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Apologetics for the Masses #514 - A Protestant Magazine Asks: Will Pope Leo XIV Proclaim John 3:16? (Part 2)
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Topic
Part 2 of My Response to A Protestant Magazine Article That Asks: "Will Pope Leo XIV Proclaim John 3:16?"
General Comments
One last reminder about the flash drives. Each flash drive has all 28 of the Bible Christian Society apologetics talks in English and 6 of the talks in Spanish. You can order either the 16 gb drive or the 128 gb drive.
Here is a description of the two different flash drives. (Note: we have limited quantities of the 16 gb flash drive, and once they're gone, they're gone. There's about 30 of them left.)
• 128 GB USB drive with both USB-A and USB-C ports. This drive is USB 3.0. $10.
• 16 GB USB drive with both USB-A and Micro USB ports. This drive is USB 2.0. $5.
You can order them here: https://www.biblechristiansociety.com/products/complete_audio
Introduction
Continuing with my response to an article in The Christian Post - a If you want to see the first half of the article, and my response to it, you can click here:
Apologetics for the Masses #513
Below is the rest of the article with my comments interspersed amongst its paragraphs.
Challenge/Response/Strategy
The Christian Post - Dan Delzell
In a 2023 interview, Cardinal Prevost was asked, "What fundamental trait would you say is necessary to be a good bishop?" He concluded his thoughts with this encouraging statement: "In just a few words: to help people come to know Christ through the gift of faith." Christians around the world rejoice with anyone who "comes to know Christ through the gift of faith."
My Comments
"Christians around the world rejoice with anyone who 'comes to know Christ through the gift of faith.'" Really?! So, does Dan Delzell rejoice with Catholics who "come to know Christ through the gift of faith" and then live out that faith by going to Mass, receiving the Sacraments, praying the Rosary, by rejecting false dogmas such as Sola Scriptura, Sola Fide, Once Saved Always Saved, and other such egregious Protestant beliefs? I sincerely doubt it.
The Christian Post - Dan Delzell
Paul assured believers, "For it is by grace you have been saved through faith — and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God - not by works, so that no one can boast" (Ephesians 2:8-9). Thankfully, eternal life in Heaven is a free gift that is received by faith in Jesus Christ.
The Christian Post - Dan Delzell
Paul followed up those two verses with this beautiful description of sanctification: "For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do" (Ephesians 2:10). In his 13 or 14 epistles, Paul was meticulous in fleshing out both justification and sanctification.
My Comments
Yes, "eternal life in Heaven is a free gift that is received by faith in Jesus Christ"...through Baptism! Read the Bible, Dan! And, it is a free gift that, after having received it, we can later reject it...through sin! Notice how he has completely separated justification and sanctification in these verses, even though, by his own flawed interpretation, he admits that Paul has put the two together in this passage from Ephesians 2:8-10. Paul puts them together, Dan separates them. Verses 8-9 are, according to the Word of Dan, about justification...being saved. Then, in verse 10, after you've been justified...after you've been saved...then you can start working on being sanctified...being made holy...through these works God has prepared for you to do. But, of course, verses 8 and 9 have nothing at all to do with verse 10, right?
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Here's the rub: What if, after you've been saved, you decide you don't want to do any of the good works that God has prepared for you to do? I mean, you've already been saved, so why do any works? Are you still saved if you decide not to do any of those works that God wants you to do? Are you still saved if you decide not to work towards your sanctification? If you decide not to strive to be holy (Heb 12:14)? Well, yes, according to Sola Fide theology...according to the Word of Dan...you're still saved because sanctification and justification have absolutely nothing to do with one another.
Now, I can guarantee you that Dan, should he ever be given the opportunity to read this newsletter, would respond by saying, "Well, if someone is TRULY saved then good works will 'always flow' from their faith in Christ." He'll claim that if they refuse to do the works, then that means they really weren't saved in the first place. The problem is, though, nowhere does the Bible say such a thing. As I mentioned in the last newsletter, Jesus got onto some of the 7 churches in Revelation 2 and 3 because good works were not always flowing from their faith in Christ as the Word of Dan says they will be.
