A Different Salvation | Brad Straarup

You know, I was thinking about this this week.

If y'all have ever had someone give up come up to you and give you a bunch of money$20 bills,$50 bills,$100 bills, would you ever check that money?

Like, would you actually check whether or not that money is real?

And I was thinking about it this week, and I thought this it would depend on who gives it to you.

Amen?

Like who gives it to you will determine what you're gonna do with that thing.

Like, if you're buying something on Facebook Marketplace, y'all know people be sketchy on Facebook Marketplace.

And like you're like, this isn't going so well.

You're like, okay, let's do a pickup at like Friars, like, let's do it in the parking lot.

If they came and they gave you a bunch of hundred dollar bills, how many of you know you're checking that bill?

You're like, I'm looking it up to the light, like I'm making sure it has the watermark, I'm making sure it has all those things.

But if your grandma or grandpa were to come and they were to give you a bunch of hundred dollar bills, how many of you know you're not gonna check whether or not it's authentic?

Why?

Depending on what something comes through, you trust it more.

The people who are closest to us, we end up trusting what they give us the most.

And this week we're continuing our series on cults and counterfeits, and what we're doing is we're talking about something that I think is a lot more tender, it's probably the most tender week, because what we're talking about this week is Catholicism.

And you know, last week what we talked about is we talked about Mormonism and Jehovah's Witnesses, and I think maybe for a lot of us in our church, we've had moments where someone has come and knocked on the door.

And but I think the second you start talking about Catholicism, like I like I know you, like talking to the people in our church, like this isn't someone at our door, this is someone at the dinner table during Thanksgiving.

Like this is someone in our family, like this is a grandmother, this is a grandpa, and because of that, we need to talk about it, and I think it is so, so, so important.

Here's why we're doing this series.

You know, the what we're trying to do is we're trying to talk about what the true gospel is, and then what are some of the things that will often come against it?

And it's important that Christians that we are able to stand firm.

Can I get a good amen?

For every father who is leading your house spiritually, we are leading them so that we can stand firm.

This is what the Bible says.

1 Timothy 4, verse 1.

1 Timothy 4:1

It says, the Spirit clearly says that in the later days people will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons.

So because of that, we have to guard against it.

Paul talking says this Galatians 1, verse 6.

Galatians 1:6

I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you to live in the grace of Christ.

And you're turning to a different gospel, you're turning to a counterfeit, which is really no gospel at all.

He says, Evidently, there are some people throwing you into confusion and trying to pervert the gospel.

We need to be able to guard against it.

Why?

So that we can share the truth.

That's the whole focus, is that we can actually share the truth.

First Peter 3:15 says this, but in your hearts revere Christ as Lord and always be prepared to give an answer to anyone who asks you for the reason of the hope that you have.

1 Peter 3:15

Like if someone comes up to you and says, Why are you Christian?

Why are you not Mormon?

Why are you not Catholic?

We need to be prepared, the Bible says, to give a reason for the hope that we have.

This is why we believe it.

But then the Bible says that we need to do it with gentleness and respect.

We're not here to win arguments.

What we're here is to look at what the Bible says that we can share the reason we have the gospel.

So the first week that's what we talked about.

We talked about what the gospel is really.

I told you about the secret service that was created in 1865 to spot counterfeit money.

It was a big problem, and the$20 bill is the most counterfeited bill that there is.

And I talked about all the security measures and the things that you can do to make sure that something's authentic, like the watermark.

Well, in the same way, the gospel has questions that we can ask to determine authenticity.

Like one of that is one of those questions is this what is your final authority?

And what do we believe?

The Bible and the Bible alone.

Here's another question: Who do you say Jesus is?

He is the Son of God, the Savior of the world.

He is God, part of the Trinity.

Here's another question: How are you saved?

So we talked about that week one.

Last week we looked at Mormonism and Jehovah's Witnesses, which have a different authority.

They present a different Jesus and they have a different salvation.

And this week, like I said, we're talking about Catholicism.

