Martin Luther was the original Communist Dictator, and his subjects have been enslaved for over 500 years. It is time to break free from the chains of the Protestant Revolution and enter the freedom of the Lord’s Pasture, whose gates are the only Way into heaven. The diabolical propaganda that one can save one’s soul through faith alone, despite grave sin and disobedience to God’s laws has been the destruction of hundreds of millions (or maybe billions) of souls. Few Protestants know that this idea is found nowhere in scripture. From the time Christ walked on Earth, through the time of the Apostles and Early Church Fathers, the Faith has been consistent to this day. It is a requirement for Salvation to be a member of the Church that Jesus founded on the Rock of Peter: The One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church.

     This Church, known globally as the Catholic Church has been under attack by Satan for 2000 years. Starting with the persecutions of the Roman Empire, continuing through the horrific wars of the Masons against the Papal States, and most recently by the Communists and Modernists infiltrating her very structure and striking from within. One can no longer find the Church of Christ in the Vatican, as the “Shepherd has been struck, and the sheep have been scattered.” The True Church has been kept alive during this terrible crisis of Apostasy through the descendants of a few bishops who stayed true to their Faith. These men have gone on to eternity, but their spiritual children remain, bringing the life-giving sacraments to the dispersed flock. As nearly all the Apocalypse has been fulfilled, and the Whore of Babylon has been revealed as the End Times Counter Church of the New Order, we are approaching the End. It is time for all men of good will to come home to the True Church so that we may all be one. There is no middle ground. All who are not with Him, are against Him.

     Most people who call themselves Protestant Christians do not study their own faith and know very little of scripture.  They leave their faith up to others much like they leave their health to doctors.  The truth is, however, we alone are responsible for our own faith. We were warned in scripture false teachers will try to turn Christians away from sound doctrine. These false teachers are not walking around with horns on their heads. On the contrary, they are presenting themselves as holy people. 

     They all have one thing in common, however, and that is pride. Most believe that they have been chosen by God to preach a new religion, or that they have been given an improved understanding of scripture. By feeding their pride, Satan uses their own goodness against them.

     I witnessed this first hand when I attended a bible study at a friend’s home and listened to a woman, who is a fallen away Catholic (which is common theme), who claims to know the truth of scripture that all  the other denominations have missed (I agreed to attend, only with the hope of lending the voice of reason to this fledgling assembly). She handed out some literature and proceeded to contradict herself in the most outlandish and obvious manner, but with the greatest conviction. My friend and I caught it, but the women in the room just nodded their heads and smiled. They were impressed with her enthusiasm and didn’t listen to her words. 

     When pointed out her contradiction, she smiled and nodded as if I were, in fact agreeing with her, and then just continued with her convoluted and unsubstantiated claims.

       That day, I experienced the birth of another one of man’s religions. And once they have proclaimed their righteousness, these inventors are blind to truth. This is a sin against the Holy Spirit, which is the denial of revealed Truth. 

Math. 12:32 ”but whosoever speaketh against the Holy Spirit, it shall not be forgiven him,  neither in this world, neither in the world to come”  

2 Thes. 2:10 “And with all deceit of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received  not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.

And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: That they  all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness. 

 

     Now, did she murder someone? Did she steal a great amount of money? No, you may say, “She is just wanting to help people.” In fact, she is guilty of a much greater crime, and that of breaking the first and most important commandment: “I am the Lord thy God. Thou shalt have no other gods before Me. “She is, indeed, worshiping herself. And all those who create their own religion, do the same. “Oh, come now, ” you say, “Is starting a Christian church really such a crime?”

     The Bible teaches that those who reject the true faith are to be classified with heretics and lost souls.

Titus 3-10: A man that is an heretic after the first and second admonition reject.

Gal. 1-8: But though we or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that  which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed.

Gal. 1-9: As we said before, so say I now again, If any man preach any other gospel unto you  than that which ye have received let him be accursed.

Rom. 16-17: Now I beseech you brethren mark them which cause divisions and offences  contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them.

2 John 10: If there come any unto you, and bring not this doctrine, receive him not into your  house, neither bid him God speed.

2 Corinthians 4:4 – In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe  not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto  them.

Mark 7:7-9 – Howbeit in vain do they worship me, teaching [for] doctrines the commandments  of men.  

