By Min. Douglas Daniels June 6, 2013
On
May 22, 2013, the new Pope Francis made a broadcast address to Catholics all
over the world. In his address the Pope may have prompted a theological debate
among theologians about the nature of salvation! The Pope declared that God “has
redeemed all of us, all of us, with the Blood of Christ: all of us, not just
Catholics, Everyone, . . . .Even the atheists,” he said. He went on to say to both atheist and
believers, “If we do good to others, if we meet there, doing good, and we go
slowly, gently, little by little, we will make that culture of encounter; we
need that so much. We must meet one another doing good.”
The
Pope has no clothes! I say this because like the King in the fable, who stood
naked believing he was beautifully clothed, the people saw his nakedness. This
Pope stands before the people and attempts to paint an embellished picture of
atheist sharing with believers in the Salvation purchased by Christ. As the people
of the fable witnessed the nakedness of their King, Christians today see the
nakedness of the Pope’s theology! Can a Zebra change its stripes? No! Can an
atheist come to belief in God? Yes! If he first comes to repentance! Repentance is a sincere and thorough changing
of the mind and disposition in regard to sin1. The Bible teaches that unbelief is a sin! When he
repents of his unbelief, God will give him belief, Faith.
Belief
is the basis and foundation for our soul’s salvation! We must first believe in
the birth, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ! The seal of that belief is
belief in and acceptance of His finished work on the cross; as propitiation for
our sins. These points of belief are the core of faith for every Christian and the material of
which the church was built. The understanding of this is fundamental to
Christian Theology and the Pope should know this, after all he is the
figurehead of the Christian Faith.
Simply
defined, atheism “is the rejection of
belief in the existence of deities2!”
Basically atheism equals un-belief! Those that adhere to this ideology put forth a
wide range of arguments in support of their un-belief. They consider themselves
to be free thinkers and are skeptical and critical of all religion. They are particularly
critical of Christianity and have no fear of the Triune God it worships. They
are believers in themselves and self alone. As a group, when it comes to the
moralistic issues of good, evil, right and wrong, they tend to avoid
discussion. On the other hand, they are eager to debate the existence of God. They
believe they can live this life free of God and His sovereignty. Their atheistic beliefs assure them they can
do whatever comes into their minds, without fear of condemnation or reward!
Since
they do not believe in a God or a heaven; they equally don’t believe in a Satan
and or a hell! To express a belief in Satan and not a belief in God, equates to
a belief in Deity, which is what they so strongly reject! So, the Pope’s
admonition to the atheist to “do good”, is a wasted directive, falling on deaf
ears! Through the numerous law suits brought against school districts,
government, public and private institutions, on behalf of atheist; it is clear
that their agenda is to remove any symbol, practice or reference to God or
religion from these venues.
Since
we examine the true nature of everything around us, what is the nature of an
Atheist? What do we find at the core of the atheist nature? UN-BELIEF!
According to scripture unbelief is a sin and the “sin of unbelief” is
punishable of damnation and hell. This is the same “sin of unbelief” that the
prophets warned would bring God’s wrath down upon Judah and Israel, in the Old
Testament Histories. The very same “sin of unbelief” that the Apostle Paul
warned against to the Corinthians. Why would the Pope make an attempt to
include atheist in the salvation wroth by Jesus Christ’s Blood? Could he have
forgotten the true meaning of The Doctrine of Salvation? Did he fall asleep in
the Cardinal’s Class when this subject was taught?
The passage of scripture
the Pope took his remarks from was Mark 9:38-40; of which he paraphrased, Vs.
38) the disciples tell Jesus that they tried to stop a man from driving out demons
in his name because he was not one of their party. In Vs.39) Jesus rebukes them saying: “There is no one who performs a mighty deed
in my name who can at the same time speak ill of me. Vs.40) For whoever is not against us is for
us.” Had the Pope studied this
scripture a bit more closely, he would have discovered it was not the best
scripture to prove his assertion. In fact, this scripture challenges his
assertion that atheist need only to “do good” to be included in the salvation
achieved by Jesus Christ.
