You might be surprised by the claim that you can be forgiven for *everything* you have ever done. That’s right, 100%, guaranteed, no matter what you have done!
You may have been told there is a long list of things you must do (and and even longer list of things you must not do) to be forgiven, but this is not true…
These rules and regulations are man-made and form the basis of almost all religions, spread by well meaning, but deceived people.
Religious Rules:
Keep the 10 Commandments 1(CCC2036, CCC 2070)
Get Baptised 2(CCC 1257)
Confess your sins to a priest 3CCC 1129
Do Penance 4(CCC 980)
Go to Church / Mass 5(CCC 846)
Even if you have tried your best to do these things, you have probably realised that it is impossible – because you fail…a lot!
And everyone is in the same boat: even those people you think are ‘good’ or ‘holy’, they are not…*everyone* has sinned. 6Romans 3:23 (NLT) For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard.
That leaves everyone – all of us – under God’s wrath & judgement. You will receive what you have earned…DEATH. That’s right – God calls death our ‘wages’ that we have earned by sinning. 7Romans 6:23 (NLT) For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.
“PLEASE don’t stop reading here. There is something you can do and it doesn’t involve the normal religious answers…”
Most people view forgiveness as a balance, like a set of scales.
On one side they (you) put your bad deeds, your slip ups: your sin (Lies, Stealing, Lust, Idolatry, Dishonouring parents, Failing to love God)…
On the other side, you put all the things that you have done that you see as ‘good’. You likely try to do good things and add them to your ‘good pile’ – believing that your good outweighs the bad – hoping that God will be happy with your efforts. Helping people, giving money to the church / charity, repeating prayers…
Unfortunately, God says that even the best of your ‘good’ deeds are filthy and dirty, unable to outweigh any bad at all. 8Isaiah 64:6 (NLT) We are all infected and impure with sin. When we display our righteous deeds, they are nothing but filthy rags. Like autumn leaves, we wither and fall, and our sins sweep us away like the wind. The truth is, all your deeds, all your thoughts are all on the one side. They all count against you – even the ones you thought were good – let alone the ones you know are bad!
God is so incredibly perfect and holy, so immeasurably righteous, that anything else compared to Him, is like literal dung. 9Revelation 4:8 (NLT) Each of these living beings had six wings, and their wings were covered all over with eyes, inside and out. Day after day and night after night they keep on saying,
“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God, the Almighty—
the one who always was, who is, and who is still to come.”
Sin is incredibly serious and counts against you – it rests on you now 10John 3:36 (NLT) And anyone who believes in God’s Son has eternal life. Anyone who doesn’t obey the Son will never experience eternal life but remains under God’s angry judgment.” , and will count against you on Judgment Day, causing you to be sent to hell. 11Revelation 21:8 (NLT) But cowards, unbelievers, the corrupt, murderers, the immoral, those who practice witchcraft, idol worshipers, and all liars—their fate is in the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death.” . There is only One way to deal with sin: Jesus Christ, but not the religion you have been taught.
“You can enter God’s Kingdom only through the narrow gate. The highway to hell is broad, and its gate is wide for the many who choose that way. 14 But the gateway to life is very narrow and the road is difficult, and only a few ever find it.” Matthew 7:13-14 (NLT)
It is not your being ‘good’ or your observance of any rules or traditions or being part of any religion (or anything else) that saves…
There is nothing we can do to earn or add to salvation – it is not reliant upon you being good, confessing sin to a priest or reciting prayers. 12Ephesians 2:8-10 (NLT) God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. 9 Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it. 10 For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.
It relies solely on One: putting your trust in what Jesus Christ has already accomplished on the cross. This once-for-all-time event paid the penalty for all of your sin. Paid. In. Full. 13 Romans 3:25 (NLT) For God presented Jesus as the sacrifice for sin. People are made right with God when they believe that Jesus sacrificed his life, shedding his blood. 14John 19:30 (NLT) When Jesus had tasted it, he said, “It is finished!” Then he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.
