I’ll say right off the bat that no, it’s not a sin to say that you know you are going to go to heaven. This is not just my opinion but is written in the infallible pages of the Bible, God’s Word to us, and Christ has many statements to back that up as well! (We’ll review this in a moment.) I will add, however, that you can certainly be mistaken about the assurance of salvation, that you may think you are saved when really you are not, but an error of judgment or fact isn’t necessarily a sin. (Which I will certainly extrapolate upon in this discussion!)

Interestingly, the Catholic Church teaches that it is a sin to assume you are saved. They call this the sin of presumption, but it is in direct contradiction to the words of the Bible, and the words and assurances of Jesus Christ, the very person in whom we presume to even have this assurance.

The Catholic Church makes the following statement in their catechism:

“There are two kinds of presumption. Either man presumes upon his own capacities, (hoping to be able to save himself without help from on high), or he presumes upon God’s almighty power or his mercy (hoping to obtain his forgiveness without conversion and glory without merit.” Pg. 507, #2092

What?!?!?! Interestingly, this statement is found under the subheading titled “Hope.” I have to admit, I can’t find a lot of hope in this statement. The Catholic Church implies a perpetual works-based earning of merit that in the end, you “hope” you will be allowed into heaven.

Can you imagine a loving God that would tease you all your life, up until your dying breath, when at your last gasp as the world dims you still carry the fear and uncertainty of tottering over the brink of hell and eternal separation from God because of some unconfessed sin or not knowing if you had gained enough of God’s favor, or that you didn’t say the Lord’s prayer enough times or didn’t pray the Rosary on a regular basis? What’s up with that?

Do you think a God of love would act in that manner towards his children? Is that a God you would want to worship in love and thankfulness and gratitude or like the pagans of old are you constantly running up the volcano, throwing your sacrifice into the pit, and then running down the mountain before He has a chance to spit up a lava bomb on you?

That’s not our God. Our God wants you to know that you are His child; that you will be with him forever; that nothing can take you from His grasp.

Let’s open the Bible… Let’s listen to the Words of Jesus:

Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life.
(John 5:24 ESV)

For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.”
(John 6:40 ESV)

Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes has eternal life. I am the bread of life.
(John 6:47-48 ESV)

Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”
(John 8:12 ESV)

I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture.
(John 10:9 ESV)

And most assuredly:

My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.”
(John 10:27-30 ESV)

Jesus, the man who lived a sinless life, told us these things. Therefore, it is not a sin to have this assurance of our salvation.

The Apostle John tells us this as well

I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God that you may know that you have eternal life.
(1 John 5:13 ESV)

The Apostle Paul displayed this confidence… Does that mean that he was wrong or presumptuous to make such an assumption? Faced with the threat of death Paul looks forward to being with Christ but also knows he still has work to do here on earth:

I am hard pressed between the two. My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better.
(Philippians 1:23 ESV)

How can you have this confidence? Listen to the words of Jesus above: have faith in Him that he took on your burden of guilt and sin; that he paid the price to get us into heaven. Then you will have the confidence of your salvation and not a blind hope.

When you put your hope in Christ, there’s nothing keeping you out of heaven. As he said, he is the door. And opening that door is to walk the road less traveled. But the way is narrow. If you put your faith and hope in earning your way to heaven as the Muslims and Buddhists and Mennonites and countless other false doctrines do, you may have confidence in your salvation, but it will be a false one.

It’s too easy. We have a hard time accepting it. That salvation is free; and all we have to do is believe on Jesus Christ’s work on our behalf. But God’s ways are not our ways, and Glory be to God for that!

In closing, I’ll ask you to reflect on the popular Hymn, Blessed Assurance, which celebrates the assurance we have in the work of Jesus Christ for our salvation and eternal security in heaven with God our Father.

Don’t just listen to these verses… read them, comprehend them, and be assured… when you accept Christ and His work on the cross, you inherit the righteousness you need to be assured you will spend eternity with God.

May the peace and blessed assurance of our salvation given by God be with you.

He wants you to have that assurance, and to praise Him all day long!

May God Bless you, and may your light shine among men in the darkness.

-Anthony

Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine!
O what a foretaste of glory divine!
Heir of salvation, purchase of God,
born of his Spirit, washed in his blood.

Refrain: This is my story, this is my song,
praising my Savior all the day long;
this is my story, this is my song,
praising my Savior all the day long.

Perfect submission, perfect delight,
visions of rapture now burst on my sight;
angels descending bring from above
echoes of mercy, whispers of love. (Refrain)

Perfect submission, all is at rest;
I in my Savior am happy and blest,
watching and waiting, looking above,
filled with his goodness, lost in his love. (Refrain)

It may sound harsh, but most good Catholics have as much a sense of surety of their heaven – boundedness as any good Muslim, Mennonite, or Orthodox Jew: They think they have to “be good” or “do good things” and “go to church” and pray such-and-such a prayer ‘x’ number of times in order to, as Weird Al puts it, in his song Amish Paradise, “Score points for the Afterlife”

You can now ask the question, dear reader, “Is it possible to know that you’re going to heaven?” The answer, is written all throughout the Bible. I encourage you, of course, to check for yourself. We’ll discuss a few examples:

In Acts chapter 16 Paul and Silas were in prison for telling the people of Israel the Good News of Jesus: that the Christ, their Messiah had come. After a minor miracle (a major earthquake) the prison guard realized the people in his care were telling the truth. In desperation for the confidence and security of his soul he asked

“Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” And they said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.” -Acts 16:30-31

That’s it… Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved. Saved from what? do you ask: From the wrath of God. God, being a just God, has to punish sin: any transgression from the ten commandments. To avoid this punishment we have to live a perfect life, but have we? Can we? Our works do not redeem us… they can’t un-do a sin… You can’t un-ring a bell… Once you tell your first lie, steal your first piece of bubble gum or covet someone else’s something-or-other there’s no taking it back. You’re stained. And no stain of sin will ever enter heaven, much less be allowed in God’s presence.

