A True Catholic
By Paul M. Sadler
In the Catholic Encyclopedia, the
entry for the term “Catholic” begins, “The word Catholic (katholikos
from katholou—throughout the whole, i.e., universal) occurs in the Greek
classics….” We agree that the term catholic simply means
“universal.” In the early church, the terminology catholic Church
was used by Christians to distinguish the true Church from those who held to
the heretical teachings of Gnosticism and pantheism. The true Church is
comprised of all those, regardless of their race, gender, denomination, or
other religious affiliation, who place their faith in the finished work
of Christ (Ephesians 1:12,13), that He died for their sins, was buried, and
rose again the third day (I Corinthians 15:1-4). According to the Word of
God, the true Church is called the Body of Christ (Ephesians 1:22,23;
Colossians 1:18).
The Roman Catholic Church, as
we know it, technically did not come into existence until 325 A.D., during the
reign of Constantine, the ruler of the Roman Empire at the time. He
adopted Christianity as the state religion of the empire and adopted all
the trappings that eventually came with it. While Rome has always touted
itself as being the “true Church,” which is universal, the very title, Roman
Catholic Church is a contradiction of terms. Roman is a
“specific term,” referring to those who align themselves with her unsound
teachings and her pope, while the term catholic means universal.
In reality, it is the Protestants who believe that the Church, the Body
of Christ is catholic or universal. This universal Church would include
our Roman Catholic brethren who have placed their faith solely in the
finished work of Christ, and not in works or the organized church.
Rome has often pointed out that the beliefs
of Protestantism are something relatively new. It claims they are
merely the fruits of the Reformation, which is far from the case. We
certainly agree that the Reformers were used of the Lord to confront the
indiscretions and outright errors of the organized church of their day and to
encourage believers to return to the Scriptures as their final authority.
The Reformers, to their credit, were simply returning to biblical
Christianity. Essentially, the beliefs of the Reformers were the same as
the early Christians during the first three centuries of Christianity.
Some of those teachings include the sole authority of the Scriptures,
justification by grace alone through faith alone in Christ’s finished work
alone, that there is only “one Mediator between God and men, the man Christ
Jesus,” etc. Most evangelicals today, ourselves included, hold these
doctrines to be among the fundamentals of the faith.
Cremation
- By Pastor Paul M. Sadler
Grace Bible Church (Click Here)
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How
God Saves Men
Believing
Christ DIED, that’s HISTORY.
Believing
Christ DIED for YOU SINS and Rose again that’s SALVATION.
Read
Romans 1:16, Romans 10:9-10 and 1. Corinthians 15:1-4
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