And like I said, so often this is family members who are sitting at the dinner table with us.

And often because it's being handed to us by family members, we tend to trust it far, far, far more.

But here's what you need to know: there's so much about it that is good.

But you can have something that is 90% correct, and the 10% makes it inauthentic.

Like if I have a dollar and 90 cents of that is authentic.

That is the difference between paid in full and still paying.

And still paying.

And I've had friends that have literally come up to me from this church and they're like, My grandma is Catholic.

Is she gonna go to heaven?

I need you to know this.

I'm not here to make a pronouncement.

Because here's what I do know: just like you get different Christians, you get different Catholics.

You get people that would say they identify as Catholic, but they believe in Jesus and Jesus alone for their salvation.

Right?

You can have Christians who would say that, but they're actually doing works to try to get their way to God.

So I'm not here to make an official pronouncement or anything like that.

But what's different about evangelical Christianity is we don't have a Pope.

We don't have a singular source of authority saying this is what you have to believe.

What is our authority?

It is the Bible and the Bible alone.

So what I'm gonna do today is I'm not talking about what your grandma may believe, or you know, there's certain Catholics that may not even understand what it is that they believe.

I'm gonna go to what the official Catholic Church says.

Okay?

And that's where we're gonna start, why it is a counterfeit.

But before we even jump into any of that, how did we even get here?

Like people are like, okay, where is Catholicism from?

Like, how did we even how did this even happen?

Because it's very different than Mormonism, it's very different than Jehovah's Witnesses that have been around for like 200 years.

Because Catholicism actually goes all the way back to the beginning.

They would actually say that it starts in Matthew 16.

Here's what the scripture says Jesus is talking to Peter, my man Peter, and he says, This I tell you, Peter, that on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.

And I will give you the keys.

Say keys.

The keys of the kingdom of heaven.

Now, those keys are to open the gospel so that people can come and know Christ.

And he says, This whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, but whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.

Okay, for Catholicism, that's like the moment.

Like Jesus is like, Peter, you are the rock, and on this rock I will build my church.

So Peter establishes the Jerusalem church.

What he does is he eventually goes to Rome, where he leads the church in Rome, and what they believe is he's eventually martyred under Nero, and they believe that he passes the church on to someone else.

And what you get is the succession line of authority that stems from Peter, that I can make a pronouncement as a pope, and I'm standing in the same authority Christ gave Peter, and whatever I say goes.

Okay?

Whatever I say is that there's been this unbroken line of succession that has happened from all that time.

Peter and Peter alone, and the succession that comes from it.

So what happens is they say whoever sits in Peter's seat has that authority.

That is called the Bishop of Rome, also known as the Pope or Papa, which means father, and they have complete authority over the Catholic Church.

Okay, all the way from Peter to Pope Leo the 14th, who is currently in his seat.

Okay, let me make some comments about this.

Okay, real quick.

First is this Peter is foundational.

Yes, do we agree with that?

He is foundational, but he is not the foundation.

Can I get a good amen?

It is not Peter and Peter alone.

The Bible says this Ephesians 2 20.

Together, we the church are his house, built on the foundation of the apostles and the prophets.

And the cornerstone is who?

Christ and Christ Himself.

Christ is the cornerstone.

What does that mean?

Let me show you a photo of a cornerstone.

This is a cornerstone.

It is the first stone that is placed in a building, and it is more important than any other stone.

When they were building houses in ancient times, they would spend all their time making sure the cornerstone was aligned and it was perfect and it wasn't leaning because it was the stone that determined everything else.

So when Jesus says, I am the cornerstone, what he says is everything needs to come in alignment with who?

Me.

So Peter was a stone.

Maybe the first stone, but he's not the only stone.

It came through the apostles and it came through the prophets.

They all laid this foundation.

And the crazy thing about foundations, I learned this.

The crazy thing about foundations is you lay them once.

You don't have to relay them generation after generation after generation after generation.