At least the Israelites of old had the sacrificial system: you tell a lie, sacrifice a few doves. Steal a neighbor’s donkey, pay him back and sacrifice an ox, a lamb, or something to that accord. But the sacrifices never end because you’ll never stop sinning. And its important to note that we’re not considered sinners because we sin all the time… we sin all the time, because we are sinners. That’s our root problem. (Thanks a lot Adam… I appreciate that!)

The Good news was that Jesus’ sacrifice was the final sacrifice. That’s why he was called the Lamb of God: the final sacrifice necessary for our sin to be covered. That’s why he said “It is finished” before he died on the cross. The price was paid and not only do we get our sin’s paid for, but we inherit His perfection: his righteousness, so when we face God in heaven (we believers, that is) God will see us in the same manner He sees Jesus: He’ll see us perfect, sinless, and like His son. And like any father to His son, he will welcome and embrace him.

How do we know that salvation is that easy? That’s hard to believe! But Jesus told us numerous times. In John 14:6 Jesus said

“I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” -John 14:6

Did you get that? No one. Nobody… NOBODY goes to heaven except by believing in the single sufficient work of Jesus: He did a work we could not do. He paid a price he did not owe so we will get something we could never have gotten on our own.

Let’s not just look a the New Testament: God made this clear in the Old Testament as well. In Jeremiah 17 the young prophet passes on the message to rebellious Israel:

Thus says the LORD: “Cursed is the man who trusts in man and makes flesh his strength, whose heart turns away from the LORD. “Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, whose trust is the LORD. He is like a tree planted by water, that sends out its roots by the stream, and does not fear when heat comes, for its leaves remain green, and is not anxious in the year of drought, for it does not cease to bear fruit.” -Jeremiah 17:5-8

If you make your flesh your strength: if you think you will get to heaven by praying to saints, praying the rosary, doing your good deeds, showing up to church like good little boys and girls and giving to charity and joining the local civic group; if you think you will earn you way to heaven, God says “curses” on that person: you are relying on your strength and not God’s grace.

But blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord: the one who gave you His son: who gave you the way to salvation. Your faith is rock solid and when the heat or drought comes in your life, be it physical, financial or spiritual hard times, when you rely on the Lord he will keep you fresh and vibrant.

What should you think about a teacher, leader, priest, or pastor that tells you otherwise? That there’s more to salvation than faith in Christ? Well, once again, Scripture has an answer in Galatians Chapter 1. Note here that The apostle Paul was rebuking the church in Galatia who were listening to people who were leading them away from Christ. He says

I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel–not that there is another one, but there are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed. As we have said before, so now I say again: If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed. -Galatians 1:6-9

Pretty harsh words… Anyone who proclaims another way to avoid God’s wrath and to spend eternity in heaven other than belief in Jesus: That man will be accursed. In fact, in three of the four Gospels it was recorded that Jesus said that it would have been better that a millstone were hung around that blasphemers neck and he be thrown into the sea rather than leading God’s children astray. (I’ll leave it as an exercise for you to find those passages in Matthew, Mark, and Luke.)

See for yourself … if the Bible truly is the inspired Word of God as it claims to be, and as the Church affirms, check the facts for yourself. Nothing will help you understand the Bible better than reading the Bible for yourself. In Second Timothy we are told that

All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work. 2 Timothy 3:16-17

So you see, Scripture is good for teaching, so you will learn the ways and thoughts and plans of God. It is good for reproof and correction, so you can admonish and correct someone who may have an incorrect belief about something God is purported to say or you may have to point out sin in their (or your) life. Ultimately, it’s good for our training in righteousness, giving us the information, tools, and wisdom for every good work.

Get excited. Learn what God has to say. Pickup the Bible and read. It’s not hard. Steer clear of Numbers and Deuteronomy for a while but God’s really got something to say to you. And he wants you to know him better, and that he’s got the plan all figured out. The ball is in His court… He took care of it.

He wanted me make sure that you’re sure, that you are sure you’re going to see Him.

-Anthony

Why do Christians get together every Sunday for Worship? Why do they get together on Easter Sunday? It’s your day off, right? Why blow a good Sunday when you can catch a football game or grab a couple extra hours sleep or catch up on some honeydo’s in the back yard?

They don’t gather together on Sunday because they have to… because they will score points and be a good little Catholic girl and boy, and be a good citizen. We gather together together because of the Gospel. They have the opportunity to worship our great God. They worship their God because of the Good News. It is the Good news that Jesus Christ has risen from the dead; That he was taken off the cross, put into a tomb where he rotted for three days then rose again in triumph, defeating sin and death, never again to suffer humiliation or defeat, never again to be nailed to the cross for the sin of the world. In his words: it is done! It is accomplished! It is finished! We celebrate, we worship, and we’re grateful for this glorious accomplishment.