“It is finished” means your sin, my sin, it is all PAID IN FULL by Jesus’ blood!
All you need to do is to let go of your life, your religion, your trust in yourself or your ‘good’ deeds, turn away from your sin and put your trust in Jesus. This trust will enable your (spiritual) eyes to be opened – you will see things differently and experience true salvation. True forgiveness. Complete and finished.
As you follow Him, you will get to know Him in a new and personal way. He will walk with you, guide you and even change your desires so you no longer want to sin! 15Philippians 2:13 (NLT) For God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases him.
Romans 2:29 (NLT) No, a true Jew is one whose heart is right with God. And true circumcision is not merely obeying the letter of the law; rather, it is a change of heart produced by the Spirit. And a person with a changed heart seeks praise from God, not from people. how good is that! If you’re like me, you know what a big deal this is!
God promises to change you and He promises to forgive you – completely! He says He separates you from your sin as far as the East is from the West! 16 Psalms 103:12 (NLT) He has removed our sins as far from us
as the east is from the west. and you can’t get further than that!
Something else of incredible power: He adopts you as His very own son / daughter! 17 Romans 8:15-16 (NLT) So you have not received a spirit that makes you fearful slaves. Instead, you received God’s Spirit when he adopted you as his own children. Now we call him, “Abba, Father.” 16 For his Spirit joins with our spirit to affirm that we are God’s children.!
That’s right – the perfect, powerful and all-knowing Creator, welcomes us into His very family with arms wide open! Not based on us in any way, but on His love and the perfection of His Son’s sacrifice! Now THAT IS GOOD NEWS!
We pray that you would take this Good News to everyone you know – even the misguided people who taught you the wrong thing about God. Always follow Jesus – He will never let you down!
“Lord Jesus, I know that I have sinned many times and am sinful. I now know I am powerless to earn forgiveness and live righteously, but I chose to willingly turn away from sin. Please forgive me, not because I am good, not because I have done good things or earned anything, but because Your Son Jesus died on the cross to pay my debt. Please open my eyes to the true nature of my sin and what Jesus has done for me, as well as Your will for my life. I have made a mess of my life, so I give it to you and agree to follow You forever. Please speak to me through the Bible so I can follow You”
Read the Bible, follow what it says. Jesus will *never* let you down!
PS (you *really* don’t need to buy this item – it is just here so that you will ‘hear’ the Truth.
PPS: Saying a rote prayer or ‘pretending’ to turn to Jesus / away from sin is just hypocrisy. Empty religion can not save – only the certain judgment of God can be expected.
And when he [the Holy Spirit] comes, he will convict the world of its sin, and of God’s righteousness, and of the coming judgment. 9 The world’s sin is that it refuses to believe in me. John 16:8-9 (NLT)
If you refuse to take up your cross and follow me, you are not worthy of being mine. If you cling to your life, you will lose it; but if you give up your life for me, you will find it. Matthew 10:38-39 (NLT)
#thankYouJesus #reallife #freedom #forgiveness
Footnotes:
- 1(CCC2036, CCC 2070)
- 2(CCC 1257)
- 3CCC 1129
- 4(CCC 980)
- 5(CCC 846)
- 6Romans 3:23 (NLT) For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard.
- 7Romans 6:23 (NLT) For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.
- 8Isaiah 64:6 (NLT) We are all infected and impure with sin. When we display our righteous deeds, they are nothing but filthy rags. Like autumn leaves, we wither and fall, and our sins sweep us away like the wind.
- 9Revelation 4:8 (NLT) Each of these living beings had six wings, and their wings were covered all over with eyes, inside and out. Day after day and night after night they keep on saying,
“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God, the Almighty—
the one who always was, who is, and who is still to come.” - 10John 3:36 (NLT) And anyone who believes in God’s Son has eternal life. Anyone who doesn’t obey the Son will never experience eternal life but remains under God’s angry judgment.”
