SINS ARE FORGIVEN IN THE CHURCH
Not Anywhere Else
An Open Letter to Non-Catholic Christians
These words are addressed to you, Protestants, Evangelicals and the Non-Denominational people. We have love for you as God’s creation and as His people, and, because of your love for Jesus and for your concern for the salvation of Catholics and others. (Indeed, so many Catholics could do with a zeal like yours; some are sure to benefit from reading this exhortation, as well). However, there are some hard facts that you have missed in your walk toward the Lord. So, I am going to ask you further down: “We, Catholics, have our sins forgiven in the Catholic Church, as Jesus had ordained. Where and how do you go about having your sins forgiven in this life on Earth?”
The Catholic Church is the one and only Church instituted by Jesus Christ: Matthew 16:18 is in the SINGULAR! There is no other church for Christianity. And, there is no salvation outside the Catholic Church, for those who know that fact! This is the hard fact. Protestant, Evangelical and the Non-Denominational people are joined to us in an imperfect communion through Baptism, which is a sacrament. Baptism is entrance into the Catholic Church as through a door.
So, now, you know that the Catholic Church and Catholics believe that there is no salvation outside the Catholic Church, for those who know that fact! This is very serious and requires investigating into on your part. To do that, you will have to prove that what the Catholic Church says about herself is wrong; not by what others say of her. Do that! I beseech you. And, if you cannot prove her wrong, you will have to join her.
No! The Catholic Church never went corrupt early on, or later. She is holy, composed of sinners, and that does not exclude the clergy. It is a fact that you got hold of the Bible through the Catholic Church. Corruption would mean that you now have a perverted Gospel and thus a corrupt Bible. The criterion for corruption depends solely on whether the Deposit of Faith was ever tampered with throughout 2,000 years. This is the criterion and this is the mission of the Catholic Church: Not submitting to false brothers, false teachers and the heretics, “so that the truth of the gospel might remain intact for you” (Galatians 2:5).
Jesus Christ instituted one and only one Church (Matthew 16:18 is in the singular, we said). St. Ignatius of Antioch was the first on record to call her the catholic Church, and he was the student of John and was ordained Bishop of Antioch by Peter and served for close to 40 years. He lived concurrently with John for more than 30 years. So, he knew the Gospel quite well. Therefore, Peter and John were Catholic; so was Paul; and, Jesus was the FIRST Catholic.
Jesus made His Apostles priests when He said “Do this in Remembrance of me” (1 Corinthians 11:24, and Luke 22:19). He confirmed their priesthood on Resurrection Day: “Receive the holy Spirit. Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained” (John 20:21-23). Paul was appointing bishops by the Laying on of Hands and was instructing his bishops to go and appoint bishops, priests and deacons (Titus 1:5). The Catholic Church is the only entity that has this full APOSTOLIC SUCCESSION by the Laying on of Hands (Numbers 27:18-23; Deuteronomy 34:9; 2 Timothy 1: 6; Hebrews 6:1-2) dating back to Jesus Laying His Hands on the Apostles as last thing before His Ascension (Luke 24:52). Other churches cannot do that. Other churches cannot forgive sins in Persona Christi. The Catholic Church can, by the authority given her by Christ (John 20:21-23).
So, the Catholic Church has the priesthood, as I said, through APOSTOLIC SUCCESSION by the Laying on of Hands. This Laying on of Hands was never transferred to any Protestant, Evangelical or Non-Denominational entity anywhere, at any time.
The Catholic Church was the only Christian Church around for a thousand years! I challenge anyone to give me the name of one church other than the Catholic Church between the years 33 A.D. and 1,000 A.D.
Therefore, based on the previous two paragraphs, we logically arrive at three important conclusions that blow everything else sky high:
a. The word ‘church’ in the Bible refers to the Catholic Church!
b. The Catholic Church has all the Truth (1 Timothy 3:15), which nobody else has! And,
c.Therefore, the Catholic Church is necessary for salvation for those who know that fact, yet, refuse to enter her. Now, you know that this is what we think we know and you will have to investigate and see if we are right.
So, I ask you, good people, “Where and how do you go about having your sins forgiven in this life on Earth?” Your pastors cannot, and do not, forgive sins! So where do you go, straight to Jesus? Yes?!
You mean to say that you are willing to say to Jesus, “NO! I do not accept Your ordinance to go to the Apostles and their successors, the bishops, and the priests they have appointed for this purpose, as You have stipulated in John 20: 21-23! I want to go straight to you. Your Church is no good!”
I am sure Jesus would be mighty sad and offended hearing that from you; as sad as He was when the rich young man rejected His offer and left (Matthew 19:22-26). Among other things, you can expect Him to also say, ‘Did you forget that I said that the forces of the netherworld will not prevail against it?’