     Most Protestants say that all sin is the same, but that concept is not biblical. In fact, sin is in gradation just as virtue. Christ spoke of the greatest commandment being “To love the Lord your God”, so the greatest evil must be the opposite.  As Jesus said in John 14:6 “I am the Way and the Truth and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” Attacking Truth is attacking God Himself, and leading others to the loss of their souls is far greater a crime than killing their body.

     As modern man, we have completely lost the sense of the hierarchy of importance. The 10 commandments, themselves, are ordered by importance. The first 3 commandments concern God Himself. The 4th is for honouring parents. The 5th is against murder. Aquinas explains, “The gravity of sin is determined by the interval which it places between man and God; now sins against Faith divide man from God as far as possible, since it deprives him of the true knowledge of God, it therefore follows that sin against Faith is the Greatest of all sins.”

“The judgements of God are not the judgements of men”

     There are over 40,000 different independent non-denominational churches whose pastors are all like this woman. There are close to 5k different denominations who were all started because their founder believed he understood the path to salvation and everyone else was getting it wrong (and going to hell). If you think about this for just 1 minute, you should be terrified.      “Oh,” you say, “God loves all Christians. If you believe in His son, you shall be saved.” The founders of these Protestant religions would disagree. In fact, they only started their various sects because they didn’t think it was possible to save their souls in the church they were in.  They felt “Divine Inspiration” to start their own.

     Jesus was very clear that there are people who believe in Him, who worship Him, who even cast out devils in His name, but will be damned for all eternity. “WHAT”, you say? “That isn’t even possible! He never said that!”

Matthew 7:21-23 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. ²²Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’²³ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from  Me, you who practice lawlessness!’

Luke 13:22 Once the owner of the house gets up and closes the door, you will stand outside knocking and pleading, ‘Sir, open the door for us.’

“But he will answer, ‘I don’t know you or where you come from.’ “Then you will say, ‘We ate and drank with you, and you taught in our streets.’ “But he will reply, ‘I don’t know you or where you come from. Away from me, all you evildoers!’

“There will be weeping there, and gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, but you yourselves thrown out.

     Who are these people, who call Him “Lord”, who cast out devils in His name, who listened to His teaching, and truly believed themselves to be Christian? Could it be me, could it be you? Protestants avoid the above two verses like the plague. 

     These passages had a particular group of Protestant pastors troubled. So, in the 1970’s a group from Campus Crusade for Christ started to study the Early Church Fathers in a quest to find the New Testament Church.  These writings of the successors of the Apostles are still with us today. As children, many of these men knew the apostles, or their fathers or grandfathers knew them. What these pastors found equally shocked, confused and terrified them.

     These early Christian leaders were, indeed, Catholic.  They had seven sacraments. They offered The Sacrifice of the Mass on an altar. They prayed to Mary and the Saints. Their religion looked absolutely nothing like the non-denominational church they had been promoting. The group started to look around the world for the successors of the apostles. Everything led to Rome, but there they drew a line in the sand. Decades of anti-Catholic rhetoric had made the idea of the Papacy so distasteful that they announced, “I will not serve.” Their leader wrote, “Imagine our relief when we found the Orthodox Church! They have all of the original sacraments and culture but no Papacy!” 

     Now, no doubt they went to Rome and didn’t find the Church of the Apostles (as the Church of New Order had completely supplanted any remnant of Catholic Faith in the Vatican by that time). But that was not their objection. At least not at first. They drew a line in the sand over the idea of the Papacy, and since they refused to continue on their search for Truth (they didn’t like where it was heading), they were no longer guided by Divine Grace, but by self-love. The entire lot, over 2,000 pastors entered the Orthodox Church, where they remain today: in error. Out of the frying pan and into the fire.  The reason I am telling this story is to show that some Protestants really have recognized that they are in trouble.  What led them to think that they could be the ones who Our Lord said he never knew in the first place?  You can find a reason on just about every page of scripture, if you just pay attention.

     First let me say that scripture is hard to understand at times. Saint Peter writes, 

2Peter3:16 As also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things; in which are some things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the  other scriptures, unto their own destruction.

 

We also know from scripture that we need guidance from others. 

Act. 3:18 Then Philip ran up to the chariot and heard the man reading Isaiah the prophet. “Do you understand what you are reading?” Philip asked. “How can I,” he said, “unless someone explains it to me?” So he invited Philip to come up and sit with him.

