Notre Dame recently appointed pro-abortion professor Susan Ostermann to lead its Liu Institute for Asia and Asian Studies. For conservative Catholics this should be alarming, but not surprising. Despite euphemistic words conveying a public stance about upholding the sanctity of human life from conception to natural death, appointments like this are made thereby negating official Catholic Church policy. Actions speak louder than words.
A Catholic with a conscience will discover that Catholicism cannot be reformed from within that organization. The past protection of pedophilia priests, the mandatory practice of priestly celibacy, which the Bible calls a doctrine of demons (1 Tim. 4:1-3), the movement towards social and economic Liberalism by Pope Leo XIV (Robert Francis Prevost from Chicago), and the blessing of same sex couples, thereby undermining the institution of marriage, demands conservative Catholics reconsider why they should support such an institution. To protest these practices is not enough. The Biblical exhortation is to “come out from among them and be ye separate says the Lord” (2 Cor. 6:17).
Apart from the moral basis for leaving the Catholic Church, there is another good reason for becoming a Protestant which is the issue of authority. In Catholicism tradition is united with Scripture as a basis of authority.
However, this mixture dilutes important Biblical mandates. Scripture alone must be the supreme authority for faith and practice. Jesus condemned the religious leaders of His day saying to them, “You make the Word of God of none effect through your tradition, which you have delivered” (Mark 7:13).
The Bible teaches that all Scripture is given by inspiration of God and is able to make a person wise for salvation (2 Tim. 3:15). Come then, Catholic friend. Let the Bible alone be your ultimate authority.
When Scripture alone becomes the basis for faith and practice in the life of a Christian, there is confidence that God has spoken, and not man. The Christian can whisper in prayer, “Speak, Lord, for thy servant heareth” (1 Sam. 3:9). The heart of a believer longs for a sure word of prophesy, which we have (2 Pet. 1:19).
What a privilege it is to hear God speak by His Spirit, and through His Word, because of faith in Jesus, who gives us direct access to the Father. In Catholicism, God is often approached indirectly through intermediaries. The Bible says there is only one Mediator between God and man, and that is Jesus. “For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus” (1 Tim. 2:5). It is the privilege of every believer to go directly into the presence of God, by faith. Prayers to Mary or one of the saints places a needless veil between the believer and the Lord of Glory.
Because the Word of God is received by faith and believed, because there is a desire to live an authentic holy and moral life, because faith alone in Christ provides direct access to the throne of grace, the heart comes to understand the sufficiency of Jesus’ death and resurrection. Salvation is by grace alone.
Catholicism is undergirded by a system of salvation by good works. If the sacraments are embraced, if money is given to the church, if good deeds are performed, on that basis a soul is saved. “NO! NO!” says the Lord. We are saved by grace through faith and NOT of works, lest any man should boast (Eph. 2:8, 9).
My hope is built on nothing less
than Jesus’ blood and righteousness;
I dare not trust the sweetest frame,
but wholly lean on Jesus’ name.On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand:
all other ground is sinking sand;
all other ground is sinking sand.~Edward Mote
No one should look to organized religion, that is the Catholic Church, or self, for salvation. The death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus is sufficient to save every soul that seeks after God.
Once the Scriptural gospel truth is embraced that salvation is by faith alone, in Christ alone, through grace alone, God will be glorified and a life of freedom to serve Him will be enjoyed within the community of the committed. Protestants do not read the Bible, pray to God, seek to live a holy life, and do good deeds, in order to be saved, because we have received the free gift of God. This free gift of divine grace is yours for the asking, yours for the receiving.
Come, we that love the Lord,
and let our joys be known;
join in a song with sweet accord,
and thus surround the throne.~Isaac Watts
The Collected Works of Stanford E. Murrell 