Tuesday, November 23, 2010

Some of Rome's rejections of Scriptural truth are more clear than others. One particularly clear set of examples comes from the dogmatic Constitution, "Unigenitus,"dated Sept. 8, 1713, and authorized by Clement XI. I've previously posted a full list of the 101 "errors" condemned

There many alleged errors identified. I've taken the liberty to highlight a few of them. Remember, these are what the Roman church has officially proclaimed to be errors.

Scripture

79. It is useful and necessary at all times, in all places, and for every kind of person, to study and to know the spirit, the piety, and the mysteries of Sacred Scripture.
80. The reading of Sacred Scripture is for all.
81. The sacred obscurity of the Word of God is no reason for the laity to dispense themselves from reading it.
82. The Lord's Day ought to be sanctified by Christians with readings of pious works and above all of the Holy Scriptures. It is harmful for a Christian to wish to withdraw from this reading.
83. It is an illusion to persuade oneself that knowledge of the mysteries of religion should not be communicated to women by the reading of Sacred Scriptures. Not from the simplicity of women, but from the proud knowledge of men has arisen the abuse of the Scriptures, and have heresies been born.
84. To snatch away from the hands of Christians the New Testament, or to hold it closed against them by taking away from them the means of understanding it, is to close for them the mouth of Christ.
85. To forbid Christians to read Sacred Scripture, especially the Gospels, is to forbid the use of light to the sons of light, and to cause them to suffer a kind of excommunication.
The Power of God in Salvation

30. All whom God wishes to save through Christ, are infallibly saved.
31. The desires of Christ always have their effect; He brings peace to the depth of hearts when He desires it for them.
Particular Redemption

32. Jesus Christ surrendered Himself to death to free forever from the hand of the exterminating angel, by His blood, the first born, that is, the elect.
Justification by Faith that Works through Love

51. Faith justifies when it operates, but it does not operate except through charity.
Faith as the Gift of God

69. Faith, practice of it, increase, and reward of faith, all are a gift of the pure liberality of God.
The Church

72. A mark of the Christian Church is that it is catholic, embracing all the angels of heaven, all the elect and the just on earth, and of all times.
73. What is the Church except an assembly of the sons of God abiding in His bosom, adopted in Christ, subsisting in His person, redeemed by His blood, living in His spirit, acting through His grace, and awaiting the grace of the future life?
74. The Church or the whole Christ has the Incarnate Word as head, but all the saints as members.
75. The Church is one single man composed of many members, of which Christ is the head, the life, the subsistence and the person; it is one single Christ composed of many saints, of whom He is the sanctifier.
Total Depravity

38. Without the grace of the Liberator, the sinner is not free except to do evil.
39. The will, which grace does not anticipate, has no light except for straying, no eagerness except to put itself in danger, no strength except to wound itself, and is capable of all evil and incapable of all good.
40. Without grace we can love nothing except to our own condemnation.
41. All knowledge of God, even natural knowledge, even in the pagan philosophers, cannot come except from God; and without grace knowledge produces nothing but presumption, vanity, and opposition to God Himself, instead of the affections of adoration, gratitude, and love.
42. The grace of Christ alone renders a man fit for the sacrifice of faith; without this there is nothing but impurity, nothing but unworthiness.
48. What else can we be except darkness, except aberration, and except sin, without the light of faith, without Christ, and without charity?
The Absolute Necessity of Grace

1. What else remains for the soul that has lost God and His grace except sin and the consequences of sin, a proud poverty and a slothful indigence, that is, a general impotence for labor, for prayer, and for every good work?
2. The grace of Jesus Christ, which is the efficacious principle of every kind of good, is necessary for every good work; without it, not only is nothing done, but nothing can be done.
5. When God does not soften a heart by the interior unction of His grace, exterior exhortations and graces are of no service except to harden it the more.
9. The grace of Christ is a supreme grace, without which we can never confess Christ, and with which we never deny Him.
The Irresistibility of Grace

