I served as a nun in a religious order for approximately fifty years and during all that time, I never heard the true Gospel. Certain things can be allowed, but when it comes to the Gospel there can be no compromise, because the Gospel is the power of God for salvation. A false gospel cannot have that power, and any church that preaches a perverted gospel is depriving its members of the most essential and fundamental message, the message of salvation.
False Teachers in the Early Church
In the Bible we read of the churches in Galatia where false teachers were found leading people to believe another gospel. They were returning to the old system of law, because just as they believed in Jesus Christ, now under the law they had to observe a set of religious laws that made Christianity a set of rules and laws with which they now had to earn heaven. Galatians Chapter Three tells us that Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law and that He is the end of the law for righteousness. If we believe in Jesus but add any other religious law to it as a means of salvation, we fall from grace. We cannot trust law and grace at the same time, since by trying to combine the two systems in that way, we put ourselves under law. Add something to the finished work of the cross, then Christ will be of no use to us. Galatians 3:21 says that if righteousness comes through the law then Christ died in vain. This is the gravity of being under the law — we are forced to save ourselves and the Bible says that no man can be saved by keeping the law. Therefore, it is not surprising that the Apostle Paul in his Epistle to the Galatians used the strongest words to say that if someone, even an angel from heaven, were to preach another gospel, they would be cursed.
My Efforts to Live by the Law
Like the Galatians, I was trying to save myself by a combination of law and grace. I was putting my faith in Jesus but also in my own actions, trying to earn heaven and the things of God doing the best I could instead of receiving salvation as a gift. The gospel was not really good news, for the weight of my own salvation was on my shoulders. As a result, I could only hope to save myself despite all my attendance at Mass, the sacraments, prayers, and other good works. Through offering my own righteousness as a means of being accepted before God, I was according to Galatians 5: 3, making myself a debtor to the entire law. I was forced to meet a standard of perfection that can only be found in God. I had never understood how to trust Jesus and only Him as my Savior. I did not know that it was not because of my good works, but simply by believing and accepting the perfect price that Jesus paid when He shed His blood for me at Calvary that I could be saved. When I heard the true gospel message, the truth set me free. I praise God that I am learning to depend more and more on the Lord Jesus for my needs, in this life and for eternity.
Hunger in Ireland
The catechism of the Catholic Church gives this teaching, "Bishops have the mission of preaching the Gospel to every creature so that all may achieve salvation through faith, Baptism and the observance of the Commandments." This speaks to us of a gospel of works. By mixing law with grace, the Catholic Church has made the same mistake as the Galatians. A church that acknowledges most of the truth of God's Word, but misrepresents the Gospel was the kind of church I was born into in Ireland. I was told that she was the only true Church and for over sixty years, I never doubted or questioned that.
As the second of ten children, I had the example of good parents who were faithful members of their Church. If my family had to be judged by the teachings and traditions of the Catholic Church, we could all reasonably hope to have a place in heaven. But the Bible tells us that we will be judged, not by the teachings of any Church, but by the Word of God. "The Word that I have spoken will judge him at the last day" (John 12:48). In my young days, there was not a single copy of the Bible in our house. Fortunately, in that regard today things have changed considerably.
Here in Ireland, we still talk about the Great Famine of 1840 when the potato harvest failed and a million people died of starvation, while another million emigrated to America never to return home. Ireland in the 1990's is a land of plenty, but there is a different famine, it is a famine described in the Bible as follows: “Behold, the days come, says the Lord God, in which I will send famine to the land, not famine of bread, nor thirst for water, but to hear the word of the Lord ” (Amos 8:11). Those famine days have certainly come to Ireland, yet we are encouraged to know that more and more people find themselves gathering for a few years to study the Bible and feed on the Word of the Lord.
