Waking Up in Perdition
by Steve Camp
http://a1m.org/page.php?page=template1.php&pageid=c5a5f51af713edde5576e88f0fdb6ac4
The Wages of Trusting in a "Gospel" of Works Righteousness
The most frightening words anyone could ever hear would be those of
our Lord found in Matthew 7:21-23, "Not everyone who says to me,
'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who
does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will
say to me, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast
out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?'
And then will I declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from me,
you workers of lawlessness.' Can you imagine, you called Him Lord;
you did works in His nameeven works of ministry; and He declares
that you were only workers of lawlessness and that He never knew
you? Thinking you were on your way to heaven, you wake up instantly
upon your death in Hades in the full conscience of your sin, His
Lordship and the eternal punishment that awaits you?can there be
anything more loathsome to fall on an unregenerate yet religious
man?
Faith Works
Mans best works, even those mentioned above, are nothing but
filthy rags before a holy God ( Isaiah 64:6 ). Paul makes it
abundantly clear that our salvation is because He saved us, not
because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his
own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy
Spirit ( Titus 3:4 ). Even when/if we had done all things in
perfect obedience to the Lord, Jesus still calls us unprofitable
[or unworthy, useless] servants ( Luke 17:10 ).
If all our righteousness is considered lawlessness; filthy rags;
unfit to save us; and renders us unprofitable, useless servants
damning us to an eternal hellthen how much more our sin, even the
most insignificant or trivial of our failings from the standard of
Gods law, His holy character and perfect Word, is sufficient to
incarcerate us all in hell forever!
Rome's Religious Works: The Wide Road to Hell
Today, this very moment, such is the horrifying plight of Pope John
Paul II if he continued in the false gospel of Romanist works
righteousness to be saved (which he never recanted during his life
in any manner whatsoever). The gospel of this Pope and of Rome has
always been a false gospel. (This is what Luther and Melanchthon
contended for and the reason for the Reformation: reclaiming the
gospel of Sola Fide.) Romansim has always propagated a gospel of
Pelagianism or Semi-Pelagianism: works+faith, rather than faith
alone; merit+grace, rather than grace alone; inherent infused
righteousness of Romanism+Christ, rather than the imputed
righteousness of Christ alone - rather than the great Augustian
biblical gospel. It's not that we (Romanists and Evangelicals)
"have differences" about the same gospel. What Rome has always
believed is a different gospel fulfilling Matthew 7:21-23 and
Galatians 1:6-8. The Scriptures clearly state, without
equivocation, that a rejection of the gospel of
grace--justification by faith alone--is only sufficient to damn and
cannot save--ever. If you trust in that gospel of works, you do not
wake up in the glory of heaven in the presence of the Lord, but you
wake up in perdition in the horror of your own righteous
rags.
Listen to the words of the Apostle Paul when he powerfully rejects
a gospel of works righteousness:
"For if Abraham was justified by works,
he has something to boast about,
but not before God.
For what does the Scripture say?
"ABRAHAM BELIEVED GOD, AND IT WAS
CREDITED TO HIM AS RIGHTEOUSNESS."
Now to the one who works, his wage is
not credited as a favor, but as what is due.
But to the one who does not work,
but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly,
his faith is credited as righteousness" -Romans 4:2-5.
Could it be anymore clear than this?
The Pope's Best Righteous Deeds; Still Filthy Rags
The Pope by human/political/philanthropic evaluation was a good
humanitarian; a political figure of peace; a champion for the poor
and unborn children; a voice for human rights in oppressive
countries; a caretaker for those inflicted with HIV/AIDS around the
world; a faithful practitioner of religion; the recognized leader
of a church with membership totaling 1.5 billion people; even one
who is currently heralded by evangelical leaders giving profound
praise for John Paul II being "the most beloved religious leader of
our time"; "May his death remind each of us that some day we too
must die and enter into God's presence -- and may we each commit
ourselves afresh to Jesus Christ, who died and rose again for our
salvation"; and "that the Pope didn't fear death, because all who
are in Christ need not fear death"; he offered daily prayers to
Mary; believed in the Fifth Marian Dogma (that she is
co-redemptrix, co-mediatrix with Christ); adhered to the teachings
of Trent, Vatican II and the 1994 Catechism of the Church; believed
in the continual perpetual sacrifice of Christ through
transubstantiation in communion; held to Purgatorial cleansing of
sin; The Treasury of Merit; and believed that salvation was a
matter of our works plus His grace. And yet, in spite of what are
considered to be good acts of loving kindness, social justice,
human dignity and religious piety, trusting in those things as
evidence of one's salvation can only awaken one in perdition.