Therefore, if you do not like the situation depicted in the previous three paragraphs, then, your only recourse would be to join the Catholic Church. That would take nine months of RCIA (Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults), such that you end up accepting all that Christ and the Holy Spirit have revealed to the Apostles and are stored in the Catholic Church and nowhere else.
Before, you used to consider that this is unthinkable, but, did you stop to think of ascertaining things for yourself. By the mere fact that there are 33,000+ Protestant, Evangelical and Non-Denominational entities in the US alone, and most of them do not agree with each other, that should have been enough motivation for you to check out the only Church that they all agree to despise (through the ignorance of most, the lies of others and hearsay of the multitude)! Now, it is time to do just that. For 2,000 years past, Paul has been advising the faithful: “Examine yourselves to see whether you are living in faith. Test yourselves” (2 Corinthians 13:5). “Test everything” says Paul (1 Thessalonians 5:21). Yes. Now, is the time to do just that! Could 165 million Americans be wrong?! Yes, yes and yes. Let me help you:
You say in brief, and I answer in brief (I could write plenty more)
1. Catholics worship Mary. We definitely do not! We venerate her as the Mother of God. She is part of the Communion of Saints Par Excellence. You Say the Communion of Saints is among the living only, but, you cannot corroborate that statement. Who are you to come in 1517 A.D. and tell the Catholic Church what is meant by the Communion of Saints, when it has been a part of the Apostles’ Creed since the days of persecution and the catacombs, 1,400 years ago?! Check out the concept of the Communion of Saints from the words of the Early Church Fathers.
Also, take note that The Book of Revelation refers to ‘saints’ as being both in Heaven (Revelation 16:16, 17:6, and 18:20), and on Earth Revelation 13:7, 14:12, and 20:9). Why would they pray, if they do not know what is going on, on Earth?
The more Catholics venerate her, the more your people try to debase her, as if currying favor with Jesus, blindly oblivious of the fact that she is His Mother that they are debasing…His very own Mother! She was His teacher and became His disciple. Proof is in that she knew who He was. When she told Him that there is no wine, He answered what seemed to us as an unaccommodating response. What did she do? It is as if she turned her back to Him, when she told the servers, “Do whatever he tells you” (John 2:5). She knew what He is capable of. Mother and Son where in communication high up.
Anyway, the Blessed Virgin Mary is more than part of the Communion of Saints. She is Mediatrix of all graces and Advocate. This should infuriate millions, a hundred million or more! All of them, the hundred or more millions, would not obey the Bible and call her the Blessed Virgin Mary (Luke 1:48), as the Holy Spirit in her made to proclaim. They will have to answer to her Son, if they do not repent.
Now, watch how the multitude can be dead wrong: Holy Mary is full of grace. She is full. She cannot be fuller. No one else in the Bible is full of grace (look in Catholic Bibles; no Protestant Bibles existed before 1517 A.D.). Now, Jesus is Jewish. The mother meant a lot. He preserved that as He and His parents preserved other Jewish traditions. Not only Joseph was of the House of David, but, she also was. It was God who gave Solomon wisdom more than was given to any human (1 Kings 3:12). Now, Typology:
1 Kings 2: 19 Then Bathsheba went to King Solomon to intercede for Adonijah, and the king stood up to meet her and paid her homage. Then he sat down upon his throne, and a throne was provided for the king’s mother, who sat at his right.
From that day on, the Queen Mother ruled with her son, and not the wife (Jeremiah 13:18; and, 29:2, corroborate). The Blessed Virgin Mary is the Mother of the King of kings. So, she is the Queen of queens. This is why we call her Queen of Heaven and Earth, Mediatrix of all Graces and Advocate. She is the dispenser of her Son’s graces, since she is full of grace. Jesus is sole Mediator between man and God, the Father. The Blessed Virgin Mary, on the other hand, is Mediatrix between us and Jesus.
2. Catholics Worship Statues. We definitely do not! That is Idolatry, a grave sin. We use icons in worship to remind us of the information depicted in them, as they are full of details that speak volumes about the truths of the Church as given by Jesus, and, by the Holy Spirit at Pentecost and thereafter. We use statues in worship to help us concentrate on the meanings of the prayers. In both cases, you must consider that Moses, Aaron and Eleazar were told by God to make icons and statues (shapes that are in Heaven and on Earth) for worship purposes. The prohibition to the Jews was to make things simple for them, who were still under training as God’s People.
And, though Jesus made the Apostles priests (super bishops, actually) at the last supper by commanding them, “Do this in Remembrance of me” (1 Corinthians 11:24-25; and, Luke 22:19), we, the laity, are also priests in a general sense “But you are ‘a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people of his own…’” (1 Peter 2:9).
So, for worship purposes, in praying before statues we are not praying to the statues, rather, to the persons the statues represent. The Jews had not seen God or His Son. But, we have seen Jesus! “The sacred image, the liturgical icon, principally represents Christ. It cannot represent the invisible and incomprehensible God, but the incarnation of the Son of God has ushered in a new “economy” of images” (CCC 1159).
