If you’ve ever read any of my blog posts before, it is most likely completely obvious to you that I am a Protestant Christian - even an Evangelical Christian if you will… but that I am certainly not of the Catholic persuasion.
If pressed to answer the question, “Why are you Protestant?” I might respond with a simple, “Because I’m not Catholic.” And to a prodding, “Why, then, are you not Catholic?” I would probably retort with a resounding, “Uhh…”
Needless to say, this is not exactly in the Berean spirit. When Paul and Silas brought to the Bereans the good news of Christ’s atoning sacrifice for the sins of those who would believe in him through faith, the book of Acts tells us that the Bereans “examined the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so.” Ah, so that’s what that big Book is for!
So, when a friend recently asked me why I am of the Protestant faith, and determinedly not of the Catholic faith, I decided to become a Berean on this matter. And let me tell you… it has been a very eye-opening experience for me, to say the least! Not only has my belief in the imputation of Christ’s righteousness to my eternal being been strengthened, but I had no clue how much our God has revealed to us in His Scriptures concerning this matter!
What will follow in the next couple of weeks is a six-part blogging session on “Why I am not a Catholic” (alternative title: "Why I am going to buy brother Martin a beer when I get to heaven"). I will attempt to look at many Scripture references, but these are only the ones that I was able to find in a single night of searching. After compiling six whole pages of texts, I finally decided to give up, figuring that what I have found might be sufficient to “give a defense for the hope that is within me” (1 Peter 3:15). But trust me: there is much more to be found!
The six parts will be “Man has no righteousness of his own”, “Righteousness is not obtained through works”, “Righteousness is obtained through faith”, “Faith is a gift”, “Christ’s righteousness justifies, not man’s”, and “Perseverance of faith”.
I invite anyone who might be reading this (do I hear crickets?) to dialog with me as I present what I believe to be God's plan for salvation, as it is revealed in the Scriptures to be the righteousness of Christ's active obedience to the law, imputed to us by grace, through faith.
I’ll leave you with the following verse to chew on before tackling these topics in the coming weeks:
See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ.
-Colossians 2:8
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3 comments:
Oo! I'm excited to read all you've been finding!
But isn't drinking beer is the same as eating glass (Spiritually speaking)?
Ha! Love it!
True, true... but I also like to throw puppies out of moving cars... just because the Bible doesn't mention it.
For the record, I'm drinking a beer as I type this. ;)
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