Jesus Christ defeated death in no uncertain terms. We do not worship an empty tomb. We do not kneel to or revere a rock that was rolled away. Each Sunday we celebrate the fact that a three-day-old corpse, the unrecognizably beaten, bloodied, and hammered body of the final Passover sacrifice, our sacrifice, the sacrificial lamb of God who provided our access to eternity, to the Father, was raised from the dead, and walked out of there on his own two feet, shrugging off his burial clothes as if to say once again like he did on the cross, “it is done.” That’s why we worship on Sunday.

I’d like us to analyze First Corinthians Chapter 15. That’s in the New Testament, a little ways after the four Gospels. If you have a Bible or are on our website, www.thereformedcatholic.com, you can read along in the blog entry for this Podcast.

I want us to put on our thinking caps on for a few moments. And I know I’m asking a big thing of us because in this day and age we live in the world of media where we are instructed not to think. We are constantly amused. You know the root of amuse is ‘muse’ and to muse is to think: put an ‘a’ in front of it and it means ‘not’. Kinda like being “moral” means to have an internal compass telling you right from wrong and “Amoral” means not having a guide to right and wrong, to muse is to think, and to be amused is not to think. And right now, we need to muse over this: we need to think long and hard for just a few minutes on the foundation of what it means to be a Christian, how we can have confidence in our salvation: that we have the confidence that we’ll go to heaven should you get hit by a truck today, and the reason by which we can defend our faith and tell people why it is we believe what we believe.

Paul wrote this letter to the Corinthian church, who at the time was having a bit of a problem with false prophets: false teachers that were teaching that Christ was not way, or he was only part of the way; or that you had to do a few other things, like get circumcised or participate in secret rituals or get some secret knowledge in order to go to heaven but regardless of what the false teaching was, they were taking the Corinthian’s eyes off the simplicity and surety of the Gospel. That Christ, and only Christ, and nothing but your faith in Christ, will get you into heaven. Those were Christ’s words in John 14:6: He said:

“I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

Before we read, though, Paul, using the vernacular of the day, and “vernacular” is just a big word that means ‘words’, using the words of the day Paul speaks to his Greek audience using Aristotelian logic, the logic of the local superhero of civilized thought: Aristotle, one of the great philosophers who developed the higher form of reasoning, argument, and debate of the day.

In other words, Paul talks to his audience in a way that they would respect and understand. Christ used examples such as shepherds, lambs, fish, seeds, and harvests, because the general professions at the time that he spoke to were fisherman, farmers, and shepherds. Paul is also preaching to a people who practically, as well as theologically, did not believe that it’s possible that people can be raised from the dead.

Before we go to the Scripture, it’s important to note that many of today’s skeptics include those who think that we are so sophisticated in our learning, we are so up to date in our understanding of science and technology, that with our God-like power we can create life in a test tube and destroy it with a vacuum tube; that we are so smart, that we in our sophisticated 21st-century know-how know we can’t take something that is dead and bring it to life… This is a news flash for some: Bringing the dead to life was just as “impossible” back then as it is today.

Today’s non-believers or scoffers think the faith of those that came before us was full of myths and superstition and ignorance, but these are the same people who built the Coliseum, the great aqueducts, and before that, the Pyramids, and the Great Wall. They were not ignorant fools who believed what you spoon-fed them.

Though they did not have Game-Boys, the Internet, nor the iPod (how’d they ever survive?) they did have high-technology and common sense, or as one of my wife’s MBA professors put it, ‘practical wisdom’. For we all know that ‘common sense’ is not all that common. Even this first century Jewish and pagan community knew it was impossible for the dead to rise. Even the apostle Thomas said “Get Real… I’ll believe it when I see Him with my own eyes and touch Him with my own hands.”

Now let’s get to Paul’s argument.

1 Corinthians 15:12-22 NASB (w. some paraphrase according to Anthony) Now if the Good News of Jesus Christ is preached, that He has been raised from the dead, how do some among you say that there can be no resurrection of the dead? (13) If there is no resurrection of the dead, not even Christ has been raised; (14) and if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is useless, your faith also is worthless. (15) Moreover it would mean we are lying about God, because we proclaim that He raised Christ, … whom He did not raise, if in fact the dead cannot be raised. (16) For if the dead cannot be raised, not even Christ has conquered the grave; (17) and if Christ did not rise, his purpose: to save us from our sins and reconcile us to God was not accomplished and your faith is worthless; you are still accountable for your sins. (18) Then those also who have died believing in Christ have simply died with a false hope. (19) If our hope in Christ is just for this life only, a ‘feel good’ for today, we are men who ought most to be pitied.

Paul’s argument to the Corinthian skeptics of the early church are just as useful to us today. His argument in one sentence is “How can you have Christianity without the resurrection?” Paul reasons in verse 13 that if the dead cannot be raised, then Christ has not been raised. Then, if Christ has not been raised, all our work is an exercise in futility; we’re spinning our wheels; we’re wasting our time; and worse than that: your faith is worthless. You’re not going to heaven. You don’t have a redeemer. You, o sinful man, cannot face your Holy God. You do not have… atonement. You do not have… hope.

Like in many parts of the world today, it was dangerous to be a Christian back then, much less a preacher and teacher. Paul lived in continual danger every day, in the form of shipwrecks, riots, stonings, scourging. He died to himself every day in order that he live for Christ.

