A Letter to Roman Catholics
Dear Roman Catholics,
It is out of love and sincere compassion that I am writing this letter to you. I was in the Roman Catholic Church for 20+ years until about three years ago. Why did I leave? What caused this decision?
It is because of the numerous errors of the teachings of the Catholic Church when compared to the teachings of Scripture. I want to focus on the main one being salvation. The Roman Catholic Church teaches that faith + works = salvation.
Now, before I go on, I understand that Roman Catholics will argue this. In the Roman Catholic Catechism, it states the following:
“The Council of Trent teaches that the Ten Commandments are obligatory for Christians and that the justified man is still bound to keep them; the Second Vatican Council confirms: ‘The bishops, successors of the apostles, receive from the Lord . . . the mission of teaching all peoples, and of preaching the Gospel to every creature, so that all men may attain salvation through faith, Baptism and the observance of the Commandments" (CCC 2068).
In Canon IX in the Council of Trent, it states the following:
"If any one saith, that by faith alone the impious is justified; in such wise as to mean, that nothing else is required to co-operate in order to the obtaining the grace of Justification, and that it is not in any way necessary, that he be prepared and disposed by the movement of his own will; let him be anathema."
So, let's look at this through the lens of Scripture. First, we will look at what Scripture says about the ten commandments and salvation.
"For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing;
it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship,created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them" (Ephesians 2:8-10).
"What then shall we say? That the law is sin? By no means! Yet if it had not been for the law, I would not have known sin. For I would not have known what it is to covet if the
law had not said, 'You shall not covet.' But sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment, produced in me all kinds of covetousness. For apart from the law, sin lies dead. I was once alive apart from the law, but when the commandment came, sin came alive and I died. The very commandment that promised life proved to be death to me. For sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment, deceived me and through it killed me" (Romans 7:7-11).
"For all who rely on works of the law are under a curse; for it is written, 'Cursed be everyone who does not abide by all things written in the Book of the Law, and do them.' Now it is evident that no one is justified before God by the law, for 'The righteous shall live by faith'" (Galatians 3:10-11). "You shall say to them, Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: Cursed be the man who does not hear the words of this covenant that I commanded your fathers when I brought them out of the land of Egypt, from the iron furnace, saying, Listen to my voice, and do all that I command you. So shall you be my people, and I will be your God" (Jeremiah 11:3-4). "Behold, his soul is puffed up; it is not upright within him, but the righteous shall live by his faith" (Habakkuk 2:4).
"For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become guilty of all of it" (James 2:10).
Next, let us look at what Paul and James have to say on justification.
"For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins" (Romans 3:23-25).
"For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. For what does the Scripture say? 'Abraham believed God,and it was counted to him as righteousness' (Romans 4:2-4). "And He brought him outside
and said, 'Look toward heaven, and numberthe stars, if you are able to number them. 'Then He said to him, 'So shall your offspring be.' And he believed the Lord, and He counted it to him as righteousness" (Genesis 15:5-6).
"He received the sign of circumcision as a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised. The purpose was to make him the father of all who believe without being circumcised, so that righteousness would be counted to them as well" (Romans 4:11). "And God said to Abraham, 'As for you, you shall keep my covenant, you and your offspring after you throughout their generations. This is my covenant, which you shall keep, between me and you and your offspring after you: Every male among you shall be circumcised You shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskins, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and you." (Genesis 17:9-10).
"Do you want to be shown, you foolish person, that faith apart from works is useless? Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up his son Isaac on the altar? You see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was completed by his works; and the Scripture was fulfilled that says, 'Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness'—and he was called a friend of God. You see that a
person is justified by works and not by faith alone" (James 2:20-24). "Then Abraham reached out his hand and took the knife to slaughter his son. But the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and said, 'Abraham, Abraham!' And he said, 'Here I am.' He said, 'Do not lay your hand on the boy or do anything to him, for now I know that you fear God, seeing you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me'" (Genesis 22:9-12).
"Some believers who belonged to the party of the Pharisees rose up and said, 'It is necessary to circumcise them and to order them to keep the law of Moses...Now, therefore, why are you putting God to the test by placing a yoke on the neck of the disciples that neither our fathers nor we have been able to bear? But we believe that we will be saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, just as they will...After they finished speaking, James replied, “Brothers, listen to me. Simeon has related how God first visited the Gentiles, to take from them a people for his name. And with this the words of the prophets agree, just as it is written, “‘After this I will return, and I will rebuild the tent of David that has fallen; I will rebuild its ruins, and I will restore it, that the remnant of mankind may seek the Lord, and all the Gentiles who are called by my name, says the Lord, who makes these things known from of old.’ Therefore my judgment is that we should not trouble those of the Gentiles who turn to God" (Acts 15:5-6, 10, 13-19).
In conclusion, we are justified by faith alone by a faith that is not alone. James was talking about evidence of faith being justified before people. Paul was talking about being justified with a relationship to God before God. James was pointing to a different part of Abraham's story. There is a gap between Abraham when he was counted as righteous, circumcised and sacrificed Isaac. Also, as seen in Acts, James agrees with Peter about keeping the law of Moses and it's burdensome. Paul states that those who rely on works of the law are under a curse. Faith is the only way to connect us to God. It is faith = salvation + works.
I hope you take this letter as a means of hope. The Bible states that justification is permanent, never lost by sin, unchangeable, and that true believers are imputed with the righteousness of Christ. In the Roman Catholic Church, justification can be lost by sin. Roman Catholicism doesn't give assurance of eternal life, but you can have assurance! One can believe and receive Him by faith and repent of their sins.
"But to all who did receive Him, who believed in his name, He gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God" (John 1:12).
"The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel" (Mark 1:15).
"In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins...We love because he first loved us" (1 John 4:10,19).
God bless,
Kyle
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