Apologetics for the Masses #216 - The Slick Gospel (cont'd)

How to Be Added To or Removed From This Newsletter

If this newsletter was forwarded to you by a friend, and you would like to be added to our distribution list, all you have to do is go to http://www.biblechristiansociety.com/newsletter and put your email address in the box at the top of the page. If you would like to be removed from this newsletter list, click on this link: http://www.biblechristiansociety.com/newsletter/unsubscribe and then enter the email address that this newsletter comes to and click "Unsubscribe." Either way, it will take you about 10 seconds.

General Comments

One more push for the home folks: I want to invite all of you to EWTN's 2013 Family Celebration on Aug. 17-18 at the Birmingham-Jefferson Convention Complex here in Birmingham, Alabama! There will be a number of hosts of EWTN programs (Marcus Grodi, Fr. Mitch Pacwa, etc.) who will be giving talks; there will be a live taping of Johnette Benkovic and "Women of Grace;" a roundtable on religious liberty; and a lot of other happenings as well. And, yours truly will be there, although not in any official capacity. If you are an EWTN fan, this weekend is made to order for you. I hope you can join us here in Birmingham that weekend. For more information on all aspects of the weekend go to: http://www.ewtn.com/familycelebration/. And, if you are planning on being here, let me know and we can arrange to meet one another during the weekend. Come on down and bide a wee... (that's Scottish for "abide a wee bit," if any of you were wondering).

Introduction

This week I want to continue dismantling Matt Slick's article, "The Gospel for Roman Catholics." I only got to one paragraph of his response last issue, maybe I can get at least two paragraphs in this time. I want to get this over and done with because I have some other things that I want to get to, and besides, believe it or not, folks like Mr. Slick actually start to get boring after a while. As I have been doing, I will respond as I would respond to him if he and I were engaged in a dialogue on these matters. He has not yet responded to any of these newsletters, and I don't know if he will, but I'm doing this so you can get a general idea of how you can respond to folks who send you similar arguments. Okay, I'll pick up with where I left off last week and we'll just see how far we get...

Challenge/Response/Strategy

Matt Slick

The Gospel for Roman Catholics

The Gospel for Roman Catholics is the same as for anyone else and it is obtained by grace through faith in believing and trusting in Jesus alone, who is God in flesh, for the forgiveness of sins. Salvation is not found in a true church. Salvation is not found in being good. Salvation is not found in good works. Salvation is not found in a sincere heart. Salvation is not found in making up for past sins by efforts of restoration, or penance, or indulgences. You can never do enough to please God.

Because God is so infinitely holy and righteous, and because we are sinners, we are incapable of pleasing God by anything that we do. In fact, our righteous deeds are considered filthy rags before God (Isa. 64:6). You can do nothing to earn forgiveness or keep forgiveness. Salvation before God is not administered to us through an earthly priest in the Catholic church by the sprinkling of water, or giving of penance, or recitation of formula prayers. Salvation for the Christian is not kept through the effort of the person who hopes and tries and worries about being good enough to stay saved.

Such error can only lead to despair and hopelessness and a desperate and unwarranted dependence on the Roman Catholic Church as the only means by which salvation can be distributed and maintained. In this error, people far too often seek to work their way to heaven by being good, by doing what the Catholic church teaches them to do, by prayers to Mary, by indulgences, by the Rosary, and by a host of other man-made works. Remember, in the RCC, salvation is through the Church and its sacraments, not through Jesus alone, by faith alone. This is exactly how the cults of Mormonism and the Jehovah's Witnesses work who both teach that true salvation is found only in their church membership and in following the revelation and authority of their church teachers and traditions.

Are you tired of the works requirement?

In great contrast to the position of the Roman Catholic Church, if you want to be forgiven of your sins, once and for all, then you need to come to Christ (Matt. 11:28). You need to receive Jesus as your Lord and Savior (John 1:12; Rom. 10:13). You need to ask Jesus to forgive you of your sins (John 14:14), and trust in Him alone and in nothing that you can do. Remember, your good deeds have no merit before God (Isa. 64:6). Furthermore, if you have faith, it is because that faith is the work of God (John 6:28-29). If you believe, it is because God has granted that you believe (Phil. 1:29). It is not because you were baptized, or have been good, or have been sincere. It is all of God. The Lord must receive all the glory for salvation because it completely and totally rests in Him. Salvation rests in Christ alone and it is received by faith apart from works.

