It happened my sophomore year of high school. I was very interested in dating a Roman Catholic girl I knew from the school band, until one day we began sharing our religious experiences. She was utterly baffled by the concept of my being “saved” as a past-tense, once-for-all time event. You can be sure I was equally surprised by her lack of understanding, and her questioning the fact that a person can be certain of their salvation in this life.
Years later, and with the help of some solid Christian reading material, I came to the realization that the differences between what I believe about the gospel and what Roman Catholicism believes about the gospel actually means that they are two different gospels.
Roman Catholicism has been on my brain for the past few weeks due to the fact that God has provided me the opportunity to discuss our differences with a few Roman Catholic friends. Two issues have remained at the epicenter of our discussions, and were the topics I was hoping for: Sola Scriptura and Sola Fide.
To prepare for these discussions (which are still ongoing), I re-read a few books on the subject, and was reminded again by the stark contrast between my gospel and the gospel of
“The reason for the uncertainty of the state of grace lies in this, that without a special revelation nobody can with certainty of faith know whether or not he has fulfilled all the conditions that are necessary for achieving justification” (Ott, Ludwig. Fundamentals of Catholic Dogma. Pg. 262.
Did you catch all that? Without a special revelation from God a faithful Roman Catholic cannot have certainty that he has completed all the conditions for attaining a right-standing before God. Contrast that with Romans 5:1, “Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” (NASB). How is a sinful person justified? By faith. Is it by works at all? The Bible is very clear that a sinner’s justification before God has absolutely nothing to do with works: “For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from works of the Law” (Romans 3:28, NASB). This is as close a statement expressing the exact sentiment of “Faith Alone” as you will find in the New Testament.
Peace with God; every sinful creature is in desperate need of this. If a gospel (good news) does not provide peace, then it is not really good news at all, is it? I would submit to you that the gospel of
On Wednesday nights, I share the privilege of teaching the junior high class at my church. It took about 3 years, but we finally worked our way through Paul’s letter to the Romans. If they remember nothing else from Romans, I hope my students remember the doctrine of justification by faith alone that I pounded into their heads each week. If so, the entire three years will have been worthwhile. I agree with Martin Luther who said that the church stands or falls on the doctrine of Justification.
A question I will be asking my Roman Catholic friends is, whether they can call themselves the blessed man that Paul speaks about in Romans 4:6-8? I believe that the one firmly trusting in the gospel of Peace is able to make this claim with confidence, resting on the finished work of the perfect Savior of sinners, Jesus Christ.
Thanks for reading,
Rusty
I've had similar conversations. I was blown away in talking to one Catholic who didn't think you should pray for healing. He had an almost karmic view that suffering was something God allowed in your life to test or strengthen you. So if you got sick, it was either punishment for a sin, or a test. So praying for healing was considered 1) outside God's will, and 2) inconsistent with Catholic doctrine.
ReplyDeleteIf you read Vatican II, it says that Muslims are closer to salvation than Protestants, because while Muslims can claim ignorance, Protestants have willfully removed themselves from under the authorityu of The Church.
Interesting stuff.