- 11Revelation 21:8 (NLT) But cowards, unbelievers, the corrupt, murderers, the immoral, those who practice witchcraft, idol worshipers, and all liars—their fate is in the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death.”
- 12Ephesians 2:8-10 (NLT) God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. 9 Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it. 10 For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.
- 13Romans 3:25 (NLT) For God presented Jesus as the sacrifice for sin. People are made right with God when they believe that Jesus sacrificed his life, shedding his blood.
- 14John 19:30 (NLT) When Jesus had tasted it, he said, “It is finished!” Then he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.
“It is finished” means your sin, my sin, it is all PAID IN FULL by Jesus’ blood! - 15Philippians 2:13 (NLT) For God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases him.
Romans 2:29 (NLT) No, a true Jew is one whose heart is right with God. And true circumcision is not merely obeying the letter of the law; rather, it is a change of heart produced by the Spirit. And a person with a changed heart seeks praise from God, not from people. - 16Psalms 103:12 (NLT) He has removed our sins as far from us
as the east is from the west. - 17Romans 8:15-16 (NLT) So you have not received a spirit that makes you fearful slaves. Instead, you received God’s Spirit when he adopted you as his own children. Now we call him, “Abba, Father.” 16 For his Spirit joins with our spirit to affirm that we are God’s children.
Hey guys! My name is Josh. I read the article here as I am a Catholic who also has a keen interest in TPM. I was actually searching for someone in Perth who ministers TPM. I’d like to respectfully and completely disagree with everything written about Catholic belief in this article in regards to supposedly earning salvation. The Catholic Church I know does not teach this. Archbishop Fulton Sheen was 100% correct when he said millions of Americans hate what they think is the Catholic faith, but less than 100 actually hate the true Catholic faith. I’ve done a lot of study over the years, and have grappled with my own ‘Catholic guilt’ growing up. What I’ve come to realise is that this supposed ‘Catholic guilt’ is related to pure misconception. You are correct. NO ONE saves but Jesus. And Jesus has conquered sin and death and won for us salvation through his cross and resurrection. We as Catholics believe this! There is NOTHING I can do without the grace of God. Nothing. But I have a choice. Do I participate in this grace or not? It can never be a guarantee because I always have freedom. Even in Heaven and Hell there is free will. It is the essential human characteristic. But in Hell, our wills are so fixated on ourselves we simply can’t leave. And in Heaven our wills are so fixated on God we ‘can’t’ leave there also. When I pray the rosary, I am not mumbling words to earn my salvation. I’m using words from Sacred Scripture to meditate on the events of Christ’s live, death and resurrection. Then through this meditation, I grow closer in union with the Lord as I come to know him more as revealed through his Word.
Anyway, I hope this helps clarify some of the misconception about the Catholic faith. We’re not deluded. We’re not satanic. We’re not any of those things. We don’t have a distorted, man-made understanding of the Word of God.
Blessings Josh!!
Thank you so much for reaching out – I appreciate your comments.
I am excited to hear that you believe that Jesus alone saves – this really is the Truth of the Gospel.
You are one of only a handful of Catholics I have met that believe this as it is counter to many of the Catechisms of the Catholic Church (I listed a few in the article). I don’t believe Catholics are satanic but the Catechisms are a distortion of God’s Word.
That said, Jesus is capable and powerful to save despite the imperfect doctrines of the Catholic (or any other church for that matter). No one has 100% perfect theology, but we can address each other in love in order to get to a better understanding of His Truth. As you say, are we going to respond in obedience to Jesus’ call?
I would encourage you to keep your eyes fixed on Jesus, meditate on God’s Word and share Him with everyone you meet!
In Christ
– Adam
John 3:3 (NLT) Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, unless you are born again, you cannot see the Kingdom of God.”
