Scripture vs Tradition
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On today's show Pastor Mike examines a tract titled Roman Catholicism: Scripture vs. Tradition by Michael Gendron from proclaimingthegospel.org. Do you believe in Scripture Alone OR Scripture, Tradition, and Magisterium? Listen in as Pastor Mike talks about the differences between these two beliefs.
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- Welcome to No Compromise Radio, a ministry coming to you from Bethlehem Bible Church in West Boylston.
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- Hmm. Not bad. I have one of my favorite little tracks in front of me and it's written by a man named
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- Mike Gendron and Mike Gendron started a ministry in 1991 for Roman Catholics and two
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- Roman Catholics, a devout Roman Catholic for 37 years, Mike Gendron was.
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- And so now Mike wants to tell Roman Catholics about the free grace found in Christ Jesus and his sufficient death, burial, and resurrection.
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- I think I mentioned on an earlier show, you have the Pope who wrote before he was a Pope, Ratzinger, he doesn't even believe in the literal resurrection.
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- Maybe he's changed his mind, but if he did, you'd think he'd say something. So here's a little track that's called
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- Roman Catholicism, Scripture versus Tradition.
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- And of course, for the Protestant, the ones who protest against Rome, we have Scripture as our final authority, sola scriptura, by Scripture alone.
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- Scripture alone, solo scriptura. And we believe in the sufficiency of Scripture.
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- Now tradition by definition isn't bad. We all have traditions. But when you have your source of authority, the magisterium, tradition, and the
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- Bible, you've got big time problems. So I'm going to promote
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- Gendron's ministry today, proclaiming the gospel, it's www .pro
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- -gospel .org.
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- You can go there and you can get all kinds of literature, you can download all kinds of articles, and what about the
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- Rosary? What about Christ's sufficient death in Hebrews versus the mass slaying
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- Jesus every time? And he will help you in this particular regard.
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- Now let's just talk big picture for a moment. Of course, the unloving monikers are going to get thrown all around.
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- This is unloving, especially the nouveau words, Catholic bashing, those are going to get thrown around.
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- And again, if I can just talk to you kindly just for a minute, gently. It has nothing to do with unloving.
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- Scripture, 1 Corinthians chapter 13, talks about speaking the truth in love.
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- Of course we've got to do it in a loving fashion, but whether we talk kindly like we would to our grandparents, or we talk harshly like we would to our dog, truth is going to end up upsetting people.
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- So I'm not trying to say you're a dog, and I'm not going to talk to you like you're my dog if she gets in trouble.
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- I want to try to appeal to you, but I still have to tell you the truth. Catholics and Protestants, in spite of the
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- ECT, Evangelicals for Catholics Together, whatever it was called in light of several years ago, the
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- Lutherans and Catholics holding hands singing Kumbaya, in spite of these things, there are differences because truth matters.
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- This is not a postmodern view, I know, but truth does matter.
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- Precision matters. And if you say Scripture or Scripture magisterium tradition, then it isn't going to match up because one plus one doesn't equal three.
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- And so you say, well, Mike, you're unloving for saying this. No. If I'm right, let's just think about it for a second.
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- I'm an Evangelical Christian, Baptistic, Presbyterian, whatever I am, and you're a
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- Roman Catholic. If I'm right, if you believe in what the
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- Roman Catholic Church teaches, if you're a good Catholic, in other words, if you're a bad Catholic and you believe Protestant stuff, you still might go to heaven.
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- I think Catholics can be saved, but not when they believe what their church teaches them. You've got to be a bad
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- Catholic to go to heaven, in other words. And of course, there are Baptists and Presbyterians who don't believe in the right
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- Jesus, who believe with non -saving faith. So it cuts both ways.
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- But at the end of the day, if I'm right and your church is wrong, then you're not going to heaven.
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- And I'm trying to tell you about the real Jesus so that you can go because I want your best.
