Whose interpretation is authoritative, binding & final?

Authority belongs to the Lord. "All authority has been given to Me" (not the Pope) [Mt 28:18]. Get to know him by reading his word (Phil 3:8).

[I Never Knew You Depart From Me Proclaiming the Gospel Ministries] "The most terrifying words any professing Christian could ever hear would be the Lord Jesus declaring: "I never knew you, depart from me" (Mat. 7:23). On judgment day those words will be heard by many who once made professions of faith and claimed to be followers of Jesus. Yet very few evangelical leaders appear to be concerned. Our churches are filled with people who are headed to hell and don't even know it. Who are these false converts and how were they deceived? What lulls so many people into this cruel deception?

Two Kinds of Deception: Scripture describes these false converts as victims of deception. They are either deceived by false teachers or they deceive themselves. Some are victims of a false gospel or an unbiblical method of evangelism (Gal. 1:6-7). A false gospel offers the natural man what he wants: good feelings, healings, riches and success. The true Gospel offers him what he needs: forgiveness of sin, redemption, perfect righteousness, reconciliation with God and the power to live a victorious life.

Those who deceive themselves are people who hear the Word of God but do not do what it says (Jas. 1:22). Since obedience to the Word is a divine requirement of every believer, the disobedience of those who deceive themselves is marked by a lack of concern for God's will and His commands. They have little desire for God's people, His Word or His glory. They are self-absorbed and self-centered and love themselves more than they love God (2 Tim. 3:2-3). Paul gave a stern warning for the self-deceived who reject what the Word says: "The wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience" (Eph. 5:6). They perish because they failed to love the truth (2 Thes. 2:10)." I Never Knew You Depart From Me Proclaiming the Gospel Ministries

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

Cruciform: "It's false..." link

Christ (not the Pope) is the head of his church (Eph 1:22; 5:23).

Response to comment [from a Catholic]: [Circular justification] "Were you expecting non-Catholic writings to support Catholic writings?"

Your arguments are self-refuting.

“According to Rome, we cannot trust our own ability to understand and interpret Matthew 16:18 and church history. So if this is true, how can anyone be sure that God's infallible interpreter is Roman Catholicism? In other words, how can a Catholic know his religion is infallible when he must rely on his fallible interpretation to arrive at that conclusion?” Are "Infallible" Interpreters Trustworthy? Proclaiming the Gospel Ministries

“The Bible is what God says. Religion is what man says God says." ~ Mike Gendron

"Now read Jesus' very next words: "Go therefore..." He sends the chosen leaders of his Church..."

Every believer is a priest.

See:

Is the priesthood of all believers biblical? Does the New Testament teach that there should be a formal priesthood?

Sidebar: Which of these statements is true?

"James, the man who grew up in the same house with Jesus, the Messiah

James, one of the few who received a personal visit from the resurrected Lord

James, an apostle, personally commissioned by Jesus Christ.

James, the pastor of the largest [ancient] church in the world"

Jeopardy Theme (right click, open)

Whose Slave Are You? Bringing Faith Down To Earth—Part 1 Grace to You Ministries

"Once again, serpent documents his blatant public lie..."

Proof please.

[Christ (not the Pope) is the head of his church. ] "False Dilemma..."

You removed the scripture from my quote. Christ (not the Pope) is the head of his church (Eph 1:22; 5:23). It is what you do (Eph 4:14).

[Ignorance and Pride Can Be Fatal Proclaiming the Gospel Ministries] "Tragically, the many warnings given in the New Testament about spiritual deception are not taken seriously. People are so comfortable in their church or religion that they have no hunger for spiritual truth. Deluded by arrogance, they deny their ignorance of God's Word. Many Christians have only a superficial knowledge of the Gospel. They know Jesus died for the sins of the world, but they don't know why He had to, or why it pleased the Father to crush Him (Isa. 53:10). They don't know the divine punishment for sin is death (Ezek. 18:4). They don't know the only way God will forgive sin (Luke 24:47; Acts 26:18; Eph. 1:7). They don't know God opposes the proud and justifies only those who know they are ungodly (Rom. 4:5; Luke 18:9-14; James 4:6). Religious pride keeps people in spiritual darkness. Many hold to a form of godliness but deny the power (or the necessity) of the Gospel (2 Tim. 3:5). Their self-conceit leads to self-deceit and their self-righteousness damns them to everlasting shame." Ignorance and Pride Can Be Fatal

[Your arguments are self-refuting.] "Your arguments are self-refuting."

