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| Martin Luther from One Error to Another due his Rebellion |
Ezekiel, a great prophet has rightly and correctly labeled that people who have eyes to see but don’t see and ears to hear but don’t hear are those in a Rebellious house. But what is the meaning of the house in the scripture?
There are generally two meanings of the house in the scripture. The house in Ezekiel time is the Kingdom of Israel. The House therefore is a kingdom but the kingdom is also known as the church as written in the scripture. So the house is either a kingdom or a church.
Apostle Paul calls the church as the house and edifice of God. He said to Timothy, “I tarry long, that thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of truth. The Church is called a house, because it is, as it were, one family governed by one father of the family, and enjoying a community of all spiritual goods.
Getting by the definition of the “house” in the scripture as either referring to the Kingdom or the Church then it follows that a Rebellious house is a Rebellious kingdom or Rebellious Church that is in direct opposition and open resistance to the established Kingdom of God or Church of God. The Rebellious house by itself has set up and established their own governance or rulers in an act of defiance or disobedience to the established authority of the original Kingdom of God or Church. By doing so they separated themselves from the kingdom or church and established authority by themselves according to their own desire. They are therefore once part of the assembly and subjects of the kingdom or members of the church that rebelled, opposed, resisted, and disobeyed the instituted authority of the kingdom or the church. This Rebellious House is the Protestant Church and all churches that followed and continue to follow its act of disobedience are part of that Rebellious House.
St. John warned us of this rebellious house, those "who have gone out from us" in 1 John 2:18-19 "Children, it is the last hour; and just as you have heard that the antichrist is coming, so now many antichrists have appeared. This is how we know it is the last hour. They went out from us, but they did not belong to us. For if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us. But their departure made it clear that none of them belonged to us." So then those who depart from the true church of the Living God they are the antichrist. The antichrist can't come while still inside the church but will come from those who have gone out because they really don't belong to the church, that is the Catholic Church.
The Protestant churches started with the act of protest of their main proponent and founder of one of their churches that go with his name, Martin Luther. It started with his 95 Thesis which he posted on the door of the church in Germany against the selling of indulgences that was ordered by the then reigning Pope to raise money for the re-building of St. Peter’s Basilica. Luther who was himself an ordained Priest of the Roman Catholic Church was right. Even today such action of the former Pope at that point is not supported by almost all Catholics. But the Pope acted not in his capacity as Shepherd of the sheep but in his capacity as the administrator of the Catholic Church facilities which is part of his function. Such action that does not pertain to the Profession of Faith and Morals is not at all infallible and the Pope can go wrong with his decision being human being. In fact the Pope sins and often goes to confession too. The Pope merely acted on what he thought was the way to facilitate the re-building of the Basilica.Yes it was wrong and many Popes in their personal capacity may be wrong in many ways that is why they too go to confession because they are still human after all. But the church can't go wrong because it is united with Jesus Christ. It is his church not anyone's church.
What Luther did however after his initial protestation and excommunication was instead of fighting for what is right and help correct the error in the Catholic Church by its leaders the Pope, Bishop, or priests who are tasked to shepherd the sheep and administer the building of the church, he ended up rebelling against the entire Catholic Church and establishing his own separated Protestant Church and worst he established his own rebellious house, the Rebel Churches.
As Catholic Priest himself, Luther certainly knew what Indulgence means which is solidly founded on the scriptures. Yet he did not protest against it for many years in spite of him being Catholic. It was only when there was seemingly an act of selling indulgences that he protested. Let us repeat it again. Luther was not against the doctrine of indulgences, he protested against the sale of indulgences which is similar to Simony. And in fact many Catholics would agree with him.
What is an indulgence?
For both the non-Catholic and Catholics alike who are not well versed to the Catechism of the Catholic Church here is the meaning of indulgence.
1471 The doctrine and practice of indulgences in the Church are closely linked to the effects of the sacrament of Penance.
"An indulgence is a remission before God of the temporal punishment due to sins whose guilt has already been forgiven, which the faithful Christian who is duly disposed gains under certain prescribed conditions through the action of the Church which, as the minister of redemption, dispenses and applies with authority the treasury of the satisfactions of Christ and the saints."
While we have been forgiven, there is something as restitution which we must pay to the last penny to compensate for the injustice we have done for our sins. That may not be in the act of restoring the loss we have caused for those we have done wrong directly to the person but in what God's justice require of us. Something given and something taken from us. For non Christians they call this the law of karma which is a natural law of what you sow so shall you reap. It goes back to you as a recompense of your debts or sins, in the Catholic teaching that is called the temporal punishment due to sins whose guilt has already been forgiven.
"An indulgence is partial or plenary according as it removes either part or all of the temporal punishment due to sin." Indulgences may be applied to the living or the dead.
In a nutshell:
There are two layers of punishment for sins, one is eternal for sins that have not been forgiven and the other is temporal for sins that have already been forgiven that we still have to pay even after our guilt was forgiven. In the Old Testament, King David, committed very grave sins by taking another man's wife, Bathsheba which is adultery, and arranging for her husband's death which is murder, two very grave sins (2 Sam. 11 & 12). But God forgave David when he repented yet the child born of his adulterous relationship with Bathsheba died as a punishment for his sin. That is restitution or recompense for what David has done. By repenting he was forgiven but he still suffer the fruit of his sin. What you sow, you shall reap.
