Another Jesus, Another Gospel

of the

Roman Catholic Church

Part One

By Dominic Rizzo

Can it be that a Church that believes in the Trinity, the Resurrection of Christ, and the virgin birth, has a different Jesus and gospel? There is much confusion in evangelical churches because we see prominent evangelical leaders embracing Roman Catholicism. Many are probably saying, “Surely these leaders must have done their homework and know what’s going on.” So, rather than following the scriptures and Christ, they trust the words of these highly visible evangelical leaders.

In the letter to the Galatians, Paul wrote against the Judaizers, who were upsetting the church. Much like the Catholic Church, the Judaizers believed in the Deity of Christ, the Resurrection, and many things that are necessary for salvation.  However, they added that “…it is necessary to be circumcised and keep the Law of Moses.” Acts 15:5. Paul says in Gal.1: 6-8, “I am amazed that you are so quickly deserting Him who called you by the grace of Christ, for a different gospel; which is really not another; only there are some who are disturbing you, and want to distort the gospel of Christ. But even though we, or and angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to that which we have preached to you, let him be accursed.” The Catholic Church has added much more than the Judaizers have. In this article, we will be covering the Mass/Eucharist of the Roman Catholic Church (RCC).  This is only one of many areas where it is obvious that they have a different Jesus, and a Gospel that does not save.  Let us now concentrate on the Mass which is the heartbeat of the Catholic Church and we shall see how different their Jesus really is.  If they have a different Gospel, then Gal. 1:8 is pointing to them. I will be quoting from the official Catholic publications except where noted. But first lets look in the Bible at the book of Hebrews to see the real Jesus, as pertaining to His sacrifice.

Hebrews:

1:3 “And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power. When He had made purification of sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high.”

9:22 “…without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sin.”

9:25-26“…nor was it that He would offer Himself often, as the high priest enters the holy place year by year with blood that is not his own.  Otherwise, He would have needed to suffer often since the foundation of the world; but now once at the consummation of the ages He has been manifested to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself.”

9:28  “So Christ also, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time for salvation without {reference to} sin, to those who eagerly await Him.”

10:10-14 “By this will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.  And every priest stands daily ministering and offering time after time the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins; but He, having offered one sacrifice for sins for all time, SAT DOWN AT THE RIGHT HAND OF GOD, waiting from that time onward UNTIL HIS ENEMIES BE MADE A FOOTSTOOL FOR HIS FEET.  For by one offering He has perfected for all time those who are sanctified.”

10:17-18 "AND THEIR SINS AND THEIR LAWLESS DEEDS I WILL REMEMBER NO MORE.  Now where there is forgiveness of these things, there is no longer {any} offering for sin.”

The Mass is a rejection of who Christ is and what He has accomplished at the cross. Let’s see what the Catholic Church says you must believe or else be cursed for eternity (with commentary).

Vatican council page 102 states, “…for in the sacrifice of the Mass, our Lord is immolated.” Webster’s dictionary says; “immolate means to kill as a sacrificial victim”.  The Bible clearly states that Christ died once (1 Peter 3:18), but the Mass is an on going sacrifice. Hebrews 10:18 says “where there is forgiveness there is no longer a need for sacrifice.” The Mass is an on going sacrifice, but in John 19:30 Jesus said, “it is finished.” He did not say, “it has just begun!” The Greek word used in the original text is tetelestai, which means, “paid in full”. The finality of Jesus’ finished work on the cross has been confirmed by the tearing of the temple curtain that veiled God’s earthly sanctuary, the Holy of Holies, from man, thus signifying that access to God had been restored at that precise moment (Mark 15:38).  The term paid in full was in common use. On a jail door, a list of the prisoner’s offences or debts would be posted. This person owned what is called a certificate of debt. When he finished serving his time, they would stamp this phrase over the certificate “paid in full”.  Jesus was saying that our sentence was paid in full, and there is nothing we can add to it. Col.2: 14 says, “Having forgiven us all our transgressions, having cancelled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us and which was hostile to us; and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross.”

All Catholics must believe the 1994 Catechism of the Catholic Church, (most Catholics that I have talked to admit that they haven’t ever read it) which has both official seals from the Vatican.  We find the following in this catechism the Mass and Eucharist: (Para equals paragraph)

Para 1366 The Eucharist is thus a sacrifice because it re-presents [makes present] the sacrifice of the cross...and because it applies its fruit...the forgiveness of the sins we daily commit.

Catholics hate to say that Jesus has to die again in the Mass, therefore they will say that the Mass is a re-presenting of the cross of Calvary as it sounds better than being killed (immolated) again. But this is not logical because they also say, ”…at the Passover Jesus offered the first and perfect Mass”. Then if the Mass is the re-presenting of Christ’s sacrifice on the cross, how can Jesus re- present something that didn’t’ happen yet?

Para 1367 “The sacrifice of Christ and the sacrifice of the Eucharist are one single sacrifice: the victim is one and the same: the same now offers through the ministry of priests, who then offered himself on the cross; only the manner of offering is different.  In this divine sacrifice which is celebrated in the Mass, the same Christ who offered himself once in a bloody manner on the altar of the cross is contained and is offered in an unbloody manner.”