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- This isn't I'm right, you're wrong, hearty har har. I don't win any points.
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- Actually, I lose points because people think Catholic bashing, unloving, arrogant, prideful.
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- You're the one who's unloving because I've given you my email, info at NoCompromiseRadio .com.
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- And you need to write to me and say, Mike, if you're wrong and I, the
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- Catholic, am right, your eternal soul, you're not receiving any nourishment or forgiveness through the proper sacraments and the way that they're given, and the church, and there's no salvation outside the
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- Roman Catholic Church. And you go on and on and on how Trent has made statements of cursing and anathema for those who believe like you believe,
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- Mike. I implore you, Mike Evendroth, repent. Hear these verses.
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- These are the words from tradition. These are the words from the magisterium. Please believe the right thing.
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- And now I've received emails from Roman Catholics saying you're a Catholic basher and who do you think you are? But that doesn't do anything for our conversation.
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- We don't both believe the same thing. So I'm trying to convince you in love.
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- I love you enough to tell you the truth and you don't love me enough to tell me the truth. You just want to call me a
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- Catholic basher. That's either A, lazy, B, naive, or C, you really, really do believe what
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- I'm saying, but it's going to affect the dead relatives that you have and all kinds of other things in your mind.
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- And so you can't go, you can't do it. D, pride. You just can't admit you're wrong because 30, 40, 50, 60 years of being a good
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- Catholic, and I'm sure there's E, F, and G. So today, Mike Ebendroth, No Compromise Radio, there's a tract we have.
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- I don't know if it's still at the church or not. It's by Mike Gendron and it's to try to show you that there's a difference because most people don't think there's a difference anymore.
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- And again, this has nothing to do with bashing. This has to do with standing for the truth and standing against error.
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- That's exactly what happens. And Irenaeus was right when he wrote against heresies.
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- "...error indeed is never set forth in its naked deformity, lest being thus exposed, it should at once be detected.
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- But it is craftfully decked out in an attractive dress, so as by its outward form, to make it appear to the inexperienced, ridiculous as the expression may seem, more true than truth itself."
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- And so when you look at this little tract on Roman Catholicism by Gendron and you see St. Peter's Square, it is attractively dressed out.
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- The pomp and circumstance found in the Roman Catholic Church of the Vatican, it is impressive. And I haven't seen the new
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- Pope, Ratzinger, but I did see John Paul II. Is that what his name was? John Paul Ringo?
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- I did see him there in all his glory and it was glorious.
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- And that white robe he had or cape or whatever it's called, the vestments. I don't know what they're all called.
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- But it is an impressive city. And the language is scriptural. And so when I say Jesus, a Catholic says
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- Jesus. I say atonement, a Catholic says atonement. I say faith, a Catholic says faith. I say justification, a
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- Catholic says justification. Right? I say Mary, the
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- Catholic says Mary. But the definitions for those words are not the same for the
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- Protestant and for the Roman Catholic. Hence, we had something called in the 1500s, the
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- Reformation, trying to reform the Catholic Church. So today,
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- I want to try to encourage you to get this little tract called Roman Catholicism, Scripture versus Tradition.
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- I guess I could have Gendron on the show even, but it's hard to get him last second. I just decided to do this because I found this track here and it was a sign.
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- Now, it does have a brief history of Catholicism. And what they say, Roman Catholic Church traces its history of the church founded by Christ through Peter.
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- It's got Matthew 16 there and 1 Peter chapter 2. Fourth century, Constantine united, unified the
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- Roman Empire by emerging paganism and Christianity, declaring himself vicar of Christ, vote of candles, holy water, vestments, et cetera, all these things.
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- It talks about them. Twelfth century, Roman Catholic Church had become the world's most powerful institution.
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- Then it talks about the 16th century with the Reformation. And so it gives a little history.
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- Then it gives a glossary of Catholic terms with references from the Catholic Catechism 1994, such as apographa, apparition,
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- Eucharist, indulgence. For instance, indulgence, the means of remission of the temporal punishment for sins.