 

     This is where this newly invented concept (over 1500 years after the death of Christ) called Sola Fide or, Faith Alone, comes in. Martin Luther came up with the idea first, and all the other Protestant Churches were founded in part on this new doctrine.  Martin Luther taught that if you “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, you shall be saved”, to the exclusion of all verses in scripture that clarify this meaning. Luther taught that our actions have nothing to do whatsoever with salvation. This is the central doctrine of Lakewood Church, Mariner’s Church, Saddleback, Jerry Farwell, Billy Graham and every Protestant Church you can name. The problem is that the idea of “faith alone”, isn’t taught anywhere in scripture. Not anywhere. 

     The Bible teaches that both faith and good works are necessary for salvation.

James 2, 22-26: Seest thou how faith wrought with his works and by works was faith made perfect? so faith without works is dead also.

 

I Cor. 13, 1-3: Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels. . and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains . . . and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing.

 

Matt. 7-21: Not everyone that saith unto me, Lord Lord shall enter into the kingdom of heaven;  but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven

 

Romans 8:12-13- “Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh. For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds  of the body, ye shall live.”

 

     Speaking to “brethren,” that is, believers, St. Paul says that if they commit grave sins of the flesh they will die eternally: be damned.

Matthew 12:36-37– “But I say unto you, that every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment. For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned.” 

John 8:51- “Verily, verily, I say unto you, if a man keep my saying, he shall never see death.”

Matthew 7:24-27- “Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock… And everyone that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it.” 

 

 

1 Corinthians 6:9-11– “Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor  extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our  God.” 

 

Matthew 19:16-21– “And, behold, one came and said unto him, Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life? And he said unto him, Why callest thou me good? There is none good but one, that is, God: but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the  commandments… and come and follow me.”

Matthew 13:41-42- “The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity; and shall cast them into a furnace  of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.”

 

     Necessity of avoiding Sin and Occasions of Sin (places and objects of temptation)

 

Matthew 5:29-30- “And if thy right eye offends thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee… And if  thy right hand offend thee, cut it off, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one  of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell.”

Scripture is clear that we are judged by our actions, and can be damned by them.

Romans 2:2-3- “… the judgment of God is according to truth against them which commit such  things. And thinkest thou this, O man, that judgest them which do such things, and doest the  same, that thou shalt escape the judgment of God?”

 

What actions is Paul talking about?

Galatians 5:19-21– “Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; adultery,  fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations,  wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of  the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things  shall not inherit the kingdom of God.”

Romans 2:5-6- “… the righteous judgment of God; Who will render to every man according to  his deeds.”

 

     The second chapter of James truly destroys the Protestant idea of justification by faith alone.  Martin Luther called the book of James “an epistle of straw” and wanted to remove it from his version of the Bible until his friends persuaded him that it would be too radical a move (see the end of this book for more on Luther’s views):

James 2:14- “What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not  works? can faith save him?”

James 2:18- “Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without  thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works.”

James 2:19- “Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and  tremble.”

James 2:20– “But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead?

James 2:21- “Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he had offered Isaac his son  upon the altar?

James 2:22-23- “Seest thou how faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith made  perfect?

 

     Despite all of these verses, Luther affirmed all the more that his new theology was correct. He even went so far as to add the word ALONE to Romans 3:28 so that it read: “So now we hold, that man is justified without the help of the  works of the law, alone through faith”.[39] The word “alone” does not appear in the  Greek texts and Luther knew it:

“I knew very well that the word solum [“alone” in Latin] is not in the Greek or Latin text (…) It is a  fact that these four letters S O L A are not there. ”  

 

“If your Papist annoys you with the word (‘alone’ – Rom. 3:28), tell him straightway, Dr.  Martin Luther will have it so: Papist and ass are one and the same thing. Whoever will not  have my translation, let him give it the go-by: the devil’s thanks to him who censures it  without my will and knowledge. Luther will have it so, and he is a doctor above all the  doctors in Popedom.” (ref. Amic. Discussion, 1, 127,’The Facts About Luther,’ O’Hare, TAN  Books, 1987, p. 201. Cf. Also J. Dollinger, La Reforme et les resultants qu’elle a produits.  (Trans. E. Perrot, Paris, Gaume, 1848-49), Vol III, pg. 138).

