Open Letter to Anglicans

The Vatican has opened an express way to Anglicans, unhappy about your church’s policy on woman bishops and gay clergy – to convert to the Roman Catholic Church. Many Anglicans were stunned, others were angered by the Pope’s move.

You shouldn’t be. All the ecumenical talk is but a façade to the Vatican’s ultimate aim, namely, to lure Christians in other denominations to Rome. It couldn’t be otherwise. The Roman magisterium has never changed the claim that the Roman Catholic Church is the one and only true church of Jesus Christ. The Catholic magisterium is simply being consistent with its fundamental beliefs.

What should Anglicans do?

Over the years I have observed the sad decline in the Anglican and Episcopalian churches. The Anglican church has fallen away from its historic stand on the sufficiency and authority of Scripture. The Thirty Nine Articles states:

Holy Scripture containeth all things necessary to salvation: so that whatsoever is not read therein, nor may be proved thereby, is not to be required of any man, that it should be believed as an article of the Faith, or be thought requisite or necessary to salvation.

The God-inspired Scriptures are able to make us wise unto salvation by faith in Christ Jesus. Please ask yourself whether the Anglican church has largely ignored the teaching of the Bible on moral issues – the ordination of woman and the acceptance of homosexual bishops are but symptomatic of the substitution of the Word of God for the humanistic opinions of our godless culture.

However you will not be helped by joining the Roman Catholic Church. Rome officially rejects 'Sola Scriptura' - not only by the addition of an undefined body of 'Holy Tradition', but by sitting in absolute authority over all people as the only authentic interpreter of the Word of God. In effect, by joining the Catholic Church you will be bound to submit your mind and will to the teaching of the Vatican.

In particular, consider the doctrine of justification, for this article is the heart of the gospel message. Historically, the Anglican Church taught that:

We are accounted righteous before God, only for the merit of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ by Faith, and not for our own works or deservings. Wherefore, that we are justified by Faith only, is a most wholesome Doctrine, and very full of comfort.

This is the great gospel truth cherished by Anglicans and all Protestants. We are accounted righteous ONLY for the merit of our Lord Jesus, and not on account of any good works of ours. Moreover we are justified through faith ALONE, and not through some other mediator, be it the Catholic priest, the intercession of Mary, rituals or the fire of Purgatory.

Yet Rome categorically denies this blessed gospel truth. In the Roman Church you will be told to work and do religious deeds to merit grace and to merit eternal life; you will be required to do penance to make satisfaction for you sin.

As for me, and I hope you too, dear brethren in the Church of England, we stand by faith alone on Christ alone for justification. He is our merit, our righteousness and our satisfaction for sin. We are justified by God’s grace alone and not on account of our deeds. Having renounced all confidence in ourselves, acknowledging our guilt and demerit, we wholly lean on the Lord Jesus by faith. He has never lost one of his sheep!

As for church membership, make sure that your local church is "a congregation of faithful men, in which the pure Word of God is preached, and the Sacraments be duly ministered according to Christ's ordinance". If your local Anglican church fits this description, remain therein, while praying fervently and working earnestly for its reformation. If not, seek and join a local congregation of believers that uphold the teaching of the Bible on justification and the other precious doctrines of the Gospel.

I have been praying for the Anglican church these past days, may God raise people like Thomas Cranmer and J.C. Ryle to reform the Anglican Church. May the remnant of God’s people in the Anglican community be preserved and vindicated by their Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ.

Christ the Sin Bearer

(Gospel e-Letter - November 2009)

Can God be merciful to sinners while being absolutely just and upright? Justice demands that sinners should be punished, while mercy allows the guilty to go free. If justice prevails, mercy is refused; but if mercy triumphs, justice is undone. Is there a solution to this dilemma?

Thank God, the gospel message is the answer! The Bible reveals God’s infinite wisdom in finding a way to be both just and the justifier of the ungodly who believes in Christ.

The Bible teaches that we were under God’s wrath because we are law-breaker. ‘All who rely on observing the law are under a curse, for it is written: Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the Book of the Law’ (Galatians 3:10). None of us obeyed God’s Law perfectly; therefore all of us were under divine condemnation.

But God sent his Son to the world to take away our sin. The sinless One became sin for us; the blessed Son became a curse for us. ‘Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree’ (Galatians 3:13). Christ redeemed – that is, he liberated us – from the curse imposed on us by the Law when he offered his life as a sacrifice. He took our curse upon himself. No curse remains anymore on those who believe in Christ, but rather the blessings of God.

Sadly many people do not accept the biblical teaching on the death of Christ. Someone wrote to me, ‘I just can’t understand the concept of person "A" committing a sin and having it transferred to person “B” who is punished instead of the other. If I rob a bank, the police don't arrest my daughter or my father. They arrest me. Yet the Bible teaches that Jesus died for our sins. This concept of transferring sin from a guilty party to an innocent party seems so immoral.’