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- It is gained by good works and can be applied to the sins of the living and the dead. Catholic Catechism 1994, sections 1471 to 1479.
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- Infallible teachings, the Pope and the bishops are incapable of error when proclaiming a definitive doctrine pertaining to faith and morals.
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- Catholic Catechism 891, mortal sin, mass, penance, purgatory, a place where those who die in God's grace are punished and purified by fire for sins that have already been forgiven.
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- Catholic Catechism 1030 to 1032 and 1471.
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- Rosary, an expression of devotion to Mary developed in the 11th century by Peter the Hermit. He's not in Hermits Hermits, is he?
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- Oh, that's Peter Noonan, sorry. Using beads to count 53 repetitious prayers to Mary, six to the
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- Father and six to the Trinity. By the way, just to stop for a second. It's kind of, do you wonder why some people in the
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- Middle East think that the Trinity is the Father and the Son and Mary? Does that surprise you?
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- And I just look at this and say, just by numbers, 53 to Mary, six to the
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- Father, six to the Trinity. Sacraments and venial sin. So it's got brief history, glossary of Catholic terms, and then it adds some of the traditions by year.
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- Now, this tract isn't big enough to have all of those, but it says things like this.
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- 431 AD, proclamation that infant baptism regenerates the soul. 500,
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- Mass instituted as reenactment of the sacrifice of Jesus. Now, by the way, every one of these that I tell you that happened in history, these are traditions that are post -Bible, extra -Bible, not found in the
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- Bible, unbiblical, abiblical, not biblical. 1000, attendance at Mass made mandatory under the penalty of mortal sin.
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- 1079, celibacy of priesthood decreed by Pope Gregory VII. 1090 through 1190, granting of indulgences established to reduce time in purgatory.
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- So far, there's no Bible verse, by the way, next to any of these, because they're made up. They're made up to increase power.
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- They're made up because it's satanic. They're made up because of the wrong view of Scripture. They're made up because you've got to extract money from people.
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- Whatever the reason is, it's not holy to add things to Scripture and make them binding on the consciences of people.
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- That's the problem. That's even why when I do counseling or discipleship, I say, this is what the
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- Bible says, this is my opinion, and don't put the two on the same level. 1215, transubstantiation proclaimed by Pope Innocent III and confession of sins to priests instituted by Pope Innocent III.
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- 1438, purgatory elevated from doctrine to dogma by Council of Florence. 1545, tradition claimed equal in authority with the
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- Bible by the Council of Trent. 1854, immaculate conception of Mary proclaimed by Pope Pius IX.
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- 1870, infallibility of the Pope proclaimed by Vatican Council. How convenient. 19 -something or other,
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- Virgin Mary proclaimed co -redeemed with Christ by Pope Benedict XV. And then 1950, assumption of the
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- Virgin Mary into heaven proclaimed by Pope Pius XII. So it gives us a little timeline.
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- But most devastatingly, it shows the doctrine of Jesus and the doctrine of salvation with quotes from the
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- Bible and then quotes from the Catholic catechism with paragraph numbers.
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- And so this is the problem. This shows the gospel of sovereign grace through Christ Jesus and his finished work at Calvary, and it shows the doctrine of the
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- Roman Catholic Jesus. That's why it is not adequate to say, I believe in Jesus.
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- Oh, good. I believe you're saved by faith. Oh, good. Because if I hear a Catholic say those things, then
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- I wonder what their Jesus has done and what faith is and how faith isn't faith alone.
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- It's faith plus sacraments. So on the foldout page, it's got the
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- Catholic path to eternity, which is fluctuating between self -righteousness, merit through obedience, and unrighteousness, being void of hell.
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- And then it's got the biblical path to eternity, righteousness of God that is credited to people's account through justification.
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- So let me just give you a few quotes. And if you're a Catholic, I don't hate you.