Please read the following scriptures carefully.

        "for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God," (Rom. 3:23).
        "For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord," (Rom. 6:23).
        "and He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed," (1 Pet. 2:24).
        "He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him," (2 Cor. 5:21).
        "If you ask Me anything in My name, I will do it," (John 14:14).
        "Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. 29"Take My yoke upon you, and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart; and you shall find rest for your souls," (Matt. 11:28-29).
        "But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name," (John 1:12).
        "I do not nullify the grace of God; for if righteousness comes through the Law, then Christ died needlessly," (Gal. 2:21).
        "Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law," (Rom. 3:28).
        "For what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness," (Rom. 4:3).
        "But to the one who does not work, but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is reckoned as righteousness," (Rom. 4:5).
        "These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, in order that you may know that you have eternal life," (1 John 5:13).

A suggested prayer

This suggested prayer is not a formula, but a representation of biblical principles by which you might better understand the true gospel and receive Christ as your Lord and Savior. It is not a formula derived from Sacred Tradition or Stamped with the seal of the Roman Catholic Church's approval. Its principles are derived from scripture: we are sinners; God is Holy; we cannot earn salvation; salvation is a free gift; prayer to Christ; Jesus is the only way; receiving Christ; faith; etc.

"Lord Jesus, I admit that I am a sinner and that I have offended you by breaking your Holy Law. I confess my sins to you Lord and ask forgiveness from you and do not ask anyone else to be forgiven of my sins against you. I acknowledge who you are, God in flesh, creator, humble Lord, who bore my sins in Your body on the cross and I come to you alone and trust you alone, by faith, that you will forgive me completely of my sins so that I will have eternal life. I ask you Lord to come into my heart, to be my Lord, to forgive me of my sins. Lord I trust in you alone, in the work of the cross alone and not in any church, not in any saint, not in Mary, not in any priest, but in you alone. Lord, Jesus, I receive you, and come to you, and ask you to forgive me and justify me by faith as I trust in you alone. Thank you.

If you are a Roman Catholic and have trusted in Christ alone for the forgiveness of your sins, then welcome to the body of Christ. Welcome to salvation and the free gift of forgiveness in Jesus.

Next, I strongly recommend that you read the Bible regularly, talk to Jesus daily in prayer, and seek to find a church that teaches and focuses on Jesus as Lord, Jesus as Savior, and sticks to the Bible alone.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

(Starting with the 2nd paragraph above)

Matt Slick

My Response

Mr. Slick, you are just about as wrong as you can be when you state, "We are incapable of pleasing God by anything that we do." In my last newsletter, I pointed out that doing the will of God is pleasing to God, since Scripture says those who do the will of God will enter the Kingdom of Heaven (Matt 7:21). Do you disagree that one can please God by doing His will? But, let's focus right now on that word you used, "pleasing." The Word of Slick says there is absolutely nothing we can do that is "pleasing" to God. What does the Word of God say? "And He will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, till they present right offering to the Lord. Then the offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasing to the Lord as in the days of old and as in former years," (Malachi 3:3-4). In the Old Testament, we find that there is a "right offering" that is pleasing to the Lord, and that in the past the offering of Judah and Jerusalem had indeed been pleasing to the Lord. And this is even before the coming of Christ!

Did something change, Mr. Slick, after Christ came, so that there is no longer anything we can do to be pleasing to the Lord as the ancient Israelites were at one time? Well, let's look into the New Testament and see: "...and try to learn what is pleasing to the Lord," (Eph 5:10). Why would Paul tell them to try to learn what is pleasing to the Lord, if we can do nothing that is pleasing to the Lord? Was Paul trying to mess with their minds? "I have received full payment and more, having received from Epaphroditus the gifts you sent, a fragrant offering, a sacrifice acceptable and pleasing to God," (Phil 4:18). How is it possible that the Philippians sent an offering to Paul that is "pleasing" to God, when the Word of Slick says we are "incapable of pleasing God by anything we do?" "...that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, to lead a life worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to Him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God," (Col 1:9-10). "Fully pleasing to Him?" I'm confused, Matt, you say we can't do anything that is pleasing to God. "Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God," (Heb 13:16). "Now may the God of peace...equip you with everything good that you may do His will, working in you that which is pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ," (Heb 13:20-21).