10. Grace is the working of the omnipotent hand of God, which nothing can hinder or retard.
11. Grace is nothing else than the omnipotent Will of God, ordering and doing what He orders.
12. When God wishes to save a soul, at whatever time and at whatever place, the undoubted effect follows the Will of God.
13. When God wishes to save a soul and touches it with the interior hand of His grace, no human will resists Him.
14. Howsoever remote from salvation an obstinate sinner is, when Jesus presents Himself to be seen by him in the salutary light of His grace, the sinner is forced to surrender himself, to have recourse to Him, and to humble himself, and to adore his Savior.
15. When God accompanies His commandment and His eternal exhortation by the unction of His Spirit and by the interior force of His grace, He works that obedience in the heart that He is seeking.
16. There are no attractions which do not yield to the attractions of grace, because nothing resists the Almighty.
17. Grace is that voice of the Father which teaches men interiorly and makes them come to Jesus Christ; whoever does not come to Him, after he has heard the exterior voice of the Son, is in no wise taught by the Father.
Unjust Excommunication

91. The fear of an unjust excommunication should never hinder us from fulfilling our duty; never are we separated from the Church, even when by the wickedness of men we seem to be expelled from it, as long as we are attached to God, to Jesus Christ, and to the Church herself by charity.
92. To suffer in peace an excommunication and an unjust anathema rather than betray truth, is to imitate St. Paul; far be it from rebelling against authority or of destroying unity.
Yes, folks, those are things that Rome has officially taught are errors - yet many of these teachings are the truth, as I think will be obvious to most of those reading.

- TurretinFan

Wednesday, April 14, 2010

Two thousand years back into time - in a conquered dusty spit of land, that has been under the control of Babylonians and Assyrians, then overrun by the Greeks with their culture and language, and now troddened under the oppressive iron rule of Pax Romana - at the physical crossroads of known humanity (Europe, Africa and Asia) - there is Jesus, the little suckling infant of two poor teenage parents, in a stall's feeding trough with barnyard animals milling about.

He grows as the young lad, separated from his parents during his first visit to the City of Jerusalem, with its tall-pillared stone temple, and seated among the wise men who usually spend their time pontificating on weighty matters now listening intently to the boy who speaks so authoritatively.

He matures into the carpenter-turned-itinerant preacher with a dozen followers wandering through the countryside making pronouncements that are novel and strange to Jews and Samaritans.

He becomes the piece of meat, whipped and beaten to the edge of death, face disfigured beyond recognition, dragging His own crucifixion cross towards the garbage dump beyond the town walls where He will be hung exposed, shamed, tortured, impaled with a Roman spear, ridiculed, and suffocating.

Everyone wants Jesus to die (except a handful of followers, who misunderstood Him).

+ The Romans saw Jesus’ death as the end of a deranged nuisance in an outlying territory.

+ Jewish religious leaders considered Jesus’ death as the comeuppance of a rival and cult.

+ Satan viewed Jesus’ death as a solution to prevent fulfillment of Old Testament prophecies.

+ God proscribed Jesus’ death as the required sacrifice for yours and my God-belittling sinful treason against God, and as God’s substitutionary provision for Jesus to bear our punishment.

+ Jesus recognized His own death as the completion of a fully-lived totally-perfect human life, which God credits to each of us who will relinquish and renounce everything of this world in order to love, trust and obey Jesus Christ as our Lord (Master) and Savior.

Jesus ressurrects back to life on Easter Sunday, and the sovereign Jesus Christ is now sitting at the right hand of Almighty God, having completed His redemption for all who would call upon His name and who would place their entire trust upon Him and His promises.

This is THE LORD JESUS CHRIST, the God Almighty
He is the First and Last, the Beginning and the End.
He is the keeper of Creation and the Creator of all!
He is the Architect of the universe and
The Manager of all times.
He always was, He always is, and He always will be . . .
Unmoved, Unchanged, Undefeated, and never Undone.
He was bruised and brought healing.
He was pierced and eased pain.
He was persecuted and brought freedom.
He was dead and brought life.
He is risen and brings power.
He reigns and brings Peace.
The world can't understand Him,
The armies can't defeat Him,
The schools can't explain Him,
The leaders can't ignore Him.
Herod couldn't kill Him,
The Pharisees couldn't confuse Him, and
The people couldn't constrain Him.