 

     In fact, the concept of faith alone is only really mentioned one time in scripture. It is again in James: 

James 2:24- “Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith alone.”

     Even though you may not consider yourselves to be a Lutheran, it is important to look at this man carefully, as his concept of Faith Alone is the common denominator in all 40k Protestant religions. Like all error, Luther’s innovation started with a kernel of truth. Luther’s complaints about the state of the Church, were not unfounded and there is no argument that there were terrible abuses within the hierarchy of the Catholic Church. Centuries of the faithful bequeathing large tracts of land and property to the Church had made individual bishops wealthy by the very fact that they had been appointed to specific diocese.  Many of these bishops were more motivated by money, power and wealth, than by the care of souls.

     Two decades before Luther nailed his 95 theses on the doors of the cathedral, Church Reform was already well underway. Cardinal Jimenex Cisneros in Toledo, Spain was printing the Polyglot Bible (Latin, Hebrew and Greek) on a printing press and it was widely available to the masses. The Cardinal had founded a university to further scriptural studies as well. Rome had ordered the return to the more penitential and simpler rule of life in monasteries and convents. In fact, (contrary to his modern reputation), it was Martin Luther who argued that this return to strict observance of the monastic rule was Pharisaic, and he preferred the more relaxed style of monastic living.   Luther didn’t start the drums of reform beating; he just used the well-known abuses as an excuse to deprive the Church of Her property 

     Luther knew that the German princes wanted to get control of the Church’s lands and vast wealth, and he provided them with a convenient excuse. First, in 1520, Luther published an open letter to the Nobility of Germany, where for the first time, the Church in Rome was not named as the “Head and Mistress of the Universal (Catholic Church)”, but as Romanist. He called for the German Princes to be sovereign over the German Church and used Saint Paul’s letter to the Romans as an excuse. In Roman’s Chapter 13, St. Paul admonishes the laity to be subject to legitimate secular authority. In true Communist form, Luther taught that the Church should also be placed under the State Government, which gave the Princes of Germany control over the Church and Her property. Monasteries and convents were emptied, and the lands were confiscated by the Princes.  Luther even instigated a communist-style rebellion by the peasants in 1524, only to encourage the Princes to put down the rebellion with as much violence as possible. Luther got his way and somewhere between 100,000 and 300,000 peasants were slaughtered.  The Princes of Germany, with their new religion in place, were now exempt from Roman taxes, and controlled all of the lands formerly held by the Church.

     May of 1525, Luther published a work titled Against the Murderous, Thieving Hordes of Peasants, in which he called on everyone to kill the peasants, en masse:

Besides, any man against whom it can be proved that he is a maker of sedition is outside the law of God and Empire, so that the first who can slay him is doing right and well. For if a man is an open rebel every man is his judge and executioner, just as when a fire starts, the first to put it out is the best man. For rebellion is not simple murder, but is like a great fire, which attacks and lays waste a whole land. Thus rebellion brings with it a land full of murder and bloodshed, makes widows and orphans, and turns everything upside down, like the greatest disaster. Therefore let everyone who can, smite, slay and stab, secretly or openly, remembering that nothing can be more poisonous, hurtful or devilish than a rebel. It is just as when one must kill a mad dog; if you do not strike him, he will strike you, and a whole land with you.

 

     He offered the prospect of a martyr’s crown to the aristocracy, but only damnation for the peasantry. 

Thus, it may be that one who is killed fighting on the ruler’s side may be a true martyr in the eyes of God, if he fights with such a conscience as I have just described, for he is in God’s Word and is obedient to him. On the other hand, one who perishes on the peasants’ side is an eternal brand of hell, for he bears the sword against God’s Word and is disobedient to him, and is a member of the devil. […] Strange times, these, when a prince can win heaven with bloodshed, better than other men with prayer!

 

     Thus, Luther’s popularity was more political than religious. Some of his writings are so horrific, that it is even difficult to read them at all. Here is one of the worst things he wrote, but there are more:

“Christ committed adultery first of all with the woman at the well about whom St. John tells us. Was not everybody about Him saying: ‘Whatever has He been doing with her?’  Secondly, with Mary Magdalen, and thirdly with the woman taken in adultery whom He dismissed so lightly. Thus even, Christ who was so righteous must have been guilty of fornication before He died.” (ref. Trishreden, Weimer Edition, Vol. 2, Pg. 107. – What a great blasphemy from a man who is regarded as “great reformer”!).