John 12:44-47 (NLT) . For when you see me, you are seeing the one who sent me. I have come as a light to shine in this dark world, so that all who put their trust in me will no longer remain in the dark.
Thanks Adam. I appreciate your encouragement. Please know that my intention here is not to try and prove the Catholic theology as being right, but rather to dispel misconceptions.
Adam, the only reason I’ll mention I have a degree in theology and have taught the Catholic faith in Christ to teenagers for 15 years, is because it shows I know my faith. Very well. Many Catholics do not know their faith. It is a sad reality we see in many denominations. I lament particularly that many Catholics do not esteem reading the Word of God as much as you my Protestant / non-Catholic brothers and sisters. That saddens me greatly, for why did the Lord give us His word?! A famous saint of ours (St Jerome) once said “ignorance of Scripture is ignorance of Christ!
So as a studied Catholic, I have to respectfully write that you’re misinterpreting our Catechisms. I wouldn’t belong to a Church that did not believe Christ alone saves. Who else but Christ? Jesus is God! Who can save but God? So any belief that Catholics think it is by their works that they earn salvation is incorrect. It isn’t Catholic belief. Any works we perform are only by the grace of God (John 15:5; 1 Cor 15:10).
I find in my teaching I spend the majority of my time undoing the misconceptions many of the students have about the Catholic faith (such as worshipping Mary, re-sacrificing Christ at the Mass, believing saints can performs miracles, believing that a priest forgives us instead of God etc.). All of this is nonsense.
I understand this isn’t the forum to continue this, but I do hope that you are open to accepting that you may have us wrong in terms of what we believe with salvation. I am also not expecting to convince you about this in one or two posts, nor of convincing you about the many other misconceptions people have of us.
Hi Josh,
I am certainly open to being wrong and corrected if that is the case.
I myself have rarely met a Catholic who reads the Bible, or that believes the scriptures are that important. Nearly all could tell me about saints & practises in the Catholic Church but knew very little (if any) scripture and definitely did not seem to be born again.
You do talk like someone who is saved though, a pleasant surprise. But is this because of the Catholic Church’s doctrines or despite it? Just because Jesus has awakened someone in a place, does not mean that place is of Him or teaches correct doctrine.
From where I am sitting it sounds like you may be a born again believer, but a ‘bad’ catholic. (Not bad as you commit sin, but because it seems you don’t hold to what the Catholic church teaches).
If you don’t hold to false doctrines – GREAT – however I would challenge you to assess deeper:
– do you need to repent of these false doctrines (and of sharing them with others)?
– does the Lord want to use you in your current position to direct people to Jesus and scripture (instead the Catholic Church or faith)?
Some questions for you:
– Do you hold to all the catechisms of the Catholic Church?
– Do you believe in transubstantiation?
– Do you believe that you can go directly to Jesus & have all your sin forgiven without the Catholic Church, priests or Mary?
– Do you agree with the Council of Trent on the below?
“CANON I.-If any one saith, that the sacraments of the New Law were not all instituted by Jesus Christ, our Lord; or, that they are more, or less, than seven, to wit, Baptism, Confirmation, the Eucharist, Penance, Extreme Unction, Order, and Matrimony; or even that any one of these seven is not truly and properly a sacrament; let him be anathema.” (The Council of Trent, The Seventh Session, https://history.hanover.edu/texts/trent/ct07.html)
These things are incompatible with genuine faith in Christ and I would urge you to distance yourself from them.
Again I would say to cling tight to Christ and share His Truth with anyone who will listen. An anything that doesn’t line up with Him or scripture, let it go and renounce it – no matter how dearly you have loved it in the past.
A few false Catholic teachings (copied directly from the Catechisms) showing the Catholic Church believes and promotes works-based salvation which is opposed to scripture:
1129 The Church affirms that for believers the sacraments of the New Covenant are necessary for salvation
2036 The authority of the Magisterium extends also to the specific precepts of the natural law, because their observance, demanded by the Creator, is necessary for salvation.
