A COMMENTARY ON PSALM 22

PSALM 22

For the choir director; upon Aijeleth Hashshahar.
A Psalm of David.
My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
Far from my deliverance are the words of my roaring.
O my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer;
And by night, but I have no rest.
Yet You are holy,
O You who are enthroned upon the praises of Israel.
In You our fathers trusted;
They trusted and You delivered them.
To You they cried out and were delivered;
In You they trusted and were not disappointed.
But I am a worm and not man,
A reproach of men and despised by the people.
All who see me sneer at me;
They separate with the lip, they wag the head, saying,
“Commit yourself to the LORD; Let Him deliver Him;
Let Him rescue him, because He delights in him.”
Yet you are He who brought me forth from the womb;
You made me trust when upon my mother’s breasts.
Upon You I was cast from birth;
You have been my God from my mother’s womb.
Be not far from me, for trouble is near;
For there is none to help.
Many bulls have surrounded me;
Strong bulls of Bashan have encircled me.
They open wide the mouth at me;
As a ravening and a roaring lion.
I am poured out like water,
And all my bones are out of joint;
My heart is like wax;
It is melted within me.
My strength is dried up like a potsherd,
And my tongue cleaves to my jaws;
And you lay me in the dust of death.
For dogs have surrounded me;
A band of evildoers has encompassed me;
They pierced my hands and my feet.
I can count all my bones.
They look, they stare at me;
They divide my garments among them,
And for my clothing they cast lots.
But you, O LORD, be not far off;
O You my help, hasten to my assistance.
Deliver my soul from the sword,
My only life from the power of the dog.
Save me fro the lion’s mouth;
From the horns of the wild oxen You answer me.
I will tell of Your name to my brethren;
In the midst of the assembly I will praise You.
You who fear the LORD, praise Him;
All you descendants of Jacob, glorify Him,
And stand in awe of Him, all you descendants of Israel.
For he has not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted;
Nor has He hidden His face from him;
But when he cried to Him for help, He heard.
From You comes my praise in the great assembly;
I shall pay my vows before those who fear Him.
The afflicted will eat and be satisfied;
Those who seek Him will praise the LORD.
Let your heart live forever!
All the ends of the earth will remember and turn to the LORD,
And all the families of the nations will worship before You.
For the kingdom is the LORD’S
And He rules over the nations.
All the prosperous of the earth will eat and worship,
All those who go down to the dust will bow before Him,
Even he who cannot keep his soul alive.
Posterity will serve him;
It will be told to the coming generation.
They will come and declare His righteousness
To a people who will be born, that He has performed it.

The 22^nd Psalm clearly points to the suffering of Jesus Christ. Many people will disagree. To them I will simply remind them of what Jesus said, “You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; it is these that testify about Me; yet you are unwilling to come to Me so that you may have life” (John 5:39-40).  Alexander Maclaren says, “…the startling correspondence of the details of the psalmist’s sufferings with those of the crucifixion has to be accounted for. How starling that correspondence is, both in the number and minuteness of its points, need not be insisted on. Not only does our Lord quote the first verse on the cross, and so show that the psalm was in his heart then, but the gestures and words of mockery were verbally reproduced…” (Maclaren 210). The 22^nd Psalm teaches us what happened on the cross, and exposes its indescribable brutality, so that we may begin to learn what it means that he took upon himself our curse so that we would gain the reward for his righteous life.

My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Many people have tried to explain away these words because they are hard to take. Many people deny that the Father actually poured out his wrath upon his Son. But in order for Jesus Christ to take upon himself the curse that we deserve this had to have taken place. Why? Because the curse that we deserve is to suffer the wrath of God for an eternity in hell, but Christ bore that wrath in our place upon the cross. Therefore, he was forsaken in the sense that he was forsaken to bear the wrath of God, yet at the same time he knew that the Father accepted his sacrifice as the sweetest fragrance and delight, for Christ knew that although all others forsook him, he was “not alone” because “the Father is with” him (John 16:32), and we know from the end of the Psalm that the forsakenness to bear God’s wrath was not without deliverance once the sacrifice was complete, because he bore the full weight of the curse and conquered over it. He bore our curse and abolished it for us. It is as it says in the letter to the Galatians,

For as many as are of the works of the Law are under a curse; for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who does not abide by all things written in the book of the Law, to perform them.” Now that no one is justified by the Law is evident; for, “The righteous man shall live by faith.” However, the Law is not of faith; on the contrary, “He who practices them shall live by them.” Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law, having become a curse for us – for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree” – in order that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we would receive the promise of the Spirit through faith. (Galatians 3:10-14).

Notice how it says, “Cursed is everyone who does not abide by all things written in the book of the Law, to perform them.” Thus this does not refer only to the Ten Commandments or some dietary laws, but it refers to all the things which are written in the Law of Moses, and that includes the commands to “love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might” and to “love your neighbor as yourself” (Deuteronomy 6:5, Leviticus 19:18). And the letter to the Romans says that “there is not one who seeks God” and that there is “no one who does good” (Romans 3:11-12). Thus we all fall under the curse of the Law. But Jesus took upon himself our curse when he died on the cross. Thus our justification is not by works at all, as it says, “the Law is not of faith,” making a clear distinction between a works righteousness and justification by faith in Christ.

Far from my deliverance are the words of my roaring. Although many translations translate this to say, “Far from my deliverance are the words of my groaning,” the original Hebrew actually says, “Far from my deliverance are the words of my roaring.” These words tell us of a screaming savior on a cross! The one who created the heavens and the earth was crucified for us. He bore the punishment we would otherwise suffer in hell forever. How can it be that he could take the punishment we would have otherwise had to suffer forever and bear it all so that he could say, “It is finished!” (John 19:30). The answer to this question is very sobering. If the time of the punishment which would otherwise last an eternity were to be decreased, then the intensity of that suffering must certainly be increased infinitely, and only God can bear the weight of such punishment.

The following words speak of the anguish of being forsaken by the Father,

O my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer;
And by night, but I have no rest.
Yet You are holy,
O You who are enthroned upon the praises of Israel.
In You our fathers trusted;
They trusted and You delivered them.
To You they cried out and were delivered;
In You they trusted and were not disappointed.
But I am a worm and not man,

Thus Christ was forsaken so that others would be delivered. Christ bore the wrath of God which we deserve so that we would cry out to God and be delivered from death, as Scripture says, “Whoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved,” and, “Whoever believes in Him will not be disappointed” (Romans 10:13,11). It always hurts more to be forsaken by those whom you love most. No one has loved the Father like Jesus Christ does. He has always loved God with all his heart, soul, mind and strength (Mark 12:30). His love for the Father far surpasses anything we could ever describe or imagine. Yet there on that cross, the Son of God was forsaken to suffer God’s wrath for our sins, and though he was not separated from the Father’s fellowship, he did receive the blows and the torment from his hand. It is often asked, who killed Jesus? God is the one who predetermined it before the foundation of the world! As it says in the book of the prophet Isaiah, “But the LORD was pleased to crush Him, putting Him to grief…” (Isaiah 53:10).

The psalm goes on to say,

A reproach of men and despised by the people.
All who see me sneer at me;
They separate with the lip, they wag the head, saying,
“Commit yourself to the LORD; Let Him deliver Him;
Let Him rescue him, because He delights in him.”

This refers to when the crowds were mocking Jesus saying, “Ha! You who are going to destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save yourself, and come down from the cross,” and, “He saved others; He cannot save Himself. Let this Christ, the King of Israel, now come down from the cross, so that we may see and believe!” (Mark 15:29-30,31-32). And when he cried out, “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?” they mocked him saying, “This man is calling for Elijah,” and, “Let us see whether Elijah will come to save Him” (Matthew 27:47,49). In his commentary on the 22^nd Psalm Charles Spurgeon says, “on reading these verses one is ready, with Trapp, to ask, Is this a prophecy or a history? For the description is so accurate” (Spurgeon 327).

The Psalm continues:

Yet you are He who brought me forth from the womb;
You made me trust when upon my mother’s breasts.
Upon You I was cast from birth;
You have been my God from my mother’s womb.
Be not far from me, for trouble is near;
For there is none to help.

These verses speak of how Jesus Christ still trusted in God in the midst of such torment. Charles Spurgeon says, “Kindly providence attends with the surgery of tenderness at every human birth ; but the Son of Man, who was marvelously begotten of the Holy Ghost, was in a special manner watched over by the Lord when brought forth from Mary” (Spurgeon 327). On the cross we see the one who was born of a virgin bearing the wrath of God for us. He drank the cup of the Lord’s wrath which was meant for us; the very cup about which he prayed in the garden saying, “Father, if You are willing, remove this cup from Me; yet not My will, but Yours be done” (Luke 22:42). Alexander Maclaren says, “None but He have clung to God with absolute trust even in the horror of great darkness” (Maclaren 213).

Many bulls have surrounded me;
Strong bulls of Bashan have encircled me.
They open wide the mouth at me;
As a ravening and a roaring lion.

This refers to the mocking crowd that mocked him, scourged him and crucified him. They arrested him, beat him, mocked him and crowned him with thorns, spat on him and crucified him.

I am poured out like water,
And all my bones are out of joint;

When he was crucified, both his shoulders would have become dislocated; this why it says, “And all my bones are out of Joint.”

The psalm continues,

My heart is like wax;
It is melted within me.

This speaks of the pain he was feeling in his heart, an emotional pain of a kind that we cannot describe. The heart of Christ melted when it experienced the full force of the wrath of God. As Dr. Gill observes, “if the heart of Christ, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, melted at it, what heart can endure or hands be strong, when God deals with them in his wrath ?” (Dr. Gill, quoted in Spurgeon, 329). Jesus experienced an anguish of a kind that we could not describe even though we were to take an eternity to try to describe it.

My strength is dried up like a potsherd,
And my tongue cleaves to my jaws;
And you lay me in the dust of death.

When Jesus was on the cross he said, “I am thirsty” (John 19:28). Alexander Maclaren points out, “Christ’s thirst is regarded by John as the fulfillment of “scripture,” which can scarcely be other than ver. 15.” (Maclaren 210).

For dogs have surrounded me;
A band of evildoers has encompassed me;
They pierced my hands and my feet.
I can count all my bones.

The body of Christ was marred beyond comparison, as it says in the Prophet Isaiah, “Just as many were astonished at you, My people, So His appearance was marred more than any man, and His form more than the sons of men” (Isaiah 52:14). They pierced his hands and feet, just as the psalm says, and his face and his body were so marred that people could not look at him (Isaiah 53:3). His flesh would have been hanging from his bones because of the scourging, and his bones would have been exposed. When it speaks of the piercing of his hands and feet, Charles Spurgeon points out, “This can by no means refer to David, or to anyone but Jesus of Nazareth, the once crucified but now exalted Son of God” (Spurgeon 330). This makes it clear that although the psalm was written by David, it is not speaking about David. No one but Jesus fulfills the prophecy of this Psalm.

They look, they stare at me;
They divide my garments among them,
And for my clothing they cast lots.

This Prophecy was fulfilled when the soldiers divided the garment of Christ among themselves, as Scripture says, “Then the soldiers, when they had crucified Jesus, took His outer garments and made four parts, a part to every soldier and also the tunic; now the tunic was seamless, woven in one piece. So they said to one another, “Let us not tear it, but cast lots for it, to decide whose it shall be.”” (John 19:23-24). John Chrysostom says,

Now the soldiers divided his garments among themselves, but not his tunic. Notice how they frequently caused prophesies to be fulfilled by their wicked deeds. I say this for this detail had been foretold of old. Furthermore, even though there were three crucified, the prophecy was fulfilled only with reference to Christ. Why, indeed, did they not do this in the case of the other two, but only with regard to One alone? Kindly notice, too, the exactness of the prophecy. The prophet declared not only that they divided the garments among themselves but also that they did not divide them. Thus, the soldiers divided some of Christ’s garments into parts, but they did not divide the tunic; on the contrary, they settled its possession by lot. (Chrisostom, quoted in Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture 174).

Alexander Maclaren adds, “The peculiar detail of dividing the raiment was more than fulfilled, sinse the apparently parallel and synonymous causes were resolved in two distinct acts” (Maclaren 211).

The Psalm continues,

But you, O LORD, be not far off;
O You my help, hasten to my assistance.
Deliver my soul from the sword,
My only life from the power of the dog.
Save me from the lion’s mouth;
From the horns of the wild oxen You answer me.
I will tell of Your name to my brethren;
In the midst of the assembly I will praise You.
You who fear the LORD, praise Him;
All you descendants of Jacob, glorify Him,
And stand in awe of Him, all you descendants of Israel.
For he has not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted;
Nor has He hidden His face from him;
But when he cried to Him for help, He heard.

There is a sudden outburst of joy in the psalm. Why? It is as Peter said on the day of Pentecost, “He was neither abandoned to Hades, nor did His flesh suffer decay. This Jesus God raised up again, to which we are all witnesses” (Acts 2:31-32). By rising again Jesus Christ demonstrated that his death truly accomplished our salvation. As the psalm says, “Stand in awe of him”! Jesus fulfilled his own words which he said before his death, “For this reason the Father loves Me, because I lay down My life so that I may take it again. No one has taken it away from Me, but I lay it down on My own initiative. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This commandment I received from My Father” (John 10:17-18).

Where it says, “I will tell of Your name to my brethren,” the brethren refers to those for whom he died. As it says in the letter to the Romans,

And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. For those whom he foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren; and these whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified. (Romans 8:28-30)

Furthermore, in the book of Hebrews it says, “Therefore He had to be made like His brethren in all things, so that He might become a faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people” (Hebrews 2:17). Thus in order to take upon himself our punishment Jesus became a man.

The Psalm continues in praise with the following words:

From You comes my praise in the great assembly;
I shall pay my vows before those who fear Him.
The afflicted will eat and be satisfied;
Those who seek Him will praise the LORD.
Let your heart live forever!
All the ends of the earth will remember and turn to the LORD,
And all the families of the nations will worship before You.
For the kingdom is the LORD’S
And He rules over the nations.
All the prosperous of the earth will eat and worship,
All those who go down to the dust will bow before Him,
Even he who cannot keep his soul alive.
Posterity will serve him;

The words, “From You comes my Praise in the great assembly” refers to the praise Jesus receives from his Father, such praise as he receives for all eternity, as he declared when Jesus was baptized saying, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased” (Matthew 3:17). And when his elect from all the ends of the earth hear of what Christ has done for them they will also “praise the LORD.” And we know that Jesus Christ will come again and establish his kingdom on earth, as the apostle Peter says, “But according to His promise we are looking for new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness dwells” (2 Peter 3:13). All the nations will praise God with unceasing praise.

It will be told of the Lord to the coming generation.
They will come and declare His righteousness
To a people who will be born, that He has performed it.

This refers to the gospel being heard by those who are not yet born. They will hear of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ and follow him. These are the ones for whom Jesus prays while praying for the eleven disciples, saying, “I do not ask on behalf of these alone, but for those also who believe in Me through their word…” (John 17:20). And thus they will “declare His righteousness” forever.

The power of the 22^nd Psalm goes beyond words. I am not able to fully describe it. It points straight to the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Thus, perhaps without knowing it, David prophesied about the Christ, as the apostle Peter says, “As to this salvation, the prophets who prophesied of the grace that would come to you made careful searches and inquiries, seeking to know what person or time the Spirit of Christ within them was indicating as He predicted the sufferings of Christ and the glories to follow” (1Peter 1:10-11). We must spend an eternity learning these “things into which angels long to look.” (1 Peter 1:12). Even the angels, they envy us! Why? Because even the angels will never be able to say, Jesus died for me!

Sermon on John 6

God, open our ears to hear your truth, and open our eyes to see you, I pray for the edification of your church today, Amen.

If you have your Bibles with you today open them to John chapter six. If you do not have your Bible with you there should be some under your chairs. I am thankful that someone donated those Bibles to the church; it only makes sense to have Bibles in a church that preaches the Bible. I am thankful for the biblical preaching that happens at this church because I have been to many church services where we say that we believe in sola Sriptura and yet we hardly even take the time to open our Bibles. Oh how much we need to read the Bible in the church; and not only in the church; I believe it should be read in the quietness of our own homes; I believe that it should be shouted on the streets; I believe that it should be read on the roof-tops and proclaimed on the mountaintops!; this word will change your life, if only you believe in it. So by now you should have your Bibles open to John chapter six; and remember, this is God’s word; this is God speaking to you. So as I read and as you follow along, just let it speak to you. So I will begin at John chapter six…

After these things Jesus went away to the other side of the Sea of Galilee (or Tiberias). A large crowd followed Him, because they saw the signs which He was performing on those who were sick. Then Jesus went up on the mountain, and there He sat down with His disciples. Now the Passover, the feast of the Jews, was near. Therefore Jesus, lifting up His eyes and seeing that a large crowd was coming to Him, said to Philip, “Where are we to buy bread, so that these may eat?” This He was saying to test him, for He Himself knew what He was intending to do. Philip answered Him, “Two hundred denarii worth of bread is not sufficient for them, for everyone to receive a little.” One of His disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said to Him, “There is a lad here who has five barley loaves and two fish, but what are these for so many people?” Jesus said, “Have the people sit down.” Now there was much grass in the place. So the men sat down, in number about five thousand. Jesus then took the loaves, and having given thanks, He distributed to those who were seated; likewise also of the fish as much as they wanted. When they were filled, He said to His disciples, “Gather up the leftover fragments so that nothing will be lost.” So they gathered them up, and filled twelve baskets with fragments from the five barley loaves which were left over by those who had eaten. Therefore when the people saw the sign which He had performed, they said, “This is truly the Prophet who is to come into the world.” So Jesus, perceiving that they were intending to come and take Him by force to make Him king, withdrew again to the mountain by Himself alone. Now when evening came, His disciples went down to the sea, and after getting into a boat, they started to cross the sea to Capernaum. It had already become dark, and Jesus had not yet come to them. The sea began to be stirred up because a strong wind was blowing. Then, when they had rowed about three or four miles, they saw Jesus walking on the sea and drawing near to the boat; and they were frightened. But He said to them, “It is I; do not be afraid.” So they were willing to receive Him into the boat, and immediately the boat was at the land to which they were going. The next day the crowd that stood on the other side of the sea saw that there was no other small boat there, except one, and that Jesus had not entered with His disciples into the boat, but that His disciples had gone away alone. There came other small boats from Tiberias near to the place where they ate the bread after the Lord had given thanks. So when the crowd saw that Jesus was not there, nor His disciples, they themselves got into the small boats, and came to Capernaum seeking Jesus. When they found Him on the other side of the sea, they said to Him, “Rabbi, when did You get here?” Jesus answered them and said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you seek Me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate of the loaves and were filled. Do not work for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you, for on Him the Father, God, has set His seal.” Therefore they said to Him, “What shall we do, so that we may work the works of God?” Jesus answered and said to them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent.” So they said to Him, “What then do You do for a sign, so that we may see, and believe You? What work do You perform? Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, ‘HE GAVE THEM BREAD OUT OF HEAVEN TO EAT.'” Jesus then said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, it is not Moses who has given you the bread out of heaven, but it is My Father who gives you the true bread out of heaven. For the bread of God is that which comes down out of heaven, and gives life to the world.” Then they said to Him, “Lord, always give us this bread.” Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; he who comes to Me will not hunger, and he who believes in Me will never thirst. But I said to you that you have seen Me, and yet do not believe. All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will certainly not cast out. For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me. This is the will of Him who sent Me, that of all that He has given Me I lose nothing, but raise it up on the last day. For this is the will of My Father, that everyone who beholds the Son and believes in Him will have eternal life, and I Myself will raise him up on the last day.” Therefore the Jews were grumbling about Him, because He said, “I am the bread that came down out of heaven.” They were saying, “Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How does He now say, ‘I have come down out of heaven’?” Jesus answered and said to them, “Do not grumble among yourselves. No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up on the last day. It is written in the prophets, ‘AND THEY SHALL ALL BE TAUGHT OF GOD.’ Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father, comes to Me. Not that anyone has seen the Father, except the One who is from God; He has seen the Father. Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes has eternal life. I am the bread of life. Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. This is the bread which comes down out of heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread that came down out of heaven; if anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread also which I will give for the life of the world is My flesh.” Then the Jews began to argue with one another, saying, “How can this man give us His flesh to eat?” So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in yourselves. He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. For My flesh is true food, and My blood is true drink. He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him. As the living Father sent Me, and I live because of the Father, so he who eats Me, he also will live because of Me. This is the bread which came down out of heaven; not as the fathers ate and died; he who eats this bread will live forever.” These things He said in the synagogue as He taught in Capernaum. Therefore many of His disciples, when they heard this said, “This is a difficult statement; who can listen to it?” But Jesus, conscious that His disciples grumbled at this, said to them, “Does this cause you to stumble? What then if you see the Son of Man ascending to where He was before? It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing; the words that I have spoken to you are spirit and are life. But there are some of you who do not believe ” For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were who did not believe, and who it was that would betray Him. And He was saying, “For this reason I have said to you, that no one can come to Me unless it has been granted him from the Father.”As a result of this many of His disciples withdrew and were not walking with Him anymore. So Jesus said to the twelve, “You do not want to go away also, do you?” Simon Peter answered Him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have words of eternal life. We have believed and have come to know that You are the Holy One of God.” Jesus answered them, “Did I Myself not choose you, the twelve, and yet one of you is a devil?” Now He meant Judas the son of Simon Iscariot, for he, one of the twelve, was going to betray Him.” (John 6)

The message of this discourse is simple, but it is vital. It means that Christ is to be our spiritual nourishment and our eternal life; and “there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12).

I heard a story once, about a girl who was driving home drunk from a party one night, and it so happened that on her way home the tank in her car ran out of gas. and it so happened that the place where her car ran out of gas was right in front of a revival meeting. She decided to wait in her car for a while, hoping that someone would see that she had a problem, finally, out of impatience, she walked out of her car and yelled out, “hasn’t  anybody noticed that my tank is empty?!” The preacher said to her “sister is your tank empty?” she said “yes!” Then the preacher said, “sister do you want Jesus to fill your tank?” she said, “Yes”….. And that night she was saved; that night she was born again, don’t we all need Jesus to full our tanks? Should he not be our spiritual hunger and thirst?

