A
Contrast of Two Means of Salvation:
Presented
by Richard Bennett, Former Dominican Missionary Priest of 21 Years
I.
Introduction
The
Bible teaches that the sins of a Christian are “expiated” totally, having
been paid for in full by the blood of Jesus Christ, and that through
Christ’s perfect keeping of the Law, His righteousness is then fully credited
to the believer.
II.
The Bible’s Position
1.
Romans 3:21-26 “But now the righteousness of God
without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets; Even
the righteousness of God which is by
faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is
no difference: For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; Being
justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:
Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to
declare his righteousness for the
remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God; To declare, I
say, at this time his righteousness: that
he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.”
2.
2 Corinthians 5:21 “For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be
made the righteousness of God in him.”
3.
Romans 4:5 “But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the
ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.
4.
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.
5.
Romans 11:6 “And if by grace, then is it no more of works: otherwise grace is no more
grace. But if it be of works, then is it no more grace: otherwise work is no
more work.
6.
Galatians 2:21 “I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the
law, then Christ is dead in vain.
7.
Isaiah 61:10 “I will greatly rejoice in the LORD, my soul shall be joyful in my God;
for he hath clothed me with the garments
of salvation, he hath covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a
bridegroom decketh himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorneth herself with
her jewels.
III.
The Roman Catholic Church’s Official Position
A.
The need to pay for our own sins. The
sacrifice of Christ for the sins of the world is not sufficient to completely
pay for our sins. We must therefore expiate for our own sins. The penance,
satisfaction, and merit of others, especially Mary and the saints, can also save
us.
1.
Vatican Council II Documents [1]
a.
No. 6, Indulgentiarum Doctrina,
1 Jan. 1967, Vol. I,
Sec. 5, p. 65 “... They [the saints] have carried their crosses to
make expiation for their own sins and the sins of others. They were
convinced that they could help their brothers to
obtain salvation from God who is the father of mercies.”
b.
Sec. 5, p. 66 “... They [the prayers and good works of the Blessed
Virgin Mary] are truly immense, unfathomable, and even pristine in their value
before God. In the treasury, to, are the prayers and good works of all the
saints, all those who have followed in the footsteps of Christ the Lord and by
his grace have made their lives holy and carried out the mission the father
entrusted to them. In this way they attained their own salvation and at the same time cooperated in
saving their brothers in the unity of the Mystical Body.”
2.
Catechism of the Catholic Church
(1994) [2]
a.
Para. 2021 “grace is the
help God gives us to respond to our vocation of becoming his adoptive sons. It
introduces us into the intimacy of the Trinitarian life.”
b.
Para. 2025 “We can have
merit in God’s sight only because of God’s free plan to associate man with
the work of his grace. merit is to be ascribed in the first place to the grace
of God, and secondly to man’s collaboration. Man’s merit
is due to God.”
c.
Para. 1521 “Union
with the passion of Christ. By the grace of this sacrament the sick person
receives the strength and gift of uniting himself more closely to Christ’s
Passion: in a certain way he is consecrated
to bear fruit by configuration to the Saviour’s redemptive Passion. Suffering,
a consequence of original sin, acquires a new meaning; it becomes a
participation in the saving work of Jesus.”
B.
The Catholic Church Teaches that
Man has the ability to pay for his own sins.
In
the teaching of the Roman Catholic Church, man is not “dead in trespasses and
sins” as the Bible teaches (Ephesians 2:1), but only “wounded” and
“weakened.”
1.
Vatican Council II
a.
No 64, Gaudium et Spes, 7 Dec.
1965, Vol. I,
Sec 14, p. 915 “...Nevertheless man has been mortally wounded by sin. He finds by experience that his body is in revolt.
His very dignity therefore requires that he should glorify God in his body, and
not allow it to serve the evil inclinations of his heart ... When he is drawn to
think about his real self he turns to
those deep recesses of his being where God who probes the heart awaits him,
and where he himself decides his own
destiny in the sight of God. So when he recognises in himself a spiritual
and immortal soul, he is not being led astray by false imaginings that are due
to merely physical or social causes...”
b.
Sec. 17, p 917 “... Since human
freedom has been weakened by sin, it is only by the help of God’s grace that
man can give his actions their full and proper relationship to God.”
2.
Catechism of the Catholic Church (1994)
Para.
618 “The cross is the unique
sacrifice of Christ, the one mediator between God and men. But because in his
incarnate divine person he has in some way united himself to every man, ‘the
possibility of being made partners, in a way known to God, in the pascal
mystery’ is offered to all men. He calls his disciples to ‘take up [their]
cross and follow [him],’ for ‘Christ also suffered for [us], leaving [us] an
example so that [we] should follow in his steps.’ In
fact Jesus desires to associate with his redeeming sacrifice those who were to
be its first beneficiaries. This is achieved supremely in the case of his
mother, who was associated more intimately than any other person in the mystery
of his redemptive suffering.”
V.
The Bible’s Problem with Man paying for his own sins
The
Bible teaches that before the all holy God, man is spiritually dead. The heart
of man must be born again by God’s free grace - not probed into for its own
goodness. It has NO goodness to offer God. Isaiah 64:6 says that ,”all our righteousnesses are
as filthy rags...” in the sight of God!
1.
Genesis 2:17 “But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of
it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.”
2.
Ezekiel 18:20 “The soul that sinneth, it shall die...”
3.
Jeremiah 17:9 “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can
know it?”
4.
St. mark 7:20-23 “And he said, That which cometh out of the man, that defileth the man.
For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries,
fornications, murders, Thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness,
an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness: All these evil things come from
within, and defile the man.”
5.
Romans 6:23 “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life
through Jesus Christ our Lord.”
6.
Ephesians 2:1 “And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins.”
7.
Colossians 2:13 “And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh,
hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses.”
8.
St. John 3:19 “And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men
loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.”
9.
Romans 3:10-11 “As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: There is none
that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God.”
10.
Romans 8:7 “Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to
the law of God, neither indeed can be.”
VI.
Conclusion
All
of the Roman Catholic doctrine demanding works of expiation in peoples’ lives
is totally contrary to the Bible. In adding this ‘works gospel’ to
Christ’s finished work on the cross, the substance of what is then taught is
that “grace is no longer grace” (Romans 11:6).
To
attempt to pay for and therefore merit your own salvation was the sin of the
Jewish Pharisees, and of the Apostle Paul before his conversion!
But
the Bible proclaims the good news that Christ’s sacrifice is the full payment
for our sins (see Hebrews 10:14, 17-18). Best of all, Christ’s perfect
righteousness is imputed to the believer simply by faith in Christ’s finished
work on the cross.
Clearly,
“For
by grace are ye saved through faith ... not of works, lest any man should boast.”
Ephesians 2:8,9
[1]Vatican Council II: The Conciliar and Post-Conciliar
Documents, Austin P. Flannery, Editor, Wm. B. Eerdmans Pub. Co. (Grand Rapids,
MI), 2 Vols., 1984. Bolding in any quotation indicates emphasis added in
this compilation.
[2]Catechism of the Catholic Church
(Liguori Publications: Liguori, MO 63057) 1994. This edition is the same as
the Veritas edition published in Ireland, 1994.