Christ's Apostolic Church

Response to comment [from a Catholic]: "Catholics contend that the only entity which fulfills such a scenario is the historic Catholic Church. Perhaps someone out there would like to suggest a valid alternative.."

Your claim is a false.

See:

What was the first / original church? Is the original / first church the true church? Is the church that is the oldest necessarily the most right ...

Recommended Reading:

Is Rome the True Church?: A Consideration of the Roman Catholic Claim by Norman L. Geisler

Woe unto you, lawyers! for ye have taken away the key of knowledge: ye entered not in yourselves, and them that were entering in ye hindered [Luke 11:46–52].

"These religious rulers occupied very much the same position that church leaders occupy today. People looked to them for the interpretation of the truth. They placed the emphasis on material things rather than on the spiritual purpose for which those things were to be used. And they themselves were not living according to the Scriptures.

Unfortunately, the greatest hindrance to the cause of Christ today is the professed believer. We need to examine our own lives in the light of this Scripture!"
McGee, J. Vernon: Thru the Bible Commentary. electronic ed. Nashville : Thomas Nelson, 1997, c1981, S. 4:299

It is what you do (Rev. 3:14–22).

"In the church (the body of Christ) "members nourish one another with the transcendent power that raised up Christ from the dead and is now flowing through each member to the others. That is what produced "the Church as we see her spread out through all time and space and rooted in eternity terrible as an army with banners."8

The visible church, which anyone can look at if he or she wills, is--with all her imperfections--the outward manifestation in history and society of the invisible church, which God alone sees. Of this invisible reality Dietrich Bonhoeffer said,

The spiritual unity of the Church is a primal synthesis willed by God. It is not a relationship that has to be established, but one that is already posited (iustitia passiva), and remains invisible. It is not made possible by concord, similarity or affinity between souls, nor should it be confused with unity of mood. Instead it is real just where seemingly the most intractable outward oppositions prevail, where each man leads his quite individual life, and it is perhaps absent where it seems to prevail most. it can shine more brightly in the conflict between will than in concord.9

Into this church, the invisible body of her risen Lord, we come when we place our confidence in Jesus. He takes us in and forms a circle of sufficiency that is real and ultimate. It is first in relation to him that we begin to know what [Larry] Crabb...described about connecting; and we can then begin to see how the flow of loving presence from him extends through others to us and from us to other (pg. 186-187, Willard)."

8. C.S. Lewis, The Screwtape Letters, Letter II (New York: MacMillan, 1962, p. 12).
9. Dietrich Bonhoeffer, The Communion of Saints (New York: Harper and Row, 1963), p. 137.

"Christ "built his Church" (Matt. 16:18-19), which was and is a hierarchically-structured community guided and taught in his own authority (Matt. 28:16-20)..."

And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it [Matt. 16:18].

"Let us look at this verse carefully. On what rock did Jesus build His church? There are those who say that it was built on Simon Peter. Well, obviously it was not, because there is a play upon words here. In the original Greek it is, “Thou art Petros [a little piece of rock], and upon this petra [bedrock] I will build my church.” There are others who hold that Christ is building His church upon the confession that Simon Peter made. I don’t agree with that at all.

Who is the Rock? The Rock is Christ. The church is built upon Christ. We have Simon Peter’s own explanation of this. In 1 Peter 2:4, referring to Christ, he writes, “To whom coming, as unto a living stone, disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of God, and precious.” And he remembers Isaiah 28:16, “… Behold, I lay in Sion a chief corner stone, elect, precious: and he that believeth on him shall not be confounded” (1 Pet. 2:6). The church is built upon Christ; He is the foundation. “For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ” (1 Cor. 3:11). Christ is the stone, and He says on this rock He will build His church. The church was still future when the Lord made this statement. And please don’t tell me there was a church in the Old Testament because the church did not come into existence until after the death, resurrection, and ascension of Christ, and the sending of the Holy Spirit. There could not have been a church until all of these things had taken place. “I will build my church”—this was future.