The Death of my Mother in Ireland
In England where I spent most of my religious life, I was an enthusiastic believer in the Charismatic Movement, regarded as a genuine movement of the Holy Spirit. I also attended some Christian meetings with thousands of Christians from many nations. When I received permission from my religious superiors to come home to care for my mother for the last six years of her life, I had the opportunity to listen to some Christian radio programs where the Gospel of salvation was preached regularly. When my mother died at the age of ninety-five, I did not have a clear understanding of the Gospel, so I was unable to help her have an assurance of her salvation. However, I joyfully remember her words to me on the day she died, "I want Jesus to come for me today." These were precious words. Also during those years at home, I had contact with a nephew of mine, Tom Griffin who had a godly influence on my life. He had become a member of a Christian church and it was he who introduced me to JP Walsh who was the leader of a local group in a weekly Bible study. All of this ultimately led to my discovering the unconditional love of God and the liberating message of the Gospel.
The Justice of Christ Available to me
The word "justice" was an important word that opened up the truth of the Gospel for me. I found the word in Paul's description of the Gospel in Romans 1:16. The Gospel "... is the power of God for salvation to all who believe ... because in the Gospel the justice of God is revealed." God's justice - this is what it takes to get to heaven. What God demands is perfection: nothing less than His own righteousness . This was something new for me, because all I was aware of was my own righteousness and how that could save my soul. I could compare myself to those Jews in Romans 10: 3,"Because ignoring the justice of God, and trying to establish their own, they have not submitted to the will of God." I was ignorant of the justice of God. What is required for salvation is a justice that equals the justice of God and he was aware that no one could meet that standard. This, then, is what the Gospel truly is: what God demands, He provides. The Good News is that if we believe in Jesus Christ whose death on the cross, burial and resurrection has paid the price for our sins, we are saved. The Bible puts it this way, "He who knew no sin, he made sin for us so that we might become the righteousness of God in him."(2 Corinthians 5:21). In exchange for my sins, God gives me the righteousness of Jesus, God's righteousness for my sins! This is the Good News of the Gospel.
Salvation by Grace
God's Word tells us that salvation is by grace alone. Very soon I realized why salvation is a gift from God and cannot be by works. Isaiah 64: 6 says, "All our righteousnesses are as filthy rags." when compared to the infinite justice of God. All my best efforts, my faithfulness, my good works are nothing but filthy rags when it comes to winning heaven. I could never win heaven and it was for that reason that Jesus did it for me. All I have to do is come to God empty-handed and not with my “boast” of keeping the law, my penances, and my holiness. My dependence must be totally on Jesus and what He has done for me. Paul, who was a religious Jew who had strictly adhered to the law, had to say that all he wanted was to know Christ and him crucified. We too must come to that conclusion of dependence, not on ourselves, not on Mary or some Church - all of our dependence must be on Christ. We must see Him and Him alone. Although our life no matter how good it may be, heaven can never win, there is a purpose in living a righteous life in our daily relationships with our families and others. This, too, is provided by the grace of God in the guidance of His Word and the power of His Spirit given to us in the moment that we believe. Salvation rests on the basis of our faith in Jesus Christ, and not on the basis of our conduct. That same faith keeps us trusting in Jesus Christ when we walk daily by His Spirit. Salvation rests on the basis of our faith in Jesus Christ, and not on the basis of our conduct. That same faith keeps us trusting in Jesus Christ when we walk daily by His Spirit. Salvation rests on the basis of our faith in Jesus Christ, and not on the basis of our conduct. That same faith keeps us trusting in Jesus Christ when we walk daily by His Spirit.
I had never heard the full story of Redemption and how Jesus had completely dealt with sin to save us from hell, “ And the devil who deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the False prophet; and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever ” (Revelation 20:10). Jesus did not deal partially with sin. He did such a complete work that all sin was removed and covered by His precious blood. Sin, be it past, present and future, even those sins not committed were still forgiven two thousand years ago when Jesus died on that cross on Calvary. God does not keep a record of the believer's sins. "I, I am the one who erase your rebellions for my own sake, and I will not remember your sins. (Isaiah 43:25). The debt of sin has been fully paid, although not all will be saved. There is something that will send people to hell and it is unbelief. Jesus himself spoke about this in John 16: 9, "Of sin, because they do not believe in me," and that he speaks of a rejection of Jesus and the salvation He won for us. Salvation is not automatic, that is why the sinner must believe in Christ in order to be saved. The human being is born already condemned and separated from God as the son of Adam. But for those who believe in Christ the Bible says, "There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus" (Romans 8: 1).
