Roman Catholic Claim
Jesus
said his Church would be "the light of the world."
He then noted that "a city set on a hill cannot
be hid" (Matt. 5:14). This means his Church is
a visible organization. It must have characteristics
that clearly identify it and that distinguish it from
other churches. Jesus promised, "I will build
my Church and the gates of hell will not prevail against
it" (Matt. 16:18). This means that his Church
will never be destroyed and will never fall away from
him. His Church will survive until his return. |
Christian Response
Right from the start Christians
have a problem with Rome. In Matt. 5:14 Jesus was giving
His sermon on the mount. He addresses His followers as the
‘light of the world.’ All who are in Christ
are ‘a light on a hill.’ They are members of
the Body of Christ and constitute His Church. The Church
of Jesus Christ is synonymous with The Body of Christ. It
is a visible organization in the sense that it is composed
of Christians from every tribe, nation and tongue. It is
a universal Body that exists in local expression throughout
the world.
As the Apostle Paul writes,
the Church (Ekklesia) meets at various places and times
throughout the world. The Body of Christ. is the Church
meeting together to follow the Word of God.
1CO 1:2 to the church of God which
is at Corinth, to those who have been sanctified
in Christ Jesus, saints by calling, with all who
in every place call upon the name of our Lord Jesus
Christ, their Lord and ours:
The Roman Catholic religion has institutionalized
the word ‘church’ and given it an identity that
does not correspond to the Bible. When we realize that the
Church is the Body of Christ, it gives us the proper understanding
of a living Body of People in Christ.
EPH 2:19 So then you are no longer strangers
and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints,
and are of God's household,
EPH 2:20 having been built upon the foundation
of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being
the corner stone,
EPH 2:21 in whom the whole building,
being fitted together is growing into a holy temple in
the Lord;
EPH 2:22 in whom you also are being
built together into a dwelling of God in the Spirit.
EPH 4:11 And He gave some as apostles,
and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some
as pastors and teachers,
EPH 4:12 for the equipping of the saints
for the work of service, to the building up of the body
of Christ;
EPH 4:13 until we all attain to the unity
of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God,
to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs
to the fulness of Christ.
EPH 4:14 As a result, we are no longer
to be children, tossed here and there by waves, and carried
about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men,
by craftiness in deceitful scheming;
EPH 4:15 but speaking the truth in love,
we are to grow up in all aspects into Him, who is the
head, even Christ,
EPH 4:16 from whom the whole body,
being fitted and held together by that which every joint
supplies, according to the proper working of each individual
part, causes the growth of the body for the building
up of itself in love.
It is quite right that the gates of hell
will not prevail against the Church [Body of Christ] because
God will not leave or forsake His own who are in Christ.
But Roman Catholic dogma denies the security of the believer
and hence views the church as an institution marked by elaborate
ritual rather than a collection of living saints in Christ.
1PE 2:9 But you are a chosen race, a
royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God's own
possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of
Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous
light;
1PE 2:10 for you once were not a people,
but now you are the people of God; you had not received
mercy, but now you have received mercy.
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