To the church of Ephesus, Jesus says, "But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first. Remember then from what you have fallen, repent, and do the works you did at first. If not, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place, unless you repent." The "church", in Protestant theology, consists of those who have been saved - they've been justified. So, according to the Word of Dan, they should sort of automatically be doing good works. Yet, they aren't. They stopped doing the works they did at first. But, wait! That can't happen, can it?! Furthermore, Jesus tells them that if they don't repent of that, and start doing those works again, then they may no longer be "church" - i.e., they may lose their salvation. Yet, Dan says justification and sanctification have nothing to do with each other, and that good works - or the lack thereof - have nothing to do with one's justification. Sorry, Dan, but that's not what the Bible says. Again, by coming to the Word of God with the predetermined dogma of Sola Fide as the lens through which every passage of Scripture has to be viewed, you end up absolutely butchering the Word of God and turning it into something contradictory and nonsensical - the Word of Dan.
So, while Paul was "meticulous in fleshing out both justification and sanctification," unfortunately, Dan was equally meticulous in flushing out both justification and sanctification" - flushing them out and down the toilet, that is.
The Christian Post - Dan Delzell
Imagine a home builder skipping the foundation and jumping straight into the construction of the house. This is essentially what happens when a religious leader attempts to redefine "faith" as a combination of belief and good works. It is no minor theological error, especially since it prevents people from being converted and justified.
My Comments
"Imagine a home builder" trying to build a home without a blueprint. That's what Protestants essentially do when they dogmatize their private, fallible, interpretations of Scripture. They have no guidance in constructing their theological framework, other than what they themselves personally "feel" or "believe" or "think" any given passage of Scripture means. But, dare you not disagree with their infallible fallible interpretations, as that could land you in Hell for all of eternity - at least, according to their infallible fallible decrees. Look, this entire article from the Christian Post is nothing but a not-so-subtle slam on the Catholic Faith. But, in reality, the only thing it accomplishes is to expose the fact that Dan Delzell really has little to no clue as to what Catholics actually believe and teach. He's trying to covertly assert that the Catholic Faith teaches a "works-based" salvation. Yet, nothing could be further from the truth. This is what happens when a religious leader tries to teach about another faith tradition without actually doing any research on it - it is no minor theological error, especially since it prevents them from being converted to the truth.
The Christian Post - Dan Delzell
Religious deeds do not convert souls. A single sin cannot be washed away by 10,000 good works. The blood of Jesus washes away sins when a person places their trust in Christ's death on the cross for the forgiveness of sins and eternal life in Heaven (see Romans 5:9; 1 John 1:8-9). It will be critical for the new pope to consistently proclaim and explain the Gospel message. Hundreds of millions of Catholics desperately need to hear what the Bible teaches about the good news.
My Comments
Again, his ignorance of Catholic teaching is showing. The Catholic Church does not now, nor has it ever, taught that any sin can be "washed away" by any amount of good works. The Church teaches very clearly, and plainly, that sin is washed away only by the grace of Jesus Christ - which He merited for us by His death on the Cross - grace that we receive, first and foremost, at the beginning of the process of our salvation, through Baptism. But look at what he says: "The blood of Jesus washes away sins when a person places their trust in Christ's death on the cross for the forgiveness of sins and eternal life in Heaven." I would ask, where does the Bible say that? Oh, he cites a couple of verses, but neither one of those verses says what he is trying to make them say. They don't even imply what he is saying. He is trying to turn those two verses into Sola Fide verses. Yet, neither one of the verses mentions "faith" or "believing" or "trusting" and the word "alone" is nowhere to be found in them.