God's Justice Satisfied
"The jury is still out" is what a priest recently said in this context. According to Romans Chapter Three, the jury has already pronounced the verdict, "Guilty." "There is not even one righteous". The religious and the non-religious are all equally guilty before God. In His justice, God had to impose a penalty for sin, and because man has never been able to pay that penalty, God in His love found a way to do what we could not and never can do. He gave His Son Jesus who took all our guilt and was sentenced to death in our place. He died on the cross where He was also forsaken by His Father. He was buried and rose again on the third day and sat at the right hand of the Father from where he intercedes for us. The eternal court of heavenly justice was satisfied and the believer's debt was paid in full. On the third day, Jesus was raised from the dead by the Holy Spirit. Jesus who was the firstborn from the dead, the first born of many brothers.
Relationship with God is Restored in Jesus Christ
As time went on, I saw that in the Scriptures our relationship with God is founded on both God's grace and faith . His plan for our salvation is that we must believe in Christ Jesus by grace through faith. “ For by grace are you saved through faith; and this not of yourselves, it is the gift of God ” (Ephesians 2: 8). Faith is not a gift that we receive from our parents or from the church because "faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God"(Rom. 10:17). In God's plan for salvation, the very faith by which we trust only in Christ and His completed work, is itself a work of God. This was the message that Jesus gave the people in John 6: 28-29 when they asked him what they should do to put into practice the works of God. Jesus told them, "This is the work of God that you believe in whom He [God] has sent." I said that I had always believed in Jesus, however, I still realize that I had not met the real Jesus, the Jesus revealed in the Scriptures. Nor had he known what was the gift of righteousness that He offers or the forgiveness of sins earned by His death and resurrection. Titus 1:16 says, "They profess to know God, but by their deeds they deny him ..."I was doing religious practices that showed that I didn't really know him. I believed that it was essential for my salvation to attend Mass, because I had not accepted His propitiatory sacrifice on the Cross. I sought forgiveness for my sins in the Sacrament of Reconciliation, not knowing that Jesus had already reconciled me to God. Just as I depended on Jesus, I also depended on Mary, the saints, my penances and good works, my hours of adoration before the Blessed Sacrament, the rosaries, the scapulars, the indulgences, the purgatory. Paul uses a word to describe the value of something that we try to do to add to Jesus' work, it is the word "dung" (Philippians 3: 8).
Repentance from Dead works
According to Hebrews 6: 1, one of the foundations of the Christian life is repentance from dead works. Dead works are those religious practices and good works performed either by oneself or through the ministry of the church to obtain salvation. All of these works, no matter how virtuous, are just "filthy rags" referred to in Isaiah 64: 6. They are what is called "religion" and religion is the counterfeit of man instead of Jesus Christ. There is no promise in the Bible that religious people will go to heaven. Rather, Jesus called the most religious people on earth in His day, the Pharisees, to repentance. The Bible tells us that to be declared righteous before God, The first thing we must do is give up our attempts to earn salvation. This was very strange to me, who as a good Catholic had been taught to put a special emphasis on my own performance, as well as the ministry of priests. Once heard the Word of God must take first place, and the Word of God in Romans 4: 5 left me without any doubt,"But to the one who works, but believes in him who justifies the wicked, his faith is credited as righteousness."