If there was no resurrection, we may as well follow the advice he gives us in verse 32: “If I fought these many dangers and there is no afterlife and resurrection, what have I gained?” I can imagine Paul saying, “Do you think I’m having fun?!?” He then quotes the prophet Isaiah: “If the dead will not be raised, then let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.” If we are to have a short life, then let it be a merry one. In fact, that is the very thing the people in Noah’s time were doing as recorded in the Gospel of Matthew:

Matthew 24:38 For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark;

They had no idea what was coming.

Our faith, and our hope, relies on the fact that Christ rose, defeating death, paving the way for us to have everlasting life in communion with Him and God.

The world hates this message. The world abhors this message, it’s a noise in their ears and an affront to their sensibilities.

Not long ago James Cameron, filmmaker-turned-archaeologist claimed to have dug up the bones of Jesus. You know, a Muslim’s faith would not be threatened by the discovery of the bones of Mohammed. I do wonder, however, what the followers of “the religion of peace” would do if Mr. Cameron tried to take that on as a sequel. Buddhism was not shaken when the bones of the Buddha, were discovered in 1985. But, if we’ve invested our faith, our beliefs, our life’s purpose and eternal future, in a man whose bones were dug up by a Science Fiction filmmaker under an apartment in Jewish suburbia along with the bones of his Mother, his live-in girlfriend and his illegitimate child, the world needs to hear: “Please, don’t hate us Christians. Pity us. Pity us.”

If Christ was not raised, you’re still trapped in your sin. You’re in jail without bail. On Death Row! Our justification, our ability to stand before our Holy God, to Glorify Him by enjoying Him forever, righteous; sanctified; lies not in the cross, but in the Resurrection. The Resurrection is the acceptance of the atonement made on the cross; the atonement, the at-one-ment, the ability to be at one with God, to be reconciled to God, is a result of the Resurrection. The wages of sin: death; Our debt: paid in full.

Look at the rest of the world religions: none of them have atonement. There is no need for a resurrection. They hope in a future based on human works that we as sinful people cannot perform. Buddah is dead. Mohammed is dead. Joseph Smith is dead. But Christ lives!

Another news flash for some, is that the Bible, that collection of Scripture that is made up of sixty-six books written by forty-some people under the inspiration of our One God telling his one plan of redemption over a four-thousand some-odd year period is the most historically accurate piece of literature on the planet.

Now the Bible is not a science book. You’re not going to find in Scripture the design of the human eye, or how volcanoes work, or why the sky is blue or how birds and whales know how to migrate back and forth every year.

However, the Bible does display broad and accurate knowledge in every scientific field from cosmology, to biology, as well as scientific principles from the hydrologic cycle to the circulatory system.

The Bible, for all the controversy surrounding its authenticity and its veracity, its truth, is as I said an accurate recollection of History. We have the history of the creation of the universe. The universe was created when “God Said…” Did you ever notice the word universe? Uni-Verse, ‘one phrase’… “In the beginning God Said…” BANG!!!. That’s my big-bang theory!

The Bible then documents the history of early man: their fall from grace, their destruction save for a single family, the re-population of the world after the flood; the selection of the least significant of these people groups, Israel, from all the world’s peoples, the history of Israel, including all the good, the bad, and the very ugly. How that ugliness led to their downfall and captivity and destruction as well as the many nations, kingdoms and rulers, great and small, involved in all that conflict. This is historical record.

Then, after 400 years of silence God returns to complete history, His-story, with the birth of a baby that marks the beginning of the end of this wonderful tale of a God who would make himself known to his people and call them to Himself.

In the Gospels we have recorded for us under the influence of God the Holy Spirit the birth, life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. We have accounts of the Herods and their kings. We have accounts of Census’ taking by the Romans. We have accounts of their leaders, such as Pontius Pilate, whose existence was questioned by critics until 1961 when records with his name began to surface on ancient inscriptions.

In the book of Acts we have what is regarded as the earliest recorded detailed accounts of maritime life penned by Luke, the physician, who was present on many of the Apostle Paul’s journeys. In fact, the anchors that were cut from Paul’s shipwrecked prison boat in Acts 27:29 are believed to have been found off the coast Malta in 2003, precisely where they would have been based on Luke’s detailed recordings. We have dozens of examples of this: The more we look: the more we find the Bible contains stunningly accurate historical records.

We also have historical record of the Resurrection of our Lord. Not a story; not a myth; but an eyewitness account. One that cannot be denied, and one that has never been repeated.

Critics forget, or intentionally omit, that Christ’s resurrection is not the first or only verifiable recording of the dead brought to life.

It is recorded in John 11 that Christ brought Lazarus from the grave, dead for four days, rotten, and stinking according to his sister, by simply uttering, “Lazarus, come forth”.

According to extra-Biblical narratives, Lazarus was thirty years old when this happened; and he lived another thirty years on Cyprus before he died. …Again… His grave in the city of Kition, has the inscription: “Lazarus the four days dead and friend of Christ.” Historical events… Historical record.

Mark tells us in Chapter 5 that Christ went to the home of a synagogue official to heal his at the time sick daughter. Apparently the people mocked him when he said the child had not died, but was asleep. “He’s dead you idiot… what are you going to do now? It’s too late… you had your chance and you blew it.” Again: Christ utters two words two words: Talitha kum: “Little girl, get up!”

In Matthew 10, we see Christ delegate his power and authority in verse eight to his apostles: “Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons.” How many were raised from the dead is not recorded but it created enough of a ruckus that …

John the Baptist heard of Jesus’ ministry while in prison and sent disciples to ask if he (Jesus) was the one that John had been preaching about. They reported back what they heard and what they saw: Matthew 11:5: “The blind receive sight and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have the gospel preached to them.

