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"Take
Heed" Ministries
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Cecil Andrews, PO BOX 13, Ballynahinch, BT24 8AL, Northern Ireland. Telephone/Fax 028 9756 5511. E-MAIL - takeheed@aol.com WEBSITE - http://www.takeheed.net |
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Roman Catholicism
and Indulgences: Any changes
since Luther’s days? |
Each day I receive via email the
daily news bulletin from the Roman Catholic Zenit news agency.
This gives comprehensive details of the major statements, pronouncements and
activities as they affect the Roman Catholic ‘world’.
The following is an item that was
included in the bulletin received today and true believers should weep as they
read of how the Roman Catholic Church still proclaims its ability to dispense
‘forgiveness’ of sin upon its terms. This matter concerns ‘indulgences’ and this is what the item stated:
A plenary indulgence can be gained
by participants in the meeting of ecclesial movements and new communities with
the Pope in St. Peter's Square on the eve of Pentecost. The decision was made
by the Apostolic Penitentiary, a tribunal of the Holy See, in response to a
request of Archbishop Stanislaw Rylko, president of the Pontifical Council for
the Laity.
Thus the plenary
indulgence already established for the solemnity of Pentecost by the
Enchiridion Indulgentiarum is extended. According to the Enchiridion, a plenary indulgence is granted "to the faithful who,
in a church or oratory, participates devoutly in the solemn signing or praying
of the hymn 'Veni, Creator' ... on the solemnity of Pentecost."
Archbishop Rylko requested that all the faithful who participate in the world
meeting of ecclesial movements and new communities with Benedict XVI on June 3,
the eve of Pentecost, be able to obtain on that occasion the gift
of a plenary indulgence.
Those faithful will be able to gain the indulgence "even if they cannot
get into the patriarchal
The document reminds participants that to gain a plenary indulgence, in addition to the
stipulated solemn praying or singing of the "Veni, Creator," they
must have a "spirit removed from all sin and fulfill the usual
conditions" -- sacramental confession, Eucharistic Communion and prayers
for the intentions of the Supreme Pontiff.
Definition
Canon 992 of the Code of Canon Law and the Catechism of the Catholic Church, No. 1471, state: "An indulgence is a remission before God of the temporal punishment due to sins whose guilt has already been forgiven, which the faithful Christian who is duly disposed gains under certain prescribed conditions through the action of the Church which, as the minister of redemption, dispenses and applies with authority the treasury of the satisfactions of Christ AND the saints."
"An indulgence is partial or plenary according as it removes
either part or all of the temporal punishment due to sin. Indulgences may
be applied to the living or the dead," it continues.
The first world meeting of ecclesial movements and new communities drew 100,000
to St. Peter's Square for an encounter with Pope John Paul II at Pentecost
1998.
The Pontifical Council for the Laity confirmed that leaders of some 100
movements and communities have offered to help the dicastery in organizing the
event.
ZE06052402
In this statement the
Roman Catholic Church is still claiming to possess, ‘as
the minister of redemption’ [no
mention here of the ‘one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus’
1 Timothy 2:5 or of ‘the [Holy] Spirit himself who
bears witness with our spirit that we are the children of God’ Romans
8:16] the ‘authority’
to ‘dispense and apply’ ‘remission
before God of the temporal punishment due to sins whose guilt has already been
forgiven’ based upon the merits of ‘Christ
AND the saints’ and this ‘remission’
is described as a ‘gift’.
Let
me just make some very simple points on this matter.
Forgiveness of sin
from the divine perspective can only be ‘dispensed and applied’ by
God Himself. Having heard the Lord ‘dispense’ forgiveness of sins
to the man, sick of the palsy, the on-looking scribes, [no doubt familiar with
the words of Isaiah 43:14& 25 “Thus saith the Lord, your Redeemer, the
Holy One of Israel…I, even I, am he that blotteth out thy transgressions”]
asked in anger “Who can forgive sins but God only?” [Mark 2:7]
The Lord did not challenge their statement but used it to affirm that He was
the Incarnate Son of God by saying in response “that ye may know that the
Son of Man hath power on earth to forgive sins” [Mark
‘The Church’
does not possess any authority to ‘dispense and apply’ remission
of sin but can preach and affirm that such remission of sin comes directly from
God and it comes alone through repentance toward God and faith alone in Christ
crucified alone. In Acts 5:30-31 Peter said “The God of our fathers
raised up Jesus whom ye slew and hanged on a tree. HIM hath God exalted with
his right hand, TO BE a Prince and a Saviour, TO GIVE repentance to
In Acts 13:32-33
& 38-39 we read these words of Paul “And we declare unto you glad
tidings, how the promise that was made unto the fathers, God hath fulfilled the
same unto us their children in that he hath raised up Jesus again…through this
man [Jesus] is
PREACHED [not ‘dispensed and applied’]
the forgiveness of sins. And BY HIM [Jesus] all
that believe are justified [permanently pardoned from all penalty due because of their
sin – this allows no room for the Roman Catholic teaching of ‘temporal
punishment due to sins whose guilt has already been forgiven’] from all
things which ye could not be justified by [keeping] the law of
Moses”.