Again, the Sola Fide prism, through which the light of all Scripture must pass for Dan, is like a prison for him. He cannot help but twist the Scriptures as long as he remains chained in his Sola Fide cell. I will agree with him on one thing, though, and that's that hundreds of millions (actually, 1.4 billion) of Catholics desperately need to hear what the Bible teaches about the good news. We need to hear it over and over and over again, but, unfortunately, a good number of our priests and bishops are not exhorting their flocks as they should, and as their flocks need them to do. I've heard so many bland and watered down and, to be honest, fairly pointless homilies in my lifetime. Homilies that lack fire. Homilies that fail to touch the heart and/or smack you upside the head. Homilies that are of no use to someone who is struggling to stay on the right path...struggling to avoid sin...struggling to hold on to that free gift of salvation given to them by Jesus through the Holy Spirit. However, I most definitely disagree with the underlying assumption of his words - that hundreds of millions of Catholics aren't saved because they don't believe as Dan believes. They may not be saved, but if not, it's because of sin and not because they didn't believe in Sola Fide.
The Christian Post - Dan Delzell
Just as "faith without works is dead" (James 2:26), religion without the Gospel is dead. "Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under Heaven given to men by which we must be saved" (Acts 4:12). And you cannot "continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling" (Philippians 2:12) unless you have already received the free gift of everlasting life in Heaven through faith in Christ alone.
My Comments
What a piece of work this guy is. He tries to give lip service to the importance of works - not, of course, in regard to one's justification - by quoting James 2:26: "faith without works is dead". Yet, he then goes on to declare that your religion is dead if you don't believe in salvation by faith alone (aka, "the Gospel). He's saying faith without works is dead - so works are indeed important - but, you're saved by faith alone and not by works, so works really aren't important. So what is it, Dan - works or no works? It's a nonsensical analogy. And, of course, nowhere does he mention James 2:24, "You see that a man is justified by works, and NOT BY FAITH ALONE." Also, what is up with quoting Phil 2:12? I mean, if you've already received the "free gift of everlasting life in Heaven," and you can never lose it, why do you have to "work out" your salvation with "fear and trembling"? What is there to fear? What is there to tremble about? And why does it say work out your "salvation" instead of work out your "sanctification"?
The Christian Post - Dan Delzell
Justification always precedes sanctification. And without the proper foundation, everything else comes crumbling down, no matter how zealous or religious a person may be. If good works could save man's soul, there would have been no reason for Jesus to suffer the agony of the crucifixion for our salvation. You see, "If righteousness could be gained through the Law, Christ died for nothing" (Galatians 2:21).
My Comments
Where exactly is it the Bible says, "Justification always precedes sanctification?" Book, chapter, and verse, please, Dan? Sorry, but the Bible is pretty clear in that unless you are made holy, sanctified - a new creation in Christ - you are not justified...you are not saved. And, again, he makes those same two mistakes: 1) Believing Catholics teach that your good works can save you, and 2) Equating good works with the works of the Law. I would really like to see Dan write an article on Matthew 25 - both the Parable of the Talents and the Parable of the Sheep and Goats - to see how he explains away the fact that the two servants, and then the sheep, seemingly receive salvation because of their works and, not only that, but that the one servant who did nothing with what his master gave him - the Sola Fide servant - as well as the goats, are tossed into the outer darkness and the eternal fire, respectively, because they didn't do the works. Are works really completely disconnected from one's salvation?
The Christian Post - Dan Delzell
Pope Leo XIV can potentially reach many souls for Christ. But if, rather than consistently explaining the Gospel, the new pope merely promotes various religious rituals and practices, he will miss the unique opportunity he has been given.
My Comments
In other words, if Pope Leo XIV teaches and preaches and practices the Catholic Faith, then Catholics will remain fated to be tossed into the outer darkness...the eternal lake of fire...Hell. If only Pope Leo would believe and teach as Pope Dan believes and teaches, then maybe all of us poor, biblically ignorant, Holy Spirit-deprived, Catholics could be saved! If only...
Closing Comments
I hope all of you have a great week. By the way, if anyone knows how to get ahold of Dan Delzell - or The Christian Post - let me know.
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