Lets Pray…

God, we often try to fill our emptiness with things that will never satisfy the thirst of a longing heart, whether it be alcohol, drugs or other worldly lusts. We have gone to empty wells and found no water. Yet God, you know us so well; you know the wounds and sorrows caused by disappointments; and you have spoken in your word so that we may know that Christ will be each man’s life; so that our foundations would be grounded in the solid rock of our Lord Jesus Christ, Amen.

What did Jesus mean when he said that we must eat his flesh, and drink his blood? What was he trying to say when he was speaking to the Jews who rejected his message? This passage is so often used to prove doctrines such as transubstantiation and consubstantiation that we so often miss the very vital message of the text. Friends, we do not eat and drink the body and the blood of Christ only once a week, but every single day and at every single moment of our lives! When he instructed us to eat his flesh and drink his blood he was speaking in metaphors symbolysing that we must be nourished on him spiritually. This takes place through a relationship with him. That is why it is important to read the Scriptures and spend time in prayer. But then someone might say to me, ‘if Jesus meant this as a metaphor which is not to be taken physically then how can he say, “unless you eat the flesh of the son of man and drink his blood you have no life in you.”’(John 6:53). It is because Jesus really wants us to eat his flesh and drink his blood; but he wants us to do so spiritually. But how do we know that this is the proper interpretation of the text? Because after he had finished saying these things Jesus clarified himself to his disciples saying, “Does this offend you? What if you were to see the son of man ascending to where he was before? It is the spirit that gives life, while the flesh is of no avail the words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life.” (John 6:62-63). I thought it was interesting to read what some of the fathers of the early church had to say about this passage. The great defender of the faith, Athanasius, rightly understood that Jesus was drawing his disciples away from the material notion so that they might understand what he said spiritually. St. Augustine likewise understood that Jesus was speaking in metaphors symbolising that we must eat and drink spiritually. Augustine argued that the one who ascended whole could not be consumed physically here on earth. He accused those who would interpret the words of Jesus physically, like the Jews did, to still be carnal in their thinking.

But if we say that Jesus did not mean that we must eat physically, then we must be sure not to neglect to eat him spiritually. It means that God does not want idols in your life. It means that he does not want you going to empty wells that will not give you spiritual nourishment. If you are a child of God it means that God so loves you that he will not allow you to enjoy the sin of idolatry. God will not allow you to enjoy something that is mundane, instead of Christ himself.

Let me tell you how I came to learn this in my own life. All of my life I have been running from God. Before I was a Christian I was such a wretch that you do not want to know what kind of a person I was. But even after my conversion I think that at times I have been running from God’s will for my life; All of this time, running from God! But God outran me, and eventually I had to come to that place of total surrender; and it is as if in that place God was saying to me, “Eat… Drink…” “Taste and see that the Lord is Good” (Psalm 34:8). I remember it was one night when I came back home and went back to my room, and I was all alone, and I started to look back to a series of disappointments; broken dreams, failures and a long series of disappointments; I had nothing left. And I wondered, “Where do I go now? God what happens now? God I thirst for you! God be with me.” Then I noticed the Bible that I had left by the window; and only then did I realise that all along the wind had been blowing over the pages of my Bible. I went to pick up my Bible, and realised that it was open to the book of John where Jesus describes himself as the bread of life; and I thought ‘Perhaps… Perhaps this is all I truly ever wanted! All other things are nothing! Only Christ matters!’

Do you want Christ? Do you spend more time reading those cheap magazines than you do reading the Bible? Do you spend more time watching those useless television shows than you do before the Lord in prayer? Does your life walk and talk like Jesus does? But if you have no desire to read the Bible; and if you have no desire to spend time in prayer or be conformed to the image of Christ it may very well be that you do not know Christ and if you were to die this very moment you would be in hell.

Now some of you might be thinking, ‘Now that is a very sobering thing to say.’ I know! But you need to hear it because our Lord himself said “Not everyone who says to me ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter into the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. For many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name? Did we not cast out demons in your name? Did we not do mighty deeds in your name?’ Then I will declare to them solemnly, ‘Away from me you workers of iniquity, I never knew you.’” (Matthew 7:21-24)

But then, how do we do the will of God? As the Jews said, “What can we do to accomplish the works of God?” Jesus answered and said to them, “This is the work of God, to believe in the one he sent.” (John 6:28-29) In one of his sermons John Piper rightly pointed out that when the Jews wanted to know how to do the works of God Jesus pointed out that to do the works of God begins with no work at all; but “to believe in the one he has sent.”

This demonstrates that not only is Jesus to be our spiritual nourishment, he is our eternal life. In verse 51 Jesus says, “I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world”; what was he talking about? He was pointing forward to his crucifixion. Why was he crucified? Because you have committed sins that deserve eternal punishment. The just punishment that you deserve is eternity in hell. But “God so loved the world that he gave his only son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16). He died on the cross in your place, to take upon himself the punishment that you deserve; do you believe that? As the apostle Peter says, “He himself bore our sins in his body upon the cross, so that free from sin, we might live for righteousness, by his wounds you have been healed. For you had gone astray like sheep, but you have now returned to the shepherd and guardian of you souls” (1 peter 2:24-25).Believe in Jesus, cry out to the Lord so that you may be saved.

What is the problem with our evangelism these days? We often ask people, “Do you want to go to heaven?” but you know what the problem with that is? Everyone wants to go to Heaven. I’ve hardly ever had anyone tell me they think they would rather go to hell. Everyone wants to go to heaven; but our vision of heaven is so twisted and dull; we imagine heaven as a bunch of clouds in the sky, and the angels are there, but where the presence of God is not! Let me tell you what heaven will be like. You will see the beauty of God, and it will be so awesome and so beautiful that if you where to see him in your present condition or if God did not give you the strength you will be so breathless; it would so take your breath away that it would cause you to faint; And your flesh would be so frail at the sight of his glory that you would disintegrate into ashes; and even if you where to survive all that you would still go crazy (This thought comes from one of Paul Washer’s sermons). You will see him in his glory and majesty… And it will be so indescribable, and you will worship him forever! You will be overcome by such a divine ecstasy…. Why? Because you will see God! You will see Jesus Christ the very son of God face to face! That is what heaven will be like. And so the question is, do you want him? Do you desire a relationship with Jesus? Has God done such a work in your life that you desire him? If you do, come to Jesus and he will give you life. You do not have to earn it, or attain a certain level of holiness to achieve it. Pastor Adrian Rogers rightly said that, “Holiness is not the way to Christ, Christ is the way to holiness. Holiness is not the way to Christ, Christ is the way to holiness.” Eternal life is a free gift. ‘You mean it’s free? I don’t have to earn it; I don’t have to achieve it?’ That’s right. Just come to Jesus.

But then someone might ask, ‘If salvation is free then should we not go on sinning and living ungodly lives? As the apostle Paul said, “What then shall we say? Shall we persist in sin that grace may abound? May it never be! For how can we who died to sin yet continue to live in it?” (Romans 6: 1-2). If you are a Christian, if you are a believer today it is because you have died, Christ is living in you. As the apostle Paul said, “I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the son of God, who loved me and gave himself up for me.” (galatians2:20). Yes Salvation is a free gift from God, Yes it is through faith alone, yes it is by grace alone, but you need to understand that this Gospel will change who you are; and conform you to the image of Christ.

You will be nourished on Christ, you will live on the bread of life. Saint Augustine described this with the following words:

“Let them then who eat eat on, and them that drink, drink; let them hunger and thirst; eat life, drink life, that eating is to be refreshed; but thou art in such wise refreshed, as that whereby thou art refreshed faileth not. That drinking, what is it but to live? Eat life, drink life; and thou shalt have life, and the life is entire. But then this shall be, that is the body and the blood of Christ shall be each man’s life; if what is taken in the sacrament visibly is in the truth itself eaten spiritually, drunk spiritually. For we have heard the Lord himself saying, “It is the Spirit that quickeneth, but the flesh profiteth nothing. The words that I have spoken unto you are spirit and life.” (St. Augustine, sermon 131).

Therefore let us eat the flesh and drink the blood of Christ so that we may have life.

But not only is Jesus our eternal life, he is the only salvation there is; he is the only way to the father, it is a message that is altogether offensive, because it means that all other religions are useless to your salvation. Jesus made this clear where he says “Amen, Amen, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the son of man and drink his blood, you have no life in you” (John 6:53). Apart from Jesus there is no hope, this is made clear in the first epistle of John where it says, “whoever has the son has life; whoever does not have the son of God does not have life.” (1 John 5:12).What it says is clear. There is only one way and there are no alternatives. Anything else would be a contradiction to the Scriptures.

But then immediately the question comes up, ‘but what about those who have never heard? After-all doesn’t everyone deserve an equal opportunity to be saved?’ First of all you must come to the realization that God owes us nothing! We have all rebelled against God. Let me ask you a question. Have you ever broken one of the Ten Commandments? If you have, you have not rebelled against the Ten Commandments, but against God. And if you think that you have not been such a bad rebel then let me tell you that you are guilty of the sin of the pride, and it is like the sin of idolatry and God hates it! We have all rebelled against God and therefore God owes us nothing! He doesn’t even owe us an opportunity to be saved. He doesn’t even owe us the fresh air that we breathe; he doesn’t owe us and equal opportunity. God owes us nothing!

‘Oh , but what about those who have never heard, what about those who have never heard, after-all if they had been given an opportunity to know Christ would they not turn to him?’ No they won’t! The Bible says that “There is not one who seeks God”; and that “there is not one who does good, there is not even one”. (Roman 3:11-12). I was listening to a sermon by a pastor named Paul Washer, and he basically put it this way: Let’s say that we had Jesus right here before us physically. Actually let’s say that we had a revival meeting out there on the grass, and Jesus was there physically. And we invited the whole town of Surrey to come; and we invited people from every tribe tongue and nation; and we said, ‘all we need to do is show them Jesus.’ And I hear people say this a-lot. ‘All we need to do is show them who is who Jesus is. All we need to do is show them Jesus and people will come to Jesus!’ No they won’t! They’ll try to kill him. But then someone might say, ‘Well how do you know that?’ Because that is exactly what they did to him almost 2000 years ago when they crucified him! If you are a Christian today, if you are a believer today it is because God has done something in your life and it is because God has done something in your heart. Salvation does not work from man to God but from God to man! That is why in the Old Testament God said, “I will give them and undivided heart and put a new spirit in them; I will remove from them their heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh” (Ezekiel 11:19).

But then someone might say to me, ‘But you’re being cruel! You’re saying that all the Muslims, and all the Buddhists, and all the Hindus, and all the Sick’s that they’re not going to heaven!’ You don’t understand! Eternal life is not a place it is a person and his name is Jesus; and we come to him by faith. Saint Augustine described this with the following words:

“Is not a sheep drawn, when fresh grass is shown to it in its hunger? Yet I imagine that it is not bodily driven on, but fast bound by desire. In such wise do thou come too to Christ, do not conceive of long journeyings’ where thou believest, there thou comest, for unto him who is everywhere we come by love, not by sailing but forasmuch as even in this kind of voyage, waves and tempests of divers temptations abound; believe on the crucified; that thy faith may be able to ascend the wood. Thou shalt not sink, but shalt be borne upon the wood. Thus, even thus, amid the waves of this world did he sail, who said, “But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (St. Augustine, Sermon 13)

Oh how beautiful is the memory of his cross…..

So far I have told you that Jesus Christ ought to be our desire above all else, and that he should be our hearts one desire. But then someone with a searching heart might ask, “But how do we do it? How do I come to love Jesus more? Friend you must come to know him. How do you think that the apostle Peter, who denied Christ three times was later able to die for what he believed? That is what a relationship with Christ does! How do you think that the Apostle Paul, who once persecuted the church was so changed that he later died for the faith that he once tried to destroy? How do you think that the rest of the Apostles where able to die for this faith? And how do you think that for the next few centuries people where able to give up their lives for what they believe? If the apostles where able to give up their lives for their faith it is because they had a relationship with the living Jesus. If the early Christians where able to give up their lives for this faith it is because in their hearts they had a relationship with the living Jesus. If the Apostles, and the early church where able to face the teeth of lions; If they were able to face the fires and the blood of persecution it is because they were living on the bread of life; the word of God; the king of kings and Lord of Lords; our God, and our Savior Jesus Christ.

Let’s Pray….

God, we repent because we have not lived as if we know you. You have blessed us so much, and yet we walk away as if you were not there. When was the last time we drank a cold glass of water in thanksgiving to you? When was the last time we took a breath of fresh air in thanksgiving to you? When was the last time we enjoyed the hot sun in thanksgiving to you? How can we even begin to count our blessings when you have given us all things in your Son Jesus Christ? Oh God, we have not lived as your glory deserves; and we fail at this at every single moment of our lives. We are so sinful! And so we ask you to forgive us, and give us a passion for you, so that when people come here they would see people who are caught up in a divine rapture. Not the kind of chaotic hyperactivity that comes from pagan entertainment, but with a divine passion that truly comes from you. Oh God, hear our prayer today, Amen.

Sermon on Ezekiel 36:16-37:14

Lord, I know that if my sins were to be exposed here in front of everyone I would run from this place and never come back. I ask you to forgive me for my sins. I am so unworthy to have this opportunity to be here today. At times I wish someone else could do it for me, because I am so unworthy. But at this point all I can say is God use me as I am. God I know that I am standing here before people who have walked ahead of me. I pray today that if ever I say something that is not up-building but that tears down, that people would love me enough to tell me about it. Yet I pray that in the first place that you would preserve me from saying things that tear down; that you would guide my mouth and my words. God, we want to see revival and reformation, so I pray that you would work in this place, that you would raise the dead and bring them to life, that you would convict us and lead us to repentance, and that you would give us a greater zeal for the gospel. I pray this for the glory of your name, amen.

There has been a-lot of talk about revival at this church, and we say “we want revival,” yet part of our problem is that we don‟t even know what revival is anymore. We think that it is an event that we organize or something that we plan, or that somehow it is something that we bring about by an arm of the flesh. We think that it‟s about crowds meeting for an event, and we try to coerce and manipulate people with clever words and deceptive methods and a bunch of tricks that appear to work in the sight of men. And it has come to the point where modern revival has been reduced to a big game of crowd psychology. And we have altogether forgotten the power of God through the gospel of Jesus Christ. We have forgotten that we preach a message that is scandalous and that the world hates; and it is the message that got Stephen stoned to death, and it is the message that got the apostles killed! And I think by the end of it you‟re going to understand why. I want us to start by turning to Ezekiel 36 verse 16. Ezekiel 36, starting at verse 16.

Then the word of the LORD came to me saying, “Son of man, when the house of Israel was living in their own land, they defiled it by their ways and their deeds; their way before Me was like the uncleanness of a woman in her impurity. Therefore I poured out My wrath on them for the blood which they had shed on the land, because they had defiled it with their idols. Also I scattered them among the nations and they were dispersed throughout the lands According to their ways and their deeds I judged them. When they came to the nations where they went, they profaned My holy name, because it was said of them, ‘These are the people of the LORD; yet they have come out of His land.’ But I had concern for My holy name, which the house of Israel had profaned among the nations where they went. Therefore say to the house of Israel, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD, “It is not for your sake, O house of Israel, that I am about to act, but for My holy name, which you have profaned among the nations where you went. I will vindicate the holiness of My great name which has been profaned among the nations, which you have profaned in their midst Then the nations will know that I am the LORD,” declares the Lord GOD, “when I prove Myself holy among you in their sight. For I will take you from the nations, gather you from all the lands and bring you into your own land. Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols.
Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will be careful to observe My ordinances. You will live in the land that I gave to your forefathers; so you will be My people, and I will be your God. Moreover, I will save you from all your uncleanness; and I will call for the grain and multiply it, and I will not bring a famine on you. I will multiply the fruit of the tree and the produce of the field, so that you will not receive again the disgrace of famine among the nations. Then you will remember your evil ways and your deeds that were not good, and you will loathe yourselves in your own sight for your iniquities and your abominations. I am not doing this for your sake,” declares the Lord GOD, “let it be known to you. Be ashamed and confounded for your ways, O house of Israel!” Thus says the Lord GOD, “On the day that I cleanse you from all your iniquities, I will cause the cities to be inhabited, and the waste places will be rebuilt. The desolate land will be cultivated instead of being a desolation in the sight of everyone who passes by. They will say, ‘This desolate land has become like the garden of Eden; and the waste, desolate and ruined cities are fortified and inhabited.’ Then the nations that are left round about you will know that I, the LORD, have rebuilt the ruined places and planted that which was desolate; I, the LORD, have spoken and will do it.” Thus says the Lord GOD, “This also I will let the house of Israel ask Me to do for them: I will increase their men like a flock. Like the flock for sacrifices, like the flock at Jerusalem during her appointed feasts, so will the waste cities be filled with flocks of men. Then they will know that I am the LORD.”‘” The hand of the LORD was upon me, and He brought me out by the Spirit of the LORD and set me down in the middle of the valley; and it was full of bones. He caused me to pass among them round about, and behold, there were very many on the surface of the valley; and lo, they were very dry. He said to me, “Son of man, can these bones live?” And I answered, “O Lord GOD,You know.” Again He said to me, “Prophesy over these bones and say to them, ‘O dry bones, hear the word of the LORD.’ “Thus says the Lord GOD to these bones, ‘Behold, I will cause breath to enter you that you may come to life. I will put sinews on you, make flesh grow back on you, cover you with skin and put breath in you that you may come alive; and you will know that I am the LORD.'” So I prophesied as I was commanded; and as I prophesied, there was a noise, and behold, a rattling; and the bones came together, bone to its bone. And I looked, and behold, sinews were on them, and flesh grew and skin covered them; but there was no breath in them. Then He said to me, “Prophesy to the breath, prophesy, son of man, and say to the breath, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD, “Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain, that they come to life.”‘” So I prophesied as He commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they came to life and stood on their feet, an exceedingly great army. Then He said to me, “Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel;
behold, they say, ‘Our bones are dried up and our hope has perished We are completely cut off.’ Therefore prophesy and say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD, “Behold, I will open your graves and cause you to come up out of your graves, My people; and I will bring you into the land of Israel. Then you will know that I am the LORD, when I have opened your graves and caused you to come up out of your graves, My people. I will put My Spirit within you and you will come to life, and I will place you on your own land. Then you will know that I, the LORD, have spoken and done it,” declares the LORD.'” (Ezekiel 36:16-37:14)

I never understood this passage about the dry bones until one day I was studying the Bible with someone who was much wiser than I, and she told me to read the passage in light of Jesus Christ. I thought, „what? Read it? I‟ve read this before, I heard people talk about it, I heard sermons about it, I just don‟t get it!‟ but she told me to read it. Then I thought, „you know what, she‟s right, I need to read it, this is the word of God!‟ And so I started to read, and about half way through as I was reading the light came on, and I said, „I get it! I understand now!‟ She said, “well tell me about it.” I said, „it‟s about Jesus Christ, when he comes he will raise people from the dead, and people who were spiritually dead will be made alive in Jesus Christ! It‟s about people being born again! It‟s about people who were dead in their sins being raised to life!‟ She said, “see that‟s why I told you to read it in light of Jesus Christ.” Sometimes we are so quick to give up on the Bible and we don‟t ask God for guidance, and we don‟t take the time to study it. Now someone might say to me, „ah but you‟re misinterpreting the text, this is about the restoration of Israel.‟ Yes, but who is the true Israel? In Romans chapter 4 it says that if you believe, that if you are truly converted, you are descendants of Abraham. It says, For this reason it is by faith, in order that it may be in accordance with grace, so that the promise will be guaranteed to all the descendants, not only to those who are of the law, but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all” (Romans 4:16). If you are a Christian, You are the true Israel, you are descendants of Abraham, and Jesus is your King! It is what the apostle Paul called “the Israel of God” (Galatians 6:16). Now, I won‟t have time to go into all the details, but I believe that this prophecy is being fulfilled today, where people who were dead in their sins are being raised to life through the preaching of the gospel. And one day your mortal bodies will also be raised to life immortal, imperishable. Yet today this prophesy is being fulfilled in that when the gospel is proclaimed the holy spirit comes and convicts people of their sins and takes out their heart of stone and gives them a heart of flesh!

You see, we‟re not talking about something that is accomplished with clever tricks to coerce and manipulate people, we‟re not talking about something that is accomplished by an arm of the flesh; I‟m talking about revival! I‟m talking about a work of God! I‟m not talking about the kind of revival that last‟s for the night and then we wonder where all the converts went. I‟m talking about something that last‟s! I‟m talking about a work of the Spirit of God! Have you ever wondered why it is that most of these people who go to these revival meetings and conferences, who claim to be converted, never show up to church on Sunday? I am telling you, the problem is not a lack of discipleship, the problem is that they have never been truly converted. True revival is not
about people jumping up and down; true revival is not about the crowds getting excited; true revival is about people who are broken, and weeping over their sins, and turning to God, and following hard after him!

What is revival all about? What is evangelism all about? It‟s all about the glory of God! It‟s about time for us to realize that the preaching of the gospel is all about the glory of God! And if you are a Christian, then you should be passionate for the glory of God! Because everything that God does he does for his glory; everything that he does. I sometimes hear people protest against this saying that this makes God seem a little bit selfish. Let me ask you a question, if God is holy and righteous, then is it not also true that he would want his creatures to seek the greatest good in the universe? And if it is true that he would want his creatures to follow after the greatest good in the universe then is it not also true that he himself is the greatest good in the universe? And if he himself is the greatest good in the universe then is it not also true that he would want his creatures to follow him and seek his glory? Let me put this in another way. If God is holy and righteous, is it not also true that he himself should seek after the greatest good in the universe? And since he himself is the greatest good in the universe is it not also true that he should seek his own glory? You see, if God saved you, it was not primarily for your sake, but for the sake of his glory. It says, “It is not for your sake, o house of Israel, that I am about to act, but for my holy name, which you have profaned among the nations where you went” (Ezekiel 36:26). And it also says, “I had concern for my holy name, which the house of Israel had profaned among the nations where they went” (Ezekiel 36:21). And it says, “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh” (Ezekiel 36:26). And it says, “I will put my spirit within you and cause you to walk in my statutes, and you will be careful to observe my ordinances” (Ezekiel 36:27). And it says, “„I am not doing this for your sake,‟ declares the Lord God, “let it be known to you. Be ashamed and confounded for your ways, o house of Israel!‟” (Ezekiel 36:32). But as it says, “Then you will remember your evil ways and your deeds that were not good, and you will loathe yourselves in your own sight for your iniquities and your abominations” (Ezekiel 36:31). If there is one reason why God saved you, it was for the demonstration of the glory of his grace. It‟s about time for us to realize that revival is all about the glory of God.