Now, considering the episode of the serpent on the pole (Numbers 21:8-9) that God made Moses to make as a statue of sorts, Typology from the Old Testament expresses the Catholic Christian viewpoint marvelously: “For he who turned toward it was saved, not by what he saw, but by you, the savior of all” Wisdom 16:7);
3. The Bible is the sole authority for Christians. If there is no authority except what is in the Bible, then, where in the Bible does it say that it is the sole authority for Christians? Nowhere!!
Therefore, the Bible Alone is a false man-made doctrine!
4. Faith Alone is what is Required for Salvation! You Catholics try to gain Heaven through Works. Actually, this is what Jesus had against the Jews; that they did not have faith and were trying to gain heaven through works. So, are you applying this to us, Catholics?! You mean to say that we Catholics do not have Faith in Jesus Christ?! Document your answer to this, NOW!
Sure we have Faith, but, Faith alone does not save. Demons believe that God is one, as we believe, and they tremble (James 2:19).
Coming to Paul, you must keep in mind that Paul, in Romans, Galatians and Ephesians, is addressing Jews and by every mention of works he means Works of the Law, whether he mentions it or not. So, listen to Paul saying we need both, Faith and Works: “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not from you; it is the gift of God; it is not from works, so no one may boast. For we are his handiwork, created in Christ Jesus for the good works that God has prepared in advance, that we should live in them” (Ephesians 2:8-10). If we do not perform good works on a consistent basis, as means and opportunity permit, we will go to Hell, Jesus says (Matthew 25:45-46).
Jesus has as good as said that Faith Alone is a false man-made doctrine!
5. The Holy Spirit is in me and helps with my Personal Interpretation of the Bible.
And, who told you that you are trained to distinguish between the three types of prompts that have an effect on us? Yes, we have three types of prompts that have an effect on us:
a) The prompts of the Holy Spirit, who has been given us as a first installment (Romans 5:5);
b) The prompts of the flesh; our selfish desires (Matthew 26:41); and,
c) The prompts of the Devil (James 4:7). The Christian life consists of learning to distinguish between these types of prompts, discarding the prompts of the flesh and those of the Devil, and following those of the Holy Spirit.
Yes, it requires God’s grace for acquiring knowledge, for forming the conscience, and for absorbing training. God’s grace and understanding increase in those who accept His revelation of a mystery. Whereas, God’s grace is reduced or negated whenever a Christian does not accept any mystery that God has revealed:
Matthew 13: 12 To anyone who has, more will be given 5 and he will grow rich; from anyone who has not, even what he has will be taken away.
Footnote: 5 [12] In the New Testament use of this axiom of practical “wisdom” (see ⇒Matthew 25:29; ⇒ Mark 4:25; ⇒ Luke 8:18; ⇒ 19:26), the reference transcends the original level. God gives further understanding to one who accepts the revealed mystery; from the one who does not, he will take it away (note the “theological passive,” more will be given, what he has will be taken away).
And, all of you have rejected numerous mysteries that God has revealed (fully or in part) to the Apostles at Pentecost and thereafter. So, go ahead and rate yourself with regard to God’s grace upon you.
In paragraph 851, the Catechism of the Catholic Church, describes this very well: “Those who obey the prompting of the Spirit of truth are already on the way of salvation” (CCC 851).
All this shows that we cannot rely on Personal Interpretation. It is being proven day after day that by Personal Interpretation the Holy Spirit seams to be speaking differently; 33,000X1,000 times differently. With Personal Interpretation, each believer has made himself a pope. Better one Pope holding the Keys of the Kingdom than 33 million without any keys.
If the Word of God is to remain intact, it must be taught without error (then, as the Holy Spirit taught it to the Apostles), and it has to be transported, as taught, without error. All that can be done now is to explain it in the context of 2,000 years ago, in words conformant with today’s mentality, with any new scientific discovery explained in the totality of the meaning of the Gospel.
In any case, the Bible already says NO, to Personal Interpretation:
2 Peter 1: 20 Know this first of all, that there is no prophecy of scripture that is a matter of personal interpretation, 21 for no prophecy ever came through human will; but rather human beings moved by the holy Spirit spoke under the influence of God.
And, do not try to bank on the word prophesy. This is the definition of Prophesy:
The Catholic Encyclopedia: Understood in its strict sense, prophesy means the foreknowledge of future events. It may also apply to past events of which there is no memory, and to present hidden things which cannot be known by the natural light of reason. St. Paul, speaking of prophecy in 1 Corinthians 14, does not confine its meaning to predictions of future events, but includes under it Divine inspirations concerning what is secret, whether future or not.
So, the Bible is all prophesy.
Jesus has as good as said that Personal Interpretation is a false man-made doctrine!
So, tell me, without Faith Alone, without Bible Alone, and without Personal Interpretation, where exactly are you?
God bless.