Indeed it would be immoral if the punishment is imposed on an innocent person instead of the guilty party. But it would be an act of pure love and generosity, and certainly not immoral, if someone voluntarily accepts to pay the penalty for another.
I first understood this concept of transfer of punishment before I opened the pages of the Bible. It was my fifteenth birthday. Without permission and without a driving license, I drove my father's tractor on a busy road and I was involved in traffic accident. I caused hundreds of pounds worth of damages to the brand new van involved in the collision.

I was guilty; my father was not.

Yet my father paid all the damages for me. I did not pay a cent.

That is, in essence, what the Bible teaches about the meaning of Christ's death. I broke the Law; he paid the death penalty in my place. He bore my sins. He took away my curse. He took my punishment. And he did so voluntarily. ‘I lay down my life,’ Jesus said, ‘No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord’ (John 10:17-18).

The cross of Christ is the manifestation of the justice and the mercy of God in perfect unity.

Therefore with all God’s people I rejoice in the wonderful truth that Christ ‘was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed’ (Isaiah 53:5).
We acknowledge our guilt and that we deserve punishment; but we rejoice in the grace of God who spared us the punishment because he laid our penalty upon his suffering Servant, Jesus Christ.

Opinion Poll - October 2009

'Work out your salvation' (Phil 2:12) means that we should merit salvation by our works.

• True 2 (5%)
• False 34 (95%)

Total votes: 36. Poll closed.

Comment

In Phil 2:12 the Apostle Paul does not contradict what he states so clearly in Ephesians 2:9, namely that salvation is not of works. Yet so many Catholic defenders irresponsibly appeal to Philippians 2 to support the Roman Catholic doctrine of merit.

Paul is not telling the saved to merit by their works what God gives by his grace! No, but he appeals to the saved, to work, for that is God's purpose for his people, even as Paul explains in Ephesians 2:10.

See: Work out your salvation

Catholics Misunderstand Sola Fide

[Gospel e-Letter - October 2009]



Catholics continue to accuse Protestants of antinomianism, as if we teach that ‘faith alone’ implies that believers are not obliged to obey God’s moral law and abound in good works. Catholics hear us speak of justification by ‘faith alone’ but they do not listen when we insist that the faith that justifies is never alone in the life of the Christian, but is a living faith, working through love!

The Westminster Confession summarizes the Protestant doctrine clearly, '[Faith] receiving and resting on Christ and his righteousness, is the alone instrument of justification; yet is it not alone in the person justified, but is ever accompanied with all other saving graces, and is no dead faith, but worketh by love.’

If the Catholic charge were correct, it would be utterly fatal to Protestantism -- sola fide would be a false gospel -- for Christ Jesus certainly did not come to save sinners from the guilt and punishment of sin only, but from its power and pollution as well. He saves his people from their sin, not in their sin! So if someone professes to be a believer and yet is not sanctified, he is not a believer at all, and is not anymore justified than the devil himself.

But why do Catholics persist with their charge against us?

They know that faith without works is dead, as the Scripture so clearly teaches, and they often hear Protestants speak of justification by faith alone apart from our works. They rush to an unwarranted conclusion (faith alone = antinomianism) even though we explain that ‘apart from works’ means ‘apart from the merit of works’ and not ‘apart from the presence of works.’

Moreover they hear some Protestants, who misunderstand Protestantism as much as they twist the teaching of the Apostle Paul and the rest of Scripture, teaching ‘easy-believism’. These wolves in sheep’s clothing in Protestant pulpits assure those who ‘put their faith in Christ’ (which often means no more than parroting the so-called ‘sinner’s prayer’) that they are saved and eternally secure, ‘once saved always saved,’ even though there is no hard evidence that their faith is genuine and even though they continue to wallow neck-deep in sin. Still these false teachers insist that such people are saved by faith; that discipleship and holiness are desirable goals but not necessary for salvation; and that ‘worldly’ and ‘backslidden’ Christians will ultimately be saved nonetheless.

Their deception of these blind teachers will be exposed and the delusion of their blind followers will be shattered on that Day when the Lord solemnly declares to them, ‘I never knew you. Depart from me, you evildoers.'

We join Catholics in condemning easy-believism and antinomianism, but sadly we must part company when it comes to the ‘purpose’ of the works that follow after faith. For Catholics these works merit grace and eternal life; for us, works are the fruits and signs of justifying faith, for which God also rewards his children.

But justification per se, the legal status of right standing before God’s tribunal, is not based on our works at all, neither in the beginning, nor in the end, or at any other time in between. We are justified by faith alone on account of Christ alone, and not on account of anything that we did or will ever do.