I had never really believed, because I had never accepted salvation as a gift. By God's mercy, I was convinced of the sin of not fully trusting Jesus and His finished work. I repented of dead works and trusting in my own righteousness and accepted the finished work of Jesus on the cross. Now if I had really heard the Word of salvation and with the Word came God's gift of supernatural faith. Just as in 2 Corinthians 4, I believed therefore I spoke and I dedicated my life to Jesus Christ trusting Him as my Savior. At that moment, God gave me His justice. In my new born spirit, God saw me as if I had never sinned, not because I had never sinned, but because of the righteousness of Christ in which I now found myself clothed. What had happened to me is clearly described in 2 Corinthians 5:17. I experienced salvation. I was born again in the same way that Jesus told Nicodemus,"You must be born again." I was baptized with the only baptism that brings salvation and that identifies me with Jesus Christ. For the first time I knew that my name was written in the Lamb's Book of Life.
Baptism in Jesus Christ
What had happened to me is what the Bible calls baptism into Jesus Christ . Romans 6: 3,
"Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into his death? ”. Galatians 3:27 " for all of you who have been baptized into Christ are clothed with Christ." There was no external ceremony, no priest, no godfather. It was a matter between God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit and me. I had received the only baptism that is necessary for salvation.
A short time later I was baptized by immersion in the Atlantic Ocean at a place called Banna Strand in my native Kerry County. This baptism in water by immersion is an expression of the internal change that had already taken place in my spirit. It was a public confession of my faith in Jesus Christ as the Savior and a demonstration of His death, burial, and resurrection. Water baptism does not make any person a Christian, but rather, shows that that person is already a Christian. The Catholic Church has lost this truth of baptism in Jesus Christ, the baptism that moves us from the kingdom of Satan to the kingdom of God. It is for this reason that it can be said that the majority of Catholics are Christians in name only.
The Catholic Baptism of Infants
Paul refers to baptism into Christ, and in Colossians 2:11 he speaks of circumcision of the heart, a circumcision that was not done with the hands. I was barely one day old when I was taken to the local Catholic Church to be baptized. The priest's hands blessed me with the sign of the cross, anointed me with oil, and put salt on my lips. They laid hands on me and those hands were also used to pour the water on my head. My baptism, outwardly a very beautiful and symbolic ceremony, was actually nothing more than an empty ritual. Water baptism is a biblical ordinance that Christians must obey after believing in Jesus. In the Acts of the Apostles 10: 44-47, there is an example of Christian baptism for New Testament believers. In verse 47, water baptism occurs only afterto be saved Cornelius and all his house and that they were filled with the Holy Spirit. In Ireland there was a recent incident where a baby died just days before being baptized. That the baby had died without being baptized added pain to the parents. The Catholic Church in her liturgy could only invite them to trust in God's mercy and pray for the salvation of her son. However, according to God's Word, that child went straight to heaven. It is true that we are all born with original sin (in Adam), but Romans 5:13 tells us that "where there is no law, no sin is charged . " The law does not apply until the child has the use of reason or reaches the age of discernment. Paul wrote , “And I lived without the law at one time; but when the commandment came, sin revived and I died ”. (Romans 7: 9). The false doctrines that relate to baptism as a means of salvation, are a betrayal of the trust of millions of sincere Catholics who have been deceived about their true position before God in an area where their quality of life here on earth and for all eternity is at stake. Until about eight years ago, I would have strongly opposed anything that was said against the Catholic Church, and even as I prepared to write this testimony, my intention was to avoid any adverse criticism. But things have not worked out that way and any criticism on my part is only towards the system in which I was born.
Understanding the Bible
Some people say that the Bible is difficult to understand and this is true if one fails to understand certain fundamental truths. One of those truths is the concept that man is a spirit that has a soul (the mind, the will and the emotions) and that lives in a body. In 1 Thessalonians 5:23 we see how God divides man, "spirit, soul and body" and Hebrews 4:12 tells us about the Word of God that even "penetrates to the splitting of soul and spirit." Catholic doctrine attributes to the soul what the Bible attributes to the spirit and does not make any distinction between the two. Without a knowledge of this distinction, there was much in the Bible that I could not understand. He could not understand the truths of Scripture as the righteousness of the believer or the truth that "as He is, so are we in this world." To live the Christian life it is important to know how our spirit, soul and body function and how they relate to each other so that through the power of the Holy Spirit, the recreated spirit can dominate the body and soul that will never be free from the presence. of sin until the believer experiences physical death.