“What harm could it do if a man told a good lusty lie in a worthy cause and for the sake of the Christian Churches?” (ref. Lenz: Briefwechsel, Vol. 1. Pg. 373).

 

     Along with the heresy of “Faith Alone”, comes the heresy of “Once Saved Always Saved” that many (but not all) Protestants profess. Repeatedly, scripture refers to our being able to lose salvation through our apostasy (loss of faith) or actions. In the following verse, St. Paul says that the Jews were cut off from the Tree of Life and that you, Christian, may be grafted on. But Christians may also be cut off if you do not “take heed.”

Romans 11:20-22- “Well; because of unbelief they were broken off, and thou standest by  faith. Be not high minded, but fear: For if God spared not the natural branches, take heed lest  he also spare not thee. Behold therefore the goodness and severity of God: on them which fell,  severity; but toward thee, goodness, if thou continue in his goodness: otherwise thou also shalt  be cut off.”

 

     There are a select few bible verses that Protestants memorize and quote to support this “faith alone” and “once saved always saved” idea. The most well-known is St. John 3:16. The problem is that they never finish the verse.

16 For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. 18Whoever believes in Him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the  name of God’s one and only Son. 19 This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. 20 Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed. 21 But whoever lives by the Truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God.

 

   Protestants also like to quote Romans 3:28.

Romans 3:28- “For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from works of the law.” 

 

     Martin Luther taught this passage meant justification by faith alone, apart from any consideration of human actions or works. In fact, failing to understand what is meant by the phrase “works of the law” is one of the biggest misconceptions in Protestantism. Throughout the New Testament “works of the law” is referring to the Old Testament laws and prescriptions. It does not mean all works and human actions. Paul was writing to people who were stuck on the notion that the system of the Old Law, with circumcision, the laws about clean and unclean foods, ritual sacrifices, etc. is necessary for salvation.  This is proven especially in Galatians 2:14

Galatians 2:12-16- “… fearing them which were of the circumcision… If thou, being a Jew, livest after the manner of Gentiles, and not as do the Jews, why compellest thou the Gentiles to live  as do the Jews? We who are Jews by nature, and not sinners of the Gentiles, Knowing that a  man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have  believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of  the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.”

 

     Notice that the phrase “works of the law” is clearly used by Paul to refer to living “as do the Jews” –observing the Old Law, circumcision, etc. It is not referring to all works and human deeds. This is obvious throughout the book of Galatians. Here’s another example:

Galatians 5:3-6- “For I testify again to every man that is circumcised, that he is a debtor to do the whole law. Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law; ye are fallen from grace. For we through the Spirit wait for the hope of righteousness by 

faith. For in Jesus Christ neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision; but faith which worketh by love.”

 

Another verse that Protestants like to quote is

Romans 10:8-10– “…The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach. That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.”

     The passage above is quoting Deuteronomy 30:14 which speaks of the necessity of doing the works of God and of Keeping the commandments.

Deuteronomy 30:14-16- “But the word is very nigh unto thee, in thy mouth, and in thy heart,  that thou mayest do it See, I have set before thee this day life and  good, and death and evil; in that I command thee this day to love the Lord thy God, to walk in his  ways, and to keep his commandments and his statutes and his judgments, that thou mayest  live and multiply: and the Lord thy God shall bless thee in the land whither thou goest to possess it.”

 

     Reading John 5:24 in isolation, some Protestants think that all believers are assured of salvation.

-“He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall  not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.”

 

     But just a few verses later, Jesus says this:

John 5:28-29– “Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, and shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life;  and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation.”

 

Another verse that is often mis-read is

Ephesians 1:13-14 13 And you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, 14 who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of his glory.

 

     Protestant preachers say this means that upon our accepting Jesus as God, we are sealed by God as a deposit in our inheritance in heaven and God will pay our full debt when we die.  Deposit guaranteeing our inheritance is sometimes translated in English as pledge, or down payment. The Greek work word is appaBwv. or arabone.  Frank Theilman is a Protestant preacher himself, but he is one of the few who actually understands the significance of what an  arabone is in ancient times. 

