The Catholic Gospel - FALSE

By Sandy Nafziger

Raphael was painting his famous Vatican frescoes when a couple of cardinals stopped by to watch and to criticize. “The face of the apostle is too red,” said one. Raphael replied, “He blushes to see into whose hands the church has fallen” (quoted in Warren Wiersbe’s The Integrity Crisis).

You no doubt noticed in the news this week many reports on the widening Catholic sex abuse scandal. More than 170 students across Germany have claimed they were sexually abused along with 60 others recently announced in Switzerland—a pattern which can be traced across the entire globe.

As John MacArthur says, “False doctrine cannot restrain the flesh, so false prophets manifest wickedness.” Catholic theology abounds with false doctrine! We should always be aware of this fact—good doctrine produces good fruit, not bad fruit and bad doctrine produces bad fruit (Matt 7:17-20). False doctrine can lead to depraved moral behavior resulting in severe consequences as seen consistently in the Catholic church. This is why we do our best to teach “sound doctrine” (1 Tim 4:16) at the Hospitality House—yes, doctrine does divide (as it should) but it also unites those who stand firm on God’s Word.

I am not here to bash Catholic’s…we love them, but…there was a Reformation for a reason—the false teaching has not changed in 500 years and Christians must know truth so they can reach Catholic’s with the true Gospel—it’s part of my responsibility to warn (Phil. 3:1-2).

Catholic false doctrine—here are just a few examples. The Bible quotes are from the Roman Catholic Bible proving their own teaching contradicts their own Bible. The paragraph numbers at the end of the RCC (Roman Catholic Church) statements are quotes from the Catechism of the Catholic Church.

The Roman Catholic Bible says, “He saved us, not because of any righteous deeds we have done, but because of His mercy” (Titus 3:5).
The Catechism of the Catholic Church (RCC) says that each person attains His own salvation by grace and good works (1477)

Bible: “For you know it was not with perishable things…that you are redeemed…but with the precious blood of Christ” (1 Pet 1:18-19)
RCC teaches that Mary is the sinless co-Redeemer. “Without a single sin to restrain her, she gave herself entirely to the person and work of her son; she did so in order to serve the mystery of redemption with Him…being obedient she became the cause of salvation for herself and for the whole human race” (494)

Bible: “God is one, one also is the mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus” (1 Tim 2:5; 1 Jn 2:1)
RCC teaches that Mary “did not lay aside [her] saving office but by her manifold intercession continues to bring us the gifts of eternal salvation.” She “is…Advocate…and Mediatrix” (969)

Bible: “Through his blood, God made him the means of expiation for all who believe” (Rom 3:25).
RCC teaches that sins are expiated in purgatory through “a cleansing fire” and that we “must strive to accept this temporal punishment of sin as a grace” (1030, 31, 1472-75)

Bible: “There is no salvation in anyone else, for there is no other name in the whole world given to men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12).
RCC denies this by claiming the Catholic Church “is necessary for salvation” (846) and claiming “the plan of salvation also includes those who acknowledge the Creator, in the first place amongst who are Muslims” (841).

Bible: “When you heard the glad tidings of salvation, the word of truth, and believed in it, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit” (Eph 1:13). Those “who believe in His name were begotten not by …man’s willing it, but by God” (Jn 1:13).
RCC teaches “Baptism is the sacrament of regeneration…without which no one can enter the kingdom of God” (1213, 1215).

The RCC and the Bible can’t both be right since they oppose each other in many critical areas. It’s not a matter of semantics, interpretation or context. There is very clear disagreement—you can’t have two different truths about the same thing!