Does it really matter if you drown in six
inches of water or in sixty feet of water? Or, does it really matter the degree
of darkness that causes one to stumble into an unseen whole in the ground? I
dare say that it does not matter. Having drowned is fatal in any measurement of
water.
As you can imagine the web, Facebook,
Twitter, printed media is a blaze with varying reaction to the recent election
of a new “pope.” The reaction is ranging from the extreme negative coloring of
the pope as the anti-Christ to neo-evangelicalism ever-so-growing love affair
with the Roman Catholic organization to papal worship by the Catholic faithful.
One blog being copied, shared, and re-posted
on Facebook is entitled, Why an Evangelical Protestant Pastor Cares about the New Pope. Of course the
perfunctory differences between Roman Catholicism and evangelicalism are noted
by the author. The author then makes the following statements:
“I have
always said that when we die and stand before God, he will not ask for our
church membership card. We will not care about denominations or affiliations in
that moment. He will care about one thing: who is Jesus Christ to you? What
have you done with Christ? Is he alone your Savior? Or are you clinging to a
thousand other so-called-saviors too? Have you been saved by the blood of
Christ shed on Calvary’s hill or not?
So,
if you’re going to be a Baptist, be a saved Baptist. If you’re going to be a
Lutheran, be a saved Lutheran. And if you’re going to be a Catholic, be a saved
Catholic. My old Italian dad never left the Catholic church. But he was saved,
and wanted us all to know it. I baptized him at age 82, in the evangelical,
non-denominational church I founded in Chicago, not for salvation, but from
salvation… as a public symbol of a prior inner reality.”
This author missed the real point! The
question is not whether Roman Catholics or evangelicals for that matter care of
about who Jesus Christ is, or what has been done with Jesus Christ, or what one
believes about the blood of Jesus Christ. Yes, those things are important.
However, they are not rallying points for unity.
The real point which seems to be consistently
missed by those who desire to call Roman Catholics “brothers” and “sisters,” is
what do you believe about justification? This is the dividing issue between
Roman Catholicism and Biblical Christianity. Is one declared to be just by
God through faith in the atoning work of Jesus Christ? Or does one become just
through a cooperative process with God as God infuses justification
into the faithful who work for it by observing sacraments and by works of
righteousness.
When asked what he would say if he had two
minutes to talk to “pope” Francis, John Piper replied,
“ O my,
I have never asked myself that question at all.
I would say, "Could you just, in one
minute, explain your view of justification?" And then on the basis of his
one minute, I would give my view of justification.
I think Rome and Protestantism are not yet
ready — I don't think the Reformation is over. I don't think that enough change
has happened in Roman understanding of justification, and a bunch of other
things.
I'm just picking justification because it's so
close to the center. You could pick papal authority or the nature of the mass
or the role of sacraments or the place of Mary.
But those seem to be maybe a little more marginal
than going right to the heart of the issue of, "Do you teach that we
should rely entirely on the righteousness of Christ imputed to us by faith
alone as the ground of God being 100% for us, after which necessary
sanctification comes? Do you teach that?"
And if he said, "No, we don't," then
I'd say, "I think that right at the core of Roman Catholic theology is a
heresy," or something like that.
We cannot forget this truth. When one is
wrong on justification one is just as lost as if one feverishly denies God and
Jesus Christ all together. Darkness is darkness. Six inches of water or sixty feet
of water can be just as fatal.
At the core of Catholicism is heresy. Roman
Catholics need the gospel, not platitudes from ill-informed evangelicals.
4 comments:
As I've frequently said, the key issue in most of our theological debates is: what happened on the cross? What did Jesus do? Did He accomplish salvation for His people? Did He just make it possible for salvation, if we add faith, works, etc. to it? What did He mean by "it is finished?" This colors everything else in our soteriology. Good post, brother.
As you so rightly say as long as you have faith what denomination you are does not matter. We are all equal in the eyes of God.
Yvonne.
Hear hear!
I have long respected John Piper, but I won't defend a mere man for what he says.
I was disappointed one afternoon when I sat in a sanctuary to listen to an intimate Q and A with Piper and Kevin DeYoung.
Basically, Piper said in response to a question about voting for Obama, "I couldn't vote for anyone who endorses those things that send someone to hell."
I posted on it here: http://christiancognition.blogspot.com/2012/10/piper-on-politics.html
I was honestly shocked that Piper would say such a thing, as if our actions are what save or condemn us. I love his passion, but coupled with what you have written I am a bit concerned about his message.
Thank you, brother!
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