It is obvious from verse
38, that the man was a believer in Jesus and his powers! Why else would he be
attempting to do what he has obviously seen Jesus or his disciples do, “In The
Name of Jesus?” He was a believer, just
not a follower of Jesus! Many, many people witnessed his miracles and believed,
but did not become a follower. This man
was not unbelievers as atheist are. Therefore, this scripture could not be
applied to them. An atheist would do
nothing calling on the name of God! Further proof of this comes in Vs. 40)
where Jesus says, “Whoever is not against
us is for us.” Ring, Ring! Wake up
Pope Francis! Atheists are Anti-God! (Against God) Therefore, atheists are
Anti-Christ! If they don’t believe in God, they don’t believe in Jesus Christ!
How could they possibly “do good” in his name?
As
stated at the beginning, the scriptural condition for salvation is belief! John
3:36 plainly states, “He that
believeth on the Son hath everlasting life.” John 5:24, echoes the same from the Master’s
own mouth, “Verily, verily, I say unto
you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath
everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from
death unto life.” And John 3:18
seals the matter declaring, “He that
believeth on him is not condemned: But he that believeth not is condemned
already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son
of God.” Take heed from the history of nations long destroyed because
of their unbelief. Every prophet sent to
them fervently preached to them to return to God from their unbelief and
idolatry.
No
declaration by the Pope of inclusiveness for atheist in the body of Christ will
change the hearts and minds of those who have fully embraced the iniquity of
unbelief. The Catholic Church has ascribed false authority to the Pope and the
Priest who served at his command. The Catholic Church views the man they have
chosen to be Pope as if he were the Christ. In fact, the title he wears of
“Vicar of Christ” literally means “Substitute for Christ”, with reference to
his claim to stand in the place of Jesus Christ and possess His authority in the
church. So when he speaks, believers consider his utterances to be the
expressed will and word of God to the millions of Catholics, who look to him as
leader of their faith.
Protestants
also look to the Pope for guidance and recognize his presumed authority. Protestant
Pastors will deny this, but let the Pope call for an Ecumenical Conference of
Churches, and see how fast they get to Rome. To bow down and kiss his ring;
addressing him as “Your Holiness” ; “Your Imminence” and “Holy Father.” They
claim to do so as a “sign of respect.” In reality it is a sign of allegiance,
recognition and submission to his authority! Traditionally, a slave would kiss
the feet of their owners. Servants kiss the hand of their superiors and men of equal
status kiss one another on the cheek. The kissing of the Pope’s hand and his “Ring
of Office” has been a tradition of the Catholic Church for centuries and the
meaning and significance has not changed. Catholics seem to have forgotten that
the Bible says, “Only God is Holy,” not a man!
Just
as the Catholic Church is in error concerning a Priest’s authority to receive
confessions, forgive sins and the elevation of Mary to the Godhead; they are in
error praying to idol statues or persons and the authority of the Pope to
declare someone a Saint! Pope Francis is
in error by attempting to rewrite scripture to benefit the enemies of God and
His Church. The Seventh Day Adventist founder, Ellen G. White, may have
originated the “conspiracy theory” of the Pope being the Anti-Christ, but Pope Francis
appears to be evidencing it by this speech! Until God Himself pricks the heart
of the atheist, and the Holy Spirit brings him to repentance, he will continue
in unbelief! He therefore does not
accept the gift of Grace and cannot be considered as having been redeemed.
An
atheist “doing good” works will not gain him salvation! God has said, “All
our righteousness’s are as filthy rags” Isaiah 64:6 And, “All
have sinned and come short of the glory of God” Romans 3:23. Salvation is by grace alone!
Ephesians 2:8-9 “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves:
it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast” So,
atheist can claim their righteousness through clamor all they want and the Pope
can defend their unbelief, all he wants. God’s truth remains! Unless they turn
from unbelief, there is no hope for salvation!
Instead of attempting to
re-write the Doctrine of Salvation, Pope Francis would do well to focus his
attention on purging the Catholic Church of homosexual, pedophile, rapist
Priest! This Pope could “do good” and do a very good work by acknowledging the
crimes of the priest; cooperating fully with authorities in the prosecution of
violating Priest and by compensating those who suffered because of their criminal
offenses.
Footnotes:
1. Foundations of Pentecostal Theology, Duffield
& Cleave – The Doctrine of Salvation
2. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia – On Line
Search Re: Atheist