Yet this faith is not a cheap, worthless, putrefying counterfeit that is so often passed as true faith. The faith that justifies is the gift of God -- a pulsating, living faith in Jesus Christ that bears much fruit. Good works are the necessary outcome and evidence of true faith, but then, true faith never ever deviates its attention from Christ to anything else, not even to the good works that result from the vital union with Christ and the work of the Holy Spirit in us. For justification, the Christian relies by faith 100% on Christ alone, and 0% on the Christ-wrought works in and through the believer.

A true Christian believes in Christ. A true Christian believes in Christ alone for justification! His works show! They show that his faith is real. They show, moreover, because he relies not on them for justification, but continues to hold on to Christ alone till his last breath.

Opinion Poll - September 2009

God has mercy on whom he wants to have mercy; he hardens whom he wants to harden.

• True 42 (84%)
• False 8 (16%)

Total votes: 50. Poll closed.

Comment

This is a humbling truth because it shows our unworthiness and complete dependence on the grace of God. Moreover, God is sovereign, he does what he wants, he has no obligation to anyone, indeed he does not have to show mercy on any of us sinners. The wonder of wonders is that God shows mercy on some of his unworthy, rebellious creatures, and adopt them as his children.

Dialogue with s Muslim

I wonder how you would respond to this letter from a Muslim. Please add your comments below

I read your article , and some of the statements are untrue. Because jesus peace be upon him we believe he is a mighty messenger sent by allah . Born miraculously, spoke to men in the cradle, helped the blind and the leper by gods permission. Jesus nowhere in the bible says i am god worship me. As far as his died for peoples sins that is a myth and forgery . In a court of law you cannot kill someone else for his sins. The perfect worship for god is he is unseen , there are no idols of him nor is there anything like him he is one , neither he begets and was begotten he is the creator of all things and humans he does not belong in the creation he is above all things. As a muslim myself this is how god is the perfect creator and owner and master of judgement day. If you are searching for god then research the quran , its not about numbers of catholics or muslims in the world ,but it is the individuals who will stand trial on the day of judgement so we are obliged to seek the truth. Verily god created mankind for the purpose of worship.

My reply:

Dear Friend,

Thank you for your letter and your thoughts about religion.

I agree with you that God created us to worship him, and as a corollary, to know and enjoy him forever. God is eternal, all-powerful, just and kind. God is invisible and we should not make any material representations of him or worship him through images (as sadly some people wrongly do in some Christian traditions like Catholicism). We ought to seek God in truth.

As a Muslim you have been thought that Jesus is not the Son of God, that he did not accept to be worshiped, and that he did not die for our sins.

However you believe that he was a prophet and a good man.

Would a prophet and a good man lie? For Jesus said over and over again that he is the Son of God? Moreover he claimed to be equal with the Father, and received worship from the people, just as he continues to be worshiped today by millions of Christians. See http://www.justforcatholics.org/d09.htm

You said that 'In a court of law you cannot kill someone else for his sins.' True enough. But what if someone else voluntarily chooses to pay the penalty for something that you have done? Once, when I was a young teenager, I drove my father's tractor on a busy public road without a license, and I was involved in an accident with a van. I caused extensive damages that amounted to hundreds of liri. I was taken to court and found guilty and ordered to pay an extensive sum of money.

But at that point my father paid all the fine for me. He, of course, had no guilt. I was guilty. I should have paid. But I did not. He paid on my behalf. And I am grateful for being kind to me.

In the same way, I broke the Law of God so many times by disobeying to my parents, lying, foul language, stealing, immorality and hatred, and I admit that I am guilty before the Judge.

The good news of the gospel is that God the Father sent his Son, who is one nature with him, and he became a man, yet without sin, to take upon himself the guilt and the punishment for my sins. He died on the cross so that I will not be sent to hell forever.

You find that hard to believe, but you shouldn't do since you believe in God who is all-powerful and kind. All all-powerful God could do what he wants -- to show mercy to sinners like me, and to remain just and righteous when he justifies me and frees me from condemnation.

Friend, like me, you too have broken God's Law. Do you know of something or somebody else who is able to cleanse you from sin and take away your guilt? You believe that God is righteous and just, therefore he will not be able to declare you righteous on that Day (even though he desire to show you mercy) if you have the slightest sin. Would you consider a judge at the court of law as good, just and honest if he gives a sentence of 'not guilty' to robbers and murderers because he want to be kind to them? We call such a judge 'corrupt'! We can be sure, however, that God is not corrupt. He is true and honest and just, and he will by no means free the guilty ... unless their punishment has been paid to the full by Someone else.