Therefore, your argument is not persuasive.

[Failure of Self-Examination Proclaiming the Gospel Ministries] "A major cause of self-deception is the failure of self-examination. Some professing Christians go through life without ever examining their faith through the lens of Scripture. Paul exhorts us, "Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves! Or do you not recognize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you, unless indeed you fail the test?" (2 Cor. 13:5). Probably the best way to guard against self-deception is to abide in God's Word, be passionate for truth and invite the Holy Spirit to bring conviction and illumination." Failure of Self-Examination

[“...Religion is what man says God says." ~ Mike Gendron] "Religion is what serpent says God says."

Who cares what I say? What does God say? 2 Tim. 2:15; Jas. 1:18

Plans and programs do not save (Matt. 15:9). Jesus saves (2 Tim. 1:10).

[Man-centered Evangelism Proclaiming the Gospel Ministries] "What happened to the God-centered method of evangelism that calls sinners to repent and believe the Gospel? For the last 100 years people have been told to repeat a prayer, come forward, sign a card or get baptized to be saved. Many of them have lived with a false hope because none of these methods are found in God's Word. The deadliest deception of Satan is to convince a person he is saved when he is not. The devil's ongoing strategy is to corrupt the church by planting tares or false converts where God has planted wheat. He knows he can be more effective in attacking the church from the inside than from the outside. Jesus described tares as "sons of the wicked one." The one who sowed them is the devil (Mat. 13:38-39).

Well-meaning Christians who use a man-centered approach to evangelism by manipulating people to make a decision are helping the devil plant tares. They promote easy believism with no call to repentance or discipleship because it produces quick results that people can see and measure. The unanticipated results of their actions are devastating: God is not glorified, the sinner is not saved, the church is not sanctified and the devil is thrilled and delighted. The best way to produce true converts and reduce the number of tares coming into the church is to follow a biblical, God-centered method of evangelism. We must quit seeking quick results and instead glorify God by make disciples and faithfully proclaiming His Word until the sinner asks, "What must I do to be saved?" Man-centered Evangelism

Response to comment [from other]: "For anyone who might have been unaware, or doubted that the Catholic cult asserts that your non-Catholic cult is a false one, read:

From: http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/co...-iesus_en.html

“The roots of these problems are to be found in certain presuppositions of both a philosophical and theological nature, which hinder the understanding and acceptance of the revealed truth. Some of these can be mentioned: the conviction of the elusiveness and inexpressibility of divine truth, even by Christian revelation; relativistic attitudes toward truth itself, according to which what is true for some would not be true for others; the radical opposition posited between the logical mentality of the West and the symbolic mentality of the East; the subjectivism which, by regarding reason as the only source of knowledge, becomes incapable of raising its “gaze to the heights, not daring to rise to the truth of being”;8 the difficulty in understanding and accepting the presence of definitive and eschatological events in history; the metaphysical emptying of the historical incarnation of the Eternal Logos, reduced to a mere appearing of God in history; the eclecticism of those who, in theological research, uncritically absorb ideas from a variety of philosophical and theological contexts without regard for consistency, systematic connection, or compatibility with Christian truth; finally, the tendency to read and to interpret Sacred Scripture outside the Tradition and Magisterium of the Church.

…and so it goes on. Ad nauseam..."

2 Pet. 2:14, 15

Response to comment [from a Christian]: "Jesus--If I bear witness of Myself, My witness is not true.  Catholic Church--If I bear witness of myself, my witness is true.  The Catholic Church understands that it's understanding is true."

Already answered.

