As long as it proclaims its leader as the supreme head of the church on earth, denigrates the work that Christ completed on Calvary by the pretentious teachings central to its mass, refuses the scriptural way of salvation that justification is by faith alone in Christ alone, fleeces its adherents by means of an imaginary purgatory, and offers indulgences with as much aplomb as Tetzel managed in Martin Luther’s day, no true Christian should engage in fellowship with this system, never mind travel to welcome its Pope.
The arrogant and unscriptural titles, claims and teachings that the Pope still clings to only serve to underline the enduring relevance and pertinence of Luther’s comment in his Smalcald Articles: “Therefore, just as little as we can worship the devil himself as Lord and God, we can endure his apostle, the Pope, or Antichrist, in his rule as head or lord. For to lie and to kill, and to destroy body and soul eternally, that is wherein his papal government really consists.”
In this deception and destruction of the souls of men a true Christian must never play a part. Any Reformed Protestant preacher worthy of the name cannot stand on any other ground. All of which begs the obvious question: how can the Presbyterian Church of Ireland present its recent vote in favour of its Moderator participating in the upcoming Papal visit as anything other than a betrayal of our Lord Jesus Christ?
Rev. Ian Brown
Clerk, General Presbytery of the Free Presbyterian Church of Ulster
Clerk, General Presbytery of the Free Presbyterian Church of Ulster
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