The “gates of hell” refers to death. The word used for hell is the Greek word hades, the sheol of the Old Testament, which refers to the unseen world and means “death.” The gates of death shall not prevail against Christ’s church. One of these days the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout. That shout will be like the voice of an archangel and like a trumpet because the dead in Christ are to be raised. The gates of death shall not prevail against His church." McGee, J. Vernon: Thru the Bible Commentary. electronic ed. Nashville : Thomas Nelson, 1997, c1981, S. 4:92

See:

A Scriptural Response to: Biblical Evidence or Catholics St. Joseph Communication

Flashback:

SD: [Christ is the head of his church….The statement is true or it is false.]

Cruciform: "It's false..."

link 2 Pet. 2:1

[Pope John Paul's Disputable Influence on Christianity Proclaiming the Gospel Ministries: 2005.]: "If ever there was a more important time for faithful servants of our Lord Jesus Christ to take a stand for the truth, it is now. Many evangelicals are praising John Paul II for being a great spiritual leader. But why are they giving such honor to the former head of an apostate church which keeps over a billion people in spiritual darkness?

There are times when our faith is tested and this is indeed such a time. Will we honor the Lord Jesus or praise the pope who denied the sufficiency of Christ and rejected His finished work of redemption? Will we earnestly contend for the faith or say what the world wants to hear? On the Larry King Live show (2/24/05), Billy Graham praised John Paul as "the greatest moral and spiritual leader of the last 100 years." Graham said: "He's traveled the whole world, giving his version of the Gospel and spreading the Catholic faith." Later on April 2, after his death, Graham told King that there is no question John Paul II is now with the Lord. Jack Van Impe also assured his TV audience on April 16 that the pope is now in heaven. Rob Moll, the online assistant editor for Christianity Today wrote: "The pope stood for truth, as revealed in God's Word and his creation."

This pope never claimed to be God, but he took pleasure in being addressed with titles reserved for God alone. He usurped the titles "Holy Father" from God the Father, "The Head of the Church" from the Lord Jesus Christ and "The Vicar of Christ" from the Holy Spirit, whom Jesus promised to send in His place. John Paul often sat in pompous arrogance on his royal throne as his loyal subjects knelt before him. Never did he refuse worship as Peter did when men fell at his feet. Peter, knowing that only God deserved such reverence, immediately ordered: "Stand up; I too am just a man" (Acts 10:26).

Who knew that Pope John Paul II would have greater success in deceiving the world after his death than during his 26-year pontificate? Who knew the global media would become his willing partner in spreading his perverted theology? Through non-stop television coverage, the pope's church became the world's stage. All eyes were focused on the St. Peter's Basilica, the very church that was financed with the filthy lucre obtained from the sale of God's forgiveness through indulgences. Its princes enjoyed the media spotlight as they piously masqueraded in their purple and scarlet robes as "ministers of righteousness." They successfully cast a spell over the TV audience with the splendor or their rituals and the pomp and pageantry of their pagan traditions. The magnificence and grandeur of this corrupt religion bewitched much of the gullible world into believing this is what Christianity is all about. Thousands of hopelessly deceived people stood in long lines for as long as 18 hours to venerate a dead man with a rosary in his hands and a twisted crucifix by his side. The idolatrous veneration and adoration of Pope John Paul II was unprecedented. His elaborate and theatrical funeral was said to be the largest in human history.

The death of Pope John Paul II has provided a glimpse of where "Christianity" is headed in the future. Post modern church leaders have replaced truth and discernment with pluralism and tolerance. Evangelicals and Catholics together have publicly praised John Paul as a godly and holy spiritual leader. Year after year he was the most loved and admired man in the world. This should not surprise us. Jesus said "the world would love its own" but hate those whom He chose out of the world (John 15:19). He also warned, "Woe to you when all men speak well of you" (Luke 6:26). The gullible world responded in the same fashion it will when the man of lawlessness is revealed. "God will send upon them a deluding influence so that they might believe what is false, in order that they all may be judged who did not believe the truth"(2 Thes. 2:11-12)." Full text: Pope John Paul's Disputable Influence on Christianity

[Peter stone, rock]

You were created to worship the Lord not dead men (Ps 106:28).

