CT and Their Love For The Pope

Welcome to No Compromise Radio, a ministry coming to you from Bethlehem Bible Church in West Boylston. No Compromise Radio is a program dedicated to the ongoing proclamation of Jesus Christ, based on the theme in Galatians 2, verse 5, where the Apostle Paul said, �But we did not yield in subjection to them for even an hour, so that the truth of the gospel would remain with you.

In short, if you like smooth, watered-down words to make you simply feel good, this show isn�t for you. By purpose, we are first biblical, but we can also be controversial. Stay tuned for the next 25 minutes as we�re called by the Divine Trumpet to summon the troops for the honor and glory of her King.

Here�s our host, Pastor Mike Abendroth.

The Problem of Human Self-Righteousness

Compromise Radio Ministry. Pastor Steve is sitting right next to me here in the studio, and we were just kind of talking offline and we thought this was so valuable for the Kingdom. We ought to push the record button.

It happens every once in a while, it�s like, I don�t know, it�s a supernatural kind of move, but not really.

Steve, I�ve been told that all sound continues forever. That is to say, if we had some kind of special machine, it could go far enough out into space, we could recall all the conversations of every person that�s ever uttered a sound.

That�s probably unfortunate. And you know what that reminds me of? Remember that old Chick track, that Jack Chick evangelistic track? This is your life. I used to love those tracks. And then that guy dies, he�s six foot under, the angel comes and brings him, and he�s like, �Hey, what�s going on?

You know, I lived a good life, and tell me this is just all a dream. And then you hear from the great white throne judgment next, you know, and the guy gets escorted and everything he�s ever said or done, sinfully, omission or commission, is listed.

And you know, I don�t really like Jack Trick, Jack Chick Tricks. Jack Trick Tracks. They do the decisional regeneration thing at the end, but that particular track, it wasn�t too bad. It had a lot of biblical stuff in it.

You know, when you�re saying that, it just reminds me of Scrooge or, you know, a Christmas carol kind of thing,. �Oh, you thought you were good. You know, and then it�s the.

Ghost of Christmas past,. �Thought you were good. Why is it, Steve, that people in general, all of us, we think we�re good? We don�t think, I mean, does Charles Manson really think he�s bad? But you know, short of those kind of exceptions, most people think they�re good.

I think he might know he�s bad.

But I think it�s because we just look at everybody. Everybody knows somebody that�s worse than them, right, quote-unquote. Worse. We all know somebody like that where we just go, �Boy, that guy, you know, or that girl, you know, sad times, I�m so glad I�m not them.

You know, where you stand out there, we just beat our breasts and go, �Thank you, Lord, that I�m not like these people.

David's Words in Psalm 14 and God's True Judgment

Well, Psalm 14 says, from David�s inspired words, �The fool has said in his heart, �There is no God. They are corrupt. They do abominable deeds. There is none who does good. And then, Steve, what I like in Scripture is this particular passage shows us the comparison.

The Lord looks down from heaven on the children of man to see if there�s anyone who understands who seek after God. I mean, when God takes a look, He�s the one that decides if we�re good or not, not in comparison to one another.

Pete. So, that would be the answer to the, �Who are you to judge question?

I�m not judging. It�s the Lord who looks down, Caesar. Peter I�m sure people try to say to God, �I can�t believe you�re judging.

Quit judging. Pete. Haven�t you read Matthew 7 .1?

Christianity Today, the Pope, and Evangelical Drift

Peter Steve, you and I both receive, not the same copy, but we receive Christianity Today. Christianity Today has a long line of history, right? It�s a very historical Christian magazine.

It goes back to Carl Henry and the men of early evangelical movement. And you know, when mine arrives, though, I get like, there�s like a little angelic announcement at my house. And I�m going, �Oh, CT must be in the mailbox.

Pete Well, when I was in Boston recently and walked past Park Ave Church, and I thought of Chuck, excuse me, Pete Carl Henry. Pete Carl Henry.

Chuck Henry. Who was Chuck Henry? Pete Chuck Henry did eyewitness news in LA.

Pete It�s so tiring. And then I also thought of like Harold Linzell, and I thought of Billy Graham, and I thought of Fuller Seminary. I thought a lot of those kind of neo-evangelical things.

