Does the Roman Catholic Church represent the true Christian faith?

“Let it be known to you all … by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead … This is the ‘stone which was rejected by you builders, which has become the chief cornerstone.’ Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” (Acts 4:10-12)

“For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself as a ransom for all.” (1 Timothy 2:5,6).

Jesus said to him, “I am the Way, the Truth and the Life. No one comes to the Father but by Me”. (John 14:6)

“the one who comes to Me I will by no means cast out” (John 6:37).

The Roman Catholic church speaks truly on many issues. But the most important issue of all for us is the issue of salvation. Indeed, we have all sinned and corrupted ourselves (Romans 3:23). So much so that we can never approach God Almighty on the basis of our own merits or goodness. The question for a seeker after God is then: how may I approach God? As we can see from the Bible verses above, the only way to God is through Jesus Christ. These verses present Christ not only as being the Only Way, but also as being One who welcomes us. The Roman Catholic church has undermined this vital revelation of Christ in several ways.

The Roman Catholic church has presented Mary to the world as the one who will intercede for us to Jesus. Catholic popes have always glorified Mary. Thus Pope Leo XIII stated in his rosary encyclical, “Octobri mense” (1891): “Nobody can approach Christ except through the mother“. But this is patently false, if the gospels are to be believed, because the gospels are full of examples of people coming to Christ directly. These stories contain no references to Mary whatsoever.
The leper of Matthew 8:2, for example, did not request an interview with Mary before coming and worshiping Christ. Neither need we. Unclean as we may be, we can come to Jesus directly and receive cleansing from our wonderful Savior. He is not an angry Savior who must be placated by his mother. There is no other mediator between God and men besides Jesus. Not Mary, not saints, not special priests. None of these can repent and believe for you, and God requires you to repent and believe the gospel before you can be truly saved. “Unless you repent, you also will perish” (Luke 13:3). “He who hears My Word and believes in Him who sent Me has  everlasting life” said Jesus (John 5:24). I sincerely counsel all people of Roman Catholic persuasion to simply hear the Words of Jesus as recorded in the gospels for us. You will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.”

“But I fear, lest somehow, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, so your minds may be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. For if he who comes preaches another Jesus whom we have not preached…” (2 Corinthians 11:3,4).

Popes and priests of the Roman Catholic church have not only presented a false Savior to the world. They have also clouded the issue of who Jesus Christ really is as Lord and Savior, by substituting another Jesus for the One that truly is. For example, they have declared that their specially blessed “hosts” in the Mass are truly “Jesus”. The Council of Trent, which is still in force today for Catholics, states that anyone who denies that the host is truly Jesus is “anathema” – cursed and to be damned. I treat this issue more fully in some of my material below. It is an important point. Its important to realise that the Bible teaches that the sacrifice of Jesus was a once for all sacrifice, and cannot be truly repeated at the Mass (Hebrews 10:12; 14).. This is where priests and popes have lied. The truth is not in them, since they blatantly contradict the Scriptures they profess to honor. They place their traditions and what they say above what God says. The two are not the same.

Many have written to me telling me that I am really very ignorant concerning the Catholic church. I don’t profess to know everything – the Catholic religion is extremely complicated and you have to study a lot to know it well. However, here is the story of a man who did study these things, lived and ministered as a Roman Catholic priest for years, and then after some agony of heart and conscience realised the error of his ways and repented, becoming a true born again Christian.

Read here the life testimony of Richard Peter Bennett who was a Roman Catholic priest and studied at the The Angelicum University in Rome.

By the way, although I’ve met plenty of people who have been turned off God by the Catholic church and its representatives, that wasn’t my personal experience. My motivation for writing is to point people to Jesus and away from the substitutes that have been offered. I don’t have some kind of grudge against the Roman Catholic church at all. I am also against any attempt by Protestants or Catholics to impose their religion on one another by force. Such things have happened on both sides and are contrary to the Spirit of Christ no matter in which camp they originate.


Do You Know the Lord?

