Pope goes back to Babylon

Pope goes back to Babylon - By Joseph Farah - https://www.wnd.com Abraham was called by God out of Babylon and idol worship from the region of a 4,000-year-old Sumerian temple and the palaces known as the Great Ziggurat of Ur of the Chaldees. "Now the Lord had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will shew thee: And I will make ofthee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed," God said in Genesis 12:1-3. It was one of the seminal moments for all people who worship the One True God. It led directly to the Hebrew family and eventually a nation and the Messiah Yeshua, Jesus. Pope Francis went back to Babylon last weekend. Oddly, he didn't say any of that. Much more could be said about Abraham, Sarah, Isaac and Jacob, Judah and the line that led to Jesus to made the all-important connection, yet, for some reason, he didn'teven start the story. Instead, he told a story of unity – when in reality, the human race is a story of a chosen remnant of people who are triumphant, victorious and blessed like Abraham, whochose to reject his pagan roots and follow God. The pope chose to hold an interreligious meeting where people would all sing kumbaya, forgive ISIS and talk about rebuilding Babylon. Once the land of Iraq had a teaming population of Christians and Jews. The Jews were left to travel across the desert with only the clothes on their backs when Israel wasfounded. In 2003, Iraq boasted 1.5 million Christians, but today there are less than 150,000. Neither Jews nor Christians have any designs about returning there – much less rebuilding. The pope knows what was done in this land when it was the so-called "caliphate" and witnessed unimaginable and unspeakable horrors, including beheadings and mass killings. "Forgiveness is necessary to remain in love, to remain Christian," he said. Here's something else the pope didn't mention about Abraham. When he was 99 years old, God made a covenant with him. It comes in Genesis 17:1-10. "And I will make my covenant between me and thee, and will multiply thee exceedingly. And Abram fell on his face: and God talked with him, saying, As for me, behold, mycovenant is with thee, and thou shalt be a father of many nations. Neither shall thy name any more be called Abram, but thy name shall be Abraham; for a father of many nations have I made thee. And I will make thee exceeding fruitful, and I will make nationsof thee, and kings shall come out of thee. And I will establish my covenant between me and thee and thy seed after thee in their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee, and to thy seed after thee. And I will give unto thee, and to thyseed after thee, the land wherein thou art a stranger, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God. And God said unto Abraham, Thou shalt keep my covenant therefore, thou, and thy seed after thee in their generations. Thisis my covenant, which ye shall keep, between me and you and thy seed after thee; Every man child among you shall be circumcised." Something important same out of Babylon. Abraham did. There are even historical records of Abraham when he was there – in the Ur of the Chaldees. There's no doubt abouthis existence. But the most important thing about him was his faith in God. His faith was so great that he was willing to sacrifice his own son at His command. But God stopped short ofthat, having tested and proven His servant. Later God would sacrifice His own Son, because He so loved the world. And yet we didn't hear any of that story told by the pope – in Babylon. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Reversing the Reformation � Jonathan Brentner - https://www.jonathanbrentner.com/https/jonathan-brentner-g8fgsquarespacecom/config/2021/3/8/reversing-the-reformation In my previous post, No One Can Cancel Our �Blessed Hope,� I showed how the allegorical approach to biblical prophecy opens the doors for dismissing the true intent of otherscriptural texts. This disregard for the words of Scripture not only robs saints of the joyful anticipation of their �blessed hope,� but as we will see, it also blurs the distinction between biblical justification and that of the Roman Catholic Church. If Paul�s words in Romans 11 regarding Israel�s future place in God�s prophetic program do not really mean what they say, it allows others, at a later time, to call intoquestion his clear statements regarding our justification in Romans 2-8. Could this at least in part explain the willingness of some Protestant churches to join hands with the Catholic Church? I believe so. Mike Gendron, in the excellent chapter he wrote in the book Lawless, warned about the dangerous and widespread acceptance of Pope Francis among evangelicals. He cited aLifeWay research poll of one thousand Protestant pastors showing that before the pope�s visit to the United States in 2015, �Sixty-three percent said they believe Francis is a genuine Christian, while 16 percent are unsure.�[i] Gendron then added, �Those whowere surveyed either do not know the exclusivity of the gospel of grace or do not know the false and fatal gospel of Rome.