Some time ago, a story was told in our church of a poor man who owned a piece of land. He barely had enough to stay alive, but if he had known, he could have been a very wealthy man for there was a source of oil on his ground below the surface. The story of this man is the same as that of many of us Christians today. Within us there is a "fountain of spiritual oil" and we are unaware of the limitless resources of God within us. It is possible that the early Christians knew about this and that is why they lived by the power of the Holy Spirit that was available in their reborn spirits. With the true message of the Gospel, they upset the known world of that time only in the first twenty or thirty years of Christianity. In our reborn spirits, God has provided everything that we need and His life can be manifested through our lives to the degree that we renew our minds with His Word and use the grace that He has made available to us moment by moment. The Bible tells us in 1 Corinthians 1:30 that Jesus"... God has made us wisdom, justification, sanctification and redemption."
My Religious Order
At seventeen I left my home to enter the Religious Order of the Sacred Heart of Mary. This is an International Order founded by Father Jean Pierre Gailhac de Beziers in the South of France. I spent the first seven years of my religious life in France and then after training as a teacher in England, I spent thirty-five years teaching in the parish schools governed by the Local Education Authorities. Side by side with life as a teacher, was my religious life considered by me to be the highest profession. During all my years in the convent, I never had any reason to think otherwise. After a period of six years at home taking care of my mother, I had returned to the convent to work and share with the nuns that I respected, loved and knew so well. A younger sister of mine, Carmel, is a member of the order and is currently teaching African children in Zambia. However, it was not possible for me to return to the convent because I was no longer in accordance with the teachings and practices of the Catholic Church. Soon enough, I no longer saw religious life as the highest profession. Richard Bennett, who was a Dominican priest, writes in an article entitled "Is the Religious Lifestyle Designed by God?" He says that the Bible has ordained only three different institutions: the family, the church and the state. Religious life cannot be reconciled with the Word of God. It was not possible for me to return to the convent because I was no longer in accordance with the teachings and practices of the Catholic Church. Soon enough, I no longer saw religious life as the highest profession. Richard Bennett, who was a Dominican priest, writes in an article entitled "Is the Religious Lifestyle Designed by God?" He says that the Bible has ordained only three different institutions: the family, the church and the state. Religious life cannot be reconciled with the Word of God. It was not possible for me to return to the convent because I was no longer in accordance with the teachings and practices of the Catholic Church. Soon enough, I no longer saw religious life as the highest profession. Richard Bennett, who was a Dominican priest, writes in an article titled "Is the Religious Lifestyle Designed by God?" He says that the Bible has ordained only three different institutions: the family, the church, and the state. Religious life cannot be reconciled with the Word of God. It says that the Bible has ordained only three different institutions: the family, the church, and the state. Religious life cannot be reconciled with the Word of God. It says that the Bible has ordained only three different institutions: the family, the church, and the state. Religious life cannot be reconciled with the Word of God.
Released from the Law
Having been under the law for so long of my life, the Epistle to the Galatians is of particular interest to me. In addition to being subject to the Ten Commandments and other laws of the church, religious life has its own rules, constitutions, and vows. The Bible, however, speaks of only one law for New Testament believers, not the law of works, but the law of Jesus Christ, a law written on our hearts. Jesus himself is the reality of the Mosaic Law which, like everything else in the Old Covenant, was only a type and shadow of things to come. "The Commandments and Ordinances were nailed to the Cross," and the part that remains is the spirit and intent of the law - that we love God with all our hearts and our neighbor as ourselves. This law is the very nature of Jesus himself who lives today through believers. He is not looking at our outward observances. He wants to find people who surrender so completely to Him that He can live His nature in them from the inside out. We have a description of the nature and character of Jesus in Galatians 5: 22-23, “ But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faith, meekness, self-control; against such things there is no law ”. On earth, Jesus was a living manifestation of the fruit of the Spirit. This is not a list of pleasant qualities that enhance our personalities, but the very character of Jesus Christ. In our life it manifests when by grace through faith, we allow His Spirit to be in control rather than our sinful nature. Romans 8:29 tells us that God has predestined believers to be conformed to the image of His Son. In our life there may be joy instead of discouragement, peace instead of confusion and quarrel, healthy and loving words instead of harsh and impatient words.