We are, indeed, Mr. Slick, capable of pleasing God by the things that we do. This is abundantly evident in the passages I just quoted from. So, do you wish to retract your statement? You can't, can you, because to retract your statement would mean you would have to re-think your entire theological system, wouldn't it? You need, at the very least, though, to rewrite what you have written on your website to Catholics because it is, quite obviously, contrary to the Word of God. Will you at least have the decency to do that? After all, you are misleading those - Catholic or not - who read what you have written and believe it. You are aware that Scripture says it would be better to be thrown into the sea with a millstone around your neck rather than to mislead one of Christ's little ones, aren't you?

Now that I've established that your interpretation of Scripture is greatly suspect, let's look at some more of what you said here, in particular, this thing about our righteous deeds being as "filthy rags." I get really tired of folks quoting that verse and saying, "See, our righteous deeds count for nothing." First of all, if I, as a Catholic, were to quote from the Old Testament to "prove" some Catholic teaching, you would respond, "Well, that's the Old Testament, it's been done away with, or superceded, by Jesus' death on the cross," or some such thing. Yet, here you are quoting the Old Testament. So be it. You are, however, once again, wrong in your interpretation. Let's look at, in its entirety, that passage you are referencing: Isaiah 64:5-7, "Thou meetest him that joyfully works righteousness, those that remember Thee in Thy ways. Behold, Thou wast angry, and we sinned; in our sins we have been a long time, and shall we be saved? We have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment (KJV: "filthy rags"). We all fade like a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away. There is no one that calls upon Thy name, that bestirs himself to take hold of Thee; for Thou has hid thy face from us, and hast delivered us into the hand of our iniquities."

Notice, from Isaiah 64:5, that there are two kinds of people being referred to here: those that remember God in His ways, and those that have not remembered God in His ways and have sinned against Him. But let's focus for a moment on that first part of verse 5: "Thou meetest him that joyfully works righteousness..." Well, wait a minute, Mr. Slick, didn't you essentially say that we can't do anything righteous? That all of our works are like filthy rags? Yet, here Scripture is talking about some folks who can indeed work righteousness - as long as they remember God in His ways. If, however, they turn to sin, then their righteous deeds count for nothing...they are like filthy rags. That's the distinction you have failed to account for Mr. Slick - the distinction between the works of those who are doing God's will and those who are not. The works of those who are walking in God's ways, and those who are not. This is why it is so dangerous to simply lift a verse, or a part of verse, out of Scripture and base one's interpretation on it without any reference to the context of the immediate passage or to the context of the rest of Scripture. I've shown that your interpretation is in contrast with the immediate context of that passage, but it is also in contrast to the context of the rest of Scripture. For example, in Ezekiel 18, it says this: "The righteousness of the righteous shall be upon himself, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon himself." Well, if all of our righteous deeds are as filthy rags, and that is referring to absolutely everyone, then how can "the righteousness of the righteous be upon himself?" If your interpretation is correct, then there are no righteous who can do righteousness, are there? Furthermore, from the same passage, it says this: "When a righteous man turns away from his righteousness and commits iniquity...None of the righteous deeds which he has done shall be remembered; for the treachery of which he is guilty and the sin he has committeed, he shall die," (Ezek 18:24).

