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Letters To a Proselyte of Rome (Con't.) Dear J. C. August 7, 1985 I trust you are well, and I pray the Lord will be pleased to open the eyes of your understanding. It is foolish to be ruined by pride when our position becomes indefensible. ... Your theory that to accept the Word of God is to accept tradition is silly because before the Roman Catholic Church came into being, the Old Testament and sundry books of the New Testament were not only penned, but recognized by believers to be the Word of God. This was before the Council of Carthage was held in 397 A.D. ... You are correct that many things in modern worship have no basis in the Book of God. However, you would be unjust to place the "passing of the offering plate" on the same level as the "hocus pocus" of "Hoc est corpus meum," or the irreverent and blasphemous idolatry of "il papa." Jesus said, "And call no man your father upon the earth: for one is your Father, which is in heaven" (Matthew 23:9). For the bishop of Rome to assume such a title among the sons of men is to place himself on the throne of God. It is only by the longsuffering of the Almighty that each such professor has not been smitten with worms, as was Herod... If you cannot find justification for such teachings in the Book of God, why close your eyes to their human fabrication? Forsake them before they condemn your soul, because by their traditions Roman Catholics make void the Word of God! They add to what God has said, and fierce anathemas are pronounced against every person who shall "take away from the words of the book of this prophecy (for) God shall take away his part out of the book of life and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book" (Revelation 22:19). Your faith is presently in men and not in the ability of God to preserve His Word irrespective of men. This is why the Apostle Peter stated, "knowing this FIRST, that no prophecy of the Scripture is of any private interpretation. For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost" (II Peter 2:20,21). And, David declares, "The words of the Lord are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times. Thou shalt keep them, O Lord, Thou shalt preserve them from this generation for ever" (Psalm 12:6,7). Faith not founded upon the Word of God is founded upon the word of men. No, thank you; I will stick to the words of Peter who said, "we have a more sure word of prophecy." Evangelical faith is not founded upon scholarship: if it were, the uneducated could not believe. God is the Author of His Word: men are but the amanuenses, or scribes. God has written this Word for our learning. Then, it is not designed as a book that only philosophers and critics can understand. God is able to say clearly what He means, and to mean what He says. Scripture is as truly the Word of God as the "organic word", when God said, "Let there be light!" and there was light. So complete is the revelation God has given in His Word that Isaiah wrote "To the Law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this Word, it is because there is no light in them" (Isaiah 8:20). "The Law of the Lord is PERFECT, converting the soul" (Psalm 19:7). It is the Word of God, the Bible, that is perfect and by which the soul is converted—not by a church that enslaves every nation where it rules. What Roman Catholic country in the world is not suffering poverty and ignorance? Tyranny—whether political or religious—enslaves the minds and bodies of men. But "the testimony of the Lord is SURE making wise the simple" (Psalm 19:7b). The Apostle John tells us Christian fellowship is fellowship "with the Father and with His Son, Jesus Christ" and states his reason for declaring those things the apostles saw and heard was that "Ye also may have fellowship with us." Therefore, the Word of God is the foundation for Christian fellowship—not the Church Fathers! With all his learning, the Apostle Paul declared he was not ashamed of the "Gospel of Christ for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth ..." (Romans 1:16). The writer of Hebrews states, "For unto us was the Gospel preached as well as unto them (the mixed multitude), but the Word preached did not profit them not being mixed with faith in them that heard it" (Hebrews 4:2). It was the same Gospel message that was preached in the Old and in the New Testaments, but faith is the essential ingredient since "without faith", i.e. conviction, "it is impossible to please Him" (Hebrews 11:6). James tells us the man who is obedient to Scripture—"this man shall be blessed in his deed" for, he says, "whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed" (James 1:25). Paul tells us the purpose of Scripture is to give us "Hope", for, he says, "whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope" (Romans 15:4). David, the sweet songster, tells us that TAKING HEED according to the Word of God, a young man may cleanse his way; and then he confesses, that with his whole heart he has sought His commandments. He prays, "O let me not wander from Thy commandments." He says the reason he has "hid" God's Word in his heart is that he "might not sin against (God)" (Psalm 119:9-11). The Word of God is authoritative, necessary, perspicuous, and sufficient for the sons of God. The Apostle John declares, "And this is the record: that God hath given to us eternal life; and this life is in His Son: HE THAT HATH THE SON HATH LIFE, and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life. These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God that ye may KNOW that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God" (I John 5:11-13). The "record" is the Word of God, and it was penned by the youngest Apostle "that ye may know that ye have eternal life." The reason you cannot know is because yours is a faith based upon works. Once again, the Apostle Peter said, "We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts: knowing this first, that no prophecy of the Scripture is of any private interpretation. For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost" (II Peter 1:19-21). In II Thessalonians 2:7-12, the Apostle Paul tells us "For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way. And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming: even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, and with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might 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." Martin Luther declared, "Whom God intends to destroy, he gives leave to play with Scripture." I have no doubt you will do one of two things; you will neglect this letter as you did the last one because you could not answer it, (which is not demonstrative of an honest and good heart—Luke 8:15); or you will obey the words of our blessed Saviour who said, "Search the Scriptures for in them ye think ye have eternal life and they are they that testify of Me" (John 5:39). May our good Lord be pleased to open the eyes of your understanding, ..."May God Smile On You."—J. S. Bach
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