Again, because John Paul II believed in a gospel of Christ plus
works; Christ plus merit; Christ plus inherent righteous; etc. -
for no one can be saved by the utter futility of salvation by works
righteousness - he awakened in perdition and none can help him; not
the Vatican; not Mary; not any Cardinal or Bishop. He is forever
cut off without hope ( Heb. 6:4-8 ). That is why we should feel
great sadness of heart for John Paul II, for now he has full
knowledge of his eternal torment for he tried coming to God in
another way other then how the Lord has prescribed through the
pages of Scripture alone (John 14:6). The shocking reality is that
ringing in John Paul's ears this very moment are the words I never
knew you; depart from Me you practice lawlessness. He now knows
that salvation is only by faith alone, through grace alone, because
of the resurrected Christ alone, on the Word alone, to the glory of
God alone.
Tetzel's Den of Thieves
Dear beloved, as we are watching the foolish parade of Pope John
Paul's corpse through Tetzels Den of Thieves in Saint Peters
Basilica, may we remember that because Pope John Paul II has
trusted in a another gospel other than the gospel of our Lord Jesus
Christ ( Galatians 1:6-9 ) the wages of another is death. Because
of which he has spent already what must seem like an eternity under
the holy wrath of a living God. And even this is but a foretaste of
the torment that awaits him (Heb. 10:29); for one day he will be
given a resurrected body for torment; and as he stands before the
Great White Throne Judgment to hear the Lords final words of
perditious sentencing; he will then be cast into the lake of fire
with Satan and his demons, with Death and Hades, and with all who
have rejected the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ ( Revelation
20:13ff ). This is cause for great sadness, beloved, for even God
does not delight in the death of the wicked ( Ezekiel 18:23; 33:11
).
The Fear of the Lord and the Call to Repentance
Are you quickened today with the fear of the Lord? Is it by the
terror of the Lord that you are persuading men to repent of their
sins and follow Christ? Have each of us even on this forum trusted
in Christ alone for our salvation or have we been spiritually
charmed to believe that our works plus His grace somehow saves
us?
This should cause us all to be moved beyond measure to share the
gospel of grace with all that the Lord has sovereignly put in our
path; to reach out especially to those who are trapped in the false
religion of RomanismSatans greatest hellish masterpiece on earth;
and call to repentance even now evangelical leaders who are playing
politics with God on CNN and FOXNEWS; who lack the courage,
compassion, love and grace to call people to the real gospel of
grace and warn them of the wrath to come if they believing in
another gospel think they can be saved--a gospel of works ( the
gospel of Pope John Paul II and Rome ) which is not another gospel
at all ( Galatians 1:6-8 )and ultimately denies justification by
faith through Jesus Christ our Lord ( Romans 3:21-26 ).
Justification by Faith in Christ Alone: The Gospel According to
Jesus
Listen to the words of Paul when he said, Now we know that
whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, that
every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty
before God. 20Therefore by the deeds of the law no flesh will be
justified in His sight, for by the law is the knowledge of
sin.
But now the righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed,
being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, even the righteousness
of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, to all and on all who
believe.
For there is no difference; for all have sinned and fall short of
the glory of God, being justified freely by His grace through the
redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God set forth as a
propitiation by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His
righteousness, because in His forbearance God had passed over the
sins that were previously committed, to demonstrate at the present
time His righteousness, that He might be just and the justifier of
the one who has faith in Jesus.
Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? Of works? No,
but by the law of faith. Therefore we conclude that a man is
justified by faith apart from the deeds of the law ( Romans
3:19-28 ).
As the Day Approaches,
Steve Camp
Col. 1:9-14