[Strong and Weak Foundations Proclaiming the Gospel Ministries] "According to Jesus, true Christians build their houses (which represents their lives) on the solid rock of Christ and His Word (Mat. 7:24-27). False Christians build their house on shifting sand which is made up of traditions, opinions and teachings of men. When the storms and trials of life come, a true Christian continues to trust and act on God's Word while a false Christian gives up and suffers shipwreck of his faith. When his faith is tested, it is exposed as shallow, spurious and short-lived. He is the man who hears the Word and immediately receives it with joy; yet when affliction or persecution arises, he falls away (Mat. 13:20)." Strong and Weak Foundations

Response to comment [from a Catholic]: [From Tico: "I still want to know who gets to authoritatively interpret the Magisterium."] "The one with the keys and the power to bind and loose."

See:

Mt 16:18 McGee, MacArthur, Stanley

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

Response to comment [from a Catholic]:  "We get to interpret what the pope says and that is not always easy to do."

Too bad they don't tell the truth (Mt 15:9).

See:

False Catholic Traditions

[Narrow and Broad Roads Proclaiming the Gospel Ministries] "Jesus said there are only two paths to eternity (Mat. 7:13-14). There is a narrow road which is hard to find because false teachers are blocking the entrance and pointing people to the broad road. This is why Jesus said, "Strive to enter through the narrow door; for many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able" (Luke 13:24). People must strive to enter because of Satan's fierce opposition to the Gospel. The only way to determine which door is the true door is to search the Scriptures. The narrow door is difficult to enter because unconverted sinners must be set free from the snare of the devil and repent (2 Tim. 2:25). They must have a heartfelt sorrow for sinning against their God and Creator (2 Cor. 7:9-10). The narrow road is by grace alone through faith in Christ alone which means no one can enter in their own righteousness or by their works or merit (Eph. 2:8-9). They must leave everything behind and enter with empty hands of faith. The other path to eternity is the broad road. It is marked "heaven", but it leads people to hell. It is easy to find - just follow the crowd because many are on it. They are the ones who are trusting their own righteousness and good works and see no need to repent." Narrow and Broad Roads

Response to comment [from a Christian]: "I know there have been human beings which are fallible that are Popes."

See if they agree with you.

[Living and Dead Faith Proclaiming the Gospel Ministries] "Anyone can profess to be a Christian but genuine faith will be evidenced by how a person lives. Likewise, people are known more by what they do than what they say. James asks the probing question: "What use is it, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but he has no works?" (Jas. 2:14). He concludes that a faith which does not produce any evidence of a changed life is a dead, spurious, worthless faith. Those with empty confessions profess to know God, but they deny Him by their works, being abominable and disobedient (Titus 1:16). "Everyone who names the name of the Lord is to abstain from wickedness" (2 Tim. 2:19). In other words, it doesn't matter what you profess to be, what really matters is how you live. Those who have living faith are born of God. They are new creatures created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand for them to do (Eph. 2:10)." Living and Dead Faith

Response to comment [from a Christian]: "This is an unfairly posed question. Firstly it is a closed question: there are other possibilities. Secondly, it is unbalanced. To be fair, it should read:  ...Is it [1] the preferences and opinions of every individual believer with a Bible, or [2] the preferences and opinions of Christ's historic Catholic Church?..."

"Ouch" ~ E.T.

[Right and Wrong Motives Proclaiming the Gospel Ministries] "Both true and false Christians follow Jesus, but for different reasons. Unconverted people seek Jesus for selfish motives or wrong reasons, usually for material blessings. Jesus said, "You seek Me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate of the loaves and were filled" (John 6:26). These false disciples withhold true allegiance and submission to Jesus and retain control of their own lives. They allow their own opinions rather than Scripture to control what they do and how they do it. True converts respond to the Lord Jesus in adoration, praise and worship (Mat. 2:11; 14:33; 15:25; 28:9, 17). They submit to Christ as Lord and obey His Word out of love and gratitude for all He has done and is doing. They are known by how they respond to sin - with conviction, sorrow, confession and repentance." Right and Wrong Motives 

Response to comment [from a Christian]: "Crux...[Y]ou've got a fine set of assumptions. I hope they work for you, even if they are unreasonable."

Whose interpretation is authoritative, binding & final?