Believing in God and being regenerated are not exactly the same thing. Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs, unsaved Jews, etc. all believe in God. Indeed there are hardly any atheists on this planet.
The issue is never Roman Catholics (millions of presumably moral upstanding citizens who believe in God). The issue is the FALSE DOCTRINE of the Vatican, the pope, the cardinals, the bishops, and the priests. And just as we expose the false doctrine of Mormons, JWs, Christadelphians, etc. we must expose and condemn the false teachings of Rome. So do you know what their false teachings are and how they jeopardize the eternal well-being of the people who are held captive by those teachings?
Paul says that if anyone (EVEN AN ANGEL) brings any other gospel than that which he has preached, let him be accursed. Do you know the false Gospel of the RCC? For the Judaizers, circumcision was necessary for salvation. For Rome, baptismal regeneration is necessary for salvation. But is that what the Bible says? If this were true, Paul would not have said that Christ sent him to preach the Gospel, not to baptize. That does not mean that baptism is not a commandment of Christ. what it means is that if water baptism was necessary for salvation, Paul would have said that Christ sent him to preach AS WELL AS to baptize.
King James Bible (1 Cor 1:17)
For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel: not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of none effect.
So then does not the Church of Rome make the cross of Christ of none effect? and if so, how serious is the matter?
And yet, Acts 10:37-38 (KJV) tells us:[SUP]
37 [/SUP]That word, I say, ye know, which was published throughout all Judaea, and began from Galilee, after the baptism which John preached;
[SUP]
38 [/SUP]How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with him.
Meanwhile, Matthew 3:16-17 (KJV) says:
[SUP]
16 [/SUP]And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him:
[SUP]
17 [/SUP]And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.
And Luke 3:21-22 (KJV) points out:
[SUP]
21 [/SUP]Now when all the people were baptized, it came to pass, that Jesus also being baptized, and praying, the heaven was opened,
[SUP]
22 [/SUP]And the Holy Ghost descended in a bodily shape like a dove upon him, and a voice came from heaven, which said, Thou art my beloved Son; in thee I am well pleased.
So it would appear that both baptism and His death on the cross were of great significance to Jesus, as well as to both Matthew and Luke in their Gospels.
It would seem interesting that Paul would attach such a low level of significance to baptism when he wrote "For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the Gospel," even though the Gospels of Matthew and Luke featured baptism prominently, and Matthew devoted the entirety of Chapter 3 to John the Baptist (who was related to Jesus through their mothers. In Luke 1:36, Elizabeth is described as Mary’s “kinswoman,” meaning that they were related in some way through marriage or blood.)
And so too, the Catholic Church emphasizes both the significance of baptism and overwhelming importance of the crucifixion and resurrection. In fact, two prayers -- the Apostle's Creed and the Nicene Creed (which can be found at <
Catechism of the Catholic Church - Credo Chart >) -- are listed in the Catechism of the Catholic Church under
Part One of "
The Profession of Faith", and both feature the crucifixion and resurrection as the middle third of the prayer.
The Nicene Creed states:
"We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father,
God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, o
ne in Being with the Father. Through him all things were made.
For us men and for our salvation, he came down from heaven:
by the power of the Holy Spirit he was born of the Virgin Mary,
and became man.
For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate;
he suffered died and was buried.
On the third day he rose again in fulfillment of the Scriptures;
he ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead,
and his kingdom will have no end.
I wonder if you could explain to me, please, how you define this as "false doctrine"?
And how the Catholic Church makes "the cross of Christ of none effect"?