[ii] On his website, Gendron wrote these compelling words about the dangers of compromising the purity of the Gospel for the sake of unity with the Catholic church: �The greatest attack on the Christian faith today is the widespread assault on the exclusivity and purity of God�s Gospel. Churches are compromising the Gospel to make itmore inclusive in order to gain a larger following. Ecumenically minded leaders are ignoring the essentials of the Gospel for the sake of unity with apostate Roman Catholicism. We must get the Gospel right because many are being misled and deceived by distortedgospels that have no power to save anyone.�[iii] The key differences between a biblically sound Gospel and that of Catholicism are those related to the doctrine of justification. While in seminary, I wrote my master�sthesis on Roman Catholic Justification in the Light of Scripture. Though that was longer ago than I care to admit, I believe the distinctions I wrote about back then still hold true today and are the very ones increasingly at risk due the push among �evangelicals� to adopt a unified stance with the pope and the Catholic church. The following points briefly summarize the differences between Scripture and Rome�s view of justification. CATHOLIC THEOLOGY MISREPRESENTS THE NATURE OF JUSTIFICATION In Roman Catholic theology, justification is a process. Joseph Pohle, a well-known Catholic theologian, described it as something that �runs through certain well-definedstages, which in their totality are called the process of justification.�[iv] Although Rome agrees that justification is momentary in one sense, Catholic theologians believe that is far too restrictive. They insist that true justification involvesa lengthy process by which one�s soul becomes holy. Justification thus happens at the end of Christian growth rather than at its beginning and includes the process of developing an inner righteousness. The Bible presents a much different perspective regarding the nature of justification. The word used for it in the New Testament is dikaioo, which came from the lawcourtsof the first century AD. The word denotes a judge declaring someone �not guilty.� Justification is not a process but rather a momentary declaration of the sinner�s righteousness. It refers the instant when God in effect slams down the gavel and proclaims the sinner innocent of all charges against him or her. The use of the word dikaioo to describeit confirms that by its nature justification cannot depict a process. It�s the moment in which the sinner receives �peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ� (Rom. 5:1). Romans 4:22-25 further describes justification as an imputation of righteousness. Verse 22 says that Abraham�s faith was �counted to him as righteousness.� The Greek wordused here is logizomai, refers to a reckoning or a setting to one�s account. Justification does not produce any change a person; it merely settles one�s relation to the law. It forever changes one�s status in God�s eyes from guilty to righteous. This signifies that by its nature God�s justification of the sinner is final and irreversible. When He declares that we are righteous in His sight, no one can undo or alterHis legal decree. Double jeopardy does not exist in God�s court of law; no one can enter His presence and overturn our righteous status. We see the irreversible aspect of our justification in Romans 8:30, �and those whom he justified he also glorified.� It�san unbroken chain; the Lord will glorify every person that He justifies. Romans 8:31-34 confirms the fact that no one can change God�s verdict of �not guilty� on our behalf. Nothing in our lives from birth to death (or the rapture) was hid fromthe Lord when He declared us righteous. It�s utterly impossible for anyone to present new evidence against us since God knew all about our lives when He declared us righteous. CATHOLIC THEOLOGY MAKES GOOD WORKS THE PATH TO JUSTIFICATION Martin Luther made the words sola fide (by faith alone) part of the Protestant vernacular. The Reformers stressed that God justifies the sinner totally through faith apartfrom any good works. Rome vigorously opposed Luther on this matter. At the Council of Trent, a sixteenth century assembly of the Catholic church held in response to the Reformation, Catholicleaders condemned anyone that would say that faith alone justifies. They insisted that one must add �preparatory and cooperative� acts to ones faith in order to obtain final righteousness or justification. By these �necessary� acts, one cooperates with faithin order to prepare �his own will for the receipt of justification.�[v] Scripture presents a much different picture of justification than that agreed upon at the Council of Trent; it totally excludes works from God�s pronouncement of righteousnesson our behalf. In Galatians 2:16 Paul wrote: Yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faithin Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified. Luther said that Galatians 2:16 does not mean that Christians should reject good works. It does mean, however, that the topic of justification does not allow for any discussionof them. He added that faith justifies because it �takes hold of and possesses this treasure: Christ.