We don't need a Pope to tell us what the Bible says.

The Bible tells us what the Bible says.

Can I get a good amen?

We don't need it.

So Peter is foundational, but he's foundational just like everyone else.

And also he talks about the keys that are in Peter's possession.

Those keys aren't Peter's private possessions to heaven and hell.

Jesus literally gives a look, get this, get this, get this.

Matthew 18, 18, he talks to the disciples, all of them, and he says the same thing.

Truly I tell you that whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven.

Whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.

Not only that, the scripture talks nothing about succession, nothing about Rome, nothing about an office that continues, nothing about a transfer mechanism.

It is really hard to go from Peter, you're gonna be the rock, to an unbroken line of Roman bishops who hold supreme infallible authority.

That is wild.

Like, how did we even get here?

Not only that, Peter never acts like the Pope.

Like in Jerusalem in Acts 15, Peter wasn't the one that says, This is how it's supposed to go.

James did.

Not only that, Peter makes mistakes.

He's not infallible.

In fact, in Galatians, he goes and he spends time with all the Gentiles, which is us, the non-Jewish people.

And the Jewish, the non-Jewish people, they're not circumcised, and he's hanging out with them.

All of a sudden, Jewish people show up, and he's like, Oh, I need to back up with these people.

And what happens is Paul corrects him.

He corrects him.

And he says this he says, Peter, what are you doing?

Galatians 2, 16.

Yet we know this that the person is made right with God by faith in Jesus and not by obeying the law.

He's like when you're backing up, everyone feels the pressure to become a Jew, but being a Jew is not what saves you.

Work doesn't save you.

It is faith in Jesus and Jesus alone.

We believe in Jesus Christ, so that we might be made right with God through our faith in Christ.

Not by obeying the law, for no one will ever be made right with God by obeying the law.

Can I get a good amen?

It is through Jesus that we are made righteous.

And literally, Paul's entire argument in Galatians, where he's talking to Peter, and he's saying, No, the law isn't what saves you, is the same argument Protestants would make today to the Catholic Church.

It is not your works that saves you, it is a name, and his name is Jesus.

Jesus.

Jesus is the only one that saves.

Matthew 28, Jesus says this, all authority has been given to me.

He says, now you go.

Decentralize, where the Catholic Church will say, No, all authority is here.

It's counter-cultural, it's counter-Jesus.

The upside-down kingdom, it's totally different, and unfortunately, it's worked.

Okay.

Get these stats.

Catholicism used to be a European story, but the last hundred years it has been an explosion.

1910, there was 291 million Catholics.

Get this.

Today, a hundred years later, over 1.4 billion.

That's with the B.

To give you context, there's 8.3 billion people on Earth.

That's almost 20%.

Half of every Christian on planet Earth would be Catholic.

They're the single largest body of Christians that there are, and they're not only in Europe, they're everywhere.

In fact, in Phoenix alone, there is over 2 million Catholics.

Over the last decade, over 500,000 more.

Phoenix, in fact, right now, is second, the diocese is second in Catholicism population.

We have now overtaken New York, we've overtaken Chicago, we are second only to LA.

So this isn't just something that's far off, that doesn't matter.

No, if you live in Phoenix, these are our neighbors.

And the crazy thing is that they love God.

They love Jesus.

But there's stuff that is so missing.

You're seeing this resurgence.

If anyone's ever been on social media and you looked at a Christian video and you go to the comments, has anyone ever seen the comments of, thank God I'm Catholic?

Like I'm so grateful that I'm there's almost been this resurgence of it.

Okay, and that's coming from TikTok creators who are Catholics, and here's why.

This next generation, what they're looking for, is they're looking for something that is sturdy because the world is falling apart.

So they look at Catholicism.

Why?

Because it's ancient, it's intellectual, it's beautiful, it's masculine, it's stable, it's counter-cultural.

They call it Catholic maxing.

Like it's literally a thing that is happening right now.

Okay, it's actually a thing.