In
short,
usurps
God’s unique prerogative to forgive sins from the divine standpoint.
God’s Word declares in Romans
In
contrast, Rome arrogantly usurps the right to ‘dispense and apply’ a
GIFT that only God can give and then compounds its error by burdening those,
seeking forgiveness of their sins, with work that they must do - "to the
faithful who, in a church or oratory, participates devoutly in the solemn
signing or praying of the hymn 'Veni, Creator' ... on the solemnity of
Pentecost."
But
Bill
Jackson of ‘Christians Evangelising Catholics’ explains
this concept of a ‘Treasury of Merit’ or ‘Treasury of the
Church’ as follows –
‘The
superabundant merits of Christ and the saints from which the Church draws to
confer spiritual blessings, as Indulgences. The thought is that some saints had
a surplus of merit (more than they needed for Heaven). Rather than lose these,
God stored them so others who have need can draw from their superabundance’.
[‘Christian’s Guide to Roman Catholicism’ p120].
Can the assets, material or spiritual, of mere humans, who
according to Rome’s false understanding in many cases, are classified by them
as supposed ‘saints’, be the basis for any spiritual blessing ‘dispensed
and applied’ to others? God’s Word clearly says ‘no’ as we read
in Psalm 49:7 “None of them can by any means redeem his brother” and in Isaiah
64:6 we discover God’s ‘valuation’ of the best of human endeavours – “all
our righteousnesses are as filthy rags”.
But let me make one further point about this GIFT. In
my dictionary a GIFT is defined as ‘something given, a present’
but because of
the ensuing ‘Indulgence’ that they
‘dispense and apply’ is disqualified from being regarded as a GIFT.
‘The faithful’ one has had to do
something to earn this ‘Indulgence’, this ‘remission
before God of the temporal punishment due to sins whose guilt has already been
forgiven’. This ‘Indulgence’ therefore is not a GIFT but a REWARD
that is defined in my dictionary as ‘something given in return for a
deed or service rendered’.
Former Roman Catholic, Jim
McCarthy, in his book ‘The Gospel According to Rome’ writes on page 101
– ‘though the Bible teaches that God will reward faithful stewards in heaven,
it never says that He will reward them with heaven’ – yet that is
precisely what Rome teaches. Jim clearly identified this false teaching by
‘To those
who work well to the end and keep their trust in God, eternal life
should be held out, both as a grace promised in his mercy through Jesus
Christ and as A REWARD to be faithfully bestowed, on the promise of God
himself FOR THEIR GOOD WORKS AND MERITS’ [Council of
Trent: Session 6: ‘Decree on Justification’ chapter 16].
Every true child of God should
know that if a GIFT from God is “by grace, then is it no more of
works; otherwise grace is no more grace. But if it be of works, then is it no
more grace; otherwise work is no more work” [Romans 11:6]. In God’s Word we
learn from Romans
Jim McCarthy continues on page 101
of his book – ‘Eternal life is NOT a REWARD, BUT the unmerited GIFT of God.
Jesus speaking of His sheep, said, “I give eternal life to them” [John
In the heading to this article I wrote – ‘Any changes
since Luther’s days?’ I want to answer that by quoting from the ‘Introduction
to a helpful little booklet ‘Martin Luther’s Ninety-Five Theses’ published
in 2002. ‘Stephen J Nichols, an associate professor at
‘Tradition has it that
one evening Martin Luther, while walking the streets of
The answer to the question I posed - ‘Any changes since Luther’s days?’ – is a
resounding ‘No!’
Sincere, faithful Roman Catholics are still being
‘spiritually hood-winked’ by the present Pope Benedict XVI and his Magisterium,
every bit as much as in the days of Luther and for that we, as God’s people,
should not only weep for them but also witness to them concerning the breadth
of the glorious gospel of Jesus Christ as proclaimed by Paul in Romans 8:1
“There is therefore now NO CONDEMNATION to them who are in Christ Jesus”.
Pastor John MacArthur in his ‘Study Bible’ comments
as follows on the expression ‘No condemnation’ – ‘Occurring only 3 times in
the New Testament, all in Romans [5:16&18] “condemnation” is used
exclusively in judicial settings as the opposite of “justification”. It refers
to a verdict of guilty and the penalty that verdict demands. No sin a believer
can commit – past, present or future – can be held against him, since the
penalty was paid by Christ and righteousness was imputed to the believer. And
no sin will ever reverse this divine legal decision against someone whom God
has declared righteous [see note on verse 33].
That is the glorious biblical truth about God’s gracious
[unearned, unmerited] forgiveness – what a contrast this to
Cecil Andrews – ‘Take Heed’
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