacraments “are necessary for salvation,” then this is clearly not the Gospel preached by the Apostle Paul, who received it by the way from Christ Jesus Himself (see–Galatians 1:12). And we are back to the crucial issue: A different gospel cannot be the same gospel. What I’ve done here is but a quick overview of why it is vital for us to understand this sacramental system as we begin trying to reach Roman Catholics with the true Gospel of Jesus Christ. Above we have now listed these seven sacraments of the supposed New Law, and in Part Two I will examine them further.