Rather than submit to the law of Moses, we allow Christ to live His life in us through His Spirit who strengthens us in our weakness. This is the law that Jesus referred to in Matthew 5, "that whoever does it and thus teaches will be great in the kingdom of heaven" Religious life with its rules and vows are not the will of God as defined in the scriptures. The religious vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience are not found in Scripture. Jesus directs us to Matthew 5: 34-37, ”… Do not swear in any way; nor by heaven, because it is the throne of God; nor by the earth, because it is the footstool of his feet… Nor will you swear by your head… But let your speech be: Yes, yes; nerd; because what is more of this, it comes from evil ”.What is spoken in the New Testament is of the priesthood of all believers . Peter writes that every true believer is a member of a "royal priesthood" (1 Peter 2: 9). Jesus is our High Priest and believers in Christ are priests with a divine calling and purpose to offer spiritual sacrifices, the sacrifice of a surrendered heart, offering praise to God in all things and calls to a ministry of intercession on behalf of the the rest.
One Mediator: Jesus Christ
The Epistle to the Hebrews was written to move people from the ways of serving God practiced under the Old Covenant to the New Covenant realities that Jesus Christ put into effect. It is sad to say that the transition has not yet been accomplished after two thousand years. The Catholic Church still has the law and the priesthood. In his liturgy are the sacrifice and the altar, the priestly garments, the incense and the candles, all those things which were essential to the Jewish religion and worship. These were Old Testament types and shadows of the realities to come. The Catholic Church has Christianized Judaism and has not entered into the New Covenant established by the accomplished work of Jesus on the Cross. For years at Mass, I heard the words: "This is the blood of the New and Eternal Covenant." He knew little or nothing about that Pact. I was operating under an Old Covenant mentality. The Catholic Church ordains priests to perpetrate the Sacrifice of the Cross, stating that God's wrath still needs to be appeased because of sin. I quote from a Catholic catechism the following: “Each sacrifice of the Mass appeasesthe wrath of God against sin. Contrary to this, God says in His Word, "So I have sworn that I will not be wrath against you or rebuke you. And in Hebrews 8:12, "For I will be merciful to their injustices, And I will never again remember their sins and their iniquities."
A priesthood and sacrifice of atonement to pay for a broken law were indispensable under the Mosaic Law, but in New Testament times there is no law, no priesthood (other than the priesthood of believers), and no sacrifice (Jesus Christ paid the debt of the sin completely). We no longer need priests to stand before God as mediators, nor does any believer have greater direct access to God than another. We are all invited to come with confidence to the throne of grace, to come to our Father, resting in the righteousness of His Son which is imputed to all who believe in Him. We can worship Him directly, find mercy and help in every need . Like so many men and women in religious orders, priests are men whose desire is to love and serve God, but the Roman Catholic priesthood dishonors Jesus Christ and His sacrifice on Calvary made only once and for all time. Your role as mediators usurps the current ministry in heaven of Jesus Christ, our only Mediator, Advocate, and High Priest.
Mariolatry
The same can be said of the place given to Mary, the mother of Jesus. Titles are conferred on her that belong only to God, including the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. She is called the Mother of Mercy, the All Holy, Mother of the Living, the Throne of Wisdom, the Gate of Heaven, the Advocate, the Mediatrix, the Co-redeemer, and so the endless litany goes on. Pope Benedict XIII wrote, “The Blood shed for us and for the members that He offered to the Father, the wounds that He received as the price of our freedom are but the flesh and blood of Mary. Thus, she together with Christ redeemed humanity. However, Medical science confirms that children get their blood from the father. Therefore, the blood of Jesus was the blood of God (Acts 20:28) the precious blood of the Eternal Covenant."The precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish and without contamination"(1 Peter 1:19). Pope Paul VI in "The Creed of the People of God" gave Mary her newest title: the Mother of the Church. In John 19:27, the words of Jesus on the cross, "Behold your mother," are interpreted as a declaration that Mary is the mother of the entire church. It is very significant that in the three epistles of John there is not even a mention of Mary, nor is there a reference to her in any of the other New Testament epistles that were written to the churches as a guide in matters of doctrine, worship and church discipline. If John had interpreted the words of Jesus on the cross as the Catholic Church has, he certainly would have exhorted people to look to Mary as their mother and in whom they could trust their needs and requests.