�[vi] Rome�s insistence on inherent righteousness achieved through good works contradicts Scripture. The words of Ephesians 2:8-9 teach us that salvation comes by grace throughfaith rather than on the basis of works. These verses, along with many others in the Bible, exclude works from having any part in our salvation. It�s ever so important to recognize that our good works have nothing to do with our justification. True born-again saints begin the Christian life holy and blameless inGod�s sight and that status never changes (Eph. 1:3-4). Those who say we can lose our salvation, or even walk away from it, unwittingly adopt an understanding of justification that is more Roman Catholic than Protestant. SinceGod�s pronouncement of righteousness is unalterable, if one can lose his or her salvation or walk away from the Lord, this necessitates the Catholic view of justification that includes works and moves God�s final determination of one�s worthiness for eternallife to the end of one�s life. It�s precisely because our good works or staying power have nothing to do with our righteous standing before God that we are forever eternally secure (John 10:27-29). Wepossess eternal life now! CATHOLIC THEOLOGY MAKES OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS THE BASIS OF JUSTIFICATION The most fundamental and important distinction between the Catholic and biblical view of justification is the basis of the righteousness by which God declares us just. According to Roman Catholic theology, a sinner receives justification on the basis of a �real inherent righteousness� that one produces in the soul through sanctifying grace.[vii]The righteousness of a person�s soul, which one achieves through both preparatory and cooperative works, later becomes the basis of God�s declaration. God looks at a person�s own acquired righteousness and, on that basis, justifies him or her. The Bible, however, teaches that God saves us in spite of ourselves. Ephesians 2:8-9 excludes even our faith as the basis of God�s declaration. The sole motive for God grantingus eternal life lies wholly within the Giver, or God. Romans chapters 2-8 teach that God justifies sinners solely on the basis of Christ�s righteousness. The apostle Paul places the basis of our justification totally outsideof us and squarely upon the righteousness of Jesus. One theologian rightly said that the ground of justification �can only be found in the perfect righteousness of Jesus Christ, which is imputed to the sinner� at the time of �justification.�[viii] Yes, it�sall about the exchange of our many sins for Jesus� perfect righteousness (2 Cor. 5:21). Those evangelicals who now seek to unite with Rome are in effect reversing the Reformation and compromising the purity of the Gospel. In Paul David Tripp�s devotional, New Morning Mercies, for March 6, he wrote these words regarding the significance of our eternal righteous standing before God that comesby way of justification: �You can run into the light of his holy presence utterly unafraid, he will not turn you away. You can do this because your standing with him has never been based on yourrighteous performance, but on the perfect obedience of your Savior. Because you are in him, you are counted as righteous and therefore accepted into his holy presence forever and ever and ever. �Yes, you are called to live a holy life, but your way of living has not been and never will be the basis of your standing with God.� This is the blessed assurance of justification; God has nailed all the charges against us to the cross (Col. 2:13-14). We are forever secure before the Lord and can runto Him when we blow it knowing that He will never condemn us or treat us as anything other than His dearly beloved children (Rom. 8:1; 1 John 3:1). Note: Please consider signing up for my newsletter on the homepage of my website at https://www.jonathanbrentner.com/. It will greatly help me in reaching more people. Thanks! [i] Mike Gendron, Pontiff Proclaims All Go to Heaven in Lawless�End-Times War Against the Spirit of Antichrist, Terry James Editor (Crane, MO: Defender, 2020), p. 318. [ii] Ibid. [iii] Mike Gendron on his website at: https://www.proclaimingthegospel.org/site/cpage.asp?sec_id=180014816&cpage_id=180064909#!/Contending-for-the-Gospel/p/141870007/category=636667 [iv] Joseph Pohle, Grace: Actual and Habitual, Vol. VIII, Dogmatic Theology, ed. Arthur Preuss (St Louis: Herder, 1923), p. 183. [v] The Council of Trent, Present Truth, IV (October 1975), p. 250. [vi] Jaroslav Pelikan, ed., Lectures on Galatians 1535, Vol. 26, Luther�s Works (St Louis: Concordia, 1963), pp. 130, 137. [vii] Pohle, Vol. VII, p. 322. [viii] L. Berkof, Systematic Theology, (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans Publishing House, 1941), p. 523. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- VISIT: PROPHECY WATCHER WEEKLY NEWS: HTTP://PROPHECY-WATCHER-WEEKLY-NEWS.BLOGSPOT.COM