And with revival there will also come reformation; and there is need for reform, there is need for reformation across our land. It seems that most churches have forgotten the core non-negotiable tenets of the Reformation; and it seems that most churches have forgotten the gospel itself. We live in an age where the Protestants have ceased to protest, where the fundamentalists have ceased to hold to the fundamentals, where the conservatives have slipped into neo-orthodoxy, and where the evangelicals have ceased to preach the evangel, the good news. One pastor by the name of Bob Jennings said that “It shouldn’t surprise us that most people are going to topple off of a church pew, and fall into hell.” It seems that we would rather fill our churches with false converts, and hold on to a false gospel, and give people a sense of false assurance, until the day that they stumble off a pew and fall into hell. Is that how little we care about souls? Is that how little we care about God? It’s time for us to analyze the times that we are living in, because we are living in a time of great apostasy.

Do you really want revival? Are you one of those people who say you want revival, and yet you never take the time to pray for the church? Are you one of those people who say that you want revival, and yet you never take the time to pray for revival? Are you one of those people who say that you want revival, and yet you never take the time to seek the Lord in prayer? Is that you? Does that describe you? We have come to the point where over the years we have tried schemes and programs, and marketing techniques; and the only thing we haven‟t tried is prayer! Why? Because we have forgotten the power and the sovereignty of God! One pastor said, “God will not share his glory with men or programs.” It used to be that 50 or a hundred years ago churches would come together on Wednesday nights to pray, and the whole church would come together; yet now most churches don‟t even have prayer meetings anymore. How can we talk so much about revival when we have forgotten the power of God? How can we talk so much about revival when we are ignorant of the holiness and the sovereignty of God? How can we talk so much about revival when we are miles apart from him? And we don‟t even seem to realize that if we were to walk and talk as Jesus did, if we were to truly live the Christian life it would cost us everything! Jesus said, “Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me” (Matthew 16:24). What is a cross? A cross is something that you die on! If you truly wish to become a Christian your old self must die. You must relinquish your pride and your self-righteousness. And if you truly are a Christian your old self has died, new things have come; and now you desire to read the Bible, you desire to be conformed to the image of Christ, and you desire to spend time before the Lord in prayer, but if these things are not a reality in your life, then it may very well be that you‟re not saved. The problem is not that you‟re not spiritual enough; the problem is not that you need to pull yourself up by the bootstraps; the problem is that you have never been born again. “Are you saying that we’re not saved? Is that what you’re saying?” No! But what I am saying is examine yourselves, examine yourselves to see if you are truly in the faith; because as Jesus said, “unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” (John 3:3).

Now if you are new here, maybe you‟ve been visiting over the last few weeks, and you have no idea what I mean by “born again,” then keep listening. But if you are a Christian and you know what I‟m talking about, then my question to you is do you know how to proclaim the gospel faithfully, and in a way that is biblical? Now some of you might ask, “well where do we start?”

The best place to start is with who God is. Can you sit down with someone and talk to them about who God is, and talk to them about the love of God, the holiness of God, the glory of God, the righteousness of God, the power of God, the sovereignty of God? Can you talk to them about the character of God? And you know that you have not even begun to talk about the holiness of God until they fall with their faces to the ground! He is holy and righteous. We worship a God who is Holy, Holy, Holy, and he‟s worthy of our love and he‟s worthy of our honor and he‟s worthy of our praise! And the saddest thing on earth is not that millions of people are going to hell, but that millions of people do not worship the living God! Because he is worthy! One time John Wesley was preaching outdoors for two hours and he so exalted the holiness of God, and he told
sinners of their wickedness and depravity, that at the end it was reported that there were 1800 people lying on the ground unconscious! Why? Because they have received a revelation of God, and a revelation of their own wretchedness and depravity.

When you evangelize you must confront sinners and tell them of their sin. You must confront them with the reality that they have sinned against a holy and righteous God! You must convince them that they deserve an eternity in hell! And this won‟t be easy, but it is the loving thing to do. Every once in a while I hear a group of Roman Catholics talking about how they‟re going to earn their way to heaven; and I always ask them, „Do you realize what heaven is? Do you realize that heaven is to spend an eternity in the presence of an infinitely holy and righteous God? Do you really think you can earn that? Do you think you‟ll earn that even for a moment?‟ And after thinking about it for a few moments they say, „I guess not.‟ I say to them, „let me ask you another question. Have you ever lied? The Bible says that all liars will end up in the lake of fire, Revelation 21:8. Have you ever stolen something? 1st Corinthians 6:10 says that thieves and the covetous will not inherit the kingdom of God.‟ They say to me, „maybe ill go to purgatory.‟ I say to them, „nowhere in the Bible does it ever speak about purgatory. How can you be so sure that you‟re going to purgatory when there is no such place? Furthermore to teach doctrines that are nowhere found in the Scriptures is a violation of saint Paul‟s command in 1st Corinthians 4:6 where he tells the Corinthians “not to go beyond what is written.”‟ I say to them, „let me ask you another question. Have you been seeking God with all your heart all your life?‟ I tell them, „if you say yes to this question you‟re lying, because in Romans chapter 3 it says that “there is not one who seeks for God”‟ (Romans 3:11). You must confront sinners with their sin. You must cut off from them all hope in the flesh, or in their own righteousness or efforts so that in the end they will cry out to God for mercy!

The hand of the Lord brought Ezekiel into a valley of dead bones. What do the dead bones represent? Those dead bones represent you and me while we were yet unconverted sinners who were dead in our sins. And God asks Ezekiel, “Son of man, can these bones live?” and Ezekiel says, “O Lord God, you know.” When Ezekiel says, “O Lord God, you know,” he is not only acknowledging that God knows, but he is saying, „O God, it can only happen by your power.‟ And God commanded Ezekiel to preach to a valley of dead bones, and in the same way when someone gets up to preach the gospel he is entirely dependant on a work of God‟s grace to bring people who where dead in their sins and bring them to life in Jesus Christ. Now someone might say, „the dead bones where coming to life because Ezekiel was preaching!‟ and who told Ezekiel to preach? People might say, „revival is happening, revival is happening because people are praying!‟ and who told those people to pray? You see, revival from beginning to end is all a work of God‟s grace! True revival is not a work of man, true revival is all a work of God.

Now since it is possible for a good Christian to disagree with my interpretation of Ezekiel 37 I want us to turn to Ephesians chapter 2.

And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of
the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest. But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them. (Ephesians 2:1-10)

You see, if you‟re saved it is not because of anything you‟ve done, it is all a work of God‟s grace, and the Spirit of God has taken out your heart of stone and given you a heart of flesh and your very nature has been changed. What you need to realize is that if you‟re saved it is not because one day a long time ago you said a prayer, or because one day a long time ago you made a decision, but it is because God has raised you from the dead! Spiritually he has raised you from the dead, and one day he will also raise your mortal bodies! But then you might ask, „if he has given us a new nature, then why is it that we still sin?‟ Because that new nature is still housed in a body of fallen flesh with ingrained habits of sin. But in reality, if you have truly been converted, then you have been changed, you have been born again; it‟s called regeneration, and this work of regeneration was not wrought about by your decision but by the will of God. As Jesus says in John 6:44 “No one can come to me unless the father who sent me draws him.” And just in case we missed it he says it again in verse 65, “For this reason I said to you, that no one can come to me unless it has been granted him from the Father.” Now someone might say, „yes the father must draw him, but in the end it rest‟s on the person‟s decision.‟ No, because earlier in verse 37 Jesus says, “All that the Father gives me will come to me, and the one who comes to me I will certainly not cast out.” They will come. If they are his sheep they will come.

I want us to go through Romans Chapter 5, starting at verse 6. It says, “For while we were still helpless…” and the word helpless here does not mean that you‟re crying out to God asking for help, but it means that you were helpless in the sense that you were not even willing to be converted in the first place. “For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly.” Ungodly! That is what you were before you were converted. If there never was a time that you were ungodly then it is because you have never been truly converted. It goes on to say, “For one will hardly die for a righteous man; though perhaps for the good man someone would dare even to die. But God demonstrates his own love toward us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having been justified by his blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through him. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of his son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.” It says “we were enemies,” enemies of God. There was a time when you hated God. If there
never was a time when you hated God it is because all this time you have been worshiping the wrong god; a god that you made up in your own mind, a god other than the God of the Bible. You hated God! You have committed the worst crime that could ever be committed in the universe. Do you realize that when it comes to the Ten Commandments, “Thou shalt not murder” is not even first or second or third? What is the first and greatest commandment? “Thou shalt love the Lord you God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind” (Matthew 22:37). You have broken the first and greatest commandment, and it is worse than murder; and it is worse than the woman who had an abortion! You have committed the worst crime that could ever be committed in the universe! But if you have been saved, if you have been truly converted, then you can rejoice with the apostle Paul where he says, “And not only this, but we also exult in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation.”

After you have told sinners of their depravity and of their sin, after you have confronted them with the law, so that they realize that they have no hope in themselves, then you are to point them to the cross of Christ as the only way to be forgiven! Jesus Christ was the only perfect man, and he lived the perfect righteous life, in your place! The life that you could not live he lived on your behalf. And he was crucified and he died; and he bore the wrath of God, in your place, so that if you believe in him you have eternal life! And what you need to understand is that the suffering that Jesus experienced on the cross was not just what the Romans did to him. In Isaiah 53 it speaks of “the anguish of his soul,” and it says, “The Lord was pleased to crush him putting him to grief” (Isaiah 53:10-11). He bore the wrath of God! It was the very hand of God that crushed him. And it was the predetermined plan of God that he be crucified in our place. And he bore the punishment that we deserve for an eternity in hell when he was crucified on that cross, crying out “my God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Mark 15:34). He suffered agony and torment, and it was far worse than the agony of all the sinners in hell combined! And it was far worse than anything we can ever imagine! Who can ever describe that day when the Son of God was crucified? And yet this is the message that they don‟t preach anymore in most churches! We‟ve turned to things that are so trivial; when our Christina bookstores are about 5 Easy Steps to Having Your Best Life Now, and The Shack and a bunch of other garbage; and then we wonder why we life in such a godless pagan world! And we don‟t even preach the gospel anymore! I remember when I was saved, listening to the radio, lying on my bed one night; and for the first time I heard the message of the cross, that Jesus died in my place; and I pointed to the radio, and on the outside I was silent but on the inside I was saying, „it‟s true! It‟s true! I know it! it‟s true! It‟s true! He saved me! I know it! It‟s true! It‟s true! How can it be? How can it be that Jesus died for me? This is true love! I know it! It‟s true!‟ And I got up, and for the first time I understood what made the great saints of the church, and it was not anything in them but it was the power of God!

Some of you might remember the testimony I gave when I was baptized, and I talked about those preachers who said, „Jesus is knocking at the door of your heart.‟ But ever since then I‟ve been starting to realize that something entirely different happened. Jesus kicked the door in, flooded my heart with his love, and I was born again! It is all a
work of God! In Acts chapter 16, it speaks of a woman named Lydia, and it says that “the Lord opened her heart to respond to the things spoken by Paul” (Acts 16:14). Who opened Lydia‟s heart? God opened Lydia‟s heart! You see, Jesus is not only knocking at the door of your heart, he has the key to your heart, and if he’s going after you, he’s coming back with you, and he’s taking you with him to glory! I have been to a place where peoples lives where being turned upside down because of a hurricane in New Orleans. Our God is much bigger than a hurricane; and one glimpse of his glory and it would so take your breath away, and you would be so breathless that you would faint and fall dead! And now when God comes to change your heart, do you really think you can have an encounter with the greatest being in the universe and not be changed by it? Do you really think that the God who rose Jesus from the dead does not have the power to destroy the door of your heart? Pastor James White rightly said that “the tomb of Lazarus did not have a handle on it either, and yet that didn’t seem to stop him!” I’m tired of those silly illustrations where Jesus is standing on the outside of a door and there‟s no handle on his side.

When you explain the gospel to someone you must make it clear to them that if they believe it is because the Holy Spirit has come and taken out their heart of stone that hated God and his law and given them a heart of flesh that loves him, and the Spirit of God has come to dwell in them, and has enabled them to believe the good news. And if they believe the good news they‟re saved. But if one day they turn away from the faith, and deny the sufficiency of the cross to save them, and they become heretics and unbelievers, then you must make it clear to them that if that should happen it is because they have never been truly converted in the first place. When a person is saved is it possible for him to loose his salvation? Absolutely not! Because the God who has the power to save his soul also has the power to give him a desire to live for Christ; and the God who has the power to give him a desire to life for Christ also has the power to make him walk in newness of life; and the God who has the power to make him walk in newness of life also has the power to preserve him until he comes or takes him home! It is all a work of God‟s grace!

Because it is so controversial, if you preach the gospel faithfully you can expect two things from this life: for you blood to be mercilessly poured out on the streets, and the blessed assurance of eternal life. You might say that I sound so radical. But you don‟t understand, because first of all it is very easy for me to stand here and appear much more spiritual than I really am. Secondly, there is no such thing as a lukewarm Christian. God said to the church in Laodicea, “So because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth” (Revelation 3:16).

We can try all the man-centered approaches to evangelism we want, but if God is not in it, it won‟t make a difference. On the other hand if we proclaim the gospel in a way that is biblical, if God is in it, then that is the power behind the gospel.

You’re not saved because of anything you are or anything you‟ve done. If you think you’re saved because of something that you are or something that you‟ve done then that is the biggest evidence that you‟re not saved and you‟re on your way to destruction.
The true Christian says, “Jesus paid it all, all to him I owe, sin had left a crimson stain, he washed it white as snow.” The true Christian turns to Christ and points to the cross of Christ as his only plea.

Let’s pray, God I pray that you would do a work in this place, raise the dead to life, give us a passion for your name, convict us and lead us to repentance. Do a work in this place, I pray in Jesus name, amen.

 

WHAT IS LOVE?

Before I begin writing I must confess that I will fall infinitely short of describing the love of God. His love reaches from eternity to eternity…

It is a question I think we do not think enough about: what is love? The love of God is not just some concept out there, but it is a reality that was demonstrated when Jesus died on the cross, as the apostle John says, “In this is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins” (1 John 4:10). The love of God is not just some concept out there, but it is a reality that will change who you are.

I believe that the most offensive message in the whole world is the message of God’s love. Why? Because everyone wants to hear that God loved them because they were good, or moral, or smart, or that they were accepted because they did good deeds. But the gospel of Jesus Christ says otherwise. It says that God loved you even though you were sinful and wretched, and even though you were a hater of God, and even though before God you were more repulsive than a giant pile of dung! That is the message the world doesn’t want to hear. And that is the message of God’s unconditional love. And that is why the whole world is offended at the message of God’s love demonstrated in the cross of Jesus Christ. You see, if God’s love was based on some quality about you, then his love would not be unconditional. But God has demonstrated his unconditional love by loving us even though we were wretched sinners, and even though we were in active rebellion against him. And he sent his son to die for us. As Scripture says,

For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will hardly die for a righteous man; though perhaps for the good man someone would dare even to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having now been justified by his blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through him. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by his life. And not only this, but we exult in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have received the reconciliation. (Romans 5:6-11)

You see, Christ died for his enemies. Christ died for those who hated him. Christ died for wretched sinners such as us. And that is why the whole world hates the message of the cross. He took upon himself our punishment, and bore our curse which we deserve for our sins. He bore the wrath of God in our place so that we would gain the reward for his righteous life. Only Jesus Christ could do this; being God his sacrifice sufficed for all; being man he died in the place of men. He drank the cup of God’s wrath which was meant for us. He bore for us the very punishment which we would have otherwise had to suffer in hell forever, and he offered himself as a guilt offering to the Father. And if he bore all the punishment which we would have otherwise had to suffer in hell forever while dying on the cross, then the intensity of the suffering must certainly have been increased infinitely! He bore the wrath of God, and it was far worse than the agony of all the sinners in hell combined! And it was far worse than anything we can ever imagine! Who will ever be able to describe that day, when the Son of God was crucified, crying out, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Mark 15:34). What does this mean? On the one hand it cannot mean that there was a separation in the Trinity in the sense that God no longer had contact with his Son, for Jesus made it clear that God would be with him while all others abandoned him, as he said to his disciples, “Indeed the hour is coming, yes, has now come, that you will be scattered, each to his own, and will leave me alone. And yet I am not alone, because the Father is with me” (John 16:32). Therefore, Jesus knew that his sacrifice would be accepted by the Father as the perfect sacrifice, and that his Father was there with him. On the other hand, the darkness of the hour was real, and in order to offer himself up as the perfect sacrifice he had to undergo the wrath of God and be tormented by the God he loved. He truly bore our curse, as Paul’s letter to the Galatians says, “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us…” (Galatians 3:13). What does it mean to be a curse? It means to take upon himself the punishment we deserve to suffer in hell forever! As it says in the prophet Isaiah, “But the LORD has caused the iniquity of us all to fall on Him” (Isaiah 53:6). God is the one who punished his Son and predetermined that he be put to death by the hands of godless men. As it says it the prophet Isaiah, “But the LORD was pleased to crush Him, putting Him to grief…” (Isaiah 53:10). And dying on the cross Jesus declared, “It is finished!” (John 19:30). There on that cross, the wrath of God was satisfied. And thus out of his love for the Father Jesus Christ purchased for him a people with his blood.

God, I remember what I was like before I knew you. Though I was going to church every Sunday and attending catechism classes in the Roman Catholic Church, the only thing I knew was a dead religion. And though everyone complimented me, on the inside I was so full of filth and dung. I remember September 11, 2001, when terrorists high jacked planes and flew them into buildings in New York and the Pentagon, and one crashed in Pennsylvania. I turned on the radio and started listening to the news to find out what was going on. Some people said this was the beginning of a World War, and speculations abounded but there were no answers. I remember how I won the public speaking competition that year in high school with the speech I gave about the events that were happening and what the road to peace was. But I only pointed to a human effort which ignored you, and thus it was hopeless, and I started to realize that people were not changed by my message. I remember when I was to present the same speech at the provincial level, but I only remembered the first few sentences, and I forgot the rest of my speech to the point that I just stood there ashamed and in silence. I was so angry I started stabbing the wall in my room with a knife. I was a rebel in so many ways. I deserved death! I deserved your wrath! I kept listening to the news, but I did not find wisdom there. And so I asked, where will I find wisdom? And I searched through some radio stations looking for words of wisdom, and when I thought I found something it would only return to commercials and advertising and noise. Finally I landed on a radio station with a preacher talking on it. At first I turned to something else because I was not looking for you. But then I started to think, where else will I find wisdom? And so I turned back to that radio station and I started to listen, and the preacher was saying that wisdom comes from you O God. How could I have been so stupid that I did not even realize that! I kept listening, and the more I listened the more I wanted to listen, for these preachers spoke with authority, unlike anything I heard before. Finally one day on that radio station, I first heard the message of the cross; that Jesus Christ died in my place on the cross. Your light shined into the darkness of my heart. It is as the old hymn says, “No one but Jesus ever loved so!” God I pray that those who read these words would come to know you.

Eternal life is not something that you receive later when you get to heaven, but it is something that you receive now through faith in Jesus Christ! As Jesus says, “Amen, amen I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life” (John 5:24).

It doesn’t matter what height you’ve reached, or to what depth you’ve fallen, God loves you anyways; and there is nothing you can do to make him love you less than he does. Martin Luther once said, “sinners are attractive because they are loved, they are not loved because they are attractive” (LW 31:57). I remember I was walking down the street one night and I was thinking, what if I fall below my own standards, what if I amount to nothing, what if I end up being a total failure? Sometimes you have these moments where God just speaks to you. In this time it was as if he was saying, “I will still love you, even if you mess up your life.” Then my thoughts were changed, I realized if I can reach the moon and the stars and achieve a million things, but have no love I am nothing. It still does not fit into my little head, and I guess it never will, how the creator of the universe could love a small little being like me, to the point that he sent his only Son to die on a cross even though I was so sinful and spiritually stupid that I could not tell my right hand from my left.

His love is what saves us and holds us firm forever! As Jesus says, “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand. My Father who has given them to Me is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. I and the Father are one” (John 10:27-30). I heard a saying once, and it goes like this, “If you love someone you set them free, and if they come back to you they’re yours forever.” I don’t believe that! How contrary to everything the Bible teaches! In the parable of the ninety-nine sheep and the one that went astray the good shepherd does not just sit there and wait for the lost sheep to come back! He goes after it! (Luke 15:1-7). And in the same way if you are a true child of God, he will not let you go astray forever in your sin, but he will hunt you down, and he will bring you back, and he will take you home with him. You see, if you truly are his sheep, then your salvation cannot be lost. Because Jesus is the good shepherd, and a good shepherd does not loose his sheep. A shepherd who loses his sheep is not a good shepherd but a bad shepherd. Yet Jesus is the good shepherd and no one can pluck his sheep out of his hand. As Jesus says, “This is the will of Him who sent me, that of all that He has given Me I lose nothing, but raise it up on the last day” (John 6:39). And if you are a true child of God, his love will cause you to persevere in the face of afflictions and trials and tribulations.

I believe that everyone for whom Christ died will be saved, because I believe in the power of the cross! I know that there are many people who think that Christ died for every single person who ever lived in history. However those who think this way have forgotten to ask one very important question: If Christ died to save every single person who ever lived in history, then why is it that not every single person who ever lived in history will be saved? If Jesus died in their place for their sins, then why would the Father still condemn them. Someone might say that it is because of the sin of unbelief. However, was not the sin of unbelief a sin that Jesus died for? What use is there to say that the sacrifice of Jesus Christ was for every single person who ever lived in history and yet deny that the cross has the power to save them completely? I on the other hand believe that he died specifically for the elect whom he chose before the world began, and his cross has the power to save them completely, and thus no one for whom Christ died will be lost, but they will all be saved because Jesus died for them. I believe that the cross is sufficient. You see, Jesus died to save people, not just to try to save them and then fail. I remember I was thinking about this one day, and I thought, do I believe that the cross was meant for every single person who ever lived in history, or do I believe in the power of the cross? For the Bible clearly teaches that many will go to hell. And for those who go to hell I must simply conclude that Jesus did not die for them, for if he did, the Father would never overlook the precious and holy blood of his Son shed on their behalf. And that is why it is impossible for someone for whom Jesus died to be lost. I believe that the cross is of infinite power and of infinite value. And it is of such power and value that those for whom Christ died will not be lost!

