There has been great zeal to bridge the divide between Catholics and Protestants. Even Pope Francis has made gestures by celebrating The Reformation, and urging Catholics to read their bibles. The Roman Catholic Church is working hard to hide the gap that can never be filled between them and us Protestants. Before I continue I must share Catholics are Prima Scriptura, which means Scripture and Tradition are equal and followed. This contrasts with Protestantism’s Sola Scriptura which means Scripture alone is the authority for sound theology, doctrine, and etc. Well the Catholic Bibles agree with our Bibles that we are justified by faith in Christ, but the Catholics also esteem as equal in authority to the scriptures The Church Councils. Most of us Protestants only esteem one Church Council, The Council of Nicea, and perhaps Chalecdon. However, Catholics have twenty-one (21) councils which are deemed equal to the Scriptures.
One of these councils is The Council of Trent. In this council the Roman Catholic Church waged doctrinal war against Protestantism with a list of anathemas (damnations, damning to hell), lets look at some of the most jarring enteries:
“SESSION THE SIXTH,
Celebrated on the thirteenth day of the month of January, 1547.
DECREE CONCERNING JUSTIFICATION.
Council of Trent
-Canon XV. If any one shall say, that a man, who is born again and justified, is bound of faith to believe that he is assuredly in the number of the predestinated; let him be anathema.
Jesus assures us we are predestined, “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.” (John 10:26-30) Paul affirms we are predestined too, “Even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will,” (Ephesians 1:4-5), “For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers, And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.” (Romans 8:29-30).
-Canon XVI. If any one shall say, that he will for certain, of an absolute and infallible certainty, have that great gift of perseverance unto the end, unless that he have learnt this by a special revelation; let him be anathema.
I again refer to Jesus words and Paul’s that assure us eternal security and perseverance (John 10:26-30, Romans 10:9-10)
—Canon XXIII. If any one shall say, that a man once justified can sin no more, nor lose grace, and that therefore he that falls and sins was never truly justified; or, on the other hand, that he is able, throughout his whole life, to avoid all sins, even those that are venial, except by a special privilege from God, as the Church holds respecting the Blessed Virgin; let him be anathema.
You can’t lose grace, its unmerited favor of God as decided by Council of Jerusalem by The Apostles Peter, Paul, James and Others (Acts 15:1-11), and “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.” (Ephensians 2:8-9)
-Canon XXIX. If any one shall say, that he, who has fallen after baptism, is not able by the grace of God to rise again; or, that he is able indeed to recover the justice lost, but by faith alone, without the sacrament of penance, contrary to what the holy Roman and universal Church, instructed by Christ and his apostles, has hitherto professed, observed and taught; let him be anathema.
The Sacrament of Penance is Congreous Merit that a person does for their sins, but Christ died for all sins for all time, “And by that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all,” (Hebrews 10:10), “For then he would have had to suffer repeatedly since the foundation of the world. But as it is, he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment, so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him,” (Hebrews 9:26-28), “He entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption”, (Hebrews 9:12).
-Canon IX. If any one shall say, that by faith alone the impious is justified; so as to mean that nothing else is required to co-operate in order unto the obtaining the grace of justification, and that it is not in any respect necessary that he be prepared and disposed by the movement of his own will; let him be anathema.
Scriptural Rebuttal:
“become one with him. I no longer count on my own righteousness through obeying the law; rather, I become righteous through faith in Christ. For God’s way of making us right with himself depends on faith.” (Philippians 3:9)
“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.” (Ephensians 2:8-9)
“But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God,” (Hebrews 10:12)
-Canon XI. If any one shall say, that men are justified either by the sole imputation of the righteousness of Christ, or by the sole remission of sins, to the exclusion of the grace and the charity which is shed abroad in their hearts by the Holy Ghost and is inherent in them; or even that the grace, by which we are justified, is only the favour of God; let him he anathema.
“God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” (2 Corinthians 5:21)
“whom God jput forward as propitiation lby his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over nformer sins. It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.” (Romans 3:25-26)
“But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God,” (Hebrews 10:12)
—Canon XII. If any one shall say, that justifying faith is nought else but confidence in the divine mercy which remits sins for Christ’s sake; or that it is this confidence alone by which we are justified; let him be anathema.
Scriptural Rebuttal:
“He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.” (Colossians 1:13-14)
“My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.” (1 John 2:1-2)
“whom God jput forward as propitiation lby his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over nformer sins. It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.” (Romans 3:25-26)
“There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” (Romans 8:1)
“Let it be known to you therefore, brothers, that through this Man (Jesus Christ) forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you, and by him everyone who believes is freed from everything from which you could not be freed by the law of Moses.” (Acts 13:38-39)
“In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace,” (Ephesians 1:7)
“Because of Christ and our faith in him, we can now come boldly and confidently into God’s presence,” (Ephensians 3:12) “Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need,” (Hebrews 4:16)
—Canon XXX. If any one shall say, that, after the grace of justification received, unto every penitent sinner the guilt is so remitted, and the penalty of eternal punishment so blotted out, that there remains not any penalty of temporal punishment, to be discharged either in this world, or in the next in purgatory, before the entrance to the kingdom of heaven can be laid open; let him be anathema.
Purgatory doesn’t exist, we live and when we die we are judged, “And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment” (Hebrews 9:27), and we are judged solely on this, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. [17] For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. [18] Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.” (John 3:16-18).
The Council of Trent is still in effect, and laid into official decree Catholic beliefs long held, and still held, so it cannot be reformed despite what Catholic prelates say, or else they’d risk calling into question their long held doctrines. The Council of Trent condemns the true gospel in Scripture according to apostle’s teaching. The Coujcil of Trent proves The Roman Catholic Church is not Christ’s Church and that they preach another gospel, which puts them under a curse, “But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed. As we have said before, so now I say again: If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed,” (Galatians 1:8-9), and “ But I am afraid that as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, your thoughts will be led astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ. For if someone comes and proclaims another Jesus than the one we proclaimed, or if you receive a different spirit from the one you received, or if you accept a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it too easily” (2 Corinthians 11:3-4). The Roman Catholic Church by condemning the True Gospel is a false Church with false apostles, “For such people are false apostles, deceitful workers, masquerading as apostles of Christ.” (2 Corinthians 11:13). Run from that Harlot of Rome, and choose the simply true Gospel laid out in Scripture that you are saved by grace through faith in Christ alone (John 3:16-18, John 10:26-30, Acts 15:11, Acts 2:10-12, Philippians 3:9, Ephesians 2:8-9, Romans 10:9-10). Amen.
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