Why I Believe That Roman Catholics Are Guilty of the Sin of Presumption
I remembered a Roman Catholic apologist I encountered made a rather silly acronym for BORN AGAIN. He said that it means Beast, Occult, Rebellious, Nonsense, Antichrist, Gullible, Arrogant, Ignorant and Nefarious. But all I can reply to that guy is, "Well look who's talking! Don't you even bother to read the Bible properly and study it?" Unfortunately, all the letters he accused born again Christians of being those are true for people like him. The guy showed the problems of the sin of being presumptuous. To be presumptuous is defined by the Merriam Webster dictionary as, "too confident especially in a way that is rude" or "done without permission right or good reason." I could talk about how Roman Catholics are guilty of the sin of presumption.
The problem of Roman Catholics like many world religions today is that their salvation is based on faith plus works instead of faith that results to good works. They are told by their religion that nobody can be "sure" yet many of them act they're sure they're going to Heaven. What's their assurance for their salvation that they're going into Heaven? It's hardly focused on faith and grace and it's focused on one's performance. I hear reasons like they're religious, they're good people, they stay faithful to obeying the Pope and many reasons they could come up with to "prove" that they're indeed going to Heaven. Doesn't that sound presumptuous to think you're going to Heaven on the basis of good works? It's all about me, myself and I when it comes to that salvation when a person earns it. No, salvation from sin has never been a reward for the self-righteous but a free gift for the repentant guilty. If you remain self-righteous then salvation from sin is not for you. But if you become a repentant guilty sinner then salvation from sin is for you.
The problem of Roman Catholics like many world religions today is that their salvation is based on faith plus works instead of faith that results to good works. They are told by their religion that nobody can be "sure" yet many of them act they're sure they're going to Heaven. What's their assurance for their salvation that they're going into Heaven? It's hardly focused on faith and grace and it's focused on one's performance. I hear reasons like they're religious, they're good people, they stay faithful to obeying the Pope and many reasons they could come up with to "prove" that they're indeed going to Heaven. Doesn't that sound presumptuous to think you're going to Heaven on the basis of good works? It's all about me, myself and I when it comes to that salvation when a person earns it. No, salvation from sin has never been a reward for the self-righteous but a free gift for the repentant guilty. If you remain self-righteous then salvation from sin is not for you. But if you become a repentant guilty sinner then salvation from sin is for you.
According to the Bible that's plain arrogance as Ephesians 2:8-10 reveals that first we are saved by faith and not by works, it's a gift of God and not of works so nobody can boast then you're equipped unto good works. In short, even the changed life is the gift of God. Salvation is by faith alone but not by a faith that is alone. From the time the person gets saved to the person's change of life as an inevitable result of salvation it's clear that it's the grace of God. Titus 2:11-14 shows how the undeserved grace of God teaches men to live righteously. 1 Corinthians 15:10 has Paul declare that by God's grace he is that he is. 1 Corinthians 6:11 shows God's grace not ourselves changes us from our wicked habits. There's no boasting for the Christian that they're now doers of righteousness. That's way different from a person who does good works which are but dead works.
It's not the sin of presumption to declare that I can know I have eternal life. I have the confidence in Jesus Christ. How can I be guilty of the sin of presumption concerning my salvation if my confidence is not in myself. When I'm told I'm a good man I can only say that it's by God's grace that changed me from a bad person to a good person. I can really boldly declare my assurance in Christ then that's not bragging. This boldness is to declare God's glory and not mine. To say I'm sure I'm saved because it's in God's Word then who am I declaring as the reason that I'm saved? Myself or God? I'm declaring God's glory that I can only be saved by faith in Jesus Christ, my new life is by the grace of God and that there's assurance in Jesus Christ. To declare that it's in Christ alone and glory to God alone isn't arrogant. It's all about declaring the truth. To accuse the Christian of arrogance is but slander because Christianity has always been about Christ and not about one's self. Works salvation proponents are the ones who are arrogant because they think they're good enough or that it's all about them. They hate the doctrine of grace through faith because it doesn't appeal to the pride of life. But the Bible says sorry no can't do. Salvation is by grace through faith so nobody can boast from salvation to sanctification to glorification. It's all God's work!
It's not the sin of presumption to declare that I can know I have eternal life. I have the confidence in Jesus Christ. How can I be guilty of the sin of presumption concerning my salvation if my confidence is not in myself. When I'm told I'm a good man I can only say that it's by God's grace that changed me from a bad person to a good person. I can really boldly declare my assurance in Christ then that's not bragging. This boldness is to declare God's glory and not mine. To say I'm sure I'm saved because it's in God's Word then who am I declaring as the reason that I'm saved? Myself or God? I'm declaring God's glory that I can only be saved by faith in Jesus Christ, my new life is by the grace of God and that there's assurance in Jesus Christ. To declare that it's in Christ alone and glory to God alone isn't arrogant. It's all about declaring the truth. To accuse the Christian of arrogance is but slander because Christianity has always been about Christ and not about one's self. Works salvation proponents are the ones who are arrogant because they think they're good enough or that it's all about them. They hate the doctrine of grace through faith because it doesn't appeal to the pride of life. But the Bible says sorry no can't do. Salvation is by grace through faith so nobody can boast from salvation to sanctification to glorification. It's all God's work!
The Pope himself is also guilty of the sin of presumption in several levels of blasphemy. Not only does he boldly declare to have succeeded Peter but he also boldly says he's the representative of Christ on Earth. He misquotes Matthew 16:16-18 to prove that he's the Rock and that he holds the keys of Heaven. All the while, even the Good News Translation differs Peter (a rock) from the Rock where the Church will be built. He calls himself Holy Father a title Peter never received. The term "Holy Father" is even found in the Good News Translation in John 17. To call himself titles like "the head of the church" is to usurp the only Head. Colossians 1:18 from the Good News Bible says, "He is the Head of His Body, the Church; he is the Source of the body's life. He is the first-born Son, who was raised from death, in order that He alone might have the first place in all things." To call one's self as the "visible head" is to create a two-headed monstrosity. The Church can only have one Head and it's Jesus Christ. To make the Pope "another head" is to sow confusion among people.
The Pope's behavior isn't even at all Christlike so he can he even claim to be Christ's representative? When people bow down to the Pope, it's not just merely bowing down. I'm seeing people fall down to him head down to the Earth. Is that just respect as Roman Catholics claim? Peter said in Acts 10:26 to Cornelius to stand up. Yet the Popes aren't just bowed down to as a sign of respect. While kneeling isn't always worship like you aren't worshiping your car when you kneel down to clean some parts but when you kneel to worship just anyone then it's idolatry. They may go ahead and say born again Christians are "arrogant" for not bowing down to the Pope. But the born again Christian wouldn't bow down to the Pope the same reason why Mordecai wouldn't bow down to Haman. Mordecai was a humble man who refused to bow down to an arrogant and sadistic madman like Haman. For that act of godliness, Haman decided to murder the Jews out of his own presumptuous behavior. He decided to destroy the Jewish race. Whenever somebody didn't give that "respect" to the Pope they were all executed by the Inquisition. Still saying that the Pope isn't guilty of the sin of presumption?
Besides, Matthew 23 fits the description of the Roman Catholic institution today. Many times, I see those priests loving the greetings in the marketplace. They want to be regarded as "fathers" in the religious sense. While Paul himself called them as "children of the faith" he was being a father figure. It's much different from calling all priests father. The Roman Catholic priests have always had their self-righteous attitude that the Pharisees displayed during the days of Jesus. So much for calling born again Christians as Pharisees for lovingly sharing the truth with them!