And those for whom Jesus died, the Father also draws them to Christ. As Jesus says, “All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to me I will certainly not cast out” (John 6:37). Furthermore, seeing that before coming to Christ we were wretched sinners who hated God we would have never come to Christ if God did not draw us to him. As Jesus says, “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him; and I will raise him up on the last day” (John 6:44). And just in case we missed it, he says it again, “For this reason I have said to you, that no one can come to me unless it has been granted him from the Father” (John 6:65).

In the first epistle of John it says, “We love, because He first loved us” (John 4:19). The apostle Paul says,

And we know that God causes all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren; and these whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified. (Romans 8:28-30)

If you are one of God’s sheep I believe God loves you with a special love, unlike the love he has for the rest of the world. Where it says, “those whom He foreknew,” many people think that this simply means that God saw in advance who would decide to follow Christ. I submit to you that this means something entirely different. Where it says that he foreknew it means that he knew you in the sense of a deep and intimate relationship. It means that he had a deep love for you before you were even born and before time began. He knew you far more than a husband intimately knows his wife. He chose you, and he loved you with an eternal love…

You see, many people get turned off at the teaching of election and predestination because they think that it means that God is stopping people who would otherwise come to him from coming to him; when in reality it is the other way around, where God is turning to himself people who would have otherwise never come to him. Because if you understand something about the depravity of man, then you would realize that someone who is evil by nature would not naturally turn to a good, holy God. And it takes a work of God’s sovereign grace to turn such a man to God. You see, for someone who is self-righteous, and who wants to assert that God accepted him because he is righteous, or good, or moral, this teaching is like pouring gasoline down his throat. But for someone like me, who has never been able to get it right, who has never been righteous or good or moral, it is a very beautiful thing. Had it not been for his grace I would have never turned to him. You see, God does not just passively sit there hoping that one day you will believe, or that one day you will be converted. He actively determines it by his grace! And he came after you while you were still lost in your sin just as the good shepherd goes after the sheep that had gone astray, and he brought you to himself.

I remember I was thinking about these things, and I thought, do I believe that my salvation depended on something that I did, a decision that I made, or do I believe in the power of God’s love? Did God love me because I made a decision, or did his love actually change who I am?

I remember one day I was standing by the ocean at twilight, in the vast expanse, thinking about these things. And I started to wonder why Jesus Christ, the holy Son of God, the creator of heaven and earth, came to tie on a cross for me. Why did he love me? Why did he choose me? Why?… Why?… Why?… It is a question that does not have an answer. His love is unconditional. It is a question that does not have an answer except this, God loved me because God is love.

I often hear people say that love is not a feeling. If what they mean is that it is not affection I disagree! I believe that love is feeling, but not fleeting feeling that passes away, but a strong affection that never perishes. When Lazarus died “Jesus wept” (John 11:35). Why? The Jews had it right: because he loved him! Jesus said, “You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength” (Mark 12:30). He does not leave any part of your being out of it. We seem happy to say, love God with all your mind, and love God with all your strength, but when it comes to your feelings we seem to say, don’t worry about your feelings, love is not a feeling. Does anybody else see something wrong with that? When Jesus says to love God with all your heart he is talking about the very core of your being, and that includes your mind and your affections.

When God sees the perfect righteousness of his Son, every part of his being is moved with feelings of infinite delight! And yet this is the righteousness which God imputes to us through faith in Jesus Christ! The apostle Paul says,

What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who is against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things? Who will bring a charge against God’s elect? God is the one who justifies; who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is He who died, yes, rather who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us. Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? Just as it is written, “For Your sake we are being put to death all day long; we were considered as sheep to be slaughtered.” But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:31-39)

In his letter to the Ephesians the apostle Paul says,

For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name, that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; and that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God. (Ephesians 3:14-19)

It’s as if the apostle Paul is saying that you ought to strive with all your might to swim the breadth of God’s love, only to realize that you will never swim the breadth of it! To strive with all your might to run the length of God’s love, until you have spent yourself, only to realize that you will never run the length of God’s love! To strive with all your might to climb the height of God’s love, only to realize that you will never climb the height of it! To spend yourself, to strive with all your might to reach the depth of God’s love, only to realize that you will never reach the depth of it! To strive and labour, to spend yourself, to strive with all your might until you have completely spent yourself; and when you have so done, and when you have so spent yourself you will begin to realize that you have not even begun!

A Responce to Scott Hahn’s Rome Sweet Home

Dear grandpa and grandma,

I received your gift and the book you sent me. I am familiar with Scott Hahn and I hope you will not mind me sharing my thoughts about his book.[1] First I want to tell you that you will never understand what I believe if you see it through the lens of Scott Hahn. I am not sure if you have read the book or not, but the misrepresentations, the straw man arguments, the half-truths, and the double standards in his writings are far too many. For now I simply want to clarify the points where my faith has been misrepresented in Scott Hahn’s book so that you can understand more clearly what I believe.

For Scott Hahn it seems that prior to his conversion, being a protestant for him was all about being, as he says, “anti-Catholic;” but I do not read much about solid convictions concerning the heart of what shaped the Protestant Reformation. He knew what he was against, but not what he was for. One is not saved by being “anti-Catholic” but by believing that Christ is the only savior who died on a cross not just to make our salvation possible, but to actually save completely and to the uttermost! But as for the term, “anti-Catholic,” I am not sure what it means anymore, because it seems to me that almost anyone who disagrees with the Roman Catholic Church these days is labeled “anti-Catholic” and the term is thrown around to make us look as if we hate all Roman Catholics. So far I have never heard of those who disagree with the Jewish religion called “anti-Semitic,” but the truth is that by standing for the gospel we stand against not only the Roman Catholic Church, but against the whole world. When we say that Jesus Christ is the only savior, every other religion looks at us as being intolerant, bigoted, narrow minded, and for this reason even the early Christians were called atheists for proclaiming Christ as the only savior to the world!

What I find strange is that Scott Hahn’s conversion seems to turn around the issue of contraception. Although he is right when he says that all the reformers, like Martin Luther, John Calvin, Zwingli, Knox and all the rest opposed contraception, he then goes on to say, “I grew disturbed. The Roman Catholic Church stood alone as the only “denomination” in all the world with the courage and integrity to teach this most unpopular truth.”[2] First, you run into problems when you see the church only as “denominations,” but I would like to know if Scott Hahn has ever looked for Protestants who oppose birth control. Has he ever conducted a pew research to see how many Roman Catholics not only think that birth control is okay, but who actually use birth control? Go look at the statistics and you will see that although the pope says one thing, it is only a public image because a large amount of Roman Catholics out there are using birth control. On the other hand, I have Protestant friends who oppose birth control more than Roman Catholics do. Some go as far as opposing what is often called “natural family planning” because it too is a form of birth control which is unnatural and mechanical. You can go online and find many articles written by Protestants who oppose all form of pills and injections, and others who oppose all forms of birth control. 1^st Corinthians 7:4-5 speaks of times of abstinence for prayer, not for the avoidance of bearing children. But I wish that discussions about birth control went beyond this or that method and instead focused on the very issues of life and death. As for me, I believe that all pills and injections are the pharmaceutics of Satan! Research has shown that all forms of birth control pills are abortafacient. The IUD is the new instrument of infanticide. But I ask you to research how many Bible believing Evangelicals use these things compared to Roman Catholics. I’m not talking about the non-Bible believing liberals who have turned their backs on the Reformation. Doctors have often encouraged my wife’s uncle to start using birth control but he always refused. Why?  Because he reads a Bible that tells him that children are a blessing from God and not a curse.

In the book you sent me it also becomes very clear that Scott and Kimberly Hahn do not care about accurately representing what Martin Luther believed concerning justification by faith alone. As for Scott Hahn, he has no excuse if he claims to have been a serious student of Luther. As for Kimberly, I wonder why she does not provide references to where Luther said the things he supposedly said, and why she also does not tell the whole story. She says that Luther “declared that a person is not justified by faith working in love, but rather he is justified by faith alone.”[3] I would like to know what exactly Kimberly is talking about, but no reference is provided. I also wonder why she does not tell the whole story concerning Luther calling James “an epistle of straw.” First, it must be understood that the common misconception that Luther did not believe that James was canonical is not true. For the Old Testament Martin Luther had a separate Apocrypha section in his German translation of the Bible. He had no such section for the New Testament. Luther made distinctions between the more important parts of the Bible which clearly communicate the gospel, and the less important sections concerning less important matters, which is why Luther called James an “epistle of straw” in his early preface for the New Testament. But I wonder why Kimberly does not provide the context of Luther’s comment. In context his comment on James reads as follows:

In a word St. John’s Gospel and his first epistle, St. Paul’s epistles, especially Romans, Galatians, and Ephesians, and St. Peters first epistle are the books that show you Christ and teach you all that is necessary and salvatory for you to know, even if you were never to see or hear any other book or doctrine. Therefore St. James epistle is really an epistle of straw, compared to these others, for it has nothing of the nature of the gospel about it. But more of this in the other prefaces.[4]

As you can see, the context really changes the meaning of that quotation, since Luther is comparing James to the other books of the Bible. Does this mean he thinks James is not a good book? Not at all, because in his preface to the epistle of James he says, “I praise it and consider it a good book, because it sets up no doctrines of men but vigorously promulgates the law of God.” He says that although he cannot include James among the chief books, he also says, “I would not thereby prevent anyone from including or extolling him as he pleases, for there are otherwise many good sayings in him.”[5] What Kimberly also fails to mention is that Martin Luther later removed his comment on James being “an epistle of straw” from his preface to the New Testament in all his later editions of his German translation. The comment only appears in his original 1522 edition. He removed the paragraphs that made value judgments among the books of the Bible in all his later editions. But I wonder why Roman Catholic apologists ignore the fact that the Roman Catholic Erasmus and Cardinal Cajetan questioned the authenticity of James. Kimberly also seems to be saying that Martin Luther did not believe that faith enables us to do the good works that God has planned for us to do.[6] But concerning what Martin Luther believed concerning the relationship between faith and works, here is Martin Luther in his own words:

Faith is not what some people think it is. Their human dream is a delusion. Because they observe that faith is not followed by good works or a better life, they fall into error, even though they speak and hear much about faith. “Faith is not enough,” they say, “You must do good works, you must be pious to be saved.” They think that, when you hear the gospel, you start working, creating by your own strength a thankful heart which says, “I believe.” That is what they think true faith is. But, because this is a human idea, a dream, the heart never learns anything from it, so it does nothing and reform doesn’t come from this `faith,’ either. Instead, faith is God’s work in us, that changes us and gives new birth from God. (John 1:13). It kills the Old Adam and makes us completely different people. It changes our hearts, our spirits, our thoughts and all our powers. It brings the Holy Spirit with  it. Yes, it is a living, creative, active and powerful thing, this faith. Faith cannot help doing good works constantly. It doesn’t stop to ask if good works ought to be done, but before anyone asks, it already has done them and continues to do them without ceasing.  Anyone who does not do good works in this manner is an unbeliever.  He stumbles around and looks for faith and good works, even though he does not know what faith or good works are. Yet he gossips and chatters about faith and good works with many words. Faith is a living, bold trust in God’s grace, so certain of God’s favor that it would risk death a thousand times trusting in it. Such confidence and knowledge of God’s grace makes you happy, joyful and bold in your relationship to God and all creatures. The Holy Spirit makes this happen through faith. Because of it, you freely, willingly and joyfully do good to everyone, serve everyone, suffer all kinds of things, love and praise the God who has shown you such grace. Thus, it is just as impossible to separate faith and works as it is to separate heat and light from fire! Therefore, watch out for your own false ideas and guard against good-for-nothing gossips, who think they’re smart enough to define faith and works, but really are the greatest of fools. Ask God to work faith in you, or you will remain forever without faith, no matter what you wish, say or can do.[7]

In The Disputation Concerning Justification, Martin Luther answers the following spurious argument: “Faith without works justifies, Faith without works is dead. Therefore dead faith justifies.” Martin Luther answers as follows:

The argument is sophistical and the refutation is resolved grammatically. In the major premise, ‘faith’ ought to be placed with the word ‘justifies’ and the portion of the sentence ‘without works justifies’ is placed in a predicate and periphrase and must refer to the word ‘justifies,’ not to faith. In the minor premise, ‘without works’ is truly in the subject periphrase and refers to faith. We say that justification is effective without works, not that faith is without works. For that faith which lacks fruit is not an efficacious but feigned faith. ‘Without works’ is ambiguous, then. For that reason this argument settles nothing. It is one thing that faith justifies without works; it is another thing that faith exists without works.”[8]

Martin Luther also wrote a treatise on good works, but instead many want to portray him as an antinomian.

For me it is very painful to see Scott and Kimberly Hahn misrepresent the reformers, but what is far more painful is when Scott Hahn misrepresents the very words of Christ in the Scriptures! Scott Hahn says,

But after lots of prayer and study, I realized that Jesus could not have been speaking figuratively when he taught us to eat his flesh and drink his blood. The Jews in his audience would not have been outraged and scandalized by a mere symbol. Besides, if they had misunderstood Jesus to be speaking literaly – when he meant his words to be taken figuratively – he could have easily clarified his point. In fact, since many of his disciples stopped following Jesus because of this teaching (v.60), he would have been morally obliged to explain the saying in purely symbolic terms. But he never did.[9]

I answer: but he did! In John 6 verses 60-63 it says,

Therefore many of his disciples, when they heard this said, “This is a difficult statement; who can listen to it?” But Jesus, conscious that his disciples grumbled at this, said to them, “Does this cause you to stumble? What then if you see the Son of Man ascending to where he was before? It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing; the words that I have spoken to you are spirit and are life.”

Furthermore, who is Scott Hahn to judge what Jesus would have been morally obliged to do? Scott Hahn continues saying, “Nor did any Christian, for over one thousand years, ever deny the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist.”[10] I want you to know that Martin Luther and John Calvin also believed in the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist, but they did not believe in transubstantiation; and in the same way just because the church fathers believed in the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist does not mean they believe in transubstantiation. Scott Hahn is making giant leaps to jump to conclusions without doing a proper investigation. I have no idea how Kimberly Hahn’s interpretation of John 6:63 later in the book[11] makes any sense in light of the biblical context of the passage. If we can define physical existence as something that cannot be detected in time or space (as the doctrine of transubstantiation demands) then we can make out even Christ’s incarnation to be a mere phantom. Jesus was not telling us to eat his flesh and drink his blood only once a week but every single day and every single moment of our lives through faith! Jerome shows that my interpretation is not new. He says,

We have heard the sacred Scriptures. I think the gospel is the body of Christ; Holy Writ, His teaching. When he says: ‘He who does not eat my flesh and drink my blood,’ although the words may be understood in their mystical sense, nevertheless, I say the word of Scripture is truly the body of Christ and His blood; it is divine doctrine. If at any time we approach the Sacrament the faithful understand what I mean and a tiny crumb should fall, we are appalled. Even so, if at any time we hear the word of God, through which the body and blood of Christ is being poured into our ears, and we yield carelessly to distraction, how responsible are we not for our failing?[12]

There is no doubt that Jerome treats the Lord ’s Supper with much reverence so as not to let even a tiny crumb to fall, but he defines the gospel and the Scriptures as the body of Christ and says that these are poured into our ears.

Perhaps the part that shows most clearly that Scott Hahn had no solid convictions prior to his conversion to Roman Catholicism is when he says that he broke into a cold sweat when a student asked him “where does the Bible teach that “Scripture is our sole authority?””[13] First of all, if the student used these exact words it shows that he did not understand what sola Scriptura really means. Sola Scriptura does not mean that Scripture is our sole authority, but our sole infallible authority. Pastors have authority to teach the Scriptures and the church has authority to teach the truth so long as they agree with Scripture. Every doctrine must be tested in light of Scripture. Scott Hahn seems to be ignoring what 2^nd Timothy 3:16-17 is saying. It says, “All Scripture is God-breathed and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.” It says that the Scriptures make the man of God complete, not partially complete, but complete! The Scriptures contain the fullness of the truth which God has delivered to the church. What Scott Hahn also ignores is that for at least the first 500 years the church always understood the traditions it must follow to be nothing other than what is contained in Scripture. The problem is that in the later middle ages the word Tradition came to be known as something outside of Scripture. In the original Greek of the New Testament the word tradition can also mean teaching, and therefore 2^nd Thessalonians 2:15 can also read as follows: “So then, brethren, stand firm and hold to the teachings which you were taught, whether by word of mouth or by letter from us.” Why should we be surprised that the apostle Paul wants the Thessalonians to remember his teachings? He was an apostle and had authority to teach by writing or by word of mouth. But if the Roman Catholic Church claims to have some Tradition passed on by word of mouth which is not contained in Scripture, then the Roman Catholic Church bears the burden of proof. But this is the same claim made by the Gnostics of old. Scott Hahn’s translation of 1^st Timothy 15 is also inaccurate. Scott Hahn quotes it as saying that “the church is the pillar and foundation of truth”, but in reality it says that the church of the living God is “the pillar and support of the truth.” Protestants have never denied that the church is “the pillar and support of truth”, but the question is, what is the church and how does it support the truth? The answer is that the church has always proclaimed the light of the gospel in this dark world, and the church is God’s chosen people called out of the world to proclaim the truth for his glory.

Scott Hahn also confuses the keys of the kingdom of heaven in Matthew 16:19 with the key of David spoken of in Isaiah 22:22.[14] Notice that one is plural and the other is singular. The keys of the kingdom of heaven spoken of in Matthew 16:19 represent the power of binding and loosing by the proclamation of the gospel. These keys are later given to all the apostles in Mathew 18:18 where Jesus says to all his disciples, “Whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven.” But who has the key of David? In the book of Revelation it says that Jesus has the key of David, as it says, “He who is holy, who is true, who has the key of David, who opens and no one will shut, and who shuts and no one opens says this: I know your deeds. Behold, I have put before  you an open door which no one can shut, because you have a little power, and have kept my word, and have not denied my name” (Revelation 3:7-8). Jesus says this long after he has given the keys of the kingdom of heaven to Peter and the other apostles. There is only one key of David and Jesus has it!

Scott Hahn says that he saw covenant at the center of Scripture.[15] I ask, what about Christ at the centre of Scripture? Scott Hahn says, “I’m absolutely convinced that the covenant is central to all of Scripture, just as the greatest Protestants like John Calvin and Jonathan Edwards have taught.”[16] I answer: They taught Christ crucified and God’s sovereignty as the centre, without which there can be no covenant.

Scott Hahn also makes a claim that has been refuted so many times, yet Roman Catholics keep using the same argument no matter how many times it has been refuted. He says, “Ever since the Reformation, over twenty five thousand different Protestant denominations have come into existence, and experts say there are presently five new ones being formed every week.”[17] Where is Scott Hahn getting his information from? No reference is provided. Many Roman Catholic apologists point to the World Christian Encyclopedia[18] as their reference for such a claim, but go and read it for your-self and see how many Roman Catholic denominations there are.[19] You’ll be surprised. Roman Catholic apologists jump to conclusions when they see such a big number and they assume that one is Roman Catholic, another is Eastern Orthodox, and the rest are Protestant. But I remind you that the word protestant came from a historical context where the heart of their doctrine was well defined. You cannot assume that just because one is not Roman Catholic or Eastern Orthodox it makes them protestant. You cannot be a protestant if you deny the non-negotiable tenets of the Reformation. Unfortunately, many today do this very thing, and the world refuses to see the difference between them and us. The vast majority of denominations out there deny the principle of sola Scriptura, which shows clearly that the denial of sola Scriptura is the blueprint for anarchy! If only Roman Catholic apologists would do their research before making claims that are refuted when you look at the very sources they cite! Scott Hahn asks, “what would it take to govern a worldwide church?”[20] I answer: Christ!

Scott Hahn argues that one is born again by physical water baptism. If Scott Hahn’s argument that one is born again by physical water baptism were true, then it still stands true that the vast majority of Roman Catholics out there have never been born again, because in the original Greek of the New Testament the word to baptize literally means to dip, and the vast majority of Roman Catholics have not been baptized by immersion. But why is it so hard to see that to be “born of water and the Spirit”[21] refers to the spiritual cleansing waters of the Holy Spirit, especially when compared to Ezekiel 36? For example it says,

Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols. Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put my Spirit within you and cause you to walk in my statutes, and you will be careful to observe my ordinances.” (Ezekiel 36:25-27)

As you can see, the new birth is a change of heart. Jesus said that “unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God” (John 3:3). But if one is born again by physical water baptism, how is it that the apostle Paul said “Christ did not send me to baptize but to preach the gospel…”? (1 Corinthians 1:17).

Kimberly Hahn says that baptism highlights justification by grace alone,[22] but you cannot have justification by grace alone or salvation by grace alone without justification by faith alone, which Scott and Kimberly Hahn both deny and the council of Trent has anathematized![23] The Roman Catholic Church has redefined grace in a way that includes works. For example, the Council of Trent says,

CANON XXXII.-If any one saith, that the good works of one that is justified are in such manner the gifts of God, as that they are not also the good merits of him that is justified; or, that the said justified, by the good works which he performs through the grace of God and the merit of Jesus Christ, whose living member he is, does not truly merit increase of grace, eternal life, and the attainment of that eternal life,-if so be, however, that he depart in grace,-and also an increase of glory; let him be anathema.[24]

The Catechism of the Catholic Church also says,

Since the initiative belongs to God in the order of grace, no one can merit the initial grace of forgiveness and Justification, at the beginning of conversion. Moved by the Holy Spirit and by charity, we can then merit for ourselves and for others the graces needed for our sanctification, for the increases of grace and charity and for the attainment of eternal life. (2010)[25]

The Roman Catholic Church teaches that we can merit grace. It sees God’s grace merely as God’s help to get merit to earn further grace. This is in total opposition to the apostle Paul who says, “But if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works, otherwise grace is no longer grace” (Romans 11:6). Grace cannot be mingled with works for salvation. When works are added, grace is lost. Grace must be the unmerited favor of God. Although grace produces good works, good works can never earn or merit grace! But as can be seen from the council of Trent and the Catechism of the Catholic Church, the Roman Catholic Church has rejected the biblical definition of Grace.