Nero couldn't crush Him,
Hitler couldn't silence Him,
The New Age can't replace Him, and
Scientists cannot explain Him away.
He is light, love, longevity, and Lord.
He is goodness, Kindness, Gentleness, and God.
He is Holy, Righteous, mighty, powerful, and pure.
His ways are right,
His Word is eternal,
His will is unchanging, and
His mind is on you and me.
He is my Redeemer,
He is my Savior,
He is my guide, and
He is my peace.
He is my Joy,
He is my comfort,
He is my Lord, and
He rules my life.

I serve Him because His bond is love,
His burden is light, and
His goal for me is abundant life.
I follow Him because He is the wisdom of the wise,
The power of the powerful,
The ancient of days, the ruler of rulers,
The leader of leaders, the overseer of the overcomers, and
The sovereign Lord of all that was and is and is to come.
And if that seems impressive to you, try this for size.
He desires a personal relationship with you and me!

He will never leave me,
Never forsake me,
Never mislead me,
Never forget me,
Never overlook me, and
Never cancel my appointment in His appointment book.
When I fall, He lifts me up!
When I fail, He forgives!
When I am weak, He is strong!
When I am lost, He is the way!
When I am afraid, He is my courage!
When I stumble, He steadies me!
When I am hurt, He heals me!
When I am broken, He mends me!
When I am blind, He leads me!
When I am hungry, He feeds me!
When I face trials, He is with me!
When I face persecution, He shields me!
When I face problems, He comforts me!
When I face loss, He provides for me!
When I face Death, He carries me Home!

He is everything everybody needs; everywhere,
Every time, and every way.
He is God, He is faithful.
I am His, and He is mine!
My Father in heaven can whip the "father" of this world.

So, if you're wondering why I feel so secure, understand this . . .
Jesus said it and that settles it.
God is in control, I am on His side, and
That means all is well with my soul.
Everyday is Easter Day,
Reminding me that He is Emmanuel which means "God is with us" and
A blessing because Jesus Christ lives!

Sunday, March 28, 2010

Because of the blood Christ shed at Calvary, believers enjoy the eternal rewards of these central truths:

Propitiation. This word means an atoning sacrifice—specifically, the influence or effects of the death of Christ in appeasing divine justice and gaining divine favor. Our sin is forgiven, as the wrath of God was fully vented on His own Son at the cross. Even God’s chastisement for sinful behavior is motivated by compassion.

Redemption. Literally, this refers to a transaction in which some item or person is exchanged for payment on a debt. Spiritually, it indicates the price that Jesus paid on the cross to free every person from slavery to sin. To “redeem” us, Christ paid the debt we owed—His shed blood paid the penalty of death and ransomed us from sin and evil. We have been delivered from the kingdom of Satan and placed into the kingdom of God.

Justification. This term, which means the act of declaring someone righteous in the eyes of God, is made possible only by the crucifixion. Through Jesus, the believer’s past, present, and future sins are totally washed away (Eph. 1:7-8). What’s more, all guilt is removed and replaced with the righteousness of the Savior. Christ’s death released us from the sentence of death, and by God’s grace, we are no longer guilty before Him.

Reconciliation. This describes the act of restoring harmony between humanity and the Father. The cross made a permanent change possible between a holy God and formerly alienated, sinful humanity. Once enemies, God and man are now friends.

Sanctification. This word is defined as the life-long maturing process that begins when a person trusts in the Savior (Heb. 13:12). A believer is set apart from the rest of humanity for the purpose of becoming Christlike. Through discipleship, testing, and teaching, God “drains out” our old selves and pumps the life of Jesus into our hearts and lives.

As grateful as we are for the blood Christ shed on the cross, you and I can be even more thankful that our Savior didn’t stay there. He not only paid the price for our transgressions—He rose again! Jesus’ sacrifice made it possible for us to enjoy the exquisite delight of union with Christ and also to experience the abundant life He promised