December 7, 2015
Back to Home Page... "I Know that I am Going
So I was told by a non-Catholic recently. He would not tell
me which denomination he belonged to but did say that he was an
elder. I believe he knew very well the answer to my question but was likely one
of those who taught that the Catholic Church fell into apostasy
Straight to
Heaven when I die!"
He immediately started with his litany of criticism of the
Catholic Church and said that he liked Martin Luther.
When I realized
that this was headed towards being a one sided conversation on
his part, I replied that I would be happy to answer
any question that he may
have if he would first answer only one very simple question of
mine.
"Please name the person who founded the
Catholic Church?"
He ignored it and continued with his litany. So I turned my
simple question around with:
"Please name the Church that Jesus Christ
founded?"
Again he refused to answer my simple question and continued
with his agenda, so I ended the one sided conversation promptly.
You see we
all must obey Holy Scripture:
Titus 3:10-11, "As for a man who is factious,
after admonishing him once or twice, have nothing more to do with
him,
knowing that such a person is perverted and sinful; he is
self-condemned."
as many denominations teach. Also by telling
me the truth he would be admitting that Jesus Christ was the founder of the
Catholic Church.
If he did admit that then I could see him as being a
new Saul who persecuted the Church:
Acts 9:3-5, "Now as he
journeyed he approached Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven flashed about
him.
And he fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, "Saul,
Saul, why do you persecute me?""
And he said, "Who are you, Lord?" And
he said, "I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting."
Why did Jesus say "why
do you persecute me" instead of saying 'why do you persecute My Church'?
It
is because His Church is His Body, Ephesians 1:22-23, Colossians
1:18,24.
Now let us go back to his remark, the title of this
page...
His remark of "I know that I am going straight to heaven when I die",
is in reality the deadly 'sin of presumption', and I will explain.
He
is guilty of a false Protestant teaching, that is to grab one Bible verse that
sounds good and simple and to run with it while completely
ignoring one of
the most important basic rules of Bible exegesis,
that is of context, context, and context.
Case in point:
The entire
Bible is harmonious.There are no errors within it, only 'apparent' errors as
seen by those who seek the truth but not by those
who
have a contrary agenda. Here is the verse that they
use mostly to try to justify their false belief in their 'guaranteed'
salvation:
Romans 10:9, "For if thou confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus
and believe in thy heart that God hath raised him up from the dead, thou shalt
be saved."
Now if they would only read the very next verse there is a
stumbling block therein that is ignored:
Romans 10:10, "For, with the heart,
we believe unto justice: but, with the mouth, confession is made unto
salvation."
Now let us see what one of the
best Bible commentaries has to say about Romans 10:9, Haydock's 1859
edition:
"Ver. 9. Thou
shalt be saved. To confess the Lord Jesus, and to call upon the name of the
Lord, (ver. 13.) is not barely the professing of a belief in the person of
Christ: but moreover implies a belief of his whole doctrine, and an obedience
to his law; without which the calling of him Lord will save no man.
(St.
Matthew vii. 21.) (Challoner) --- This passage must be understood like many
others of this apostle, of a faith accompanied by a good-will ready to perform
what faith says must be practised; as it is required in this very place, that
what we believe in the heart, we should confess with our mouth.
(Estius)"
Now since we all know that the Bible is harmonous from
beginning to end, did you notice that Haydock's steered us to another verse
that has more to say regarding Romans 10:9?
Matthew 7:21, "Not every one
who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does
the will of my Father who is in heaven."
Is that verse a contradiction of
Romans 10:9? Not at all. It is merely adding to its context.
Not every verse can contain every
condition associated with it for obvious reasons. For one, the fact
that other Biblical authors had written regarding the same
subject, but from a different point of view and their differences are an
addition to the context of the whole subject.
Here are many more verses
regarding the 'sin of presumption'.
James 4:13-16, "Come now, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go into
such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and get
gain";
whereas you do not know about tomorrow. What is your life? For
you are a mist that appears for a little time and then
vanishes.
Instead you ought to say, "If the Lord wills, we shall live
and we shall do this or that."
As it is, you boast in your
arrogance. All such boasting is evil."
Isaiah 13:11, "I will punish the world for its evil, and the wicked for their
iniquity; I will put an end to the pride of the arrogant, and lay low the
haughtiness of the ruthless."
Romans 12:3, "For by the grace given to me I bid every one among you not to
think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober
judgment, each according to the measure of faith which God has assigned
him."
2Timothy 4:3-4, "For the time is coming when people will not endure
sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves
teachers to suit their own likings, and will turn away from listening to the
truth and wander into myths."
Luke 9:23, "And he said to all, "If any man would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me"."
James 4:10, "Humble yourselves before the Lord and he will exalt
you."
1Peter 5:5, "Likewise you that are younger be subject to the
elders. Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for
"God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble."
Numbers 15:30, "But the soul that doeth ought presumptuously, whether
he be born in the land, or a stranger, the same reproacheth the LORD;
and
that soul shall be cut off from among his people."
James 4:6, "But he gives more grace; therefore it says, "God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble"."
Deuteronomy 18:20, "But the prophet who presumes to speak a word in my name which I have not commanded him to speak, or who speaks in the name of other gods, that same prophet shall die."
Philippians 2:12, "Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now,
not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own
salvation with fear and trembling;"
Luke 14:10-11, "But when you are
invited, go and sit in the lowest place, so that when your host comes he may say
to you, 'Friend, go up higher'; then you will be honored in the presence of all
who sit at table with you. For every one who exalts himself will be
humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted."
1Corinthians 10:11-12, "Now these things happened to them as a warning, but
they were written down for our instruction, upon whom the end of the ages has
come. Therefore let any one who thinks that he stands take heed lest he
fall."
Rom 2:4-6, Or do you presume upon the riches of his
kindness and forbearance and patience? Do you not know that God's kindness is
meant to lead you to repentance? But by your hard and impenitent heart you
are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God's righteous
judgment will be revealed.
For he will render to every man according
to his works."
"Hebrews 10:26-27, "For if we sin deliberately
after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice
for sins,
but a fearful prospect of judgment, and a fury of fire which will
consume the adversaries."
Deuteronomy 6:16, "You shall not put the
LORD your God to the test, as you tested him at Massah."
1Corinthians
10:9, "We must not put the Lord to the test, as some of them did and were
destroyed by serpents;"
2Corinthians 10:18, "For it is not the man who commends himself that is accepted, but the man whom the Lord commends."