But we need to know what's more ancient than that is the Bible and everything that we believe about the Bible.

And we do not need an institution because it is Christ.

It is Christ.

So here's what we need to do.

These are people who genuinely love Jesus.

But they're setting for something that always isn't the truth.

So what we need to do is we need to take up the detector questions, like I said.

And the first one is actually really easy.

It's because it's who do you say Jesus is?

And this is awesome.

Because unlike Mormonism and Jehovah's Witnesses, Catholics have the exact same truth that we do about God.

They will say this: that they believe in the Trinity, the deity of Christ, virgin birth, sinless life, real death, bodily resurrection, and human sinfulness.

The same foundations that we've talked about, they will say.

Okay?

But then as you get deeper into it, there are some differences.

One of the major differences is authority.

Remember, we talked about this.

The second question is this what is our final authority?

What is our answer?

The Bible and the Bible?

Alone.

Alone.

For Catholicism, they don't subtract from the Bible.

What they actually do is they add to the Bible.

They have three sources of authority.

We have one, which is the Bible.

The first source for them is the Bible.

They encourage that you read the Bible, but they've actually added seven more books to it in the Old Testament.

It's called the Apocrypha.

Their second source is tradition.

So tradition, they actually put it on the same level as the Bible.

I'll read it to you, not making it up.

The catechism says this.

As a result, the church to whom the transmission and interpretation of revelation is entrusted, it's only the church that can actually translate what the Bible means.

They do not derive her certainty about all the revealed truths from the Holy Scripture alone, which is what we would do.

Both scripture and tradition must be accepted and honored with equal sentiments of devotion and reverence.

That is wild.

That is wild and completely different to what we would believe.

The Bible and the Bible alone.

Their thoughts are thought, third source of authority is the magisterium, which is the authority and teaching of the Pope.

Okay, now I want to show you some things about this.

In the catechism, it says this the task of authentic interpretation is not on you as a Berean who is looking at the Bible and trying to understand what it is.

No, the task of authentic interpretation has been entrusted to the bishops.

So they have the power to say what is real and what is not.

Another one, the Pope has supreme and universal power over the whole church and can exercise that unhindered.

That is terrifying.

Unhindered.

Here's another one.

It is the tradition, sacred scripture, and the magisterium, the teaching ministry that works together to contribute to the salvation of souls.

Here's another one from the Vatican I.

It says, if anyone says that the Pope's power is only inspection and direction and not supreme power over the universal church, let him be anathema.

What does that mean?

Condemn it.

Like if you believe that and you do not repent, you're going to hell.

Let you be anathema if you say that the Pope can only give direction and doesn't have supreme power.

This is the teaching of the Catholic truth, let from whom no one can deviate without the loss of faith and salvation.

Yo, that is crazy.

And what that gives you the power to do is change the rules mid-game.

Okay?

Anyone ever played a sport where someone changes the rules mid-game?

Y'all know that that's frustrating.

Like, I was talking to JR.

Is anyone watching the FIFA, the FIFA World Cup?

They have that like new hydration break, and uh JR is like a FIFA, like like he's he's just a mess of fan.

He loves soccer.

And he's like, why do we have a hydration break?

That's not soccer.

He's like, that's America hosting it and putting in spaces for ads.

He's like, it's a money thing.

That's why they're doing like he got real passionate.

He was in my house, his arms are flailing, and he's just like, why the hydration break?

Okay, but here's what's crazy like literally, even when the stadium is covered, we do a hydration break.

Like, like, what is this?

Okay, it's crazy.

Okay, but at least they define the rules beforehand.

It's another thing when you're playing a game and someone changes the rules on you.

Never play Monopoly Deal with my wife.

Yo, I'm playing this game and I'm doing this thing, and the next thing she she whoops out some card and some rule, and I'm like, what do you mean?

And she says, That's what the rule says.

And I'm like, but that's not how we've been playing for the last 10 rounds, and she's like, It's because you don't know the rules.