The appaBwv arabone or was given in contracts for goods and services where both  parties had obligations. If the one who received the arabon did not fulfil his side of the contract, he also did not receive the full payment. In fact, in some contracts the receiver of the arabon had to repay double the price of the arabon for not fulfilling contractual  obligations.

 

     In other words, God will fulfil his obligation if believers fulfil their obligation to God.   The last verse that Protestants quote is also in Ephesians. It is recited every time I speak to a Protestant on this subject. .

Ephesians  2:8-9- “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of  God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.”

 

     What Protestants miss is the succession of events that determine our salvation. In other words, you can’t earn heaven, but you can earn hell. This above verse is specifically talking about the grace of baptism, the transformation from a son of Adam, to a son of God.  Catholics would agree that initial grace, the calling of God to share in His life through the regenerative waters of baptism, is a gift which no one merits by his own actions.  Comparing the verses below, one can clearly see this to be true.

Ephesians 2:8-9– “For by grace  are ye saved through faith; and  that not of yourselves: it is the  gift of God: Not of works, lest  any man should boast.”

Titus 3:5- “Not by works of  righteousness which we have  done, but according to his  mercy he saved us, by the  washing of regeneration, and  renewing of the Holy Ghost.”

     God grants us justification of His Own Goodness, what happens after baptism falls 100% on our cooperation with the Grace of God. We can choose to live in His Grace, or we can choose the death of sin. There are many verses that deal with spiritual backsliding, but this is perhaps the most direct. 

2Peter 2:21 It would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than to have known it and then to turn their backs on the sacred command that was passed on  to them. Of them the proverbs are true: “A dog returns to its vomit,” and, “A sow that is washed returns to her wallowing in the mud.”

     “Ok,“ you say, “This is pretty thorough. Then, why would all of this be so hidden from most people who call themselves Christian? “ It all comes down to being open to Truth and to Grace. Those who aren’t are left to deceive themselves. Even when Christ walked the earth, he separated His own people and reserved knowledge for them.

Mark 4:11 And when he was alone, those around him with the twelve asked him about the parables. And he said to them, “To you has been given the secret of the kingdom of God, but for those outside everything is in parables, so that ‘they may indeed see but not perceive, and may indeed hear but not understand”

 

Jesus and the Apostles warned us about false teaching that would come:

Acts 28 Keep watch over yourselves and all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Be shepherds of the church of God, which he bought with his own blood. I  know that after I leave, savage wolves will come in among you and will not spare the  flock.  Even from your own number men will arise and distort the truth in order to draw away disciples after them.

     When someone invents their own truth, and puts it above that of God’s they are bringing a new gospel and proclaiming themselves to be God. As earlier stated, those who start their own church are worshiping themselves: 

St. Mathew 24:5

 You say, “But isn’t the flock innocent who believe the pastors? Will the flock have to suffer for the pastor’s errors?”

Mathew 15:13 He replied, “Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted will be pulled up by the roots. Leave them; they are blind guides. If the blind lead the blind, both will fall into a pit.”

 

     In the first-grade catechism, in the first chapter there is a question, “Why did God make you?”  The answer is “God made me to know, to love, and to serve Him in this world and to be happy with Him forever in the next.” It is our responsibility to beg God for light and to vow to follow His will, and to do what he inspires. The moment we choose ourselves, His light is taken away and at that point we don’t need blind guides to lead us into the pit, we find the pit ourselves. 

  This topic of Sole Fide, although the foundation of error for Protestants, is by no means their only error. Devotion to saints and angels, purgatory, the sacraments, and many more Catholic elements of theology are all in scripture. They are just ignored completely by Protestants or removed as Martin Luther removed seven entire books from the bible that were problematic for his new religion.  

     Over 20 years ago, I came to a dear friend with this same information. She was always such a good girl in high school. She was heavily involved with her church. She married an equally devoted Protestant and lived in the inner city in Philadelphia to help the poor. I sent her a video of a lecture by a former Presbyterian minister who had converted to Catholicism on the evidence of Catholic Doctrine in Scripture. After a month I called her and asked her what she thought. She said, “I have to be honest, the information challenged us. We prayed and thought about it for a long time. But, in the end, we are just comfortable doing what we are doing.”  

     I hung up the phone in shock and disbelief. No refutation. No explanation. No anything. Just, “This information is too inconvenient.” Looking back, I see the glaring mistake that I made. I didn’t explain the consequences. It absolutely does matter what one believes, what one does, and how one worships. One thing is certain above all else. Jesus Christ founded a Church.  He founded it on a specific person, and even changed his name to prove it.