980 It is through the sacrament of Penance that the baptized can be reconciled with God and with the Church:
Penance has rightly been called by the holy Fathers “a laborious kind of baptism.” This sacrament of Penance is necessary for salvation for those who have fallen after Baptism, just as Baptism is necessary for salvation for those who have not yet been reborn.
846 How are we to understand this affirmation, often repeated by the Church Fathers?335 Re-formulated positively, it means that all salvation comes from Christ the Head through the Church which is his Body:
Basing itself on Scripture and Tradition, the Council teaches that the Church, a pilgrim now on earth, is necessary for salvation: the one Christ is the mediator and the way of salvation; he is present to us in his body which is the Church. He himself explicitly asserted the necessity of faith and Baptism, and thereby affirmed at the same time the necessity of the Church which men enter through Baptism as through a door. Hence they could not be saved who, knowing that the Catholic Church was founded as necessary by God through Christ, would refuse either to enter it or to remain in it.336
1257 The Lord himself affirms that Baptism is necessary for salvation. He also commands his disciples to proclaim the Gospel to all nations and to baptize them. Baptism is necessary for salvation for those to whom the Gospel has been proclaimed and who have had the possibility of asking for this sacrament. The Church does not know of any means other than Baptism that assures entry into eternal beatitude; this is why she takes care not to neglect the mission she has received from the Lord to see that all who can be baptized are “reborn of water and the Spirit.” God has bound salvation to the sacrament of Baptism, but he himself is not bound by his sacraments.
The Bible States:
Romans 3:28 (NLT) So we are made right with God through faith and not by obeying the law.
Romans 4:3-5 (NLT) For the Scriptures tell us, “Abraham believed God, and God counted him as righteous because of his faith.”
When people work, their wages are not a gift, but something they have earned. But people are counted as righteous, not because of their work, but because of their faith in God who forgives sinners.
Ephesians 2:8-9 (NLT) God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it.
Galatians 2:16 (NLT) Yet we know that a person is made right with God by faith in Jesus Christ, not by obeying the law. And we have believed in Christ Jesus, so that we might be made right with God because of our faith in Christ, not because we have obeyed the law. For no one will ever be made right with God by obeying the law.”
Galatians 5:4 (NLT) For if you are trying to make yourselves right with God by keeping the law, you have been cut off from Christ! You have fallen away from God’s grace.
Titus 3:4-5 (NLT) But—“When God our Savior revealed his kindness and love, he saved us, not because of the righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He washed away our sins, giving us a new birth and new life through the Holy Spirit.
Hi Adam. The conversation could have gone one of a few ways, and I predicted it would head into the territory of quoting this or that and trying to prove one’s interpretation as being correct. You and I both know these conversations go nowhere, especially if you don’t have a relationship with the person. I’ve done it too many times in the past and I’ve probably brought the person further away from Christ than closer.
I can’t convince you that I’m not a “bad Catholic”. I believe everything you’ve quoted, and you may label that as proof I’m not born again. For example, I believe there is no salvation outside the Catholic Church. Now you can interpret that strictly, as if the Church is saying you can only be saved if you’re Catholic Christian, or you can interpret it as it’s meant to be interpreted – without the grace of Christ that comes through the sacraments, one cannot be saved. The emphasis being on the grace of Christ. Does that grace of Christ exist outside His sacraments? Absolutely, but only because it has first come into the world through the sacraments. The sacraments being the way Christ acts in the world today. Now does Jesus judge a person according to what they know or what they don’t know? I go with the former.
Accepting faith, and how one accepts faith are two very different things. You and I can quote Scripture for Scripture, we can quote canon for canon, and we will get nowhere. I started to write arguments for why authority is necessary, how authority first established the canon of the bible, why theology and morality go hand in hand etc., but I had to stop myself. We will not in the conversation solve the 500+year debate.