She's like, I took the card, but you didn't fight me on it.

And I'm like, What?

We're changing the game.

Mid-game, it's not fun.

The hard thing is that their understanding allows them to do that.

I can say, as the Pope, I can say ex cathedral, I can say and teach, and in that moment, what I'm saying is infallible.

So literally, in 1850, Pope Pius speaking ex cathedral, which means they're sitting in their official seat and they're making a pronouncement, and they invoke the power of the Holy Spirit, and they believe that the Holy Spirit will keep them from ever speaking error.

So it becomes like scripture.

He said this: that Mary, in 1850, Mary was conceived and preserved from original sin.

She was sinless, and she remained free from sin her entire life.

And then in 1950, Pope Pius XII, speaking ex cathedra, said this.

That Mary's body was not left in a grave like the rest of us, but she was taken up, body and soul, into heaven.

So get this.

Just because they did that, they said Mary was conceived without a sin nature, 1854.

She lived a sinless life, and she was taken bodily into heaven in 1950.

You have 1.4 billion Catholics that have to believe that now.

Like 1800 years later, no scripture, no reference, no nothing.

Just trust me, bro.

And now we all have to believe it.

That is dangerous.

That is so who knows what can happen.

That is dangerous.

That's why what do we believe?

Sola scriptura.

What is that?

Scripture and scripture alone.

2 Timothy 3.

All scripture is breathed out by God and it's profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God might be complete.

We keep coming back to that verse.

Complete, because complete means complete.

It doesn't mean kind of complete, it doesn't mean sort of complete.

Complete means what?

Complete.

Equipped for every good work.

In other words, there is no good work that God wants you to do that isn't found in any scripture.

That's what that verse is.

So they fail on that test.

The second, the third question is this how are you saved?

And here is the massive difference between Catholicism, and this is where I wanted to help.

Because it all comes down to one word, and that word is probably one of the most important words you can ever understand.

And that word is this justification.

How are you justified?

How do you stand before an Almighty God with the sin that you have and be declared righteous?

And Protestants and Catholics have two different answers for justification.

What Protestants say is justification is imputed upon you.

What does that mean?

It means that Christ's righteousness is put upon you.

It is final, it is complete, it is in a moment.

Catholicism believes that justification is infused into you over time as you do good works.

Okay, let me give you a picture of this.

JR, can I have you?

And Jesse, my man.

Jesse, can I have you?

Okay, can you all give them a great big hand?

I want you to understand this because it's probably one of the most important things when it comes to what we believe as Protestants.

It's one of the most important things that you can understand.

So, right over here, I have uh JR, he's my friend that was very passionate about FIFA.

If y'all ever want someone to help you, uh watch FIFA and uh friend.

JR is your guy.

Okay, what this is, this is a trench coat.

I'm sorry, dude.

This is the one that I had.

What this represents is Christ's righteousness.

It is his robe.

Okay, how's that look?

Is that all good?

I think it fits you.

I think it fits.

I think we're ready to go.

Like, that's great.

Okay.

That represents Christ's righteousness.

I don't have a robe, you're just gonna have to work with me today, okay?

This is sin.

Sorry, brother.

Sorry.

Jesse's like, always me, always me.

Okay?

Here's what you need to know.

This is the gospel.

This is why we need to be justified.

Every single one of us is like Jesse.

We are standing before a holy and righteous God.

There is a pronounced Of a punishment that is about to happen, we are on death row and we're guilty.

And we know we're guilty, and the judge knows we're guilty, and the jury knows we're guilty.

Everyone knows we're guilty.

And the sentence that we're about to have is death.

That is us.

And what happens in that moment is as it's about to happen.

Y'all have a gavel.

I brought a gavel.

Here we go.

As the pronouncement is about to happen, Jesus stands up in the courtroom and he says, I'll take his punishment.

I'll take his punishment.

And what happens is, if you say yes, do you say yes?

That sin, every wrong thing you've ever done, comes and is put on Jesus.