As Christ and the disciples are approaching the gates of the city of Nain Luke tells in chapter 7 of a funeral procession: a widow had lost her only son. That’s a dark day for a woman in those times. She was basically putting her retirement plan in a box in a hole in the ground; the only hope of a somewhat comfortable ‘golden years’ lie in your male children, and here she is, her future lost.

Luke records in chapter seven:

Luk 7:13-15 When the Lord saw her, He felt compassion for her, and said to her, “Do not weep.” (14) And He came up and touched the coffin; and the bearers came to a halt. And He said, “Young man, I say to you, arise!” (15) The dead man sat up and began to speak. And Jesus gave him back to his mother.

Can you imagine that happening here today? In your local cemetery? The local paper would have something to write about that week, wouldn’t they?

Eyewitness accounts of the impossible.

Now. Those were recorded in Jesus’ life. What about His death? What about his resurrection? On one side we have an empty tomb. After the Sabbath, several women went to the tomb to care for Christ’s corpse, to anoint it with spices. They got there, and nobody was there… nobody… no body. But it’s not the absence of a body that rocked the world and reset its calendar to April the eighth of … zero. It was the eyewitness of nearly 500 people over 40 days.

Even before that, at Christ’s death, Matthew tells us:

Matthew 27:51-54 NIV – At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook and the rocks split. (52) The tombs broke open and the bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life. (53) They came out of the tombs, and after Jesus’ resurrection they went into the holy city and appeared to many people. (54) When the centurion and those with him who were guarding Jesus saw the earthquake and all that had happened, they were terrified, and exclaimed, “Surely he was the Son of God!”

I’m sure the Pharisees and Sadducees had a tough time trying to explain that one away during the following Sabbath sermon! Note the scripture says that “holy people who had died were raised to life.” It’s unclear whether these people are “the saints”, regular believers like you or me, or people in authority, like the Lord’s prophets.

It tickles me to think of the prophets of old who foresaw the coming of Christ, themselves martyred by the ancestors of those who killed their Christ all walking out of the cemetery, entering the city of Jerusalem, and ganging up on the crooked leadership at the temple, that “brood of vipers” as Christ called them, shaking their fingers at them saying “do you believe us now?!?!?”

Imagine walking through your local cemetery to visit a loved one that had passed away, and you see that there’s a hole in the ground and the body is gone! Like the women at Christ’s tomb you may first suspect foul play: “Oh no… someone’s taken Uncle Bill’s body… someone took Uncle Bill!!!” Then you get a tap on the shoulder, turn around and shout: “Uncle Bill!”

Undeniable evidence; documented evidence, enough proof to come to the conclusion in a court of law that resurrection is possible, and that only through one source: God in Flesh: our Jesus the Christ. We have numerous examples of this in the New Testament:

• Jesus appears to the women at the tomb as they cry thinking someone stole His body.
• Jesus appears incognito to two of his disciples on the road to Emmaus and disappears into thin air once they figure out who he is through his exposition of scripture and the sharing of a meal together. Jesus wasn’t a ghost: He physically ate with them.
• Jesus appears to the eleven disciples behind closed doors where they interacted with Him and ate a meal with Him.
• Jesus ate with the disciples on the beach at the Sea of Tiberius
• Jesus spoke to a crowd of five hundred (and that’s just the men!) on a mountain in Galilee where he preaches and gives the Great Commission. Paul describes in 1Cor 15:6 that “if you don’t believe me, go ask one of those who was there! Most of them are still alive and they’ll tell you what they saw!
• Finally, Christ appears to the Jewish terrorist and persecutor of His church: Saul, renaming him the Apostle Paul, to spread the Good News to the Gentile world, those not born into the Jewish bloodline – you and me.

John opens his Gospel account with:

1 John 1:1-4 NASB What was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have looked at and touched with our hands, concerning the Word of Life– (2) and the life was manifested, and we have seen and testify and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was manifested to us– (3) what we have seen and heard we proclaim to you also, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ. (4) These things we write, so that our joy may be made complete.

For those who doubt the Resurrection of Christ, they need to take into account that the evidence compiled documenting Christ’s life, death, and resurrection is greater than that proving the Greeks Plato or Homer ever lived. Those trying to take the Bible out of our children’s hands should first petition the removal of The Illiad and the Odyssey and The Republic from our libraries. Can’t prove they ever lived; why should we read a book that nobody wrote?

As I mentioned earlier Thomas needed proof: he said he needed to see it with his own eyes and touch Him with his own hands. You know, the Bible never says that Thomas touched him:

John 20:26-31 NASB Thomas answered and said to Him, “My Lord and my God!” (29) Jesus said to him, “Because you have seen Me, have you believed? Blessed are they who did not see, and yet believed.” (30) Therefore many other signs Jesus also performed in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; (31) but these have been written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name.

Our faith is not a leap in the dark. It is a response to the revelation of light. Jesus, the true light, by coming into the world, enlightens every believer, and tells us that through Him we are the light of the world, and we are to let our light shine among men so they will not stumble in the darkness. That is the purpose of the Website and Podcast, TheReformedCatholic.com. That is your purpose, Dear Reader and Listener, if you have eyes to see and ears to hear

For those who believe in Jesus, the Christ; the Messiah; the savior that came to take away our sin and allow us to enter the holy presence of a glorious God, we, through the power of His Resurrection, shall not taste death. For believers, those in Christ, this broken and fallen world is the closest thing to Hell we will ever experience. For the unbeliever, the one who tries to work out their own salvation through their own works and not rely on the atonement of Christ: this world will be the closest thing to heaven they will ever taste.