So while the sin was forgiven and that spared David of the eternal punishment, he still he had to suffer the temporal punishment of his sin which was the death of his child. Why? Because although God is merciful he is also just and justice demands recompense for the things we have done. This example shows that the temporal punishment remains on which the Church asserts that by the power given to it by the Lord, it has the authority to take this punishment away either totally or in partially.
“Truly I tell you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” (Matthew 18:18) This is the scriptural basis of the Catechism of the Catholic Church which states:
“An indulgence is obtained through the Church who, by virtue of the power of binding and loosing granted her by Christ Jesus, intervenes in favor of individual Christians and opens for them the treasury of the merits of Christ and the saints to obtain from the Father of mercies the remission of the temporal punishments due for their sins. Thus the Church does not want simply to come to the aid of these Christians, but also to spur them to works of devotion, penance, and charity.(CCC 1478)
Considering therefore that as a priest, the doctrine of indulgence has been known and practiced by Luther in his life as Catholic he never resisted it only when there was an abuse made such as the “selling” of the indulgence. He could have fought it out and debated about and with reasons, the Church would have listened as always it listened to the Church Fathers in the past who were given the gift of reasons. It was not enough reasons for Luther to rebel and breakaway from the Kingdom of God that is the Catholic Church and established his man-made kingdom and rebel church which opened up the floodgates of thousands of rebel churches following his example. Some will argue that Luther was forced when he was ex-communicated but in the same way, St. Athanasius was ex-communicated but he remained steadfast in faith. St. Athanasius fought his way with reasons and obedience till in the end his ex-communication was lifted and he is in full communion with the Church of the Living God again even coming out with his famous Athanasian Creed that says only in the bosom of the Catholic Church do we find salvation in Jesus Christ outside of which there is none.
Athanasius and Luther were both Catholics and both fought the errors committed by Popes in their respective era but the difference is that the former remained with the Catholic Church while the latter went out and put up his own rebel church.
Rebellion and Its Effects
The Lord God hates and despises rebellion which produces the attitude of lawlessness. It is a poison tree that produces wicked fruits poisoning the minds of many. Here Rebellion means disobedience to the words and plans of God.
“For rebellion is as the sin of divination, and insubordination is as iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the LORD, He has also rejected you from being king.” (Samuel 15:23)
Satan is known from tradition as the prince of rebellion, the Devil who is the “sum of all moral impurities” The Influence of his rebellion against God continues to this day and permeates our society, even among the Catholics. In society we see the results of rebellion from the break-up of families and homes as children rebel against their parents. Rebellion is a personification of Satan who was formerly called Lucifer for being the son of Morning. A perfect being but the one who rebelled against God because he wanted his own kingdom and be like God. He became Satan which means, adversary. He is always in opposition to God.
How you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How you are cut down to the ground, you who weakened the nations! For you have said in your heart: "I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God [angels]; I will also sit [rule] on the mount of the congregation on the farthest sides of the north [God's government]; I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High." Yet you shall be brought down to Sheol, to the lowest depths of the Pit.(Isiah 14:12-15) In that from being Lucifer, son of the morning he became Satan, the rebel, the Father of all Lies who is the murderer from the beginning.
The Spiritual Head therefore of the Rebellious House is Satan
True to his name as the adversary, he has put up false Christian churches in opposition to the Catholic Church which is the true Church of the Living God founded by Jesus Christ and built up through the Apostles. He has cause rebellion inside the Kingdom of God on earth which is the Catholic Church in the same way that he stirred up opposition to God in the Kingdom of Heaven bringing with him the fallen angels in his error. On earth he is bringing with him in his final destination to hell those who follow the false Christian churches whose members are truly members of the church of Satan but using the word Christian to deceive the people even the elect who are already in the Catholic Church.
The Rebellious house which is the house of Satan, has even came up with their own versions of the Bible and their own man-made doctrines which are heresies that open the gates of hell for those who will believe in their churches. Said churches now as many as 44,000 denominations of the Protestant Churches are really the gates of hell and entering those gates will cause many to be damned into hell for all eternity as it is written in the scripture “Many will be led to sin”. The deception is so great that even the elect will be deceived.
The Rebellious house is the House of the Damned whose members think they are saved but in truth they are damned. The damned are the stiff-necked believers who think they are following Jesus Christ but in truth they are following Satan to their damnation. They have become like Scribes, Sadducees, and Pharisees who closed their eyes to the truth and to whom Jesus said "You are mistaken because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God" (Matthew 22:29) This is the paradox of the so called Bible alone believing Christians by relying on their own interpretation of the scripture they instead fall into errors that drove them further away from the Church of the Living God, which is the the Catholic Church, the body of Jesus Christ so that the words of the Lord now apply to them:
"You pore over the Scriptures because you presume that by them you possess eternal life. These are the very words that testify about Me, yet you refuse to come to Me to have life." (John 5:39-40)
See that reading the scriptures and presuming you already have life in it is wrong, it is only by coming to Jesus who is in his Church, the Catholic Church that one will have life. There is no life in the rebellious church, there is only death awaiting those who persist to continue in the life of rebellion against the commandments of God who dwells in the Pillar and Foundation of Truth, the Catholic Church.
By Bro. Manny OTFS Chief Apologist
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