And you are declared not guilty.

But that's not the gospel.

Because just because you're not guilty, doesn't mean you're good.

And you can't stand before God unless you're good.

You see, not guilty means morally neutral.

And that's not good enough.

You have to be what?

Righteous.

So what happens in that moment is Jesus takes your sin, but then his perfect life as the spotless lamb, he transfers that onto you.

Now not only are you sinless, in God's eyes, in a moment, you are made righteous.

And you are declared not guilty, but not guilty and righteous.

That is the gospel.

It is called the great exchange.

That's what the Bible talks about in 2 Corinthians 5.21.

He says, God made him who had no sin to be sin for us.

But it didn't stop there.

It says, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

And the Bible says that all you have to do is declare with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart.

And that great exchange happens in a moment.

That justification, it's imputed upon you.

What does that mean?

Jesus' righteousness gets placed on you in a second.

When you say yes, it's imputed upon you.

What Catholicism teaches is infusion.

That yes, there's grace, but you don't get to get that coat.

And I will see if at the end of your life you deserve this coat.

So what happens is you're standing and there is a ledger that is against you.

And now you have to prove your worth.

So you get baptized, great.

A little faith is infused into you, a little grace, a little righteousness.

I would cut that and I would just give you some.

Oh, and then you go through confirmation, a little grace is infused upon you.

You go through holy orders, a little, a little faith is infused upon you.

A little grace.

You start taking communion, the Eucharist, a little faith.

And your entire life, you're trying to infuse as much grace.

And you can never say what Jesus said when he said on the cross, it is finished.

I was talking to people in the lobby right before the service who used to be Catholic, and I was like, what was it like?

And they said, all I could ever answer is not it is finished, but I'm trying.

I'm trying.

And I hope at the end of my life I have built up enough grace that when I stand before God, I can be led into heaven.

And if you're not, go to hell or you go to purgatory where you have to pay for your own sin.

Y'all, that is not good news, and that is not the gospel.

We believe it is imputed upon you.

Can y'all give them a great big hand?

1 John 5.13.

I write you these things so that in that you might believe in the name of the Son of God and that you might know, say no.

That you will know and have eternal life.

Justification is not received through your good works.

But the Council of Trent, that's what they said.

They said this you must be fearful and anxious as to your state of grace.

What did Jesus say?

Do not be anxious, do not be anxious for anything.

No, no, no, no, no.

You must be fearful and anxious as to the state of grace, as no one knows with certainty that you have achieved the grace of God.

That is very different than 1 John 5.13, that we might know and have eternal life.

So the question is about grace.

Does grace finish the work or does it just start the work?

If it starts the work, it's not grace.

Grace finishes the work.

What Catholicism does is it hands us a treadmill.

And you spend your entire life running on that treadmill.

And if you have family that are Catholic, you know that.

They're trying to do everything they can to be in the good graces of God.

But Jesus says, it is finished.

Paul, when he was writing Galatians, he was talking to the Galatian church about not being stuck in the law.

And he says, I'm shocked that you are turning away to a gospel that appears to be the good news but isn't good news at all.

And you're being fooled by people who deliberately twist the truth.

He said, How did you receive the Holy Spirit?

Was it through your good works?

No, it was by faith.

How was Abraham declared righteous through his good works?

No, it was by faith.

He says, It is clear that no one can be made right with God by keeping the law.

You cannot be justified by your works.

So the scripture says, it is through faith that a righteous person has life.

This way of faith is very different from the works of the law.

Let me put it another way: the law was our guardian until Christ came.

It protected us so that we could be made right with God through faith.

And now the way of faith.

Y'all get the picture?

What is it?

Faith.

Faith.

Faith and faith alone.

We believe that faith alone is what saves us.

The Catholic stance disagrees with it.

Here's what they what Trent said, the Council of Trent said, if anyone says that by faith alone a sinner is justified, that nothing else is required to obtain grace of justify justification, let him be anathema.