Scott and Kimberly Hahn say much about the intercession of saints. I can find one example in the Bible where the intersession a saint is sought, and that is where Saul seeks Samuel’s intersession through a medium at En-dor. What was Samuel’s response? The Bible describes Samuel’s response to Saul was as follows:

Then Samuel said to Saul, “Why have you disturbed me by bringing me up?” And Saul answered, “I am greatly distressed; for the Philistines are waging war against me, and God has departed from me and no longer answers me, either through prophets or by dreams; therefore I have called you, that you may make known to me what I should do.” Samuel said, “Why then do you ask me, since the Lord has departed from you and has become your adversary? The Lord has done accordingly as He spoke through me; for the Lord has torn the kingdom out of your hand and given it to your neighbor, to David. As you did not obey the Lord and did not execute His fierce wrath on Amalek, so the Lord has done this thing to you this day. Moreover the Lord will also give over Israel along with you into the hands of the Philistines, therefore tomorrow you and your sons will be with me. Indeed the Lord will give over the army of Israel into the hands of the Philistines!” (1 Samuel 28:15-19)

Samuel is obviously not happy that Saul sought his intercession. Where Scripture says,  “Should they consult the dead on behalf of the living?”[26] it is obviously speaking of those who are physically dead, not spiritually dead. But if Kimberly Hahn’s interpretation[27] were true, where then is the biblical support for prayers to the saints? Why is it that the only form of valid prayer found in Scripture is prayer directed to God?

Kimberly Hahn claims that the woman in Revelation 12 is Mary, but I ask, where does it say that’s Mary? Interestingly, Kimberly Hahn has come up with an interpretation that plainly contradicts the interpretation of the early church. The early church understood that the “woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars”[28] is the church. For example, Hippolytus says,

By the woman then clothed with the sun, he meant most manifestly the Church, endued with the Father’s word, whose brightness is above the sun. And by the ‘moon under her feet’ he referred to her being adorned, like the moon, with heavenly glory. And the words, ‘upon her head a crown of twelve stars,’ refer to the twelve apostles by whom the Church was founded. And those, ‘she, being with child, cries, travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered,’ mean that the Church will not cease to bear from her heart the Word that is persecuted by the unbelieving in the world. ‘And she brought forth,’ he says, ‘a man-child, who is to rule all the nations;’ by which is meant that the Church, always bringing forth Christ, the perfect man-child of God, who is declared to be God and man, becomes the instructor of all the nations. And the words, ‘her child was caught up unto God and to His throne,’ signify that he who is always born of her is a heavenly king, and not an earthly; even as David also declared of old when he said, ‘The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit Thou at my right hand, until I make Thine enemies Thy footstool.’ ‘And the dragon,’ he says, ‘saw and persecuted the woman which brought forth the man-child. And to the woman were given two wings of the great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent.’ That refers to the one thousand two hundred and threescore days (the half of the week) during which the tyrant is to reign and persecute the Church, which flees from city to city, and seeks conceal-meat in the wilderness among the mountains, possessed of no other defence than the two wings of the great eagle, that is to say, the faith of Jesus Christ, who, in stretching forth His holy hands on the holy tree, unfolded two wings, the right and the left, and called to Him all who believed upon Him, and covered them as a hen her chickens. For by the mouth of Malachi also He speaks thus: ‘And unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in His wings.’[29]

In his commentary on the book of Revelation Marius Victorinus says,

The woman clothed with the sun, and having the moon under her feet, and wearing a crown of twelve stars upon her head, and travailing in her pains, is the ancient Church of fathers, and prophets, and saints, and apostles, which had the groans and torments of its longing until it saw that Christ, the fruit of its people according to the flesh long promised to it, had taken flesh out of the selfsame people….[30]

The twelve stars can also be interpreted as being the twelve tribes of Israel. I wonder how the Roman Catholic Church can claim to be the 2000 year old church when it teaches things that are never mentioned in Scripture and are unknown to the church fathers.

In the conclusion of Scott and Kimberly Hahn’s book they refer to Evangelical Christians as “separated brethren,” and this has been the talk of the Roman Catholic Church ever since the second Vatican council. But this will never mean anything until the Roman Catholic Church is at least willing to retract the anathemas of the council of Trent where the very gospel itself has been anathematized! For example the council of Trent explicitly anathematizes those who believe in justification by faith alone with the following anathema:

CANON XXIV.-If any one saith, that the justice received is not preserved and also increased before God through good works; but that the said works are merely the fruits and signs of Justification obtained, but not a cause of the increase thereof; let him be anathema.^[31]

Until the Roman Catholic Church is willing to retract such anathemas then their referring to us as “separated brethren” is mere wolf talk and double talk. I do not say this because I have only read the anathemas without the explanation prior to them. I have read the entirety of the 6^th session of the council of Trent. The Roman Catholic Church speaks from both sides of its mouth when it anathematizes us and then confuses the gullible by calling us “separated brethren.” As for me, I cannot endure such double talk any longer. Even Kimberly Hahn said that the Roman Catholic Church is “either true or diabolical.”[32] Until it is willing to retract the anathemas of the council of Trent I must say that it is diabolical because it has anathematized the gospel itself! Other religions have not gone that far.

There is more that can be said about Scott and Kimberly Hahn’s book, but I will refrain because I think I have already mentioned the most important parts. For now I think I will only say that I expect better from someone with a PHD. I understand that the book is meant to be a personal testimony, but no references are given where it really matters, and the misrepresentations, half-truths and straw man arguments are inexcusable. I at least thank you for giving me the opportunity to clarify my faith in light of Scott Hahn’s book, and hope that you will correct others who misunderstand us. But more importantly, I want you to know the gospel, and wish that one day you can have the same faith as I do. For now I will explain what our response is to those who use James to say that one is justified before God by faith and works.

James says, “What use is it, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but he has no works? Can that faith save him?” (James 2:14). James thus makes it clear that such a faith is not a true faith but a dead and counterfeit faith which cannot save. True faith is not barren and inert but moves us to action, as he says, “If a brother or sister is without clothing and in need of daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and be filled,” and yet you do not give them what is necessary for their body, what use is that?” (James 2:15-16). James thus demonstrates the difference between a true and a counterfeit faith, as he continues saying, “Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself. But someone may say, You have faith and I have works; show me your faith without the works, and I will show you my faith by my works. You believe that God is one. You do well; the demons also believe, and shudder.” (James 2:17-19). With these words James makes it clear that true saving faith is not merely a faith in the existence of God or that God is one, or that God is three in one, for even the demons believe these things. True saving faith is a faith that trusts in Christ as our perfect high priest and in his finished sacrifice for our salvation. This kind of faith the demons do not have, for how can they trust in the mercy of God when they hate him and his gospel? James goes on saying, “But are you willing to recognize, you foolish fellow, that faith without works is useless? Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up Isaac his son on the altar?” (James 2:20-21). We must remember that James is not talking about how one is justified before God but how one is demonstrated to be genuine. It is useful to understand how the word “justified” is used in different ways throughout Scripture. Most are familiar with the sense in which the apostle Paul uses the word in order to teach that one is declared righteous before God even though he has no righteousness of his own. The context and the teaching of the apostle Paul make this understanding of the word ‘justify’ necessary. Another use of the word ‘justify’ is when one who is truly righteous is declared to be so, or demonstrated to be so, or when something that is genuine or true is demonstrated to be so. In some contexts, the word justified can also be translated as, “vindicated.” For this reason where James says, “Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up Isaac his son on the altar?” the context makes it clear that a perfectly reasonable translation is “Was not Abraham our father vindicated by works when he offered up Isaac his son on the altar?” In other words, Abraham was demonstrated to be a man of genuine faith by his works. James goes on to say, “You see that faith was working with his works, and as a result of the works, faith was perfected; and the Scripture was fulfilled which says, “And Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness,” and he was called the friend of God.” (James 2:23). Here we see clearly that James is in agreement with the apostle Paul that one is considered righteous by faith, for Abraham was declared righteous long before he offered Isaac on the altar. From this we can clearly see that Abraham’s works were a result of his faith. James then says, “You see that a man is justified by works and not by faith alone. In the same way, was not Rahab the harlot also justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out by another way?” (James 2:24-25). Again, here James is not using the word “justified” to explain how one is justified before God, but how one is demonstrated to be genuine and true. Therefore a perfectly reasonable translation is, “You see that a man is vindicated by works and not by faith alone. In the same way, was not Rahab the harlot also vindicated by works when she received the messengers and sent them out by another way?” (James 2:24-25). Rahab’s faith was thus demonstrated by her actions, for she truly believed that the God of Israel was powerful and able to destroy Jericho and she would rather trust in the God of Israel than the walls of Jericho. James then says, “For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead” (James 2:26). It is just as if James is saying, has your faith changed your life? because if your faith has not changed your life, then your faith is nothing more than a bunch of empty words! Christians long before the Protestant Reformation also interpreted James in the same way. For example, Bede says,

Although the apostle Paul preached that we are justified by faith without works, those who understand by this that it does not matter whether they live evil lives or do wicked and terrible things, as long as they believe in Christ, because salvation is through faith, have made a great mistake. James here expounds how Paul’s words ought to be understood. This is why he uses the example of Abraham, whom Paul also used as an example of faith, to show that the patriarch also performed good works in the light of his faith. It is therefore wrong to interpret Paul in such a way as to suggest that it did not matter whether Abraham put his faith into practice or not. What Paul meant was that no one obtains the gift of justification on the basis of merits derived from works performed beforehand, because the gift of justification comes only from faith.”[33]

The Christian church believed in justification by faith alone long before Martin Luther, John Calvin and the other reformers. For example, Ambrosiaster (commenting on 1^st Corinthians 1:4) says, “God has decreed that a person who believes in Christ can be saved without works. By faith alone he receives the forgiveness of sins.”[34] John Chrysostom says, “But what is the “law of faith?” It is, being saved by grace. Here he shows God’s power, in that He has not only saved, but has even justified, and led them to boasting, and this too without needing works, but looking for faith only.”[35] When I look at the Christians of old I see that they believed all the non-negotiable tenets of the Christian faith, that they had the same faith I have; the same faith that survived the devouring lions of the Roman persecutions is the same faith that survived the burning fires of the Roman Catholic inquisitions.

I do not mind you sending me books, but I tell you that I will be more easily convinced by people like Augustine, John Chrysostom and Jerome than Scott Hahn. So far I have gone through all of Augustine’s confessions, his treatise On the Predestination of the Saints, Athanasius’ On the Incarnation of the Word, The Martyrdom of Polycarp and Polycarp’s epistle as well as parts of other books here and there. I see that their catholic faith is very different from what the Roman Catholic Church teaches today. I wish that instead of reading Scott Hahn Roman Catholics would go back and read the church fathers in their own books and in their own words; or better yet, that they would read the God-breathed Scriptures. As for me I tell you plainly, Rome is not my home. The heavenly Jerusalem is my home. The pope is not my father, because I am a child of God. Christ is the head of the church, not the pope. I know that I am not going to purgatory because I am not cleansed by purgatorial fires but by the blood of Christ! The testing fire is not a punishment (in 1^st Corinthians 3), but the testing of the Spirit for eternal rewards! The Bible describes a hope that is far greater than what the Roman Catholic Church offers. A hope that is grounded not in a mere possibility, but in a reality! As it says in the epistle to the Ephesians,

And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest. But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ, by grace you have been saved, and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them. (Ephesians 2:1-10)

In the letter to the Romans it says, “Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ…” (Romans 5:1). The best the Roman Catholic Church has to offer is a mere ceasefire that can be broken anytime you commit a mortal sin, and according to Roman Catholic teaching even what they call venial sins must be punished. Roman Catholicism robs men of peace with God by denying the sufficiency of Christ’s sacrifice. Jesus Christ did not come to make a ceasefire, but to make “peace through the blood of his cross” (Colossians 1:20). I do not need an infallible list of infallible books because as a Child of God I can recognize the voice of the good Shepherd in the Scriptures, as Jesus said, “My sheep hear my voice, I know them, and they follow me…” (John 10:27). And as he had said earlier, “A stranger they simply will not follow, but will flee from him, because they do not know the voice of strangers” (John 9:5). I know that the voice of the Roman Catholic Church is the voice of a stranger because it teaches a false gospel that cannot save. In his letter to the Galatians the apostle Paul says,

I am amazed that you are so quickly deserting him who called you by the grace of Christ, for a different gospel; which is really not another; only there are some who are disturbing you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. But even if we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to what we have preached to you, he is to be accursed! As we have said before, so I say again now, if any man is preaching to you a gospel contrary to what you received, he is to be accursed! (Galatians 1:6-9)

But I am not surprised that Scott Hahn and many others like him are leaving the gospel of Christ for the false gospel of Rome. It is as it says in the 2^nd letter to the Thessalonians, “For this reason God will send upon them a deluding influence so that they will believe what is false, in order that they all may be judged who did not believe the truth, but took pleasure in wickedness” (2 Thessalonians 2:11-12). From Scott Hahn’s own testimony it is clear that prior to his conversion to Roman Catholicism he hated the Roman Catholic Church, but did he ever love the gospel? It seems to me that strong delusion overcame him because he “did not receive the love of the truth so as to be saved” (2 Thessalonians 2:10). As for me, it does not matter if even the whole world were to convert to Roman Catholicism, I cannot desert him who called me by the grace of Christ for a different gospel. “The love of Christ controls” me.[36] I am his because he died for me. I am purchased by his blood, therefore my life is not my own. The decision has already been made. My Lord will not allow me to return to the Roman Catholic religion. I have crossed the ocean and burned the boat. I am not going back, but I press on to follow Christ to the heavenly Jerusalem, which is my home.

Sincerely yours,

Pierre Bruneau

[1] Scott and Kimberly Hahn, Rome Sweet Home: Our Journey to Catholicism. Ignatius Press, San Francisco. Copyright 1993.

[2] Chapter 3. P-28

[3] Chapter 3. P-41

[4] LW 35:362

[5] LW 35:395-397

[6] Chapter 3. P-42

[7] An excerpt from “An Introduction to St. Paul’s Letter to the Romans,” Luther’s German Bible of 1522 by Martin Luther, 1483-1546 Translated by Rev. Robert E. Smith from DR. MARTIN LUTHER’S VERMISCHTE DEUTSCHE SCHRIFTEN. Johann K. Irmischer, ed. Vol. 63 (Erlangen: Heyder and Zimmer, 1854), pp.124-125. [EA 63:124-125] August 1994

[8] LW 34:175-176

[9] Chapter 4. P-50

[10] Chapter 4. P-50

[11] Chapter 8. P-139

[12] (FC, Vol 48, The Homilies of St. Jerome: Vol. 1, On the Psalms (at Psalm 147), Homily 57 (Washington D.C.: The Catholic University of America Press, 1964), p. 410.

[13] Chapter 4. P-51

[14] Chapter 5. P-71

[15] Chapter 5. P-72

[16] Chapter 5. P-72

[17] Chapter 5. P-73

[18] The full title is: World Christian Encyclopedia: A Comparative Survey of Churches and Religions in the Modern World.

[19] The encyclopedia states: “A denomination is defined in this encyclopedia as an organized aggregate of worship centers or congregations of similar ecclesiastical tradition within a specific country; i.e. as an organized Christian church or tradition or religious group or community of believers, within a specific country, whose component congregations and members are called by the same denominational name in different areas, regarding themselves as one autonomous Christians church distinct from other denominations, churches and traditions. As defined here, world Christianity consists of 6 major ecclesiastico-cultural blocs, divided into 300 major ecclesiastical traditions, composed of over 33,000 distinct denominations in 238 countries, these denominations themselves being composed of over 3,400,000 worship centers, churches or congregations.” (Barret et al, volume 1, page 16, table 1-5)

[20] Chapter 5. P-73

[21] John 3:5

[22] Chapter 8. P-137

[23] See the 6^th session of the council of Trent

[24] Retrieved from http://history.hanover.edu/texts/trent/ct06.html

[25] CCC, 2010.

[26] Isaiah 8:19

[27] Chapter 8: p-149

[28] Revelation 12:1

[29] Treatise on Christ and Antichrist, 61

[30] Commentary on the Apocalypse of the Blessed John, 12:1-2

[31]  6^th Session of the Council of Trent

[32] Chapter 8. P-142

[33] Gerald Bray, ed., Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture, New Testament XI: James, 1-2Peter, 1-3 John, Jude (Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2000), p. 31.

[34] Gerald Bray, ed., Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture, New Testament VII: 1-2 Corinthians (Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 1999), p. 6.

[35] NPNF1: Vol. XI, Homilies on the Epistle of Paul the Apostle to the Romans, Homily 7, vs. 27

[36] 2^nd Corinthians 5:14

DOES ECUMENISM IN NORTH AMERICA AND LATIN AMERICA UNDERMINE THE GOSPEL?

Ever since the Protestant Reformation ecumenism between Protestants and Catholics has been a very controversial issue; today it is an increasingly controversial issue in Latin America. In the time of the Reformation efforts to bring the two together where made through the conciliatory movement; and in recent years documents have been signed such as Evangelicals and Catholics Together and the Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification by the Lutheran World Federation and the Roman Catholic Church. However do these documents really reflect an agreement? Do they even get to the core issues that divide Protestants and Catholics? Pope Benedict 16 recently made statements that suggest that there is an agreement between Catholics and Protestants. However theologian R.C. Sproul sees the signing of these documents as a sign that Evangelicals have backslidden and compromised the very core of the Gospel. R.C. Sproul’s convictions seem to be very much in line with those of most Evangelicals in Latin America. Many Latin American theologians speak of the differences between Catholics and Protestants as irreconcilable differences. Not only that, but the growth of Evangelicalism in Latin America has faced much opposition from the Roman Catholic Church. Is the lack of ecumenism in Latin America a result of stubbornness, or have North American Evangelicals compromised the Gospel and overlooked the irreconcilable differences? The lack of investigation into the heart of the matter in much of the ecumenical dialogue in North America demonstrates that North American Evangelicals either do not understand what the Roman Catholic Church actually teaches, or they have abandoned the heart of the Gospel and backslidden from the core principles of the Protestant Reformation.

It is often assumed that the efforts to unite Catholics and Protestants is something new. However a closer look at the history of the Reformation shows that this has been tried before with the conciliatory movement even before the Council of Trent. In 1541 Catholic and Protestant representatives met at Regensburg to discuss the theological matters that separate the two sides. At the colloquy in Regensburg many important articles where agreed upon, including the issue of justification. However, later the Protestants princes realized that they needed to clarify a few things and wrote a reply to the articles that where agreed upon. Concerning Justification by faith they wrote:

In the case of Justification, where it speaks of an efficacious faith, it is our understanding that some have turned this around to mean that an efficacious faith is a workable faith and consequently to understand  by this article that a man is justified by faith along with works. For it is the common view of several on the other side that Paul’s statement that we are justified by faith is to be taken as if he had intended to say we are made ready for justification, that is, for love, through faith. At this point we become acceptable to God and are justified before him – not through faith for the sake of Christ. If this article is to be corrupted and perverted in such a manner, then we must of necessity oppose it. (Regensburg 159)

They went on to explain that by efficacious faith the Protestant representatives meant that “faith itself is a burning stimulus from the Holy Spirit to take heart by abandoning oneself to Christ and acquire life” (159). When it came to the distortion of this they went on to say that “this declaration should be appended or else the word (efficacious) should be deleted” (Regensburg 159). The Roman Catholic Church responded by calling the Protestant teaching a corruption and an infection (Regensburg 171).

Not too long after the Regensburg colloquy the Council of Trent condemned the Protestant teaching on justification with many anathemas. For example the Council of Trent says, “If any one saith, that men are justified, either by the sole imputation of the justice of Christ, or by the sole remission of sins, to the exclusion of the grace and the charity which is poured forth in their hearts by the Holy Ghost, and is inherent in them; or even that the grace, whereby we are justified, is only the favour of God; let him be anathema” (CANON XI). And, “If any one saith, that the justice received is not preserved and also increased before God through good works; but that the said works are merely the fruits and signs of justification obtained, but not a cause of the increase thereof; let him be anathema” (CANON XXIV). These anathemas are clearly opposed to the Protestant teaching on justification. To say that a person must increase his justification with works goes against the biblical teaching on justification. The protestant teaching has always been that a person is justified by the sole imputation of the righteousness of Christ. To say that one must increase his justification is not only a denial of the perfection of Christ’s righteousness, but it is a denial of imputed righteousness altogether.

In more recent times Catholics and Evangelicals have tried to achieve unity by signing documents such as Evangelicals and Catholics Together. This document was signed by very well know evangelicals such as J.I. Packer and Charles Colson in 1994. However the question is whether Evangelicals and Catholics Together really gets to the heart of the matter. It is often assumed that this document shows that unity has been achieved between Catholics and Evangelicals on justification. For example it says:

We affirm together that we are justified by grace through faith because of Christ. Living faith is active in love that is nothing less than the love of Christ, for we together say with Paul: “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me; and the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me” (Galatians 2). (ECT I)

However it should be understood that the issue has never been whether we are justified by grace through faith, the issue ever since the Reformation is whether we are justified by grace through faith alone; and that is what Evangelicals and Catholics Together completely overlooks.

Later in 1997 another one of these documents where signed by representatives of both sides entitled Evangelicals and Catholics Together II, also known as the Gift of Salvation. This document attempts to go more in-depth on the issues that separate both sides. However it still fails to speak of justification as the imputed righteousness of Christ.

More recently pope Benedict 16 made comments on justification where he argued that there is an agreement between Catholics and Protestants as long as the phrase sola fide is properly interpreted. In November of 2008 the pope said:

First, we must clarify what is the “law” from which we have been freed and what are those “works of the law” that do not justify. Already in the community of Corinth there was the opinion, which will return many times in history, which consisted in thinking that it was a question of the moral law, and that Christian freedom consisted therefore in being free from ethics. (On St. Paul and Justification).

The pope went on to make a distinction between works of the law and works of charity. He described works of the law as that which is contained in the Torah, and works of charity as visiting the sick, visiting the prisoners, feeding the hungry and clothing the naked out of love for God and neighbor. He said that “Luther’s expression “sola fide” is true if faith is not opposed to charity, to love.” The pope summarizes his understanding of the Gospel saying: “Thus, at the end of this Gospel, we can say: love alone, charity alone.” By this the pope meant our love for God and our charity towards others.

