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"Am I therefore become your enemy, because I tell you the truth?" Galatians 4:16
The Vatican has removed all doubt about what the pope means by unity. In a document released July 10, the Roman Catholic Institution again claimed that there is no salvation outside the "church." Pope says, "If it's not Catholic...it's not really a church." "Christ established here on earth only one church," the document states. Churches that do not recognize the "primacy of the pope?cannot be called 'churches' in the proper sense," and therefore lack the "means of salvation." Careful study of Vatican pronouncements over the centuries shows this constant theme. During the Reformation, Rome used the inquisition to try to squash the revolt against its control. Anyone who refused to recognize Roman Catholicism as the only true church or bow to the wafer god was executed. A change of tactics Since that didn't work, they changed tactics during the 20th century. The new strategy was subtle wooing instead of extermination. Using a new Vatican Ecumenical Council known as "Vatican II" they began to claim that Catholicism was "just another denomination" having just a "different worship tradition." Many protestants began to look only at the sheep-like clothing, ignoring the wolf inside. Catholics began to use terms familiar to Bible believers such as born again and "receiving Jesus." Some even began praying in tongues (sometimes to the Virgin Mary) and were welcomed into the Charismatic movement. The deception was uncovered by looking carefully at the Catholic definition of these terms. For example, for a Catholic to "receive Jesus," it means to have his "Jesus" placed on his tongue, chewed and swallowed. This occurs after the ordained priest performs the ritual to change the wheat wafer into the "body, blood and divinity" of Jesus. The words have different meanings As you can see, the phrase "receive Jesus" has two entirely different meanings for the Protestant and the Roman Catholic. Yet the gullible Protestant is led to believe that Catholic is, therefore, "born again." On the basis of this deception, millions of Protestants have stopped witnessing to the lost Catholics, believing somehow that they are saved. This recent document was simply a restatement of one issued in 2000. Yet, Protestants took that one in stride and continued "dialog" with the Vatican, thinking that eventually it would lead to a truly biblical unity. And this document reasserts that the pope is "committed to ecumenical dialogue" in spite of its harsh tone. This is important to the pope, because this dialogue continues to promote the confusion that Catholics are saved, keeping soul winners from witnessing to them. But anyone who looks beneath the fluffy wool coat will see that the wolf has not changed. Pronouncements such as these state clearly that any unity will be on the pope's terms. When he talks about the "primacy of the pope," he means accepting the pope as Christ's representative on earth. Catholics call this the "Apostolic Succession," that Jesus made Peter the first pope to be His representative, and each succeeding pope is Christ's "vicar" (like a vice president) in charge of the church on earth. Paul told the Corinthians to not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. Instead of unity with the Catholics, we need to recognize that the pope is a false priest promoting worship to their wafer god who is not the same as our Saviour. As Bible believers, we need to lovingly show them the danger they are in by belonging to the prostitute church condemned in Rev. 17-19. Larry Dyer, President |
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