Pete. Yes, those were the days.

Did you know that J. Gresham Machen gave some of his money? He inherited some money when he was younger. He gave some of his money to not only Westminster Seminary to start that, but also Christianity Today.

Pete. I bet he wants a refund. Chuck. Years ago, I think it was David Wells who said in Christianity Today, comparing 1960s edition to the 2010 editions, that the theological articles have gone down by something like 90 or something like that.

Pete. Duh. And then now, instead of theological articles, we get bad articles. And this new one, tell us about who was on the cover of the December 2014 Christianity Today.

Chuck Well, I'll tell you this, it's like, it reminds me of the 70s song cover of the Rolling Stones, Rolling Stone Magazine. Pete I see my picture on the cover. Chuck Yeah. Now, I imagine that. Pete Five copies from my mother.

Chuck The Pope must never really dig, you know, Christianity Today. And then he gets, he's on the cover.

And what does it say on the cover there about him?

Pete. Why. Everyone is flocking to Francis. And he's smiling and waving.

It's a little cartoon picture of him. Chuck. Okay, now, Steve, it'd be fine for Christianity Today if they want to cover the news. And of course, Roman Catholicism, historically speaking, I guess is generally under the rubric of Christianity, right?

In terms of popular opinion. And so what if they did a kind of a critique article and, and, and evangelicals love the Pope. This is the reason why Catholics love the Pope, homosexuals love the Pope. And this is why he's so influential.

But don't forget, this is what he teaches.

I'd go for that. Pete. Yeah, I mean, if it said something like, instead of why everyone is flocking to Francis, the problem with flocking to Francis or, or beware flocking to, you know,.

Chuck. Right. Seems like a nice guy is trying to live a more humble life, less ostentatious, giving money to the poor, trying to be a man of the of the people. But don't forget what Trent says about the anathemas, I could seriously I would, I would buy it all.

Pete. Yeah. And be thankful for that. You know, that'd be good. Chuck. But what happens is, this is a commending a commendation. Years ago, World Magazine, the Presbyterian kind of reform magazine did person of the year, and they did Pope John Paul, I believe, as the person of the year.

And if they would have said this is the kind of religious person of the year. But don't forget, Galatians one is still in the Bible, you can affirm the Trinity, you confirm the deity of Christ, you can affirm substitutionary atonement, whatever that word I just said is resurrection, but the way it's appropriated are given to you is through faith plus sacraments, let them be accursed.

I mean, it was James White, Steve, who's recently talked about Rome, and how Roman Catholicism would be really taken to the woodshed by Paul. Galatians one was just the Judaizers. But if he was after the Catholics, boy, it'd be twice as tough.

So anyway, did I tell you, Steve, that I wrote to World Magazine and said, you can take me off your subscription list because of that deal? Pete. Yeah, I think you did.

But you know, it's been a while. So my memory might be a little faulty.

Was that 20 years ago? Chuck And to their credit, World Magazine, put some of my article at the very end of their, you know, letters to the editor, and I made it in. Pete Letters to the editor?

Yeah, it said a disgruntled.

Chuck. It said a very, I walked into the office today, the church building, and Steve said, you don't look so well, or something to that effect. And I thought, well, that's a nice way to be greeted by Steve or anyone else.

And thanks for helping me carry my big box in too. Well, you know, I cannot speak. It's letters to the editors. Pete. You look like you had it under control. I didn't want to interrupt your flow. Chuck.

Why Christianity Today on Pope Francis Is a Grievous Puff Piece

All right. So the editor for Christianity Today is a lady named Caitlin Beatty, B-A-T-T-Y. She's a managing editor for Christianity Today. And she has a little editor's note here. And it says the glowing Pope, why even nuns, N-O-N-E-S, like my brother, are taking notice.

And so, Steve, I'm just waiting for someone to say, Roman Catholic friends, we cannot just affirm everything you believe because the Bible teaches you're on the broad road that leads to destruction. Let me tell you about the narrow road that leads to life.

We're unloving. We don't love our Roman Catholic friends when we don't tell them the truth about Scripture.

Pete Well, and Christianity Today is not going to, you know, blow itself up to tell people the truth either. I mean, this article, it really is kind of a, when we get to the article proper, it really is just kind of a puff piece.