However the pope is merely replacing one kind of works salvation with another kind of works salvation. He makes a false distinction and replaces the works of the Torah with works of charity as if they were opposed to one another. Is it not in the Torah that it says, “love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might”? (Deuteronomy 6:5). And yet this is the command that we have all disobeyed, as scripture says, “there is not one who seeks God” (Romans 3:11). And is it not the Torah that says to “love your neighbor as yourself”? (Leviticus 19:18). Furthermore the pope redefines sola fide in a way that is far different from the historical Protestant definition. First of all he does not define justification by faith alone as the sole imputation of the righteousness of Christ. Secondly, he says that sola fide is true if it is not opposed to charity and love. Although faith produces charity and love faith is not the same thing as charity and love. Faith is a gift from God by which we are enabled to love God, but we are not justified by our love for God but by his love for us; as the apostle John says, “In this is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins” (1 John 4:10). Therefore it is not by our love for God but by his love for us that we are saved, and in this sense we are saved by love alone. The pope also continues to see justification as a process rather than something that is completed because of the cross of Christ (On Signs of a Living Faith). It is important to understand that we are not justified by anything inherently good about us, but only by the imputed righteousness of Christ. Therefore contrary to what pope Benedict 16 is saying, a careful examination of the matter shows that there is still no actual agreement between Catholics and Protestants on the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

However someone might say, ‘but at this point you are only dealing with technicalities that really don’t matter! We mean the same thing but we say it with different words!’ And were thousands of Protestants burned at the stake over technicalities that don’t matter? I think not! The heart of the Gospel of grace is not an unimportant technicality. We would do well to listen to what the Protestant princes say concerning the article on justification at the Regensburg colloquy:

How many let themselves be deceived into thinking that Augustine argued too strongly about the grace of God! How many even among the masters let themselves be misled into reading the sayings and views of the ancient authorities with the intent of finding various ways of achieving compromise and moderation. And though such concessions have not of course supported the error of Pelagius, they have nevertheless obscured the doctrine of grace. How many asserted that St. Paul himself spoke too harshly about justification by faith! In consequence they sought conciliatory interpretations based on human understanding, which obscured and detracted from the true teaching of the gospel and the strengthening of consciences. (Regensburg 155)

If there is truly an agreement between Catholics and Protestants on the whole matter of salvation then why does the Catholic Church not retract the anathemas of the Council of Trent? Why does the Catechism of the Catholic Church continue to teach that justification is a process? And why does it still teach that we can earn grace? Grace is not so cheap that it can be earned with works! It is all a gift of God! It is important to understand that the Roman Catholic Church claims to teach salvation by grace alone, yet the way it defines grace is contrary to the Gospel. The Catechism of the Catholic Church says, “Since the initiative belongs to God in the order of grace, no one can merit the initial grace of forgiveness and justification, at the beginning of conversion. Moved by the Holy Spirit and by charity, we can then merit for ourselves and for others the graces needed for our sanctification, for the increase of grace and charity, and for the attainment of eternal life” (2010). Yet as soon as merit is added to grace then it is no longer all grace. Protestants have always understood that grace is the unmerited favor of God, as the apostle Paul says, “But if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works, otherwise grace is no longer grace” (Romans 11:6). The different definitions of what grace is and what we mean by sola fide are things that modern attempts at ecumenism such as Evangelicals and Catholics Together I and II completely overlook.

Theologian R.C. Sproul sees the lack of definitions and careful scrutiny as a major failure in these recent attempts at ecumenism. In his book, Getting the Gospel Right, Dr. Sproul criticizes Evangelicals and Catholics Together II for being so vague that it can be interpreted any way by any party (67). He says, “The Document provoked much debate and discussion particularly because of the conspicuous absence of the word alone. Historic Evangelicalism has insisted that justification is by grace alone (sola gratia), through faith alone (sola fide), and because of Christ alone (soli Christo).” He goes on to say, “since the Roman Catholic Church has always affirmed that justification is by grace, through faith, and because of Christ, but has firmly rejected the solas of the Reformation, many evangelicals viewed this joint declaration as a sad and tragic compromise of the Reformation and of evangelical doctrine (Getting the Gospel Right 48). Here Dr. Sproul is getting to the heart of the matter. Can a Roman Catholic really say that he believes that salvation is by Christ alone and his sacrifice on the cross when the Roman Catholic Church has added works, purgatory, penance and sacraments to their system of salvation? To say that other things are necessary is to say that the cross of Christ is not enough; and to say that the cross is not enough is the clearest denial of the Gospel of grace. Can a Catholic really say that he believes that salvation is by grace alone when the Roman Catholic Church teaches that one can fall from salvation by committing mortal sins, thus making salvation the work of a man’s ability to maintain his faith and to keep the law rather than the sheer grace of God? These crucial questions cannot be overlooked in any ecumenical dialogue.

In Latin America the situation is very different than in North America. In fact Evangelicals and Catholics Together I criticizes the lack of ecumenism in Latin America with the following words:

The two communities in world Christianity that are most evangelistically assertive and most rapidly growing are Evangelicals and Catholics. In many parts of the world, the relationship between these communities is marked more by conflict than by cooperation, more by animosity than by love, more by suspicion than by trust, more by propaganda and ignorance than by respect for the truth. This is alarmingly the case in Latin America, increasingly the case in Eastern Europe, and too often the case in our own country. (ECT I)

It is often assumed that doctrinal division is caused by mere stubbornness, yet the question is hardly ever asked whether such doctrinal divisions are necessary to preserve the purity of the Gospel.

In his book Is Latin America Turning Protestant?, Anthropologist David Stoll gives a good description of the situation in Latin America with the growth of Protestantism. In his preface he says that “One bishop in Brazil has warned that Latin America is turning Protestant faster than Central Europe did in the sixteenth century” (Preface XIV). However Protestantism has been received with the suspicion that Evangelicalism is serving the political interests of the United States. Stoll describes the rough beginnings of Evangelicalism in Latin America with the following words:

In Rural Mexico and Colombia, the reaction against Protestantism reached a height in the 1940’s and 1950’s. In the vivid language of the inquisition, Catholic Bishops accused Protestants of sowing diabolical heresies, dividing and colonizing Latin America at the behest of the United States. Sometimes incited priests, mobs burned Protestant meeting places, stoned, and occasionally killed converts. In Colombia, during the civil war known as the Violencia, the clerical party singled out evangelicals as suspected communists. From 1948 to 1958, Catholic mobs killed more than a hundred Protestants, destroyed fifty churches, and closed more than a hundred schools. (26)

This kind of opposition in Mexico and Colombia is also happening in many other parts of Latin America. Yet what is the cause of all the controversy?

For evangelicals the answer is the importance of the Gospel and biblical teaching. In his book Protestantism in Central America, Wilton Nelton, a missionary to Costa Rica explains the importance of the Gospel as follows:

Central American evangelicalism, in consonance with the keynote of the Protestant Reformation, emphasized the fact that salvation is not the result of a cooperative effort of God and man, transmitted by the sacramental intervention of priests, but is rather a free gift that a person receives on repentance and faith in Jesus Christ. It is also taught that it is possible to enjoy assurance of salvation. At the same time it taught that conversion produces a change in one’s manner of life, resulting in good works.  But it insisted that these are the result and not a cause of salvation. (53)

There are certainly other theological problems such as the mariological excesses, veneration of saints and syncretism which do away with the centrality of Christ (Protestantism in Central America 51). At times Evangelical preaching would draw violent opposition, as one missionary to Peru says, “I met indigenous missionaries of whom the world is not worthy. These are men who would stand for hours and preach while being mocked and beaten and having goat urine poured on their heads. They would preach until their persecutors grew tired, sat down, and listened!” (Indigenous Missions 3). It is only right for North American evangelicals to take the time to ask themselves the question of why Protestants in Peru consider the Gospel so important that they are willing to be beaten for it.

While North Americans seem to consistently say that the differences that separate Catholics and Protestants are only minor, this certainly doesn’t seem to be the view in Latin America. One Peruvian Theologian, Samuel Escobar, describes the nature of southern ecumenism with the following words:

I would say that on issues of faith and order, there are differences between the various Christian groups which are basically insurmountable. But on issues of service, this is not the case. In Peru, for example, relations between the Catholic Church and Protestants are very bad, almost non-existent. But on a personal basis, when it comes to issues regarding children, the defense of human rights, and so on, there’s a grassroots kind of ecumenism that will continue, because of the seriousness of the issues at stake. It’s an ad extra kind of ecumenism. (Interview with Samuel Escobar).

It certainly seems that to most Latin American Protestants there is no room for compromise when it comes to doctrine.

However it cannot be assumed that this is the case for all Latin American Protestants. Jose Miguez Bonino describes himself as a Protestant liberation theologian, and he argues that unity can be achieved by our common concern for the poor and the oppressed. He says, “While we all know that some are Catholic, some Reformed, some Lutherans, some Methodists, hardly anybody committed to the struggle of the poor would claim for such identities a high priority” (Freedom Through Unity…).He claims that while theological distinctions are not irrelevant, they must be placed at the service of the common effort for the poor and the oppressed. Likewise Methodist liberation theologian Elsa Tamez argues that ecumenism must be a way of life (The Catholic Herald). Catholic Liberation theologian Leonardo Boff also shows a concern for ecumenism when he criticizes Cardinal Ratzinger, now Pope Benedict 16, for going back on Vatican II when he claimed that churches other than the Catholic Church are not true churches. He claims that Cardinal Ratzinger’s comments “has killed the future of Catholic ecumenism” (Ratzinger’s Interpretation…). Overall it seems that Liberation theologians are more open to ecumenism. However the problem is that in many cases this seems to come with an indifference to doctrine. Contrary to what Jose Miguez Bonino would say, theology must not be placed at the service of the common cause for the poor; theology must be placed at the service of the glory of God. That is why the reformers used the phrase soli Deo Gloria, God alone get’s the glory. To place theology in a place of secondary importance to social issues ignores the reality that what you believe affects what you do. As someone said, “the only way we can love right is to live right, and the only way we can live right is to believe right” (Mark Kielar qtd in Lane Chaplin’s Website). Christians certainly ought to be concerned for the poor, yet their concern for the poor must come from a concern for the glory of God through the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It is easy to be reactionary to the social gospel and then neglect the poor. Yet so often people can claim to be concerned for the poor out of pride rather than to Glorify God; and anything that is not done for the Glory of God is a waste of time. And to neglect the Glory of God and the knowledge of God through theology is a far worse crime than neglect for the poor. Can Protestants and Catholics claim common ground when it comes to social issues? Yes they can and they should.

However although they can claim common ground on social issues this does not mean that theology should be neglected. Samuel Escobar says that one way to explain the growth of Protestantism in Latin America is pastoral failure in the Catholic Church and a lack of biblical teaching. He rightly says that what should be the top priority is education in the faith. Contrary to popular speculation Samuel Escobar rejects the notion that what explains the growth of Protestantism in Latin America is U.S. politics. He calls this a conspiracy theory. He argues that the great majority of conversions to Protestantism are not superficial but they come from a real concern for biblical theology. He says that Latin American Protestantism is very theologically and morally conservative (An Interview With Samuel Escobar). Such concern for biblical theology and morality can be explained by nothing other than a work of the Holy Spirit.

In contrast to Latin American evangelicalism, it seems that North American evangelicalism has given in to compromise and backsliding rather than holding firm to biblical truth and core beliefs in the midst of controversy. However, does this mean that ecumenism is not desirable? If ecumenism with Catholics is to be done for any reason it should be to confront them with the biblical gospel and to challenge them to teach it in their churches. However the neglect of the core principles of the Reformation and the overlooking of core issues that plagues Western ecumenism is to be avoided at all costs. As one of the participants at the Regensburg Colloquy says, “There can be no honest compromise between the Popish and the Protestant doctrine of justification – one is at direct variance with the other, not in respect to verbal expressions merely, but in respect to their fundamental principles.” He goes on to say, “any settlement, on the basis of mutual concession can only be made by means of ambiguous expressions, and could amount to nothing more than a hollow truce, and could be broken by either party as soon as the subject was brought again into serious discussion” (Getting the Gospel Right 93). Because the whole matter of salvation is so important we cannot sacrifice truth for the sake of unity, but we can be united in the truth, and if we are going to be united in anything we must be united in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. And this is where there is room for ecumenism and unity among Protestants. I believe that we should strive for ecumenism and unity among Protestants before we even begin to consider the other side of the fence. Yet this can only be done out of a firm belief in the Gospel of Jesus Christ and a firm conviction in the non-negotiable tenets of the Reformation.

WORKS CITED

“An Interview with Samuel Escobar” National Catholic Reporter, August 17, 2006. April 2, 2009 <http://natcath.org/mainpage/specialdocuments/intervieww-samuelescobar.htm>.

Bucer, Martin. “The Regensburg Colloquy.” Great Debates of the Reformation, Ed. Ziegler, Donald J. New York: Random House, 1969.

Freedom Through Unity — Liberation Through Ecumenism. 1983. Franciscan Friars of the Atonement. April 2, 2009 <http://homepage.accesscable.net/~dpoirier/sfo83txt.htm>.

HeartCry Missionary Society Website. 2009. Heartdry Missionary Society. April 2, 2009 <http://www.hcmissions.org/resources/articles>.

Lanes’ Blog. March 31, 2009. Lane Chaplin. April 2, 2009 <http://www.lanechaplin.com/>.

Nelton, Wilson M. Protestantism in Central America, Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1984.

“On St. paul and Justification.” ZENIT. November. 19, 2008. April 2, 2009 <http://www.zenit.org/pag 0101?l=english>

“On Signs of a Living Faith.” ZENIT. November. 19, 2008. April 2, 2009 <http://www.zenit.org/article-24375?l=english>.

“Ratzinger’s Interpretation of the conciliar “subsistit” the end of the catholic ecumenism?” Münsteraner Forum für Theologie und Kirche (MFThK). April 2, 2009 <http://www.muenster.de/~angergun/boff-subsistit-in.html>.

Seek God. March 29, 1994. Seek God apologetics ministry. April 2, 2009 <http://www.seekgod.ca/ect3.htm>.

Sproul, R.C. Getting the Gospel Right: The Tie that Binds Evangelicals Together, Grand Rapids: Baker Book House Company, 1999.

Stoll, David. Is Latin America Turning Protestant?, Berkeley and Los Angeles, California: University of California Press, 1990.

The Catholic Herald. March 7, 2009. Roman Catholic Diocese of Sacramento. April 2, 2009 <http://www.diocese-sacramento.org/herald/articles/090307ecumenism.html>.

 

THE PROBLEM WITH THE NOTION OF SALVATION IN LATIN AMERICAN LIBERATION THEOLOGY

Probably the most commonly criticized aspect of liberation theology in Latin America is its Marxist tendencies, yet hardly anyone takes the time to examine the notion of salvation that has supported this form of theology in Latin America. With an understanding of what salvation is in liberation theology then one will begin to see how people have come to justify the use of violence to overthrow oppression. This problem starts with a wrong understanding of sin. This leads to a denial of the vicarious sacrifice of Christ on the cross. Eventually the whole matter of salvation is turned into an earthly achievement on the part of man. In the end the whole concept of salvation that many liberation theologians teach is far from the biblical teaching on salvation.

The first question that needs to be asked is what do we need to be saved from? Evangelical Christianity rightly teaches that we must be saved from sin and the just wrath of God that we deserve for our wretchedness. However this is not the view in much of Latin American liberation theology. As Gustavo Gutierrez says, “sin is not considered as an individual, private, or merely interior reality. Sin is regarded as a social, historical fact, the absence of brotherhood and love in relationships among men”[i] One example of what they perceive of as a social evil is capitalism which they think oppresses the poor; thus capitalist nations are seen as sinful nations. However it is also seen as a sin for one to allow himself to be oppressed and not do something to overthrow the oppression. Instead oppression must be overthrown with violence if necessary. With this distorted view of what sin is it can already be seen what liberation theology teaches that we need to be saved from; it is not as much the wretchedness of individuals or the wrath of God, but social evils in the world and oppression. Nevertheless it should be made clear that not all liberation theologians would agree that violence is justified to overthrow oppression.

Liberation theologians have also redefined why Jesus died on the cross. Many liberationists argue that Jesus died as a result of being a social and political revolutionary. For example Leonardo Boff says, “The historically true events are the crucifixion, the condemnation by Pilate, and the inscription on the cross in three languages known by the Jews. The rest of the events are theologized or are pure theology developed in light of the resurrection and of the reflection upon the Old Testament.”[ii] In other words Boff sees the vicarious atonement of Christ as something that was invented at a later date.

Liberation theology has a different concept of salvation altogether. To put it in simple words they teach salvation through social change; as one website describes:

Salvation is viewed not primarily in terms of life after death for the individual, but in terms of bringing about the kingdom of God: a new social order where there will be equality for all. This is not to deny eternal life per se, but it is to emphasize that the eternal and the temporal “intersect” in liberation theology. “If, as the traditional formulation has it, history and eternity are two parallel (i.e., nonintersecting) realms, our goal within history is to gain access to eternity.” But if history and eternity intersect, “if salvation is moving into a new order–then we must strive against everything which at present denies that order.”[iii]

Liberationists often speak of praxis as the means to achieve this end. The word praxis comes from the Greek word “prasso” which means to work. It involves the struggle for the poor and oppressed out of which new theological perspectives will be developed. Praxis is also the way to achieve liberation and to bring in the kingdom of God. Jose Miguez Bonino, who calls himself a protestant liberation theologians says, “Ecclesiology, in turn, should be interpreted in terms of these parameters, as a community of “congruence” with the Kingdom’s present struggle to become historical, as a community of “praxical hermeneutics” of the Kingdom.”[iv] Bonino argues that there must be a decentralization from the church. He says, “the Church cannot find its center of unity and mission in itself, by a concern for its own well-being, growth or prestige. The Church can only understand itself by reference to Jesus Christ, to his message, mission and person.”[v] He then goes on to argue that the church is accomplishing the mission of Christ with the following words:

But, as the Gospels make abundantly clear, there is also a Christological de-centering: Jesus understands himself by reference to the Father’s will and promise — now made historically present and operative in him — of bringing in his Kingdom in struggle against the power of death, injustice and lie active in the world. Or, if we want to speak a more sacramental language, we can say that the Church proves itself to be the true body of Christ by its visible identification in faith and praxis with the Christ of the Gospel, just as Jesus (particularly in the johanine writings) attests his unity with the Father, by doing “the works of the Father”.[vi]

It seems that Bonino is trying to say that the Church is Christ acting in the world through praxis. This is made even more clear by what he goes on to describe as the mission of the church in the world. He says:

The unity of the Church cannot be conceived or realized aside from the Jesus Christ who came and still comes in his Spirit to announce and bring in his Kingdom — a Kingdom which strives to become visible and operative in history, in the concrete actions and relations of human beings — until it is finally established in full power by God himself in the consummation of history, and (2) such Jesus Christ cannot be known apart from obedience, as we take the “yoke of the Kingdom” and follow him. Unity cannot be achieved except through discipleship. Any other unity cannot be a unity in Him, and therefore a true unity of His Church.[vii]

What Bonino describes here seems to fit into the category of Christ the transformer of culture in Richard Niebuhr’s Christ and Culture. This is what salvation looks like according to liberation theology. Thus it seems that just as sin is corporate and social, salvation as well is corporate and social. The problem though is when liberationists claim that these things happen without the vicarious sacrifice of Christ on the cross. It comes down to the phrase Soli Deo Gloria, God alone gets the glory for our salvation and for the glory of his kingdom. But when man tries to achieve this with an arm of the flesh it becomes nothing more than an attempt at a man made utopia.

Some people might argue that this act of salvation is achieved with the help of God. Thus making it a synergism between man and God; yet this would be another problem with this kind of theology. The biblical message of the gospel and salvation condemns any form of synergism for salvation, as the apostle Paul says, “for by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, it is not of works so no one may boast” (Galatians 2:8-9). In the original Greek the words “not of yourselves” refers to faith and salvation.[viii] This again has to do with God getting all the glory. Where it says “so that no one may boast” it means that no one will boast of partially earning their salvation or of partially helping to bring God’s kingdom to earth but those who are truly saved would say with the apostle Paul, “But may it never be that I would boast, except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Galatians 6:14). And how far are so many Liberation theologians from doing this when they deny the vicarious sacrifice of Christ on the cross!

Furthermore there is a problem when sin is seen primarily as something that is out there, in society and not something that we are responsible for as individuals. It is so easy to blame a society for sin, it is so easy to blame a system for being unjust, but it is so much harder to admit that you are an unjust person who is radically depraved and sinful and who actively takes part in injustice and evil. Does this mean that no one should point out injustices in oppressive regimes? These injustices most certainly need to be pointed out, but before we remove the splinter from someone else’s eye we must first remove the log from our own. It is so hard to accept that we deserve the divine just wrath of God for our wickedness, and to humble ourselves by realizing that Christ crucified is our only hope.

The denial of Christ’s vicarious sacrifice also creates another huge theological problem, and that is that the denial of Christ vicarious sacrifice is the denial of God’s justice. The letter to the Romans says, “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). When men are guilty of lying cheating murdering and doing everything that does not fall in line with God’s character how can God pretend that nothing ever happened and sweep things under the rug. The reality is that someone had to pay the price, someone had to suffer the punishment otherwise we would all be in hell. In the Psalms it says, “He who justifies the wicked and he who condemns the righteous, both of them alike are an abomination to the LORD” (Proverbs 17:15). Yet one would have to explain how it is that God can justify wicked men and allow them to live in his kingdom without them ever having to suffer the punishment. The only thing that solves this problem is that Christ took upon himself our punishment upon himself when he died on the cross, and experienced the just wrath of God that we would otherwise suffer. This is why the kingdom of God cannot be proclaimed without the blood of Christ.