There is no biblical evidence that anyone has prayed to Mary or given her the type of veneration known as hyperdulia.recommended by the Catholic Church. Pope John Paul II, speaking of the suffering of Mary said that, “It was on Calvary that the suffering of Mary together with the suffering of Jesus reached an intensity that can hardly be imagined from a human point of view, but which was mysteriously and supernaturally fruitful. for the redemption of the world ”. It is not surprising that a church that emphasizes the need for good works for salvation will find in Mary a supreme example of human worthiness. Despite her exalted position in Catholicism, Mary was only a human being and like any other believer, she performed works of justice during her lifetime. However, the words of Isaiah 64: 6 apply to her as well, as they do to all mankind, "All our righteousnesses are as filthy rags."The suffering of Mary therefore, could not make any contribution to the redemption of the world. Without any support from the Word of God, the Catholic Church in the numerous papal encyclicals has attributed to Mary all kinds of honors, exalting without restrictions her power and excellence and laying the foundation on which the great edifice of Mariolatry has been built. –The idolatrous cult of Mary. We thank God for Mary, a wonderful woman of faith and obedience to God. Elizabeth in her greeting said, "Blessed is she who believed."
For centuries, Satan has been using a fake Mary to deceive millions of devout Catholics. Deception was what he used in the Garden of Eden when he tempted Eve, and it is the same tactic he is using today. The Bible tells us in 2 Corinthians 11:14, that Satan comes as an angel of light. Examples of this are the apparitions in places like Lourdes and Fatima. People are encouraged to pray the rosary, do penance, make sacrifices to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Only faith in Jesus Christ can save us, there is nothing we can do apart from Him that has eternal value. Those messages are lies from Satan that twist the truth of the Gospel. The only sure way to expose these deceptions is the Word of God.
The good news
In one of the last meetings of the province of the order to which I attended while he was still a religious, I remember a Scripture that read: "Behold , I have set you this day over nations and kingdoms to uproot and destroy, to to ruin and to tear down, to build and to plant "(Jeremiah 1:10). Jeremiah lived to see this prophecy come true. People around the world when they hear the Gospel and go to the Word of God to seek the truth, they are able by the grace of God, to abandon religious traditions and anti-biblical beliefs long held as sacred by them, by their parents. and for their ancestors. New wine has to be put into new wineskins. People are leaving denominational churches, each with its own particular religious laws that only serve to divide the Body of Christ, and going out to a new earth to live the Christian life as shown in the Acts of the Apostles and the Epistles.
In the epistle to the Romans we read of Gentile sinners who were not seeking God, but were reconciled by faith, while religious Jews who were very jealous, doing all they could, were not reconciled to God. The religious Jews were holy and jealous, but they were wrong as Paul says in Romans 10.2, "They are jealous of God, but not according to science." Some people find it difficult to accept salvation as a gift. "That makes it too easy," was a comment I heard. And another said, "There must be a trick somewhere." Obviously for some, the Good News is too good to be true. That salvation is a gift and that it is undeserved is the great offense of the Gospel. That is what bothered the Jews in Jesus' time and it is also what bothers religion today. Religious Jews crucified Christ and persecuted the early Church and it is still religious people today who are against the Gospel. Good people who want to maintain their own goodness are sometimes hard to reach with the true Gospel. For them, the Good News becomes bad news. If God were to ask us what we have done to allow us to enter heaven, a true Christian would say that it is nothing that he has done, but that he has put all his trust in Jesus. An axiom to remember is the following: “Religion is built on what man does for God. Christianity is built on what God has done for man. "
The grand commision
Before ascending to heaven, Jesus gave the Great Commission to His disciples, "Go into all the world and preach the Gospel." God has given us a ministry of reconciliation and we need to make sure we have the true message described in 2 Corinthians 5: 17-21. We do not have to be committed to reconciling people to God by the Sacrament of Reconciliation (Confession) or by any other action of man. Reconciliation is something that took place on the Cross of Calvary. In 2 Corinthians 5:20 we read that we are ambassadors for Christ, His personal representatives, begging people to be reconciled to God. God is extending his hand of friendship to us. Will you take that hand? Will you believe what God says His Son did for you at Calvary? Will you repent of your dead works and accept God's gift of justice to be saved?