You may know far more about the teachings of the Roman Catholic church than me. I’d like to ask you though, “Do you know the Lord?” I’m not even asking you if you know the Bible teaching about the Lord. Some Roman Catholics do know the Lord, but the majority sadly do not. There are also many Protestants who do not know the Lord. Evangelicals, those who take the Holy Scriptures as the final authority on matters of faith and doctrine, have the advantage that they tend to go directly to the Scriptures to understand God’s will, rather than to a priest. The priest may be good or he may be bad, as men count these things, but unless Jesus Christ is truly in his life, He has no chance of really showing the way to heaven. Instead, he offers rituals which may represent the life of Jesus, but don’t impart it. These rituals all symbolise the truly important things, but they confuse the form with the reality. See here.

No church can save. Only Jesus can save (Acts 4:12). Having a relationship with the Apostle Peter cannot save you. You may trust your priest. But do you truly trust Christ? The Roman Catholic church has failed to lift up Jesus Christ properly and has many times instead presented the world with “another Jesus” in the form of an icon, a host, a priest or a pope. But “Jesus Christ is the same, yesterday, today and forever” (Hebrews 13:8). The real Jesus sets people free from guilt and shame, from demons and disease by giving them the truth of His Word, the power of His Spirit, and cleansing through His blood. It is this Jesus that we must come to know personally. Accept no substitutes!

Your priest may know his bishop, who knows the cardinal, who knows the pope, who traces himself back to Peter. But it should be obvious that the purity and power of the way of Jesus Christ has been lost long ago through all this transmission. A number of the popes were godless sinners, some even had sexual orgies. Others, thinking they offered God service, ordered the murder of simple gospel believing Christian people. Is it wise to just believe everything the Catholic church says without taking the time to think about the issues? What if the way of salvation taught by Rome is now radically different to the one taught be Jesus and the apostles?  Thankfully the Roman Catholic church has not been permitted by God to radically alter the text of the Bible. The Catholic Bible has the answers!

I am thankful for all the precious Roman Catholic people who truly do have the life of Jesus. I am also thankful for the stand that the Roman Catholic church has taken against the horrible practice of abortion so prevalent in western society today. Many other worthwhile contributions have been made by the Roman Catholic church in education, in medicine, and in the fight against the abuses of the communist system and more. Nevertheless, following Roman Catholic teachings on salvation will not lead to the salvation promised by God. Once we know and understand the Good News message of the Bible for ourselves, there is no need to be racked by insecurity as regards our status with God, if indeed we truly want to please Him. What I write below may seem radical, heretical and dangerous to some. I agree that the stakes are high. In the past people have been burned todeath for holding these views, fulfilling the words of Jesus in John 16:2 ” yes, the time is coming that whoever killsyou will think that he offers God service “. Yet it with love and a sincere desire to glorify God that I write as I do. Please take time to evaluate if these things are truly so.

The article which I have written below tackles many of the core issues relating to what I consider to be the fundamental errors of the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox systems. In it I address the issues of priesthood, the mass, baptism and to some extent the issue of Holy Tradition, although I will need to write more on this later, God willing.

The Sacramental View of Salvation Catholic and Orthodox doctrine teaches that only through the
administration of sacraments such as baptism, the mass and penance can a person be saved. Is this view Biblical? Is it right? What does it mean for you and me? An article which quickly getsto the heart of the matter.

Is the Roman Catholic Church the One True Church that Jesus founded?

This is a central claim of the Church of Rome. It is based inpart on an interpretation of Matthew 16:18 “upon this rock I will build my Church”. Has the Catholic church really been faithful to Jesus Christ’s teaching and the life he calls people to? What does the Bible say about the Rock that is the true foundation for our lives? Please examine your beliefs in the light of the original Christian faith – which is recorded in the Bible.

Did you know?