Part of the reason that many liberationists deny this truth about the atonement might very well be the notion that “praxis” must be used to interpret the Bible and develop theology. Liberationists have argued that it is impossible to interpret the Bible without a bias, and therefore the Bible must be interpreted with a bias towards the poor. They say that praxis and life experience must be the first stage, and theology the second. However as soon as one says they must interpret the Bible with a bias, then they will inevitably twist the Scriptures and the Bible will become nothing more than a tool in the hands of a clever person who can interpret all kinds of meanings into it. Basically what such liberationists are arguing is that exegesis is impossible, therefore we must do eisegesis; and then we begin to read our own culture and opinions into the Bible which in the end makes the Bible completely meaningless, unless we return to exegesis. If Liberationists  where to interpret the Bible rightly they would realize from Isaiah 53 that the sacrifice of Christ on the cross was truly vicarious and they would realize that the Gospel taught in the Bible is far different than the gospel of the Liberationists.

The lack of exegesis leads to the construction of a Christ of culture according to Richard Niebuhr’s Christ and Culture. When clear passages that teach the atonement are dismissed and those that speak of the kingdom of God are twisted then we are left with a Christ other than the Christ of the Bible. In the end Liberation theology has merely constructed a gospel that fits and supports its own agenda. Christ did not say ‘pick up a gun and fight the oppressors’ but rather “whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also” (Matthew 5:39) and “Whoever forces you to go one mile, go with him two” (Matthew 5:41). Clearly to Jesus Christ, the liberationist notion of praxis was not the way to bring in the kingdom of God.

However Liberation theology has been on a decline over the years. One website explains that this is “partly due to the growing presence of Pentecostalism and the rise in Protestant churches in Latin America. Also, the Catholic Church has become much more conservative during the papacy of John Paul II, leaving very few liberation-theological bishops, such as Helder Camara of Brazil and Oscar Romero of El Salvador in the 1970s and 1980s, in the Latin American Catholic Church.”[ix] It is interesting that liberation theology has declined as a result of the evangelical preaching of the Gospel. One analyst explains this saying “there now is a widespread recognition that liberation theology overlooked the emotional, personal message most people seek from religion. At the simplest level, liberation theologians preached salvation through social change – meaning, in effect, socialism in one form or another. The evangelicals preach individual salvation through individual change.”[x] One pastor explains the changes that are taking place in Liberation theology saying that the first generation of liberation theologians ignored the fact that “you need to start small — micro not macro.” He explained that the emphasis now is on how God changes the individual life, then moves that life toward the neighbor.”[xi] This version of Christ as the transformer of culture fits better with the command to remove the log from our own eye first. It is encouraging to see this very radical change in the way Latin Americans are viewing salvation. It is true that Christianity ought to transform the culture, but not in the way the liberationists do it with violence. Nevertheless most liberationists of today seem to reject such Marxism while still retaining their concern for the poor and the oppressed; as one website says, “Though Latin American theologians here are groping to describe and confront a global economy that continues to devastate Central America, they agree that a political shift from capitalism to socialism — the solution offered by liberation theology’s first generation of thinkers — isn’t the answer.”[xii] It seems then that the emphasis on the concept of praxis to bring about the kingdom of God is on a decline and salvation is being seen more and more as individual rather than social. With the growing of Evangelicalism in Latin America it also means that there is a return to biblical teaching on salvation and the atonement.

Liberation theologians also seem to be changing their views on salvation as well especially with the fall of communism, as Ron Rhodes website describes:

Michael Novak, who holds the George Frederick Jewett Chair at the American Enterprise Institute in Washington, D.C., raised a penetrating question in view of recent European events: “What will become of the liberation theologians of Latin America and elsewhere who have so long praised the ideals of Marxist-Leninism, but now must see how hollow they are?” Novak argues that a close reading of the Latin American theologians suggests that they “have begun to worry that they earlier invested too much credence in the social science they picked up from the universities.” For this reason, he says, “liberation theologians in the last few years have become much less hopeful about social structures, and increasingly concerned with issues of spirituality. They seem to be turning less to politics, and more to faith.” Sigmund agrees, noting that now “the greater emphasis [is] on the spiritual sources and implications of the concept of liberation.”[xiii]

There is not much clarity anymore about what liberation theologians teach about salvation, but at least it is no longer predominantly Marxist. Different theologians might differ on this issue depending on their denomination.

What must happen is that there must be a focus on Christ for salvation and not man or the works of man. Unlike what Bonino says, what we need is not a “Christological de-centering” but it needs to be taught that salvation is by Christ alone, solus Christus. The false gospel that was presented by earlier liberation theology needs to be confronted with biblical truth as put forward in the core tenets of the Protestant Reformation: sola Scriptura (Scripture alone), sola Gratia, (by grace alone), sola Fide (by faith alone), solus Christus, (because of Christ alone), soli Deo gloria (To God alone be the glory). Any other gospel that does not conform to the Bible should be confronted in the same way. The Gospel must be preached as the power of God for salvation, and this Gospel ought to change a person’s life. The gospel ought never to be used as a political tool for violence. Those Liberation theologians who still hold to the old views of overthrowing oppression with violence need to be confronted with the biblical Christ.

Very often it seems that doctrine is put in second place to social issues in Liberation theology, and this affects soteriology. For example, Jose Miguez Bonino argues that unity between denominations can be achieved by our common concern for the poor and the oppressed. He says, “While we all know that some are Catholic, some Reformed, some Lutherans, some Methodists, hardly anybody committed to the struggle of the poor would claim for such identities a high priority”[xiv] He claims that while theological distinctions are not irrelevant, they must be placed at the service of the common effort for the poor and the oppressed. Contrary to what Jose Miguez Bonino would say, theology must not be placed at the service of the common cause for the poor; theology must be placed at the service of the glory of God. To place theology in a place of secondary importance to social issues ignores the reality that what you believe affects what you do. As someone said, “the only way we can love right is to live right, and the only way we can live right is to believe right.”[xv] Christians certainly ought to be concerned for the poor, yet their concern for the poor must come from a concern for the glory of God through the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It is easy to be reactionary to the social gospel and then neglect the poor. Yet so often people can claim to be concerned for the poor out of pride rather than to glorify God; and Anything that is not done for the glory of God is a waste of time. And to neglect the glory of God and the knowledge of God through theology is a far worse crime than neglect for the poor. It is important to keep a concern for the poor without falling into the social gospel, which completely forgets the importance of proclaiming the cross of Christ. There is a danger that Liberation theology will simply evolve into the social gospel, yet hopefully instead it will retain its concern for the poor with a concern for biblical truth about salvation and the cross of Christ.

Although liberation theology started out with a notion of salvation that is far from the biblical Gospel, there is hope that this will change over time, although it is hard to predict where it will go. Salvation is all a work of God and therefore it is not an achievement that is done by mankind or shared by mankind. There is no such thing as a way of salvation that truly saves which denies the atonement of Christ, as the apostle Paul says, “But even if we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to what we have preached to you, he is to be accursed! As we have said before, so I say again now, if any man is preaching to you a gospel contrary to what you received, he is to be accursed!” (Galatians 1:8-9). This is why this issue is so crucial! And it is also impossible for people to understand what they need to be saved from if they do not have the proper understanding of what sin is. If the biblical teaching on salvation is not taught then another system will be invented to justify all kinds of sinful activity and to elevate the pride of men. This has been demonstrated in Latin America where the system of salvation in liberation theology was made to fit Marxism. This is only one of the reasons why it is essential that the true Gospel of Jesus Christ be preached in Latin America.

[i] Rhodes, Ron. “Christian Revolution in Latin America” [cited April 8, 2009]. Online: http://home.earthlink.net/~ronrhodes/Liberation.html

[ii] Rhodes, “Christian Revolution in Latin America”

[iii] Rhodes, “Christian Revolution in Latin America”

[iv] Bonino, Jose Miguez, “Freedom Through Unity — Liberation Through Ecumenism” [cited April 8, 2009]. Online: http://homepage.accesscable.net/~dpoirier/sfo83txt.htm

[v] Bonino, “Freedom Through Unity”

[vi] Bonino, “Freedom Through Unity”

[vii] Bonino, “Freedom Through Unity”

 

[viii]Mclarty, Jim. “Salvation is a Gift” [cited April 8, 2009].Online:

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o3dodm97SY4

[ix] “Liberation Theology – Latin American Liberation Theology” [cited April 8, 2009]. Online:

 

http://science.jrank.org/pages/9960/Liberation-Theology-Latin-American-Liberation-Theology.html

[x] Rhodes, “Christian Revolution in Latin America”

[xi]Smith, Alexa. “Latin American Christians Reshape Liberation Theology” [cited April 8, 2009]. online:

 

http://www.villagelife.org/church/archives/pres_latinamerican.html

[xii] Smith, “Latin American Christians Reshape Liberation Theology”

 

[xiii] Rhodes, “Christian Revolution in Latin America”

 

[xiv] Bonino, “Freedom Through Unity”

 

[xv] Kielar, Mark. “Lane’s Blog” [cited April 7, 2009]. online: www.lanechaplin.com

Sermon on 2 Corinthians 5:11-21

Therefore, knowing the fear of the Lord, we persuade men, but we are made manifest to God; and I hope that we are made manifest also in your consciences. We are not again commending ourselves to you but are giving you an occasion to be proud of us, so that you will have an answer for those who take pride in appearance and not in heart. For if we are beside ourselves, it is for God; if we are of sound mind, it is for you. For the love of Christ controls us, having concluded this, that one died for all, therefore all died; and He died for all, so that they who live might no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died and rose again on their behalf. Therefore from now on we recognize no one according to the flesh; even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know Him in this way no longer. Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come. Now all these things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation, namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making an appeal through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. (2 Corinthians 5:11-21)

Lord God, your word speaks of things of eternal importance! Please help us to understand them; this I pray in Jesus name, Amen!

The apostle Paul says, “For the love of Christ constraineth us…” However it is imposible for us to understand with how much force the apostle Paul says this! Where it says, “the love of Christ constraineth us” the original Greek word CYNEXEI, which is translated “contrains” or “controls” is a word that is very, very, strong! In the original Greek it literally  means that the love of Christ torments us, it presses hard on us, it holds us prisoners, it embraces us, it rules us, it hems us in,… What does this mean? Really it goes so far beyond us and it is something that we will have to learn for all eternity! It means that as a child of God the love of Christ has taken complete control over you! It means that you cannot be happy with anything other than Christ, and if you try to find happiness in anything else the love of Christ will torment you and you will be very, very, miserable! It means that we are now prisoners of the love of Christ, and it presses hard on us to put in us the desire to know Christ and do his will and suffer in his name! It also means that his love embraces us, and rules us, it rules our hearts souls and minds, and it hems us in, and it will never let go of us! His love will never let go of us!

If you look at the apostle Paul after he had seen Jesus Christ, his life was no longer the same. He was an entirely different man! And he could no longer be happy with the things of the world. He could not be happy getting drunk and going to bars; he could not be happy even with his old pharisaical religion; he could not be happy if he were to sit on a couch in front of a T.V. all day playing video games! Why! Because something eternal has taken hold of him! The Love of Christ has taken hold of him! And if you looked at his life you will see that he was willing to suffer and even die for the cause of the gospel; because the love of Christ compelled him!

He says, “For the love of Christ constraineth us, having concluded this, that one died for all, therefore all died; and he died for all, so that they who live might no longer live for themselves, but for him who died and rose again on their behalf.” What does it mean that he died on our behalf? It means that he took upon himself the punishment for our sins and our iniquities, and the curse that we deserve fell upon him as he died upon the cross. And when he died, he did not die for only some of our sins, but for all of them! And he did not just pay part of the price, but all of it! So that we could be set free from the ancient curse and live in the freedom of Christ! His sacrifice is sufficient and it is finished! Therefore we no longer live for ourselves but for him who loved us and died for us! Therefore the love of Christ constrains us to follow him until the end, in the face of persecution and even death! The love of Christ holds on to us and will never let go of us! I want to read this passage from the book of Romans:

What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who is against us? He who did not spare his own Son, but delivered him over for us all, how will he not also with him freely give us all things? Who will bring a charge against god’s elect? God is he who justifies; who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is he who died, yes, rather who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us. Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? Just as it is written, “For your sake we are being put to death all day long; we were considered as sheep to be slaughtered.” But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:31-39)

Because the love of Christ has taken hold of us, there is no more turning back! His love will hold on to us for all eternity! However, when God’s enemy, the devil, sees the love of God poured out upon God’s children it incites Satan to attack us with all kinds of sufferings and tribulations and persecutions. However, because of the love of Christ, these attacks and these tribulations and sufferings are a gain for us. They are a gain for us in Christ! (Paraphrased from the Romans 8 footnotes of the “Recovery Version” Bible).

Therefore, apart from Christ, nothing in this world can give you joy! And nothing in the world can take your joy away in Christ! You might think that you will be happy if you had things that seem noble in the eyes of the world, such as a career, a high paying job, a big house, or maybe something like an Olympic gold medal; but it won’t! Once there was an Olympic gold medalist who had won the gold medal in the snowboarding half pipe competition, and after winning the gold medal she realized that she was empty and miserable! But what changed her life was later during the qualification trials for the Olympics she saw a fellow snowboarder fall and fail to qualify for the Olympics; and as she started to cry her friend came up to her and put her arms around her and said, “It’s okay, God still loves you!” And as the Olympic gold medalist heard her say this she knew that she had to know about this love, because without it she was empty and barren! Finally she went a started looking and asking where she could find this person until she finally came knocking at her door and basically said, “I don’t know you, and you don’t know me, but I must know about your God!”

You see, as a child of God you are a new creature, and you cannot be happy with the things that used to please you. You cannot be happy living in sin. You have been changed! “The old things passed away; behold new things have come.” And then as the apostle Paul goes on to say, “Now all these things are from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation…” What is the ministry of reconciliation? It is the ministry of telling sinners how they can be reconciled to God through Christ; as the apostle Paul goes on to say, “namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and he has committed to us the word of reconciliation.” As God’s children we are also his witnesses. You see, you have an opportunity to make Christ’s life giving gospel known to a lost and dying world. But you might say to me, ‘what do you mean? We are poor; we have no status or position of influence in the world; we don’t have lots of money and the world doesn’t recognize us!’ But do not judge things according to human appearance; because “God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong, and the base things of the world and the despised God has chosen, the things which are not so that he may shame the things that are, so that no man can boast before God” (1 Corinthians 1:27-29). Therefore remember, you are foolish! You are all very, very, foolish! But the grace of God working in us is very, very, strong! You see, many people think that when they witness they should only target people who have a degree, or who have status in the world, or students at universities, because they think that if they become Christians they will become influential. But it is not so with God. As the apostle Paul says, “For consider your calling, brethren, that there were not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble…” (1 Corinthians 1:26). Jesus says, “I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance” (Luke 5:32).

That is why we need Jesus. We are all sinners. But his love has taken hold of us so that we would become his! Therefore we can no longer be fascinated by the things of the world! If you know the love of Christ, then all the things that the world has to offer seem like garbage in comparison to knowing Christ! A pig can be fascinated by mud on the ground, but a man cannot because he is so much higher and he knows things that are so much greater. In the same way you cannot be fascinated by the things of the world because you are a child of God, and you know his love and his grace and you look forward to his appearing in glory! And it goes beyond words! And that is why you cannot be happy with all the stupid toys and all the foolish games of the world because you know something that is eternal! And nothing else can fascinate you, and nothing else can give you joy, because you know something that is eternal! You are not a pig fascinated by mud on the ground because you are a child of the king of glory! And he came and he died for you! Therefore, look away from this world and look up to your king! Look up to your father in heaven!

You might say, ‘Oh but I’m not sure that he really loves me. I mean, I have done things that are too shameful to even mention!’ That is why the apostle Paul points us straight to the cross of Christ! “He made him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we would become the righteousness of God in him.” Look to the cross and all your doubts will be gone! It is not possible to look upon him who was crucified for you and doubt. That is why Satan and the world will do everything they can to try to keep you from looking upon him who was crucified for you, because they know that apart from him you are powerless! But on the other hand if he truly died for you then all of Satan and the world’s efforts will fail, because God will send his Spirit so that you will look upon the crucified Jesus and believe and live! If he chose you and died for you, then his love and grace have taken hold of you so that you will look upon him who died for you and be saved, because the power of his cross and his shed blood on your behalf cannot be broken! He bought you by his blood therefore you are his forever! And by his grace and his Spirit you will continue to look upon him who died for you and you will continue to believe in him until the end! How so? Because Satan and the world cannot overcome the power of the cross! They cannot overcome the power of Christ crucified on your behalf! And that is why if Jesus died for you, you will believe! How so? Because his blood was already spilled on your behalf and its power cannot be broken; not by Satan nor the world, not even by your own persistent stubbornness and unbelief! Your stubbornness and unbelief will be broken by the power of his blood shed on your behalf! If he truly chose you, you cannot resist his will and purpose to save you! Your sin does not have more power than his cross! Your sin does not have more power than his death and resurrection! He took your sin and nailed it to the cross, and he bore the wrath of God in your place! Jesus bore the wrath of God which you deserve for your sin and rebellion against God, taking upon himself your punishment! Thus he took away the wrath of God and the curse of sin taking it upon himself. He took upon himself the curse which you deserve, and saved you from the wrath of God and the curse of sin! Therefore if Jesus died for you, there remains no further condemnation upon you! As the Scripture says, “And their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more” (Hebrews 10:17).

You see, if Jesus died for you, then it is not possible for you to be lost and then condemned; because if he died for you, then all of your sins have already been paid for! He already died in your place on the cross and took upon himself your punishment. And if he died for you, then all of Satan’s and the world’s efforts to keep you from believing in Christ will also be broken by the power of his cross, and the power of his death will bring you to saving faith in Jesus Christ! If he died for you, then his Spirit will come to you, and the message of his death will bring life in you! Christ’s death and his shed blood on your behalf cannot fail to save you!

If you were to begin to understand something of the righteousness and the holiness of God, then you will begin to see the weight of your sin! The eternal God, who created the heavens and the earth and all that exists, who does everything in righteousness and truth, and who is worthy of all honor glory and praise, whom we cannot describe even though we were to take an eternity to try to describe him, whose glory is brighter than the sun shining in its strength, whom we have disobeyed and against whom we have rebelled owes us nothing! Before him our sin cries out to the heavens! But he sent his best to save us! He did not send just a servant, or an emissary, or even one of his high ranking officials. He sent his only Son, the best that there is in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea and in the whole universe! The only Son of God came to die for us! And because the Father sent his best he is able to save the worst! The Father sent his Son who is of infinite worth and sent him to die for us! And so the love of God has taken hold of us by means of his cross!

In him we become the righteousness of God! A righteousness not our own; but a righteousness that is “in him!” By faith we receive the righteousness of God in Christ! And we come to faith in Christ because the Father draws us by his love; just as Scripture says, “I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore I have drawn you with lovingkindness” (Jeremiah 31:3).

DOES THE ECUMENICAL DIALOGUE BETWEEN EVANGELICALS AND ROMAN CATHOLICS COMPROMISE THE GOSPEL?

The modern attempts at ecumenical dialogue between Roman Catholics and Protestants has produced documents such as Evangelicals and Catholics Together and other similar documents. The reasoning behind such documents is that as Christians we should be one and we should be united for the cause of the gospel because when unbelievers see a divided Christianity it is not a good testimony to the gospel. However the question needs to be asked, how do we define Christian, and what is the gospel? In light of this, is Roman Catholicism another Christian denomination, or is it a totally different religion? In order to answer these questions we must first take a look at some vitally important issues that are often overlooked in the ecumenical dialogue.

Among some of the more controversial statements in Evangelicals and Catholics Together is where it suggests that it is wrong “to win “converts” from one another’s folds.”[1] To take this seriously would mean to cease to evangelize Roman Catholics or to assume that there is no major difference in doctrine. However to properly analyze ECT we must have a good knowledge both of evangelical and Roman Catholic teaching.

The non negotiable tenets of the Reformation

            It seems that many people who call themselves Evangelicals and Protestants today have forgotten the core non-negotiable tenets of the protestant Reformation. Even though we may be able to recite them do we really know what they mean anymore? Do we really understand why they are necessary to preserve purity of the gospel? The core non-negotiable tenets of the reformation are as follows:

-Scripture alone: Scripture alone is to judge what the church ought to believe and teach. Although the church does have authority to teach, it has authority to teach only that which conforms to Scripture.

-Justification through faith alone: A man receives the imputed righteousness of Christ by grace through faith apart from any human works at all.

-By grace alone: Salvation from beginning to end is all a work of God’s grace.

-Salvation by Christ alone: Salvation is by Christ alone, in him alone because of his finished sacrifice on the cross. Every kind of synergism or supposed human involvement in salvation is rejected because of the sufficiency of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ to save completely and eternally! Any method of synergism would ultimately deny and undermine this reality.

-For the glory of God alone: Salvation is ultimately for the glory of God, no man will boast of his works in heaven. All things from beginning to end are for Gods ultimate glory, and this includes salvation. Even though we were to take an eternity to look into the meaning of these statements we would not be able to describe their significance or their importance even if we were to take an eternity to describe them. These truths come to us straight from the Word of God and the church throughout history has believed them, and although we may not be able to fully describe their significance we must always strive to search deeper into them.

How has ECT handled these core non-negotiable tenets?

Let’s take a look at how the document Evangelicals and Catholics Together has handled these core non-negotiable tenets of the Reformation.

There is no agreement on sola Scriptura in Evangelicals and Catholics Together, but it is listed as one of the “points of difference in doctrine”[2] that divide evangelicals and Catholics. It is good that Evangelicals and Catholics acknowledge the disagreement over Scripture alone; however it does not seem to realize how great the implications of disagreeing on this really are. Roman Catholicism denies the sufficiency of Scripture and teaches that we also need the pope and the teaching magisterium of the Catholic Church. This becomes a huge problem when a council or official Roman Catholic Church document flatly contradicts Scripture.

Evangelicals and Catholics Together says that we agree that justification is “by grace through faith because of Christ,”[3] but the word ‘alone’ is absent! Roman Catholicism has never disagreed that salvation is “by grace through faith because of Christ.” The issue historically has always been whether salvation is by grace through faith because of Christ alone!

Furthermore, justification is left undefined in Evangelicals and Catholics Together making the document very ambiguous. It is not defined as the imputation of the righteousness of Christ, which is the very core of biblical and evangelical teaching on justification! This is what Roman Catholicism has historically denied! It is important to understand the difference between the Evangelical and the Roman Catholic teaching on justification.