Mr. Slick, the "filthy rags" passage from Isaiah 64:6 is talking about this very situation. Someone who is walking in the ways of the Lord...a righteous man who can indeed do righteous deeds (at least, according to Scripture)...and then turns away from the Lord and commits iniquity. It is then that his righteous deeds become as filthy rags. Isaiah 64:6 is not an absolute statement saying that no one can ever do a good deed...a righteous deed. Your interpretation is wrong...very wrong. Plus, we have all those passages in the New Testament that tell us we can indeed do things that are pleasing to the Lord, such as doing His will, forgiving the sins of others, being poor in spirit, being meek, hungering for righteousness, being pure in heart, feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, and visiting the sick and imprisoned, and so on. Your interpretation of Isaiah 64:6, like your interpretation of so many other Scripture verses, is simply wrong.

Now, since you quoted the Old Testament to "prove" your point, I hope you will allow me to quote the Old Testament to make a point. I won't say "prove" a point, but to simply offer evidence for a particular point. I wish to quote once more from Ezekiel 18...verse 4 and verse 20 (they say the exact same thing): "The soul that sins shall die." Do you believe that or not? Do you believe a righteous man, who God has said was saved, could then turn away from his righteousness and end up being lost? Yes or no? I ask, because it seems you believe in this once saved always saved doctrine...a very pernicious doctrine. If you believe that once you're saved, then no sin can cause you to lose that salvation, then what do you make of this verse - "The soul that sins shall die?"

I must move on here but I shall briefly address a couple more of your statements. The Catholic Church agrees that one cannot "earn" forgiveness or "keep" forgiveness, nor salvation, solely of their own merit. Catholics do believe, however, that by cooperating with the grace that God has freely given us in and through Christ Jesus, we can receive forgiveness from God and maintain that forgiveness from God, unto salvation, by the grace of Jesus Christ working in us and through us, (Phil 2:13). Furthermore, we do not worry "about being good enough to stay saved." What you fail to comprehend, is that we are not seeking to be "good enough," we are striving to be holy, as Scripture tells us to be: "Strive for peace with all men, and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord," (Heb 12:14). Are you not striving for holiness, Mr. Slick...the holiness without which no one will see the Lord? Finally, I find it a bit odd that you say, "Salvation before God is not administered to us through...recitation of formula prayers," yet you give us Catholics a formula prayer at the end of your article here, by which we may obtain salvation. Do you not find that the least bit hypocritical?

Matt Slick

My Response

Ah, yes, the ol' "Catholics are like the Mormons and Jehovah's Witnesses" ploy. Very nice, Mr. Slick. So, since you believe in the Trinity, and the Incarnation, and in the inerrancy of Scripture - just like Catholics do - does that make you like those nasty ol' Catholicses? Did Jesus not tell the crowds, and even His own disciples, to listen to what the scribes and Pharisees told them to do (Matt 23:1-2)? In other words, did Jesus not recognize that some were given religious authority over others? Do you reject the notion that God has placed leaders in the Church over us in authority? Yes or no?

Now, regarding your comment that, "Such error can only lead to despair and hopelessness...," why is it, then, that I, as a Catholic, feel no despair or hopelessness? And why is it that millions of Catholics around the world actually receive a great deal of comfort and joy and hope from their faith if "such error can only lead to despair and hopelessness?" Yes, I imagine if someone believed in accord with your twisted interpretation of the Catholic Faith, then they may indeed feel despair and hopelessness...having to rely solely on themselves rather than on Jesus Christ. Yet, your version of Catholic teaching is not authentic Catholic teaching. When I was away from the Church and trying to do everything on my own, I had such feelings. It was only after coming back to the Church - to the Body of Christ - that I found incredible joy and happiness in my life. The fact that I, and millions of Catholics like me, do not despair and do indeed have hope, is evidence that in addition to your propensity to twist the Scriptures, as I have shown here once again, you have a propensity to twist the teachings of the Catholic Church. You make a claim about us Catholics that has no basis in fact. As I have said before and as I will say again, you take your twisted interpretation of Scripture and compare it to your twisted interpretation of Catholic teaching, and say, "See, the two don't match - the Catholic Church teaches things contrary to Scripture." I feel a great deal of sadness for you in this regard.

Summary

I think that is enough for today. I will finish up with the "Gospel According To Slick" in the next issue of the newsletter and then get on to other things. I hope all of you have a great week, and please keep the Holy Father and all the young people at World Youth Day - which starts this week - in your prayers!