  • Salvation is not obtained by good works, but by living faith in Christ and His work! “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves ; it is the gift of God, not of works , lest anyone should boast.” (Ephesians 2:8,9). The Roman Catholic church teaches men that their salvation depends primarily on themselves, and that it is of works. It puts people under a system of endless rules and obligations. Those under law are not under grace. (Galatians 5:4; Romans 6:14). Unlike the early Christians John wrote to, a Roman Catholic cannot “know” that he “has” eternal life. (1 John 5:12,13).
  • There is one God and One mediator between God and men , the Man Christ Jesus (1 Timothy 2:5). To believe we need priests, saints, Mary or anyone to get to God except Jesus Christ is heresy! It means to disbelieve God’s Holy Word and make our own religious system! It is to invite spiritual deception. It takes away from the centrality of Jesus Christ.
  • God said that beside him there is no other Savior! “I, even I, am the LORD, And besides Me there is no Savior.” (Isaiah 43:11) This implies that Mary is not a Savior, in spite of what popes and priests have taught by word and example for centuries! No wonder many muslims think that Christians believe that Mary is part of the Holy Trinity! Millions of Roman Catholics treat her as a Savior and as a goddess! (In fact, the same spirit that led the Hebrew women into the idolatrous worship of the “Queen of Heaven” is responsible for the Mariolatry of today’s Roman Catholics. Jeremiah 44:17-19)
  • Mary had other children after Jesus according to the Scriptures (yet only Jesus had a virgin birth). “Is this not the  carpenter’s son? Is not His mother called Mary? And His brothers James, Joses, Simon, and Judas? And His sisters, are they not all with us? Where then did this Man get all these things?” (Matthew 13:55-56) See also Matthew 12:46-49; Mark 3:31-34; Mark 6:3; Luke 8:19-21; John 7:5; 1 Corinthians 9:5, Jude 1. The prime example was James, the brother of Jesus, became the leader of the church in Jerusalem! (Acts 15:13; compare Acts 12:2 – a different James)
  • The Bible nowhere teaches that Mary was sinless , as it does concerning Jesus. On the contrary, the Bible says that “All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.” (Romans 3:23)
  • God forbids the bowing down to graven images and pictures in the Ten Commandments! (Exodus 20:4). The
    Catholic church has tried to change this commandment, but it remains in the Bible for all courageous people to read. This is idolatry! This idolatry has brought spiritual blindness upon multitudes.
  • Every true believer is a priest! (1 Peter 2:9; Revelation 1:5; Revelation 5:10). Please read my teaching on sacramental salvation where this thing is exposed.
  • The Mass as taught by the Church of Rome is both idolatory and blasphemy! See the article on sacramental  salvation to understand why. To worship something (e.g. a cracker) which is not God is idolatory. To call something which is not God to be God is blasphemy!
  • Baptism does not make you a Christian. The disciples were first called Christians in Antioch (Acts 11:26). You need to be a disciple of Jesus before you have Biblical right to call yourself a Christian. Why did Paul say that Christ did not send him to baptize, but to preach the gospel? (1 Corinthians 1:17). It is because the preaching of the true gospel can make people Christians, when they believe, not baptism.
  • Peter was married, and most early church leaders were! (Mark 1:30; 1 Timothy 3:2-4) So why a celibate priesthood (1 Timothy 4:2). This situation combined with the penance doctrine of the need to confess all sins to a priest has led to shocking impurity!
  • No church on earth can be rightly called our mother. “But the Jerusalem above is free, which is the mother of us all.” (Galatians 4:26). Rome, on the other hand, was prophesied of by John in the Book of Revelation chapter 17, and is described as “The Mother of Harlots and of the Abominations of the Earth”. “The seven heads are the seven hills upon which the woman sits.” (Revelation 17:9). Did you know that the city of Rome sits on seven hills?
  • “Father” is a spiritual title forbidden for men. Jesus said, “Do not call anyone on earth your father; for One is your Father, He who is in Heaven.” (Matthew 23:9). Do Roman Catholics obey Jesus Christ here?

Graphical Messages in Comic Strip form

Last Rites When this Catholic dies, he learns that his church couldn’t save him.

Why Is Mary Crying? – Without a doubt, Mary the mother ofJesus

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