I mean, he just, I can't speak either.

Chuck. Well, Steve, before you read part of that, listen to the editor's statement. We recognize that no number of beautiful photo ops will erase real differences in how Protestants and Catholics articulate the gospel.

We know there's differences. And what do you think she says next? Pete. I don't know. I didn't read that. Chuck. That said, we also recognize how much we can learn from the broader Western traditions.

Just three examples from this issue. Nativity scenes were first created by Francis's namesake and became popular in pre-Reformation churches to teach the story of Jesus's birth. And then she says in her last sentence, if my brother is any indication, we need more Christians like Pope Francis, whose glow will draw a world searching in anguish and hope.

Pete. That's grievous.

I mean, that is really grievous. I almost want to make fun of it, but that is, it's so bad because he's not a, you can't be a believer and be the Pope. Sorry, is that controversial? It is impossible to believe what the Roman Catholic Church teaches, which I would presume the Pope would do and be a Christian.

The official Roman Catholic doctrine contradicts what the Bible says. I mean, there are so many illustrations that one would be, the simple one is just Mary. Let's see another one. Well, maybe a more graphic one, Purgatory.

The doctrine of Purgatory. What does Purgatory tell you? If you have to spend time in Purgatory being purged of your sin, then that tells me that Jesus wasn't enough. When he said it is finished, what he meant was my job is finished and now I'm passing the torch onto you.

You need to suffer for your sins after I've paid as much as I can pay, which is just wrong. That is another gospel. There are a multitude of issues with the Roman Catholic doctrine.

Pete Steve, you can hear people say, yes, but aren't there some real Christians in the Roman Catholic Church? Aren't there some folks who they are true believers, God has regenerated them by his sovereign mercy and grace.

They trust only in Christ's finished work, yet they're still in the Catholic Church. Can't you hear those people saying that right now? Pete I can hear people saying that. Pete Yes. Uh huh. And then maybe that's true for the Pope.

Maybe the Pope is a real Christian and see, you can hear them say that. Pete Here's the problem.

If the Pope is a real Christian, the first thing he should do is renounce about half Catholic doctrine. You know, once he got rid of church tradition, church teaching, the magisterium, and said, you know what, we're going back to scripture alone.

And by the way, that means we're going to have to modify a few doctrines. Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, you know, enlisted about 20, 30 doctrines that they were going to have to eliminate.

Then maybe we could start talking about the Pope as a Christian. Until then, I'm going to say he's practicing and believing in salvation by works because that's Roman Catholicism.

Pete Steve, what's that thing that the Pope wears? What's that thing on his head? It looks kind of like a yarmulke kind of thing. How do you spell yarmulke? Pete. Well, Pete Why would he wear a yarmulke?

I know it's not called that. Pete. Yamaha? Pete. And Steve, I hate to correct you.

Pete. It's yarmulke is what it looks like when you're spelling it.

Pete. I know. It's kind of a New England deal where they just smash everything together. I have to correct Steve on our worldwide show. There is actually a purging found in scripture, purgatory. It says in Hebrews chapter 1 verse 3 of Jesus after making purging for our sins, he sat down at the right hand of the majesty on high.

So there is some purging of sins found in the Bible. Pete. But Jesus did it. That's the point. That's the point of scripture. Jesus did it. It's finished. His work is complete. Pete. Yes, but if purgatory is not true, does that mean I have to throw away my classic book called Dante's Inferno?

It kind of, we kind of just lose lots of chapters in the middle of all that.

Steve. No, you don't have to lose it. I think there are some valuable insights there.

Pete Steve, do you read old, you know, novels and stuff, Scarlet Letter, Great Expectations? Steve. Not in a long time, no.

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, and I couldn't get past that.

Roman Catholic Claims, Ecclesiastical Authority, and the Vatican

Pete. Okay, so let me ask you this, Steve, regarding Christianity today, the Pope, all that kind of stuff. What would you say if you got to meet the Pope? And it was a real, you know, kind of sit down thing.

You were brought in, and he was seated on his, you know, special chair, and you could just sit down. It was kind of, you know, just very casual. Steve I'd say, number one, don't touch me.