"You can build on him (1 Cor. 10:4) or stumble on him (1 Pet. 2:8). He'll be a stepping stone (Ps 18:2) or stumbling stone (1 Cor 1:23, Luke 20:18)." ~ Adrian Rogers

See:

A Scriptural Response to: Biblical Evidence or Catholics St. Joseph Communication

There are not two gospels. There is one gospel and it is of grace not works (Eph 2:8-10, Ac 20:24).

See:

Faith vs Works

[Judging the Pope's Gospel Proclaiming the Gospel Ministries. 2005.]: "Only God can judge John Paul's heart but all Christians are all called to judge every man's teachings. The apostle John warned us: "Do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world" (1 John 4:1). John Paul's false teachings are clearly exposed by the new Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC) which he endorsed in 1994. His damning gospel was diametrically opposed to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Paul warned that anyone (including himself or the pope) would be condemned if they were to preach another gospel. He wrote, if "we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to that which we have preached to you, let him be accursed" (Gal. 1:6). If apostles and angels were to be accursed for preaching another gospel how can the pope possibly escape? Clearly the pope condemned himself by perverting God's Gospel of grace with additional requirements for salvation.

If the Philippian jailer could have asked John Paul what he must do to be saved (Acts 16:31), the pope would have responded with his gospel: "You must have faith plus baptism (CCC, 1256), receive the sacraments (1129), do good works (2016), consume the Eucharist (1405), keep the law (2068), belong to the Catholic Church (846) and have your sins purged in purgatory" (1030). What a contrast to Paul's clear response: "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved" (Acts 16:31). Paul made it clear there is only one Gospel and anyone who believes another gospel has believed in vain (1 Cor. 15:1-4). Therefore, either the pope was right and is in heaven as many evangelicals are claiming, or those who believe the Gospel of grace are wrong and destined for the eternal lake of fire.

Few evangelicals have had the courage to expose the pope's false gospel that shuts the kingdom of heaven to those wanting to enter. Clearly, there is no greater evil than deceiving people about the eternal salvation of their souls." Full text: Judging the Pope's Gospel

"...[C]an you respond to the quote from Mt 16:18 or DA Carson?"

See above.

Response to comment [from a Catholic]: "[SD: Christ is the head of his church...The statement is true or it is false.

Cruciform: "It's false..."

link] 2 Pet. 2:1 "Once again, serpent merely documents his status as a public liar..."

Response to comment [from a Catholic]: "...[Y]ou didn't respond above..."

Let the reader decide (Eph 4:14). link

"Let them read your statements..."

2 Pet. 2:1

Roman Catholics preach: a false Jesus (1 Ki 8:27), a false gospel (Mt 15:9, Ga 1:6-8) and a false way of salvation (Jude 11).

"[W]hy do you refuse to affirm some Scripture?"

I refuse to affirm your perversion of the scriptures (2 Co 2:17).

See:

A Scriptural Response to: Biblical Evidence or Catholics St. Joseph Communication

Satan Inc (TOL Heretics List)

[Proof please ] "Already provided..."

Non causae ut causae (claiming victory despite defeat)

Jesus loves you (Jn 3:16). Jesus is willing to save you (2 Pe 3:9). Repent (Eze 18:30-32; Ac 17:30). Believe (Mk 9:23).

"So sorry about your apparent adult onset retardation. Here, I'll make it simple for you:  The proof you requested is right here..."

Let the reader decide.

SD: [Christ is the head of his church….The statement is true or it is false.]

Cruciform: "It's false..."

link 2 Pet. 2:1

Understand the spirit of antichrist (1 Jn 4:2-6):

The Jesus test, the gospel test, and the fruit test

[Roman Catholics preach: a false Jesus (1 Ki 8:27), a false gospel (Mt 15:9, Ga 1:6-8) and a false way of salvation (Jude 11).] "You can just go ahead and apply every bit of that to yourself."

"Roman Catholicism vs. historical, biblical Christianity: "We have different authorities, we believe different gospels, we worship different Christs, we are led by different spirits and we are on different paths to eternity. Compare this with the unity the apostle Paul described with those who are in one body and one ......Spirit, with one hope; one Lord, one faith, one baptism, on God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all (Eph 4:4-6)..." Full text: No Idolatry & False Teaching

"See how that works?"

I do (Eph 4:14, Ga 5:9).

Christ's Apostolic Church