We’re Christians. We have a simple message. We have a solid witness. Paul tells the Thessalonians

“Our appeal does not spring from error or impure motives. Nor are we trying to trick you. We are not looking for praise from men. But we were gentle among you, like a mother caring for her children. We loved you so much that we were delighted to share with you not only the Gospel of God but our lives as well, because you have become so dear to us. And we also thank God continually because, when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men, but as it actually is, the word of God, which is at work in you who believe.”

The message we proclaim is precious: we have this treasure in clay jars. God uses us; imperfect people; ordinary people; to proclaim his extraordinary message and His insurmountable grace. And we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.

Christ is not on the cross; Christ is not in a tomb; Christ is not in the ground. Christ is Risen… Hallelujah!

He wanted me to make sure I told you that!

Amen, and amen!

-Anthony

“He is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock. And when a flood arose, the stream broke against that house and could not shake it, because it had been well built.” -Jesus, Luke 6:48

One of my most influential teachers, Dear Reader, explained that there are four philosophical elements that every worldview or belief system must answer: Origin, Meaning, Morality, and Destiny. In other words, “upon what foundation will you build the house of your faith?” The worldview given to to us in the Bible revolves around the essence of Jesus Christ: the person of God who came to Earth to save His people so they may follow Him.

Take the first four verses of the Gospel of John where Christ is described as the Word of God and take note of the underlined parts:

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. (John 1:1-4)

Christ’s origin, like God’s, is in Eternity. There was never a time that Jesus was not. There was never a time that God was not. That is why the Name of God is I AM. When Moses asked God in the wilderness who he should say had sent him to free the Israelites, God said “Tell them that I AM sent you.” When the temple guards came to arrest Jesus in the garden (John 18:5) and said they were looking for Jesus, he responded “I AM he” upon which the power of His name repulsed them all backwards and caused them to fall to the ground. Christ is, was, and ever shall be and His name, the name above all names, is eternal.

What was Christ’s meaning, or purpose? He came to save sinners, for “there is no one righteous: not one!” -Romans 3:10. Without Christ, no one goes to heaven. He came to do something that we could not do on our own. Jesus did not come to Earth to heal the healthy: he came to heal the sick: the sin-sick souls of His chosen people so they may glorify Him for all eternity. In one fell swoop by paying the penalty of sin on the cross (as the wages of sin are death) and the evidence of His resurrection (Jesus conquered death to open the doorway of salvation to all of us) He allows us access to eternity and fellowship with the Father.

This sacrifice was a one time redemption. Think of it as getting a letter from a creditor saying “paid in full.” Your debt is over… done with. Similarly, once you accept Christ as your redeemer, you never have to approach to God as a wretched human being ever again, but as a chosen son. When Christ rose, it was, as he said in His final words “accomplished” and Christ reigns in heaven at this moment triumphant over death and hell. The Catholic Church, sadly, shows a wretched, battered Christ on the Cross, still suffering for our sins. That, Dear Reader, is not Biblical (dare I say heresy?) Christ has risen, Christ has conquered, and it is finished! The cross, as is the tomb, is empty. Take Him down from there!

Jesus came to give meaning to our morality as well. Without the guidance of the Holy Spirit that God gives us, we have no moral compass. Who is to say what is right or wrong or what is lawful unless you have a law giver? How do we stand on issues such as racism and abortion and murder unless you have a standard to go by?

If you say that morality is relative, then can you say that racism is wrong? If I feel, in my opinion, that one race of people is better than another, do you have any moral ground to tell me I’m wrong to feel that way? Atheism has no moral compass. (When they say they do, they have to borrow it from the Christians.) Stalin, an atheist, was responsible for the death of forty three million people with an estimated total of one hundred thirty million killed under various atheistic regimes. Is a philosophy responsible for that many lives morally wrong? If so, by whose standard? God is the source of all truth and morality, as His law is written on our hearts. (Romans 2:15, Jeremiah 31:33) We know what’s right and what’s wrong. We try to defend our own morality, but there is a higher standard we all will be held accountable to one day.

Finally there is the Christian’s destiny promised through Jesus Christ: Jesus proclaimed, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” In July of 2007 the patriarch of the Roman Catholic Church, Pope Benedict XVI essentially said that “no one goes to heaven except through the Catholic Church.” My question to him, Dear Reader, is: “From what fortune cookie did you pull that little nugget of doctrine from? Where in your Bible does it say that? … I haven’t been able to find it!”

If what the pope said were true, where does that leave the faithful Old Testament Israelite? (Is Moses in Heaven?) Where does that leave the church in China, India, Iran, and other countries hostile to the Gospel where thousands die each year in His name? Are they in hell because they weren’t Catholic? More importantly, how could Christ say to the thief on the Cross with a straight face that “today you will be with me in paradise?” That man on His left never went to Church or was baptized or received communion: it was simple faith in who Christ was, and nothing else, that saved Him.

What the pope and other officials in the Catholic Church are saying with this, however, is that what they say is true overrides what the Bible says is true, (because they think they’re the ones with the authority to interpret it, not you) and if the Bible is the Word of God, I’m going to stand as far away from any Catholic Church building in fear of getting struck by lightning or swallowed by earthquake. If I have to make a choice between who I’m more scared of offending: God or Mr. Benedict, I’ll side with God.