Defining justification

Evangelicalism teaches that we are not justified by anything inherently good about us, but only by the imputed righteousness of Christ. Jesus Christ lived the perfect righteous life in our place, the life that we could not live. By faith in Jesus Christ God declares us perfectly righteous not because of our own righteousness, but because of Christ’s righteousness imputed to us. Justification does not depend on anything inherently good about us or a change within us, but it is God crediting Christ’s righteousness to us, thus now seeing us as perfectly righteous in Christ. As Scripture says, “He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him” (2 Corinthians 5:21). One early church writer describes this reality with the following words,

He himself took on Him the burden of our iniquities, He gave His own Son as a ransom for us, the holy One for transgressors, the blameless One for the wicked, the righteous One for the unrighteous, the incorruptible One for the corruptible, the immortal One for them that are mortal. For what other thing was capable of covering our sins than His righteousness? By what other one was it possible that we, the wicked and ungodly, could be justified, than by the only Son of God? O sweet exchange! O unsearchable operation! O benefits surpassing all expectation! That the wickedness of many should be hid in a single righteous One, and that the righteousness of One should justify many transgressors! Having therefore convinced us in the former time that our nature was unable to attain to life, and having now revealed the Savior who is capable to save even those things which it was impossible to save, by both these facts He desired to lead us to trust in His kindness, to esteem Him our Nourisher, Father, Teacher, Counselor, Healer, our Wisdom, Light, Honor, Glory, Power, and Life, so that we should not be anxious concerning clothing and food.[4]

The apostle Paul makes justification very clear with the following words,

What then shall we say that Abraham our forefather according to the flesh, has found? For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.” Now to the one who works, his wage is not credited as a favor, but as what is due. But to the one who does not work, but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is credited as righteousness, just as David also speaks of the blessing on the man to whom God credits righteousness apart from works: “Blessed are those whose lawless deeds have been forgiven, and whose sins have been covered. Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord will not take into account.” (Romans 4:1-8)

What then is the relationship between faith and works? John Chrysostom rightly describes it with the following words,

God’s mission was not to save people in order that they may remain barren or inert. For Scripture says that faith has saved us. Put better: Since God willed it, faith has saved us. Now in what case, tell me does faith save without itself doing anything at all? Faith’s workings themselves are a gift of God, lest anyone should boast. What then is Paul saying? Not that God has forbidden works but that he has forbidden us to be justified by works. No one, Paul says, is justified by works, precisely in order that the grace and benevolence of God may become apparent.[5]

Thus John Chrysostom makes clear that though the works of the one who has faith are the gifts of God, we are still not justified by works. Faith is a gift from God by which we are enabled to love God, but we are not justified by our love for God but by his love for us; as the apostle John says, “In this is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins” (1 John 4:10). In his love God sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins so that we may be justified through faith in him.

What does the Roman Catholic Church teach about justification?

            Roman Catholicism however does not teach the same thing about justification. It teaches that justification is a process, and that works are a part of this process. The Council of Trent specifically condemns the view that good works are not part of the process of justification with the following anathema: “If anyone saith, that the justice received is not preserved and also increased before God through good works; but that the said works are merely the fruits and signs of Justification obtained, but not a cause of the increase thereof; let him be anathema.”[6]  This makes clear that for Roman Catholicism justification is a process requiring works.

Roman Catholicism also has a response to justification by faith apart from works of the law. They make a distinction between “the ceremonial law” and “the moral law,” and thus they claim that when the apostle Paul says that we are justified “apart from works of the law” he is specifically talking about “the ceremonial law” and not “the moral law.” Pope Benedict 16 makes the same argument. In November of 2008 the pope said:

First, we must clarify what is the “law” from which we have been freed and what are those “works of the law” that do not justify. Already in the community of Corinth there was the opinion, which will return many times in history, which consisted in thinking that it was a question of the moral law, and that Christian freedom consisted therefore in being free from ethics.[7]

 The pope even went on to say that “Luther’s expression “sola fide” is true if faith is not opposed to charity, to love.” Thus the pope’s argument seems to be that we are still justified by works of charity.

What’s the problem?

Of course. Martin Luther was not opposed to charity and love, neither is he the one that came up with the expression sola fide. The problem with what pope Benedict 16 is saying is that no human is ever able to love God as he deserves to be loved and no amount of charity comes close to what God requires. This is why Jesus Christ had to live the perfect righteous life in our place. Jesus Christ is the only man who always loved God as he deserves to be loved and who always does everything out of perfect love for God. This is why it is important to understand justification as the imputed righteousness of Jesus Christ. We have always and at all times failed to “love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might”? (Deuteronomy 6:5). We are not saved by our love for God, but by his love for us. We have always failed to keep the perfect law of God, whether that be the “moral law” or the “ceremonial law” or works of charity, as the prophet Isaiah says, “all our righteous deeds are as filthy rags” (Isaiah 64:6). The ancient Hebrews would have understood this to mean filthy menstrual cloths.

Furthermore, John Calvin had a response to Roman Catholicism’s distinction between “the ceremonial law” and “the moral law.” He calls this idea “an ingeneous subterfuge” and points out that Scripture teaches that in order to be justified by the Law one would have to keep it perfectly and entirely thus ruling out a false distinction between “ceremonial law” and “moral law” made by the Roman Catholic Church. In the Institutes of the Christian Religion John Calvin writes:

They become so proficient by continual wrangling that they do not even grasp the first elements of logic. Do they think that the apostle was raving when he brought forward these passages to prove his opinion? “The man who does these things will live by them” (Galatians 3:12) and “Cursed be everyone who does not fulfill all things written in the book of the law” (Galatians 3:10). Unless they have gone mad they will not say that life was promised to keepers of ceremonies or the curse announced only to those who transgress the ceremonies. If these passages are to be understood of the moral law, there is no doubt that moral works are also excluded from the power of justifying. These arguments which Paul uses look to the same end: “Since through the law comes knowledge of sin” (Romans 3:20), therefore not righteousness. Because “the law works wrath” (Romans 4:15), hence not righteousness.[8]

John Calvin’s point is made even more clear by a simple reading of the first three chapters of the epistle to the Romans which makes clear that the Law includes the ten commandments (Romans 2:21-24) as well as what is communicated through the consciences of those who have no Law, (Romans 1, Romans 2:14-16) and in the end all of humanity stands condemned for failing to keep the Law (Romans 3:9-23). There is indeed no law that can justify. John Calvin goes on to say,

Because faith is imputed as righteousness, righteousness is therefore not the reward of works but is given unearned (Romans 4:4-5). Because we are justified by faith, our boasting is cut off (Romans 3:27). “If a law had been given that could make alive, then righteousness would indeed be by the law. But God consigned all things to sin that the promise might be given to those who believe.” (Galatians 3:21-22)[9]

There is thus no law that can justify, for as the apostle Paul says, “I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness comes through the Law, then Christ died needlessly” (Galatians 2:21). As has already been proven, in order to be justified by the law, we would have to keep the whole Law without failing once. Thus the Roman Catholic understanding of justification as a process of faith and works doesn’t work.

But for those who would still like to maintain that we can be saved or justified by works of charity or righteous deeds that we have done, what the apostle Paul writes in his letter to Titus will certainly condemn their teaching. The apostle Paul says,

For we also once were foolish ourselves, disobedient, deceived, enslaved to various lusts and pleasures, spending our life in malice and envy, hateful, hating one another. But when the kindness of God our Savior and His love for mankind appeared, He saved us not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by His grace we would be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life. (Titus 3:3-7).

This passage clearly shows that salvation is not by works at all!

Some serious questions:

            We should ask some very serious questions about what the Roman Catholic Church teaches, but we will find it very difficult to get to what Roman Catholicism actually teaches until we ask the right questions about definitions. Because while Roman Catholics may use the same terms that evangelicals use such as faith, grace and justification, they will very often pour very different meanings into them and give them very different definitions. Many of the issues that have been overlooked in the ecumenical dialogue have to do with the overlooking of definitions. If we do not take the time to seriously ask the questions about how the Roman Catholic Church defines things then the inevitable result will be that the truth of the gospel will be compromised.

             What does the Roman Catholic Church teach about the relationship between faith and works? Roman Catholicism teaches that justification is a process involving faith and works.[10] The Roman Catholic Church has consistently denied justification by grace through faith because of Christ alone. This can be clearly seen in the anathemas of the Council of Trent For example, the Council of Trent says, “If anyone saith, that by faith alone the impious is justified; in such wise as to mean that nothing else is required to co-operate in order to the obtaining of the grace of justification, and that it is not in any way necessary that he be predisposed by the movement of his own will; let him be anathema.”[11] And again, “If anyone shall say that that justifying faith is nothing else than confidence in the divine mercy pardoning sins for Christ’s sake, or that it is that confidence alone by which we are justified; let him be anathema.”[12] And again, “if anyone saith, that man is truly absolved from his sins and justified , because that he assuredly believed himself absolved and justified; or, that no one is truly justified but he who believes himself justified; and that, by this faith alone, absolution and justification are effected; let him be anathema.”[13] And again “if anyone saith, that the good works of the one justified are in such manner the gifts of God, as that they are not also the good merits of him that is justified; or that the said justified, by the good works which he performs through the grace of God and the merit of Jesus Christ, whose living member he is, does not truly merit increase of grace, eternal life, and the attainment of that eternal life,-if so be, however, that he depart in grace,-and also an increase of glory; let him be anathema.”[14] These anathemas make Roman Catholicism’s denial of justification by faith alone very clear.

What is the Roman Catholic Church’s definition of grace? It is important to understand that Roman Catholicism claims to teach salvation by grace alone, but the way it defines grace will show that this is an empty statement. The Catechism of the Catholic Church says,

Since the initiative belongs to God in the order of grace, no one can merit the initial grace of forgiveness and Justification, at the beginning of conversion. Moved by the Holy Spirit and by charity, we can then merit for ourselves and for others the graces needed for our sanctification, for the increases of grace and charity and for the attainment of eternal life (2010).[15]

The interweaving of grace and works into salvation and the assertion that grace can be merited contradicts what the apostle Paul teaches in the epistle to the Romans, where he says, “But if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works, otherwise grace is no longer grace” (Romans 11:6). According to Scripture grace is never merited! It is always the unmerited favor of God! Roman Catholicism clearly contradicts this.

What about purgatory?

One of the issues that is almost never mentioned yet which is crucial to the ecumenical discussion is purgatory. What about purgatory? It is interesting that the doctrine of purgatory is nowhere mentioned in Evangelicals and Catholics Together’s list of issues that still divide Evangelicals and Roman Catholics, yet the doctrine of purgatory is a point of major difference between Roman Catholicism and Evangelicalism!

What does the Roman Catholic Church teach about purgatory?

It is important to realize that the Roman Catholic Church does not just teach that purgatory is a place where mediocre people go, but that it is a stage where those who have not yet finished the process of justification must go through temporal punishments in order to enter heaven. According to Roman Catholicism the souls in purgatory are cleansed through suffering. The doctrine of purgatory is a plain demonstration that Roman Catholicism still teaches a synergistic salvation. The Roman Catholic makes a distinction between temporal and eternal punishments, and they say that the death of Christ paid for the eternal punishments but not the temporal punishments. The Council of Trent makes the following anathema to those who would disagree with this idea with the following words:

“If anyone saith, that, after the grace of justification has been received , to every penitent sinner the guilt is remitted, and the dept of eternal punishment is blotted out in such wise, that there remains not any dept of temporal punishment to be discharged either in this world, or in the next in Purgatory, before the entrance to the kingdom of heaven can be opened (to him); let him be anathema.”[16]

Does this fall in line with salvation by grace through faith because of Christ alone? While some Roman Catholics may claim to hold to a substitutionary view of atonement, this substitutionary view is denied and undermined by the doctrine of purgatory, and the false distinction between temporal and eternal punishment. The false distinction between temporal and eternal punishment ultimately serves to push the cross of Christ away making room for works to be part of the process of justification and salvation. Thus in the Roman Catholic system Christ’s sacrifice becomes something that only makes salvation possible rather than something that actually saves us. This inevitably leads to emphasizing works in order to make it to heaven, and in the end Roman Catholicism starts to look not very different from other religions that also teach a works salvation. In the end in the Roman Catholic system even the sacrifice of Jesus Christ is not enough to keep us out of hell because the Roman Catholic Church teaches that justification can be lost and that we can have no certainty about our salvation until we die. And after emphasizing works, penance, merits, purgatory and all these other things, the meaning of sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross inevitably gets lost completely! This is why many Roman Catholics spend their whole lives knowing that Jesus died on a cross, but without understanding why. This is the inevitable consequence of a doctrine like purgatory; the gospel gets lost! Purgatory and the gospel do not exist together! The gospel is a direct contradiction to purgatory!

Some things that purgatory undermines:

Purgatory is a denial of the sufficiency of Christ’s sacrifice on the cross. If after the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ Roman Catholicism still teaches the need for works and temporal punishment to be saved this is a clear denial of the sufficiency of Christ life death and resurrection to save us. It is a denial of Salvation by Christ alone. The book of Hebrews defends the sufficiency of the one sacrifice of Jesus Christ to save us for all time! As it says,

For by one offering he has perfected for all time those who are sanctified. And the Holy Spirit also testifies to us; for after saying, “This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, says the Lord; I will put my laws upon their heart and on their mind I will write them,” He then says, “And their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.” Now where there is forgiveness of these things, there is no longer any offering for sin. (Hebrews 10:11-18).

But the Council of Trent denies this by anathematizing those who say “that there remains not any dept of temporal punishment to be discharged either in this world, or in the next in Purgatory.”[17] Thus according to the Council of Trent, God still remembers our lawless deeds and gives us temporal punishments. It should not be hard to see how this is a denial of the sufficiency of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ to save us for all eternity. For the gospel of Jesus Christ teaches a very different message than the Council of Trent. The gospel of Jesus Christ says, He did not die for just some of our sins, but for all of them! He did not just pay part of the price, but all of it! Nothing else needs to be done, for as Jesus Christ himself declared on the cross, “It is finished!” (John 19:30).

The Bible teaches that we are cleansed by the blood of Christ and not by “purgatorial fires” As the apostle John says,

This is the message we have heard from Him and announce to you, that God is Light, and in Him is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth; but if we walk in the Light as He himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (1 John 1:5-9).

There is simply no other way to be cleansed from sin in all of Scripture. Only Christ his blood and his sacrifice has the power to cleanse our sins!

Purgatory is a denial of the sufficiency of God’s grace. Again as the apostle paul says, “But if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works, otherwise grace is no longer grace” (Romans 11:6). Thus when the Roman Catholic Church tries to add merits, and works and purgatory, grace no longer exists in that system. For this reason the gospel of God’s grace cannot exist with purgatory!

Purgatory also blurs the distinction between justification, regeneration and sanctification. Justification is the imputed righteousness of Christ by grace through faith in Christ. Justification is not because of our own righteousness, but because of Christ’s righteousness imputed to us. Regeneration on the other hand is where God actually changes the nature of a man taking out his heart of stone and giving him a heart of flesh (Ezekiel 36:26). Regeneration is the work of the Spirit of God through the preaching of “word of Christ” (Romans 10:17). However though our hearts have been changed and though we are new creature in Christ we still sin because we live in a body of sinful flesh (Romans 7:21-25). However when our bodies die we will go to be with the Lord and our bodies will go to the grave. Our souls have already been regenerated, but our bodies still await glorification. Right now while we still live in bodies of sinful flesh we must by the Spirit put to death the deeds of the body (Romans 8:13). This is what is commonly called sanctification. However when we die we will go to be with the Lord and our bodies will go to the grave (2 Corinthians 5:6-9). When Jesus Christ returns to the earth our bodies will rise again, and we will have perfect glorified bodies. It is important to understand these distinctions so that we do not start to think as the Roman Catholic Church does that in order to go to heaven we must finish the process of justification. Instead we must understand that our justification is complete in Christ, our regeneration is for all eternity, our sinful habits will die with our body, and we await a glorified body when Jesus Christ comes again in glory!

What is the difference?

What is the difference between Roman Catholic teaching and Evangelical teaching? One theologian said, “Where Catholicism regards Christ as Justification’s essential cause, source, and prerequisite, the Reformation regards Christ as its essential reality and content” There is a big difference between the two. It has already been proven that the Roman Catholic Church does not teach justification by grace through faith because of Christ alone. Without justification by grace through faith because of Christ alone, the gospel is not only undermined, but it is altogether lost!

What is at stake?

If you were to be at the foot of the cross, and hear the cries of the bleeding savior crying out “My God, My God, Why have You forsaken Me?” (Mark 15:34) then you will begin to understand what is at stake. The meaning of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross is at stake. Is the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross enough to save us, or do we need purgatory, and works, and merits, and all these other things? Is the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ enough to save us or do we need all these other things which blaspheme against Christ and the cross? Did Christ’s sacrifice actually save us, or did it only make salvation possible but now we have to finish it with our works? Is it finished or is it not? In an open letter, Martin Luther writes,

Moreover, I am not the only one, or even the first, to say that faith alone justifies. Ambrose said it before me, and Augustine and many others. And if a man is going to read St. Paul and understand him, he will have to say the same thing; he can say nothing else. Paul’s words are too strong; they admit no works, none at all. Now if it is not a work, then it must be faith alone. What a fine, constructive, and inoffensive doctrine that would be, if people were taught that they could be saved by works as well as faith! That would be as much as to say that it is not Christ’s death alone that takes away our sins, but that our works too have something to do with it. That would be a fine honoring of Christ’s death, to say that it is helped by our works, and that whatever it does our works can do too – so that we are his equal in strength and goodness! This is the very devil; he can never quit abusing the blood of Christ.[18]

Has the Roman Catholic Church changed?

            When it comes to the official teachings of the Roman Catholic Church in its ecumenical councils (such as the Council of Trent) and its official dogmas, the magisterium of the Roman Catholic Church considers itself to be infallible. Thus it is impossible for it to change without seriously undermining itself and its supposed infallibility.

A word to Catholics

However there may be some Roman Catholics who are reading this and saying, I don’t agree with what the Roman Catholic Church teaches in its councils and its Catechism especially when it comes to justification and salvation. You may not agree with what the Council of Trent says about justification. But if that is the case the Council of Trent once again anathematizes you with the following anathema: “If anyone saith, that, by the Catholic doctrine touching Justification, by this holy Synod inset forth in this present decree, the glory of God, or the merits of our Lord Jesus Christ are in any way derogated from, and not rather that the truth of our faith, and the glory in fine of God and of Jesus Christ are rendered (more) illustrious; let him be anathema.”[19] But if you find yourself condemned by these anathemas, I would say this, flee to Christ, he alone can save you! There is nothing that can save apart from Jesus Christ and his finished sacrifice on the cross. Let not the pope deceive you, he has no authority to teach anything that contradicts the Word of God! Understand this, it is one thing to be catholic, and it is quite another to be Roman Catholic. To be a catholic is to be part of the church that is spread throughout the world and which confesses Jesus Christ alone as head of the church on earth. To be Roman Catholic is to follow the pope and the teachings coming from the Vatican, and to hold to the notion that the pope is the head of the church on earth. In the past there have been many groups that have faithfully preached the true gospel who have considered themselves catholics, such as the Waldensians and the Jansenists, however these people have been denied by the papacy, and often persecuted for their faith. The point is, you don’t have to deny the sufficiency of Christ’s sacrifice and follow papal falsehoods to call yourself a catholic. Thus I urge you turn away from the teachings of the papacy, and turn to the truthful and trustworthy word of God!

A word to Evangelicals

            Evangelicals on the other hand must understand that there can be no compromise between the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church and the gospel. The two directly contradict each other. However although we can never compromise the gospel, we should seek to speak into the Roman Catholic Church the truth of the gospel. There are many Roman Catholics out there who need the gospel and who have never even heard or understood the meaning of why Jesus Christ died on the cross. They must hear this message of good news. As Christians we should not be so careless as to leave them in the dark without proclaiming the good news to them. Roman Catholics around the world do not understand that Jesus Christ died on the cross to take upon himself the punishment that we deserve for our sins. Even though they may utter phrases such as, “Jesus died for my sins,” they may not understand this as Christ bearing our punishment on the cross once for all time. On the other hand Evangelicals should understand that there are other heresies among Protestants that also teach a works salvation, and these also must be opposed as a denial of the gospel of Jesus Christ. However, no matter from how many sides the gospel may be attacked we know that God’s truth will stand firm in the midst of the storm. As it has been well said, “God permits that all powers be opposed to the preachers of truth, so that its victory cannot be attributed to anyone except to divine grace.”[20]

 

[1] “Evangelicals and Catholics Together, The Christian Mission in the Third Millenium,” n.p. [cited 2 Dec 2010]. Online: http://www.leaderu.com/ftissues/ft9405/articles/mission.html.

[2] “Evangelicals and Catholics Together.”

[3] “Evangelicals and Catholics Together.”

[4] Mathetes to Diognetus, quoted in “Justification: what the early church thought about being justified” n.p. [cited 2 Dec 2010]. Online: http://www.apuritansmind.com/Justification/EarlyChurchJustification.htm.

[5] John Chrysostom quoted in “Justification: what the early church thought about being justified.”

[6] Canon 24 in “The Council of Trent: The sixth Session,” n.p. [cited 2 Dec 2010] Online: http://history.hanover.edu/texts/trent/ct06.html.

[7] Pope Benedict 16, “On St. Paul and Justification” n.p. [cited April 2, 2009] Online: http://www.zenit.org/pag 0101?l=english.

[8] John Calvin, “Institutes of the Christian religion, Book III, Capter XI,” in the appendix of A Reformation Debate (ed. John C. Olin; Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 1966) 107-108.

[9] Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, 108.

[10] Catechism of the Catholic Church, (New York: Doubleday,1994) 1993.

[11] “Council of Trent,” Canon 9.

[12] “Council of Trent,” Canon 12.

[13] “Council of Trent,” Canon 14.

[14] “Council of Trent,” Canon 32.

[15] CCC, 2010.

[16] “Council of Trent,” Canon 30.

[17] “Council of Trent,” Canon 30.

[18] Martin Luther,”On Translating: An Open Letter,” in Luther’s Works (ed. E. Theodore Bachman. 55 Vols; Philadelphia: Muhlenberg Press, 1960), 35:197.

[19] “Council of Trent,” Canon 33.

[20] “Alleged Errors of Paschasius Quesnel” n.p. [cited 2 Dec 2010]. Online: http://turretinfan.blogspot.com/2010/11/alleged-errors-of-paschasius-quesnel.html.