Anyone who says faith alone is how we are justified, let him be anathema.

If anyone says that the righteousness received is not increased before God by good works, but that it's merely the fruits and the signs of justification, which we is what we believe, but it is not the cause of the increase, let him be anathema.

But Paul is talking to the Galatian church about circumcision, and he's saying, Don't get circumcised, because if you get circumcised and you start trusting in your works, he says, What good is Christ?

He says, You who are being trying to try to be justified by the law, verse 4, you have been alienated from God.

What does that mean?

Invalidated, wasted, exhausted, wiped out.

You have been alienated from Christ and you have fallen away from grace.

If we trust in our works, we are not fully following and trusting in Christ.

Christ alone.

Say alone.

There has been a lot of arguments about that word alone.

Alone.

I want to tell you a story that happened 500 years ago by a man by the name of Martin Luther.

Martin Luther, who was a Catholic, he was a monk.

And he was doing everything that he can to try to obtain that grace.

But he was so devout.

He would fast, he would pray, he would confess for hours.

For hours.

To such a point that the priest got tired of him.

But he was so aware of his sinful state that he was tormented by it.

Eventually writing about it, what he says is he says that I actually hated God.

Because God was so righteous, and what I knew is I knew that I wasn't good enough.

So frustrated by it.

And then what ends up happening is Luther one day is in a tower and he reads Romans 1.17 that says this it is through faith that a righteous person has life.

It is through what?

Faith.

And what happens is the entire world, his entire world is blown open.

Make this sound spiritual.

Hello.

It is by faith that all of this happens.

And what he says is in that moment he read that scripture and he felt like the kingdom of heaven opened up to him.

And he could finally go and step in.

But he has that moment where he's like, Oh my gosh, it is by faith.

And then he starts hearing about someone who is selling indulgences, a Catholic priest.

And what an indulgence is, it's something that you have to buy that allows your family to pass through purgatory and get into heaven.

And he he sees this happening and he's like, No, it's not by works, it's by faith.

So what he does is he writes 95 arguments against selling grace.

And he goes to the door of Wittenberg and he takes these 95 arguments and he nails it to the door.

It is by grace through faith.

And the Protestant Reformation started to such a degree that he eventually is standing before the emperor.

He is standing before the church.

And what had happened in Europe is the Catholic Church was the church.

It wasn't like, man, I'm gonna go find a non-denominational church, and there's some Protestant, you know, like is there some like Baptist churches, and you know, can I go to can I go to charismatic church?

It wasn't that, it was Catholic church or nothing.

And they said, recant, take it back that it is grace alone, by faith alone.

And he said this unless I am convinced by scripture, I cannot and will not recant.

Here I stand.

He's like, it is by faith alone, and I stand on faith alone that Christ's work is enough, and he doesn't need my help.

The Protestant Reformation, it is seen by these five major marks, and it's this sola scriptura.

What is that?

Scripture alone, it is the Bible and the Bible alone.

How are we saved?

Sola fide, what is that?

Faith alone, sola gracia.

What is that?

Grace alone, solus Christus.

What is that?

Christ alone.

And just in case you think you did all of that and you deserve the glory, no, the fifth one is solely the glory, and that to God be the glory alone, it is God, that's what we believe in that alone, that we are saved by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, according to scripture and alone, to the glory of God be alone, it is by him, and I have friends on that treadmill.

When Christ has already done the work, you can get off the treadmill.

We need to reach him, we need to love them.

And the way you do that, it's not by arguing about Mary, about the saints, about indulgences.

You start with what we have in common, which is what?

Christ.

And Christ got on the cross and he said it is partially done.

He said, It is finished.

You see, for a Catholic person, the gospel gives something absolutely beautiful.

That there's nothing to add.

It is a gift and it is not a wage.

Ephesians 2 8, for it is by grace that you have been saved through faith and it is not from yourself.

It is a gift from God, not by work, so that no one can boast.

Not only is there nothing to add, there's nothing to earn.