To carry out this ministry, Jesus told His first ambassadors to wait until they were "endowed with power from on high." Here Jesus was referring to the baptism of the Holy Spirit, being Himself the Baptizer. His disciples needed the power of the Holy Spirit to enable them to preach the gospel. Like them, all of us need the special anointing of the Holy Spirit to be able to carry out our ministry, "Not with army or force, but with my Spirit has said the Lord of hosts"(Zechariah 4: 6). The Holy Spirit is now here on earth convicting the world of sin. The sin that He is dealing with is the sin of unbelief, the refusal by man to believe in Jesus Christ and His work of salvation. Our ministry is to spread the Good News to everyone we can. The price of redemption for sinners has been paid. Forgiveness is available to anyone who believes. Peace is possible even in this life. It is the responsibility of each believer as an ambassador for Jesus Christ to make the Good News of the true Gospel known to the world.
The Power of the True Gospel
Since I came to know Jesus, my desire has been to share with others about the salvation we have in Jesus. "There is none good but one : God" (Matthew 19:17). Once we understand this truth, we realize that we cannot depend on ourselves or on some other living or dead person. We need Jesus and faith in Him is what God asks of us. My favorite scripture on salvation is the one that Jesus himself told Nicodemus, "Unless a man is born again, he cannot enter the Kingdom of Heaven."Being born again and believing in Jesus are therefore the same. I had often heard the story of Nicodemus but it took me over sixty years to understand the message. I had followed the traditions and doctrines of men and had never wondered what Jesus meant by the term 'born again'. Jesus mentioned to Nicodemus the bronze serpent that Moses raised in the desert, a symbol of Christ himself who would be raised on a Cross. Believe in Jesus and you will be born again, you will be saved.
The first Christians preached with great power as we are told in the Acts of the Apostles and Paul said that their message had not consisted of wise and persuasive words, but with the demonstration of the power of the Spirit so that the faith of the people would not be in men but in the power of God. The Gospel is not only about what Jesus did two thousand years ago, but also about what He is doing today. It is the power of God to those who believe.
A Message to the Reader
In this testimony, I have taken the opportunity to share some of the truths of God's Word that were unknown to me for years. I wish to conclude by returning to the wonderful message of the true Gospel. It is a simple message, but one that is still hidden from millions of people today. The Gospel is the story of the power of the precious blood of Jesus, shed on Calvary's cross for sinners, "The Story of the Great Exchange," God's justice in exchange for our sins! "Him who knew no sin, he made sin for us so that we might become the righteousness of God in him" (2 Corinthians 5:21).
Dear reader, the moment you acknowledge yourself guilty for your sin and realize that there is no other way to save yourself, that salvation is only possible by believing in the finished work of Jesus Christ - his death, burial and resurrection - it is time of your salvation. You can know for sure that heaven is yours for all eternity. It is the grace of God that is available to us as a gift received by faith, "While we were still sinners, Christ died for us" (Romans 5: 8). God is faithful to all who seek him, "You shall not despise a contrite and humbled heart, O God" (Psalm 51:17) "And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved" (Acts 2:21).
[Source: https://bereanbeacon.org/es/nunca-habia-oido-el-verdadero-evangelio/]
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