Mathew 6:17 Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to  you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven. And I tell you that you are Rock (petros in Greek means rock and where the English word Peter comes from), and on  this Rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it. I will give you the  keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and  whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.”

 

     The successors or Peter have had this same power. It is an office of High Priest in Jesus’s New Dispensation. The Church continues to this day, as He promised that Hades would not prevail (as an aside, interesting to note that Jesus didn’t say Hades will not prevail against Peter, but against the Church).  The last question that is most assuredly filling your mind is this, “How can all of these millions of people, for the last 500 years since the Protestant Revolt, have gone to hell, and be going to hell currently? ”      

     All I can say to that is that Jesus did say that few are saved. St. Paul also said that in the end times, a great falling away would happen. 500 years in the scheme of things, is the end times. This falling away started with Martin Luther and has continued into the Second Vatican Council’s invention of yet another fake church; The Church of the New Order.  In fact, heaven is difficult to attain, and most people don’t make it. Christ said that few are saved:

1 Peter 4:17-18- “For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God? And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear?”

Mathew 7:13 “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. 14 But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.

 

     The Greek word Christ uses here for narrow is the same word used for when two sides of a wine press have come together and are touching. And, the word for broad is the word for vast plain:  from horizon to horizon.  The apostles themselves wrote that we should tremble at the thought of the state of our souls.

     “But I know former Catholics who left that religion and said that the Catholics don’t learn scripture and are discouraged from reading it. These people say they found the Truth when they became Protestant!” I have heard this myself, over and over. For centuries, Popes have begged and even commanded the laity to read scripture daily. Bibles were indeed chained up in churches in the Middle Ages, but they were chained through the bindings so that the faithful (those who could read) would be able to have access to them. They needed to be chained because, as they were copied by hand and painted with exquisite scenes, one bible could be worth the equivalent of $20,000 or more in today’s money. The church was trying to keep them from being stolen.  In more recent times, spiritual sloth and complacency have been the culprit more than anything else. Bibles are kept on shelves in Catholic homes as a place to record births and deaths, but rarely taken down and read. This is not the fault of the Church as the Popes have even told us that “We can only know, love and serve God in the proportion of our knowledge of Scripture.”

     You see, there is nothing for the Catholic Church to hide inside the pages of the Bible. Every single line supports the faith that has been held for over 2000 years.

Mathew 5 :13-16 Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. 13For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.

Acts 24:25– “And as he [Paul] reasoned of righteousness, temperance, and judgment to  come, Felix trembled, and answered, Go thy way for this time; when I have a convenient  season, I will call for thee.” 

 

Revelation 3:11-12- “Behold, I come quickly: hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take  thy crown. Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out.” 

Luke 21:34-36- “And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged  with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you  unawares. For as a snare shall it come on all them that dwell on the face of the whole  earth. Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all  these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man.” 

 

Luke 14:27, 33- “And whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after me, cannot be my  disciple… So likewise, whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be  my disciple.”

1 Corinthians 9:24-27- “Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the  prize? So run, that ye may obtain. And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in  all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible. I therefore so  run, not as uncertainly; so fight I, not as one that beateth the air: But I keep under my body,  and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself  should be a castaway.” 

     I have heard some preachers try to explain this verse above away by saying that Paul was talking about the “crown” or the size of the heavenly reward, not about the actual entering into heaven. That doesn’t hold water when one considers that the word castaway, is used for reprobate and those outside of salvation. These next verses are to us directly currently. They are a warning. 

1 Timothy 4:1 – Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils;

 

2 Timothy 4:3 For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead,  to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what  their itching ears want to hear.

 

     Recently, a Protestant friend asked me why her Baptist minister would have sanctioned her second marriage if it were against Christ’s commandments. She had a look of confusion on her face as the prohibition of re-marriage after divorce in scripture is quite clear. She wanted to know what loophole the pastor was using. This question is what prompted the book you are now reading. 

The answer is that there is no loophole. One is either married, or one is not married. The pastor didn’t ask any questions about the state of her first vows. He, like every other perfidious teacher, is worshiping himself and creating his own rules, and discarding that which is inconvenient.

     Does this look like the “few”. Or does it look like those with “itching ears”…