In 1977 I converted to the gospel of the Lord Jesus, and now I serve Him in the same place where I had followed the call of the Roman Catholic priest. My conversion was accomplished slowly, step by step, in a number of years, and it was one of those miracles that only God can do.
I was ordained a priest in 1951, and my firm intention was to remain a devoted son of the pope until my death. I was fully convinced that he was Peter's successor, the visible head of the whole Church, and the representative of Jesus Christ on earth.
Misleading signs and wonders
The Roman Catholic Church actually follows Mary more than Christ. I never ceased to urge people to say the holy rosaries or the rosary (monotonous repetition of prayers to Mary) and I enthusiastically spread stories about the miracles she performed, but which are nothing but the work of the forces of darkness, having as the purpose of wandering millions of souls and preventing them from coming into contact with the truth.
The apostle Paul heralds the advent of the wicked, "whose coming is according to the work of Satan with all power, signs and lying wonders, and with all deception nedreptitudinii [non-compliance with the divine standard] in those who are lost, because they received not the love truth, that they may be saved. And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie, that they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness ” (2 Corinthians 11:14). ).
However, my life was molded into this system of errors, and I had only a superficial knowledge of Holy Scripture. I myself was deceived and I deceived others (2 Timothy 3:13). In fact, my theological studies were based on scholastic philosophy and not the Bible.
Cracked fountains
In my religious fanaticism and loyalty to the official code provisions specifying the rights of priests, one day I burned a Bible "Protestant" because it did not have the imprimatur of the [authorization showing good printing for publication] Roman Church Catholics that I thought was necessary for her to read.
However, all my confidence and faith in the Roman Catholic institution did not prevent me from being deeply dissatisfied in my heart. I administered the sacraments when it was my turn, but I missed the greatest gift God wants to give to man, that of knowing that he was accepted by God because his sins were forgiven by the work of Christ. Golgotha. "Therefore, being justified [by righteousness, according to the divine standard] by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we also have access to faith in this grace in which we stand and rejoice in the hope of God's glory" ( Romans 5: 1-2). I also feared death and God's judgment.
My religion encouraged me to do meritorious deeds in order to gain God's recognition. I held liturgies, administered sacraments, performed rosaries, gave money for indulgences, and practiced self-sacrifice, but in my heart I felt lost. Despite my theological training, I knew nothing about the peace and simplicity of salvation by grace. The cracked fountains of the sacraments were unable to give me the living water my soul so desperately needed.
A call to my heart
In the 1960s, I became interested in the ecumenical movement. Of course, my great hope was that this movement would make the "separated brethren" recognize the Roman Catholic Church and accept that it was Jesus' will for the pope to be the supreme shepherd of all the sheep and in obedience to the pope. -fulfill God's will, namely one flock and one shepherd.
In order to work in this direction, I first had to know what the Christians separated from Rome actually thought. That's why I started listening to evangelical radio and television shows and programs. I particularly remember a series of morning meditations given by a German evangelical, Werner Heukelbach, broadcast by Radio Luxemburg. They never ended without the call of the heart: "The thing your heart needs is Jesus." To me, he was just the representative of a sect, a heretic, but the seriousness in his voice moved me. The heart of his message was Jesus.
"Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life" (John 6:47).
The light of Scripture
One day in 1975, while walking down a street in Florence, I was drawn to an evangelical bookstore. I just came in to take a look at her. I was struck by the title of one of the books, Roman Catholicism in the Light of Scripture , and bought it. It was not easy to rid my mind in an instant of all the wrong teachings that were so deeply rooted in it, but little by little, the Holy Spirit made the light of truth penetrate my dark mind.
Another two years of insecurity, hesitation and search have passed. In the end, it was only the Bible, which is the true sword of the Spirit, that finally broke the chains of error that had bound me for so many years, "for by grace are ye saved through faith; and this is not of you." but it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast ” (Ephesians 2: 8-9). "Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, thou and thy house" (Acts 16: 30-31). "And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son" (1 John 5:11).
Has the Roman Catholic Church changed?
Some evangelicals believe that times have changed and that it is now possible to have a dialogue and collaborate with the Roman Catholic Church to achieve Christian unity. This is a deception of Satan. The teachings of this ecclesiastical organization have not changed in any way. In fact, new errors are being added to the old ones, and especially all the other religions are being brought together. The Second Vatican Council (1965) says, for example, in the document Nostra Aetate , in paragraph 2:
"Buddhism, in its various forms, recognizes the fundamental inadequacy of this changing world. He proposes a way of life by which man can, with confidence and hope, attain a state of perfect liberation and attain supreme enlightenment either by his own efforts or by divine help.… The Catholic Church does not reject anything that is true. and holy in these religions. "
Therefore, it is of the utmost importance for us at this time to listen to the exhortation of God's Word: “Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers: for what communion has righteousness with unrighteousness? And what do light have in common with darkness? And what harmony is there between Christ and Belial? Or what is the part of the believer with the unbeliever? And what has the temple of God got to do with idols? For you are the Temple of the living God, as God said: I will dwell in them and walk among them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Therefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, and will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.(2 Corinthians 6: 14-8).
Walk like children of Light
When I look back on those many years in which I lived under the power of lies and error, I can only thank my heavenly Father full of joy and gratitude for delivering me from the power of darkness and bringing me into the Kingdom of His beloved Son. "For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord: walk as children of light" (Ephesians 5: 8).
Salvatore Gargiulo was an active evangelist on the Sorrento Peninsula (Italy). The great desire that lies in his heart is to touch the lost and to warn the faithful of the seductions of the last days, fighting for the faith that God has given us once and for all in His Word. He has been living with his family in Switzerland since the autumn of 2002. There are pages about him on the Internet.
(Translator: Olimpiu S. Cosma)
[Source: https://bereanbeacon.org/ro/am-fost-o-calauza-oarba-a-celor-orbi/]
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