There is freedom in the Gospel, not servitude. There is hope in Christ’s absolute power, without which there would be no hope of salvation.

For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes. -Romans 1:16

If God is for us, who can be against us? -Romans 8:31

He wanted me to tell you that.

-Anthony

So, I hope you like today’s inaugural podcast. I have to decide on a schedule of writing and podcasting. I still plan on making daily updates, but whether it’s a 50/50 or a weekly podcast and 4 days writing, time will tell.

Please post some comments and check to see when the podcast will be available on iTunes!

God gives us the gift of music as only one of the ways we can worship Him. Today I want to discuss the song Untitled Hymn by Chris Rice. Listen to a portion of this song at the iTunes Music store by clicking on the link at the left and searching for “Untitled Hymn” in your iTunes software.

This is one of my favorite songs because it summarizes the entire life of a Christian: from the time they recognized the need for God and their acceptance of Christ for salvation, all the way to their final breath when the enter into the presence of the eternal Father. I also like it because it’s played as a beautifully gentle piano solo with a mild crescendo at the end, so it can be played sweetly in any setting.

Hopefully you will have a chance to listen to it first. Let’s walk through the lyrics:

Weak and wounded sinner
Lost and left to die
O, raise your head, for love is passing by
Come to Jesus – Come to Jesus – Come to Jesus and live!

We are dead in our sin. Spiritually dead, that is. We are lost in this world, not looking with any hope for the future, much less eternity. But the sinner’s heart is pricked with the Gospel call: love passes by. Love came down to lift us up, to change our heart of stone into a heart of flesh and give life to our dead soul. We come to Jesus, and we live!

Now your burden’s lifted
And carried far away
And precious blood has washed away the stain, so
Sing to Jesus – Sing to Jesus – Sing to Jesus and live!

As in the book, Pilgrim’s Progress, we no longer have an amazing burden on our back: the burden of sin, guilt, condemnation. We also are not burdened with having to perform unending good works to earn our way into heaven or make ourselves “good enough” before God. The job is done. Jesus has lifted this burden and carried them as far as the East is from the West. His sacrifice on the cross has washed away the stain of our sin: past, present, and future.So what do we do? Naturally we want to “Sing to Jesus” in thanks and praise.

And like a newborn baby
Don’t be afraid to crawl
And remember when you walk
Sometimes we fall…so
Fall on Jesus – Fall on Jesus – Fall on Jesus and live!

The Christian life is a journey. Whether you accept Christ when you’re seven or seventy-seven, you crawl at first, like a baby. Later you can run or jog and sometimes you will fall. You may fall back into sinful behavior, you may fall and flounder in your faith, but God is faithful and he will catch you when you fall, dust you off, and help you to keep walking!

Sometimes the way is lonely
And steep and filled with pain
So if your sky is dark and pours the rain, then
Cry to Jesus – Cry to Jesus – Cry to Jesus and live!

We live in a painful world. With the fall of man all of creation groans under the shadow of sin and death. This is not normal. This is not the way it was supposed to be. This is one of the reasons Jesus wept when he went to raise Lazarus from the dead. Death, pain, and suffering, are not reflective of God’s final purpose for His creation.

The world can very well be filled with pain, and you may feel alone in your suffering, but God has provided a solution by coming to earth in the form of a man, the Christ, that we may reach out to Him, cry to Him in our suffering, and live!

Another thing this verse is to lead you to consider is Jesus’ teaching that the path to eternal life is narrow. You will be persecuted. The way can be lonely and painful, especially if those you love do not know Christ. They can reject you or ridicule you. You may feel alone at times and you will weep over your Jerusalem but everything works ultimately, for God’s glory and goodness. Two verses that acknowledge this are:

Matthew 7:14 For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.

Matthew 10:21-22 Brother will deliver brother over to death, and the father his child, and children will rise against parents and have them put to death, and you will be hated by all for my name’s sake. But the one who endures to the end will be saved.

Read further in Matthew for more of what Christ warns, but don’t forget the eternal prize, and stay confident that God is in charge. (Romans 8:28)

O, and when the love spills over
And music fills the night
And when you can’t contain your joy inside, then
Dance for Jesus – Dance for Jesus – Dance for Jesus and live!

There will be a time, hopefully earlier in your walk than later, that you will feel God’s love spill over in your heart. You will realize through some great moment in your life or perhaps through some trial that He is with you; He has always been with you; and he has chosen you from before you were conceived in the womb. Read Psalm 139 for a wonderful confirmation of God’s hand in, around, and through your life.

And with your final heartbeat
Kiss the world goodbye
Then go in peace, and laugh on Glory’s side, and
Fly to Jesus – Fly to Jesus – Fly to Jesus and live!

Are you homesick? Our hearts are imprinted with eternity. We know there is a better life awaiting us. With our final heartbeat we can kiss the world goodbye and be welcomed home into the arms of our Father.

Singing His Tune,

-Anthony

For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father. So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God,

Ephesians 2:8-10, 18-19

Dear Reader: This is a passage which is most freeing to the mind of one who lives a life trying to do their best to earn a place in heaven – something that cannot be done. Read each sentence slowly, and understand its meaning.

First, before doing so, remember and contemplate that the words of Scripture penned in the Bible and preserved throughout the ages is the Word of God, spoken for us, the people of God.