What I do want to address though is your purposeful censorship of what I posted earlier. You omitted to post a video link that very eloquently provided the Catholic Christian position on ‘faith alone’, and how it answers all the Scripture quotes you’ve provided on works and the law, albeit partly quoted out of context. If you’re going to engage in this conversation, as moderator you have a duty to be transparent and avoid (what seems to be) manipulating what is posted. If I am wrong about this, then forgive me brother. In reply to what you’re implying by the last few Scripture quotes…Christ is not transactional; He is relational. In any relationship, we have freedom and so we should. Therefore, this necessitates the possibility that once faith is accepted, it can also be rejected. We always retain our freedom. So faith must be expressed through works of love. It’s a false dichotomy to separate the two. It’s like saying I accept the love of my spouse in marrying them, but I don’t need to show that love in order for the marriage to survive. God gives us what we want. We have freedom.
Blessings Josh,
“I can’t convince you that I’m not a “bad Catholic”. I believe everything you’ve quoted, and you may label that as proof I’m not born again.”
No, as I stated, you talk like someone who is born again, it is not for me to judge. Being born of the Spirit (Rom 2:29) is something God does based on grace through faith in Jesus not based on whether they believe in x, y or z churches’ doctrine.
Also as stated, I have rarely had Catholic be willing to engage much let alone use scripture to do so. If both are using scripture with hearts desiring to honour Jesus, surely they will *both* come to either a closer relationship with Him or more balanced doctrine (maybe both)?
I do notice in your last reply you have shifted in to what you believe with no scripture at all, which is where it has rested previous with other Catholics (tradition / catechisms apart from scripture).
I did not purposefully censor the specific video you linked to (I have yet to watch it, but have watched many such things in the past), we just do not link to platforms that promote secular / evil ideologies where there is no control over advertising etc. We may change that policy as there is pretty much only one platform left that does not censor.
I pray for myself and you my brother the same as Paul did:
May we know Him and the power of His resurrection – may He be glorified in us and through us to the many He has called.
Blessings
Thanks Adam. Just to clarify, although it seems as though I’ve shifted into what I believe versus what scripture states, in reality it is me being unwilling to engage in a Scripture ‘war’. I’m not saying you would do this (you seem reasonable and emotionally stable), but quite often it can go there. I have very good scriptural basis for all the supposed man-made doctrines of the Catholic Church, but I won’t be able to convince you of that. Hence why I purposely left it at that.
It is good to know you didn’t purposely censor the video. I was mistaken about that. I hope you can forgive me but equally so I hope you watch it. It does give a great description of how the Catholic position unites being saved by faith and works of love.
Please just remember that I don’t believe in doctrine. I believe doctrine which points me to the truth Jesus revealed. It isn’t the doctrine that saves. It is Jesus. Anything that Catholics believe must either be explicit or implicit in Scripture. And I’d say we all believe this, you and I. The reason you believe this is because explicitly Scripture says what it says, yet you know (as do I) that Christ brings you to an illumination based on various Scripture passages (hence the ‘implicit’).
God bless you brother and I thank you for the opportunity to at least be heard, even if we didn’t ‘solve’ the issue that divides.
Hi Josh,
I love this:
“Please just remember that I don’t believe in doctrine. I believe doctrine which points me to the truth Jesus revealed. It isn’t the doctrine that saves. It is Jesus. Anything that Catholics believe must either be explicit or implicit in Scripture. And I’d say we all believe this, you and I.”
I don’t see an apology was needed, but thank you. And I will watch the video – but on “the unity being saved by faith and works of love.” I dare say that we are likely in alignment there. I do not (and believe most Christians don’t) believe that once we have received grace, been born again, we don’t have a responsibility to do good (‘works’), just that said works don’t save nor earn us anything. Sorry that sentence isn’t clear, I have interruptions I must go.
I would love to hear your scriptural backing for the catechisms mentioned.
In Christ
Adam