Pete I know. Steve No, I just say, you know, it's great to meet you. Happy to meet you. Pete You'd be nice, wouldn't you? Steve Sure. Pete And then I'd….

Pete Do you kiss his ring? Steve Then I…. Pete I can't believe he's pausing.

Steve. Well, because I'm trying to think of a polite way to say this.

No, it's the answer. Pete. Okay, but you might shake his hand and say, greetings.

Steve. Right. And I'd also say, how do I address him? Because I, you know, I can't say, Your Popeness. Pete Highness? Steve I can't say, Your Holiness. I can't say, Your Eminence. I'd say, Your Fraudness.

Pete. What if the handler said to you, now, if you don't say, Your Holiness, or My Father, or something, Holy Father, then you can't say anything else, we'll escort you away.

Steve. Well, I'd get your escorts ready. I mean, and all the way, I'll be, all the way as you're, you know, dragging me off, I'll be screaming, repent and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Pete Now, at the essence of the differences between Roman Catholicism and Protestant, by the way, did you know there was a Protestant Reformation? Kind of 1517-ish. Pete Yeah. Steve That sounds kind of schismatic.

Pete Steve, if you were asked to go to the Vatican to talk about marriage, Rick Warren did, Russell Moore did, both Southern Baptists, would you go?

Steve I would love to. And you know, I would talk about a marriage, a marriage between Christ and his church. And from then I would launch into the gospel and watch every jaw drop, you know.

I asked James White that question, and he said that he would not go. I think of the allure of the Vatican and all this kind of stuff. I just don't know what, you know, Russell Moore and the Rick Warrens of the world are thinking.

I guess I probably know what Rick Warren's thinking because that's right up his alley. But the Russell Moores, I'm more disappointed in. Pete. Well, I just tell them flat out,.

You know, this is what I'm going to say if you invite me. And then if they still want to invite me, then I'd go, but they wouldn't, but they wouldn't invite me because I'd say, here's what I'm going to say.

Your religion is a fraud, and people need to believe in Jesus Christ alone for salvation. There's one mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus. There is no Mary, there are no saints listening, you know, omniscient, listening to our prayers, ready to respond.

They have no power. They don't get to intercede with God.

Yes, but Steve, we agree on the Trinity. We agree on the virgin birth. We agree on Christ's sinless life. We agree that he died on the cross for sinners. We agree he's going to come back. We agree with so many things.

Let's just focus on what we agree.

Pete. Well, you know what, when James says, you know, you believe that God is one, you do well. You know, the demons also believe in shudder or tremble. So, that's just one instance. I would say this, that we can agree on a lot of facts with regard to Roman Catholicism.

We can believe on any number of them. That's not the point. The point is, ultimately, this one question, how do you get to heaven? How do you get to heaven? And they have a dramatically different answer from biblical Christianity.

The Authority of Scripture Alone Against Rome

Steve, when we have loved ones who are Roman Catholics, for instance, my grandmother was Roman Catholic. What's our strategy for talking to them? Because this is such a hot issue. I mean, if we stand up here on the radio station or stand up for the truth here on the radio station and just say, this is what Rome teaches about justification by faith alone.

And if we teach what the Bible says, they say we're anathema. It just is a lightning rod. It's kind of gunpowder to the whole issue. How do we calmly and nicely kind of walk through this? Because the second we say we disagree and they can't be Christians if they believe the doctrine, then we're labeled as, I don't know, haters and we're ostracized and put in the corner.

Pete Catholic bashing, you know, all those kind of things. How could you say that about the Pope? It really is as simple as this. What is the authority for what we say? If the authority for what we say is our own opinion, then we're no better off than anybody else.

If our authority is scripture alone, then your argument isn't with me. It's not with Mike. It's with the Bible. And that's where we want to stand. That's where the dividing line is, to steal somebody else's show, their name.

The dividing line between Rome and between biblical Christianity is the authority. They say they have the authority, unique authority by virtue of Matthew 16, 18, but they claim to have their teaching and their traditions as equally authoritative as scripture.

Every bit, and actually, I would argue, more authoritative because if scripture doesn't teach what they want, then they'll go to church teaching or church tradition.