Because Christ's record, what happens is he is credited to you.

Romans 4, verse 5.

Romans 4:5

However, to the one who does not work but trusts God, who justifies the ungodly, their faith is credited as righteousness.

Don't have to work, just trust God, and they have nothing to fear.

If you ask a Catholic, are you saved?

The only response they can give is, I'm trying.

No, no, no, you have nothing to fear.

You do not have to fear.

1 John 5 13.

I write you these things so that you might know.

And I think the best case for that is the thief on the cross.

Man, he is on the cross, and there's another thief on the cross, and that person starts mocking Jesus, and he says, Man, do you not know who you are talking to?

This man has done nothing wrong, yet he is on the cross.

And he turns to Jesus and he says, Jesus, remember me.

Remember me when you enter your glory.

And Jesus says, Today you will be with me in paradise.

Not I'm starting, no, no, no.

Today, today you'll be he didn't get to get baptized, he didn't get to take communion, he didn't get to prove his righteousness, he just said, God, I believe you, God, I believe you, and in that moment, Jesus said, Today.

The hard thing about this, it's the default state of our human heart.

Because we can talk about Catholics who are trying to, you know, work their way to salvation.

But I have met Protestant Christians who have given their life to Christ, and you still think it's your Bible reading and your prayer and all your other things.

And I'm here today to tell you there is nothing that you can do that can make you righteous, and I will ask you kindly and lovingly get off the treadmill and trust in Christ alone.

He is our firm foundation, not our partial, not our rocky, not our kind of.

No, he is our firm foundation, the cornerstone.

Gotta love him, gotta share with them.

Can I pray for you?

Lord God, I want to thank you for every single person who is here, every single person under the sound of my voice.

Lord, you know their family members, Lord, you know their friends.

Lord, you you you know that there might be some people here today and they're trusting in their works for salvation.

And God, if that's if that's them, Lord, I just pray that you'll give wisdom, that you'll give discernment.

I also want to take a moment while we're still praying, there might be some people here today, and you have realized that you have not trusted in Christ alone.

You thought that being a good person, going to church, doing the thing is gonna somehow declare you righteous before a righteous God, that's not how it works.

There is nothing that you can do that can bring yourself back to God.

It is only in faith in Jesus.

The Bible says in Romans that if you declare with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, that you're making him Lord of your life, and you believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, that you will be, not might be, you will be saved.

Not you might be after all that you can do, you can will, you will be saved.

And if you're here today and you've never made that decision, our load of prayer prayer.

Can we all pray this for the benefit of those praying for the very first time?

Just say, Dear Jesus, I believe that you're the Son of God and the Savior of the world.

I believe you came to this earth, you died on a cross, and you were raised, that I can have life right now.

Make you my Lord.

I'll make you my savior.

If you're here today with every head so bad and you just prayed that for the very first time, I'm gonna ask you to do something bold on the counter three.

I just want you to lift up your hand and say, Brad, that was me.

Here we go.

One, two, three.

No, thank you, sir.

Already, I love that.

Bold.

I love that.

I love that, I love that.

Hey, church, can you do me a favor?

Can you put your hands together?

Come on for everyone who just said that for the first time.

We love you, church.

And if you just said yes to Jesus, that is the best decision you could ever make.

We are so proud of you, but you do have a next step.

We want you to text the word Jesus to 480-485-3405.

Because we have a gift we would love to give you, because you were not meant to walk this journey alone.

We have something called you said yes, a 21-day written devotional we want to get in your hands.

And hey, if you do call Spirit Home, we have a couple things we would love for you to pray about.

The first, we would love for you to pray about sharing this message.

You never know how much a simple share could impact someone's life.

And second, we would love for you to pray about partnering with us financially because your giving enables us to get messages just like this with people like you and all around the world.

So thank you so much for what you do and how you give.

You can do that by going to spiritchurch.co forward slash give.

Well, hey, we love you, church.

We will see you right back here next week.

And remember that with God, there is more.