For by grace you have been saved through faith. By believing that Christ’s sacrifice is sufficient for the atonement of your sins, all sin: past, present, and future, you are saved from the wrath of God for all eternity. Welcome to the family! You are blessed by God, as a recipient of his Grace. If you put your faith in the work of Christ instead of your constantly rebellious and failing nature trying to earn your way in you now have an eternal Father and will share a place in His kingdom.

And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God. By our nature, since the fall of Adam, we are sinful and do not seek after the things of God. (Read Romans 1 and 3 for more on this.) We live our own lives, thinking of our temporal world and not the eternal. God gives us our faith: the only reason we seek God and seek to do His will is because he gave us our faith to begin with.

Not a result of works, so that no one may boast. God is God and He will get all the glory. God will share his Glory with no one. Answer this question: If God ordains someone to do something, do you think they can say no? Does a little human being have the power to say no to a command of an omnipotent God? Likewise, if God says “no”, do you think anyone can muscle their way against Him? Both answers are obviously no. For this reason, God gets the glory for giving you your faith and enabling you to come to Him: so that no one may boast. God chose you… you did not choose God. You cannot brag “I chose to follow God” when it was God who gave you your faith. Likewise, if you in your still sinful nature want to rebel and turn against God, that’s not going to happen. Once in His grip, He’ll never let go.

For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, Number 1: God made us for His glory, and no one else’s. He also created us (us believers, that is) with faith in His Son that we would do good works. Mind the parallel here: our faith enables us to do good works… we were already saved through our faith. We do not do good works in order to earn our way into heaven, dear reader… we do good works in response to the gratitude and love we show to God for calling us to be His own.

…which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. Nothing is outside of the scope of God’s vision and work. Everything that happens, he has ordained to happen. Not a hair of your head goes unnumbered and not a cry of one of his children goes unheard. God prepared our lives and our good works before the dawn of time that we should walk in them and be His children, worshiping Him, and glorifying him for eternity.

For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father. This is the most shocking statement for many: With our faith in Christ, there is no go-between necessary: no intermediary. There are no priests, bishops, or apostles standing between us and the foot of His throne. Just as a child can crawl into the lap of their father and gain his love, comfort, and attention, so we too have access to the lap of our eternal Father. No man stands between us and God.

Will you confess Christ as your savior, redeemer, and mediator? Well then… Welcome to the Family!

He told me to tell you that.

In His lap…

-Anthony

Galatians 5:1,5

Paul wrote the letter to the Galatians because they were falling away from the faith. Paul heard that the people in the church of Galatia were following a “new gospel” by some power-hungry preachers that involved works, including circumcision. This required that new converts must “become Jewish” first, in order to be accepted into the Christian household. This was but one of the lies that Paul was addressing in this book, of which is summed up in the two verses above.

The Catholic church, similarly, spreads the notion that in order to be justified before God, you must participate in certain rituals and activities. These include the the doing of good deeds, the not doing of bad deeds, following the ten commandments, giving your money each week, praying to the saints, praying to Mary, and confessing your sins to another man in the confessional closet when you don’t live up to God’s requirement of perfection. I personally would never come out of the closet if I had to do that, as I’d have a lifetime of sin to confess… Thank God for the Gospel!

The apostle Paul would probably call upon the Catholic Church today, as Martin Luther did over 400 years ago, saying what he said to the Galatians in the beginning of Chapter 3: You foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? Paul tells us above in verse 5 that the only thing that counts is faith: faith in Christ’s deeds: not yours; faith in God’s love: not our efforts, for…

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their deeds were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed.”

John 3:16-20 ESV

We are saved and justified by believing in Christ, believing that that his atonement for our sin, his at-one-ment, being made at one with God, is all we need to know and believe in order to go to heaven.

Those that think they can add requirements to something God has decreed are incorrect. They are dead wrong, and woe to the teacher who puts requirements above and beyond the satisfying work of Christ.

Christ is the Light of the World, to rescue those he has chosen from the darkness. But, there are those who prefer the darkness. Let them be. But don’t you stay there with them!!!

He told me to tell you.

In Him,

-Anthony

-Galatians 2:15-16, ESV

In keeping the main thing the main thing, the main thing about the Christian life is the relationship one has with Jesus Christ. Nothing else. It is not the things we do, the number of times we recite the Lord’s Prayer or how many times we run our fingers and lips around the rosary beads. The only thing that lets approach God’s throne and presence is the faith in Christ that He, God the Father through the Holy Spirit, gave us.

News Flash: Nothing that we do gets us into heaven. Christ died a death that we deserved, paying a price we could not pay, in order to make us equal with Him and in the family of God. Sounds Hard To Believe or too good to be true, doesn’t it?

No matter how many times we “try” to be good, we cannot. Our nature is to sin against and rebel against God and do what we please as opposed to what he purposes us for: to glorify him and enjoy him forever.

As the apostle Paul says in today’s verse: we are not justified (made just, made right, made approachable) by our works (the things we do), and nothing we can do will ever win us God’s favor.

But: the good news, the gospel, is that through faith in Jesus Christ, through the work that He did on our behalf, we are justified and made God’s children. Simple faith. He (God) doesn’t ask for much. He did all the work! By works of the law: by doing the ten commandments, by going to church, by doing good deeds, by saying our prayers, nothing we do will get us into heaven.

It’s all God.

In His Grip,

Till Next Time,

-Anthony