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- I love you enough to tell you the truth. I don't know why you're listening to this radio station, because this is a
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- Protestant station. If you didn't know this, if you are a Roman Catholic teacher or teaching
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- Roman Catholic doctrine, you can't be on WVNE 760. Well, you certainly can't be on No Compromise Radio either.
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- Let's go through a few. Ready? Jesus, our advocate and only mediator.
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- The Bible, 1 Timothy 2. God is one. One also is a mediator between God and men, the man
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- Christ Jesus. Roman Catholic Church, Catholic Catechism 969, talking about Mary, quote, did not lay aside her saving office, but by her manifold intercession continues to bring us the gifts of eternal salvation.
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- She is called, quote, advocate and mediatrix. Now does that cause any problems with anyone?
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- I think it should. Ready? Ready for another one?
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- Jesus, the soon coming King. The same Jesus, Acts 111, who has been taken away from you into heaven will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.
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- All right, what does Roman Catholic Church teach? That Jesus returns. When does Jesus return? At the end?
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- No, he returns daily to the altars of the Catholic churches. Catholic Catechism 1374 -78, quote, the body and blood, soul and divinity of our
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- Lord Jesus Christ is truly, really, and substantially contained in the
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- Eucharist. In the Eucharist, not in quotes. How about salvation?
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- What does the Bible say, John 113, when you heard the glad tidings of salvation, the word of truth?
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- By the way, every quote I'm giving you from 1 Timothy chapter 2 to Acts chapter 111 to this particular
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- John 113 is from the Roman Catholic Bible. This is from a Roman Catholic Bible.
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- The New American Bible, Catholic Biblical Association, Wichita, Kansas, 7879 edition, right?
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- New American Bible, not New American Standard, New American Bible. When you heard the glad tidings of salvation, the word of truth, and believed in it, you were sealed with the
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- Holy Spirit. Ephesians 113, those who believe in his name were begotten not by man's willing it, but by God.
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- That's the John 113 one. Catholic Catechism, 1213, 1215.
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- Baptism is the sacrament of regeneration, without which no one can enter the kingdom of God.
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- We're not talking about Romans 6 baptism. We're talking about water baptism. Well, what about salvation by grace and not merit?
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- The Catholic Bible, New American Bible, Romans 11, 6 says, it is not because of their works, otherwise grace would not be grace.
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- Romans 3, 24 in the Catholic Bible, all men are now undeservedly justified by the gift of God.
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- What does Roman Catholic Church teach? Well, it says
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- Catholic Catechism of the Catholic Church, Catechism of the Catholic Church, Section 2027, we can merit for ourselves and for others all the graces needed to attain eternal life.
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- Now, see how your heart goes out to people who are enslaved to such a system. Enslaved to such a system because if they leave, they'll get shunned.
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- If they leave, then they think that would affect the eternal destiny of their loved ones.
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- If they leave, their parents might reject them. If they leave, it means that everything that they believe their whole life means nothing.
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- When you read the Catholic Catechism, we can merit for ourselves and for others all the graces needed to attain eternal life, 2027
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- Roman Catholic Catechism. It's heartbreaking. There is the real Jesus who died once on the cross and who's coming back in the future, and he is the sin bearer.
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- Sufficient. Only had to be slain once. He doesn't need to be slain over and over and over again.
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- Read the book of Hebrews and read the book of John, the Gospel of John, because we can offer
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- Catholics what the church can't offer them, their church, and that is assurance of salvation. You can know for sure that when you die, you're going to heaven.
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- Read 1 John 5. Read John 20, verse 31. You can know for sure. And if you'd like one of these for free,
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- I'll be glad to send it to you. If you're a Roman Catholic, Roman Catholicism, Scripture versus Tradition, Mike Gendron, pro -gospel .org.
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- You can check us out online at bbchurch .org or by phone at 508 -835 -3400.
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