Mike Abendroth here with Steve Cooley, No Compromise Radio. You can write us at info at nocompromiseradio .com. Steve, people often go to 2 Corinthians 6 to say to their friends, to say to their daughters or sons, don't marry an unbeliever.

Don't start a business with an unbeliever. And I don't think either of those are wise things to do, marry or start a business with unbelievers. But when the text says in 2 Corinthians 6, 14, do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers.

The context is a spiritual enterprise. The context is not, you know, dating or can I play basketball on the same team with somebody who, you know, is not a believer, which is a very spiritual enterprise, by the way.

Pete. I always like to play with unbelievers more because then we didn't have to, you know, do this whole Christian thing. Sorry for about the foul there, you know, hack a shack. Pete. No autopsy, no foul.

Pete. Yeah, that's right. So the text, Paul is trying to tell the church of Corinth, we through a series of questions should have no fellowship. I don't mean you can't sit and have a cup of coffee with someone or have a Christmas dinner with your family.

But in terms of spiritual enterprises, and I don't think the Vatican is much, it would be anything else besides this spiritual entity, correct? Let's go to the Vatican and talk what? Watch old Arthur Ashe videos and see how good of a tennis player he is.

We're here to talk about things of the Lord, about God, theistic things. And then Paul asked questions. What partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Pete. Well, and that's the issue.

It's partnership. And so, you know, James White indicated he wouldn't have gone to the Vatican, you know, to do what they wanted. And I agree with that. But if they said, would you come here and proclaim your gospel?

He would say, absolutely. Tell us why you differ on justification by faith versus alone. And we're going to give you 45 minutes uninterrupted and you can tell us what you think. And we want to really know what you're thinking.

I would like that. Pete. Sure. Pete. That would be good. But what they're doing is, you know, marriage is attacked. We love marriage. You love marriage. We've got spirit. Yes, we do. We've got spirit.

How about you? And then let's all come together. And so, when Rick Warren and Russell Moore speak, they're basically affirming that Rome is correct because we're all on the same team.

Pete. This is the ecumenical jihad. You know, this is, what was that guy's name? The Catholic? Pete. Peter Creeft. Pete. Yeah, Peter Creeft. Let's just forget about the places that we disagree because, you know, when you get right down to it, the most important thing is where we agree.

And, you know, this world, like I saw on one poll here recently, the world is going to hell in a handbasket. So, the best thing that people of faith can do is hold hands and try to fight against it. You know, let's unite together.

We've got to stop all the attacks on marriage. We've got to stop the attacks on the culture, you know, just the degrading of the culture. We've got to stop this and we've got to unite to do it.

The Reformation, Justification by Faith Alone, and the Cost of Truth

Steve, I ask on Twitter, in the Twitterverse there, the universe of Twitter, where are the Luthers these days who would just stand up and say, I really don't care what it cost me or my family or my name or my reputation.

The Word of God is more important than all those things. And so, when the Bible teaches justification by faith alone, when you want to add any kind of sacramental system to appropriate the benefits of Christ, life and death, that cannot be true.

And it's not true. And there's only one truth.

Both of these can't be true. If, you know, if we could put Rick Warren back in the time of the Reformation and say, Rick, you know, take a stand. Are you with Luther or Catholicism? You know, it's hard to say what he'd do.

Here's what I know. If you took Martin Luther and you put him now and you said, hey, Dr. Luther, would you like to go to the Vatican and talk about marriage?

Not a chance! Well, Luther knew that he was going to stand up and say the exact opposite thing, and they were going to try to kill him. Because it was, he wasn't saying, you know, we're all on the same team.

You don't kill your teammates. Pete. That's right.

And they wanted to kill Luther. Why would, you know, again, we get back to the Reformation. Was there a reason for the Reformation? Was there a year for the, or reason for the 30 years war that went after that?

When Roman Catholics tried to extinguish the Protestant Reformation, I mean, it's pretty amazing to think about all the blood that was shed over this issue, and now we want to just kind of pick up the carpet and sweep all the dirt right under it.

Pete Mike Abenroth with Steve Cooley. We'd encourage you to read 2 Corinthians 6 -14 -7 -1 and you can make your own mind up. What fellowship does light have with darkness? What accord has Christ with Belial?

Steve, I don't think there's very much.

Pete. There is zero. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved.