The True Church?

An objection some people bring up regarding Christianity is there are different denominations. Splits have occurred in other religions. Nevertheless, many church groups claim theirs is the only “true church” such as this meme circulating on social media. I have friends who are Catholic. So my intent here is not taking potshots at their church. Still, I felt inspired to write this rebuttal…

1. “The only Church founded by Jesus Christ.” Jesus said in Matthew 16:18, “And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.” The “rock” is not Peter according to Catholic tradition but the revelation he had that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. It’s also worth noting churches couldn’t legally meet in the Roman Empire until Christianity was made the state religion three centuries after Christ’s ascension.

2. “The only Church that gave the world the Bible.” Jeremiah 1:12 (ESV) says that God watches over His word to perform it. Various scribes were used over a period of 1,500 years to bring the Scriptures to us. None of these men referred to themselves as Catholic.

3. “The only Church that has all the Sacraments instituted by Christ.” The only two sacraments mentioned in the New Testament are water baptism and communion. Those sacraments are not exclusive to Catholics. Most Bible-believing churches observe them.

4. “The only Church whose leadership traces its authority to Christ and the Apostles.” Churches are still being founded today by apostles who don’t identify as Catholic. Ephesians 2:20 says, “having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone.” How many Catholic churches have prophets giving divine utterances to their congregations? Probably few if any.

5. “The only true ‘universal’ Church on earth with a solid, unified doctrine and teaching.” Catholics are taught to believe unscriptural ideas such as purgatory, the worship of Mary plus her perpetual virginity, and praying to deceased saints. In the New Oxford American Dictionary, one of its definitions of catholic is “including a wide variety of things; all-embracing.” John Alexander Dowie once founded a fellowship in Chicago called the Christian Catholic Church that wasn’t connected at all with Catholicism.

No church is perfect because it is made up of imperfect people. What unites all believers (Catholic, Protestant, and otherwise) is knowing Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. We are to trust in Him alone for our salvation, not an institution.

“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” - John 3:16

St. Peter and the Pearly Gates

Three days ago I took a road trip from Minneapolis to Sioux Falls, South Dakota with another evangelist. One of our pit stops was in St. Peter, Minnesota. The name of that city had me thinking about the proverbial belief of the apostle standing by the gates of heaven. This is based on some people’s interpretation of Matthew 16…

15 He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?”

16 Simon Peter answered and said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”

17 Jesus answered and said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. 

18 And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. 

19 And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.”

Jesus was actually talking about kingdom authority. The power of binding and loosing is available to every believer. One who is born again already has citizenship in heaven (Philippians 3:20) for God “…made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus.” (Ephesians 2:6)

Recorded testimonies of individuals who received glimpses of the other side refute the idea of people waiting in line to see if they made it through the Pearly Gates. Individuals not in right standing with the Lord immediately descended towards hell. Conversely, Jesse Duplantis said the first man he saw in heaven was Abraham (not Peter) in his book and video “Close Encounters of the God Kind." A friend of mine told me Kat Kerr has a similar testimony.

The term “Pearly Gates” originated from the description of the New Jerusalem that will be transplanted from heaven to earth after the Great White Throne Judgment. The first half of Revelation 21:21 says, “The twelve gates were twelve pearls: each individual gate was of one pearl.” As I heard another minister point out, “How would you like to see the size of that oyster?”

Regardless of who may be standing by the gates of heaven, one must know Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior to go through them. Are you ready for eternity?

“Those gates are the way into the presence of the Lord, and the godly enter there.” - Psalm 118:20 (TLB)

Living Saints

This past week Pope Francis declared the late Mother Teresa would be elevated to sainthood. It reminded me of a Yahoo video I watched in 2011 called “The Four Steps to Becoming a Saint”, which claimed the late Pope John Paul II was one step away from sainthood. Immediately I thought how unbiblical that was. Had the pontiff obeyed Romans 10:13 (“whoever calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved.”) before he died, then he already took the only step needed.

The Catholic Church teaches that for a person to be considered for sainthood, he or she must have been dead for at least five years. There are many Scriptures proving a person cannot become a saint after they die. Revelation 22:11 says, “He who is unjust, let him be unjust still; he who is filthy, let him be filthy still; he who is righteous, let him be righteous still; he who is holy, let him be holy still.” Once a sinner passes through the gates of hell, he or she cannot become holy by the actions of another person including the pope.

The Catholic Church also teaches that to become a saint, there must be evidence of creating a medical miracle, such as the healing of a patient. Jesus told his disciples in Mark 16:17-18, “And these signs will follow those who believe…they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.” Divine healing does not make anyone a saint but can be the byproduct of one who knows his authority in Christ.

God’s people in both the Old Testament and the New Testament are referred to as saints. In the King James and New King James Version of the Bible, there are 20 verses in Psalms alone that mention saints. (Modern translations minimize the usage of this word with alternative terms like “God’s holy people.”) The ninth chapter of Acts has three references to God’s saints…

“Then Ananias answered, ‘Lord, I have heard from many about this man [Saul of Tarsus], how much harm he has done to Your saints in Jerusalem.’” - Acts 9:13

“Now it came to pass, as Peter went through all parts of the country, that he also came down to the saints who dwelt in Lydda.” - Acts 9:32

“Then he gave her his hand and lifted her up; and when he had called the saints and widows, he presented her alive.” - Acts 9:41

In Acts 26:10, the Apostle Paul talked about when he had shut up “many of the saints” in prison. How rational would it be for someone to put dead people in jail?

Paul began several of his epistles by addressing the brethren as saints…

“Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, and Timothy our brother, To the church of God which is at Corinth, with all the saints who are in all Achaia”- 2 Corinthians 1:1

“Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, to the saints who are in Ephesus, and faithful in Christ Jesus:” - Ephesians 1:1

“Paul and Timothy, bondservants of Jesus Christ, to all the saints in Christ Jesus who are in Philippi, with the bishops and deacons” - Philippians 1:1

“Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, and Timothy our brother, to the saints and faithful brethren in Christ who are in Colosse: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. - Colossians 1:1-2

Who in his right mind would write letters to dead people?

In Romans 12:13, Paul wrote about “distributing to the needs of the saints, given to hospitality.” A dead person doesn’t need any earthly possessions. As many preachers often say, "I have never seen a hearse pulling a U-Haul trailer.”

Romans 15:26 refers to making “…a certain contribution for the poor among the saints who are in Jerusalem.” 1 Corinthians 16:1 also talks about “the collection for the saints.” What good is it to receive an offering for a dead person? One exception could be to cover someone’s funeral expenses.

Paul also wrote in Romans 15:31, “that I may be delivered from those in Judea who do not believe, and that my service for Jerusalem may be acceptable to the saints.” A person doesn’t do the Lord’s work to please dead people. It only matters if the Lord tells us, “Well done, thou good and faithful servant.” (Matthew 25:21 KJV)

Romans 16:15 says,“Greet Philologus and Julia, Nereus and his sister, and Olympas, and all the saints who are with them.” Paul wouldn’t greet the dead because the Mosaic Law forbade believers from occultic practices. Jesus pointed out in Luke 16:26 a dead person cannot speak to one who is alive. Mediums who think they are communicating with the dead are really listening to deceiving spirits.

I’ve heard some Christians borrow Paul’s comment in Ephesians 3:8 and say they are “the least of all the saints.” The New Living Translation of this verse reads, “Though I am the least deserving of all God’s people, he graciously gave me the privilege of telling the Gentiles about the endless treasures available to them in Christ.” True humility is not putting yourself down but simply recognizing it’s the grace of God that enables you to fulfill His plans and purposes for your life.

On a related note, many believers call themselves “a sinner saved by grace.” If a person really is saved, then he is technically a saint or as 2 Corinthians 5:17 says, “…a new creation in Christ Jesus.” A sinner is someone who practices sin.

So if you don’t know Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, then you ain’t a saint. But you can become one by being born again…before you die.

“And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment” 

– Hebrews 9:27

Upon This Rock

It’s important to study the Bible for yourself and not blindly accept everything a minister says from the pulpit. Wrong religious traditions have developed over the years due to people not rightly dividing the word of truth. For example, Catholics believe Peter was the first pope because of what Jesus said in Matthew 16:18…

“And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.”

The name Peter comes from the Greek word petros meaning “rock.” Because the next verse refer to Jesus giving “…the keys of the kingdom of heaven”, some people believe “St. Peter” is at the Pearly Gates deciding who gets in and who doesn’t. It’s true that God used this fisherman as a leader in the early days of the church. But Peter himself wrote in 1 Peter 2:4-8…

4 Coming to Him as to a living stone, rejected indeed by men, but chosen by God and precious,

5 you also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.

6 Therefore it is also contained in the Scripture, “Behold, I lay in Zion a chief cornerstone, elect, precious, and he who believes on Him will by no means be put to shame.”

7 Therefore, to you who believe, He is precious; but to those who are disobedient, “The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone,”

8 and “A stone of stumbling and a rock of offense.” They stumble, being disobedient to the word, to which they also were appointed.

Genesis 49:24 refers to the Messiah as “the Shepherd, the Stone of Israel.” Ephesians 2:20 says that the household of God is “…built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone.” The apostles (including Peter) were simply “pieces of the rock.” There is only one "rock" we are to base our faith upon: Jesus Christ.

“For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.” - 1 Corinthians 3:11