Christ is the victim? He is the King of kings and Lord of lords. He is sovereign and ruler of the universe, all the atoms are held together by the word of His power. Born to die for sinners, he willingly went to the cross. He is not a victim but the Victor. A bloodless sacrifice is an oxymoron, besides, Hebrews 9:22 says that “without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins”.  The Mass is powerless to do what the perfect sacrifice of Christ has already accomplished! Since Christ’s death was the perfect sacrifice it need not be repeated. How can this be the same Christ? They truly have a different Jesus, as warned in Corinthians 11:4. Since the Mass is held daily everywhere on earth, this means that Christ’s body is at all places at once. One time I questioned a Catholic apologist about this, he said that Jesus is omnipresent.  For a moment that sounded good, but then I said that His Spirit is omnipresent not His body, if His body was omnipresent He wouldn’t have to send the Holy Spirit to come in His place. They have deified the body of Jesus; Jesus is a hundred percent man and a hundred percent God. Christ’s body was and still is, a physical body (Luke 24:36-43), it had definite dimensions, and it could be at only one place at a time. In John 14:12 Jesus says that because He is going to the Father we will do greater things. Greater doesn’t mean better but He is referring to the amount. While on earth, Jesus was physically limited to one place. He now can cover the whole world by working through the Holy Spirit through His people. In the Old Testament, when the priest went into the presence of the Holy of Holies, there were no chairs! Why? Because the work of the sacrifice was unending they could not rest. But Hebrews 10:11,12 says, “And every priest stands daily ministering and offering time after time the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins; but He, having offered one sacrifice for sins for all time, sat down at the right hand of God.” Do you see the contrast? He sat down because it was finished; He was never to die again. Roman 6: 9,10 says, “…knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, is never to die again; death no longer is master over Him. For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God.” His sacrifice at Calvary was from the time of the cross to the end of the age. Hebrews 9:26 states, “Otherwise, He would have needed to suffer often since the foundation of the world; but now once at the consummation of the ages He has been manifested to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself.”

Para.1374 “In the most blessed sacrament of the Eucharist ‘the body and blood, together with the soul and divinity, of our Lord Jesus Christ and, therefore, the whole Christ is truly, really, and substantially contained...This presence is called 'real' ...God and man make himself wholly and entirely present.” 

This is an amazing statement!  Everything that is Jesus is on the altar.  Since there are millions of Masses being served, then there are many Christs. Jesus warned about the many false Christs that will come. Quoting from a popular Catholic book, “The Faith of Millions”, John O’Brien states, “When the priest announces the tremendous word of consecration, he reaches up into the heavens, brings Christ down from His throne, and places Him upon our altar to be offered up again as the Victim for the sins of man. It is a power greater than that of saints and angels, greater than that of Seraphim and Cherubim . . . The priest speaks and lo! Christ, the eternal and omnipotent God, bows his head in humble obedience to the priest’s command.”  This is blasphemy!  No sinner can command Christ as we are to be submitted to His will. Logically they have nothing to stand on, if all the priests on earth are calling down Christ from His throne, then this will produce a bump in time.  Picture Christ being summoned by a priest in NJ then one in California, then one in China, or all over the world. Do you see the problem? This forces them to have many Christs as no one person can do all this. While Christ is re-presenting Himself, then which Christ is the one who is ever sitting at the right hand of the Father making intercession for His people like the Scriptures say? I can picture Him going sideways coast to coast instead of from the throne to the altar. Every four minutes somewhere around the world, there is a Mass being performed.  This doesn’t give Him much time to be at His throne running the universe. But like every other cult they are told not to question. But the Bible tells us to question and test all things.  Jesus told us how He is to return.  Acts 1:11 says, “Why do you stand looking into the sky? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in just the same way as you have watched Him go into heaven.”   No, He is not coming in a wafer for us to eat and digest. Romans 8:9 talks about the Spirit of Christ dwelling in us, not His body in us. Further more, Jesus said that He will never leave you. According to the RCC they say that after you take the Eucharist, Jesus remains in your stomach until He starts to get digested (this is to prevent the sticky problem of, does his body go to waste like anything that goes into the stomach). When the consecrated bread is left alone for days it will rot. If this is really the real Jesus then it can not undergo decay (see Acts 2:27). Lets get serious, Jesus’ body is a glorified body, it cannot die (it’s also not a baby in Mary’s arms like some apparitions show).  His body before the cross was able to die, and He wears the marks of his passion. The risen Savior has accomplished our redemption and now sits at the right hand of the Father making intercession for us. The Cross and tomb is empty!!

Para 1377 “The Eucharistic presence of Christ begins at the moment of the consecration and endures as long as the Eucharistic species subsist.  Christ is present whole and entire in each of the species and whole and entire in each of their parts, in such a way that the breaking of the bread does not divide Christ.”

They are saying even every crumb is the totality of all that Christ is. They make a great effort to gather the crumbs and make sure it is safely put into the little tabernacle that is prepared for it.  When the priest administers the Eucharist he says, ”the body and blood of Christ” and the obedient Catholic must say, “Amen”. All Catholics must believe that they are eating the real flesh of Jesus, yet this is cannibalism and drinking blood is against God’s law, Acts 15:20 says to abstain from blood. Would Jesus ask us to sin? There are no scripture verses that show that the physical body of Christ, if divided into parts, and that all the parts would still be the whole Christ.

Para. 1393 “Holy Communion separates us from sin. The body of Christ we receive in Holy Communion is ‘given up for us,’ and the blood we drink “shed for the many for the forgiveness of sins.” For this reason the Eucharist cannot unite us to Christ without at the same time cleansing us from past sins and preserving us from future sins,”

How can this be true? Most Catholics do not have changed lives as they treat sin as if it is not something to dread. If the Eucharist preserves them from future sins then they’re not taking enough of it. It would be wonderful to take something that prevents us from sinning, but no, this is not reality. What God wants us to do is to stay close to Him in prayer, Bible study, meditating on His word, fellowship with the saints, service, etc. and as we will walk in the Spirit and not fulfill the things of the flesh.

The Council of Trent

The Council of Trent was put together to counter the reformation. In this document there are over 100 anthemas (curses) against all that Evangelical Christians believe (sounds like Protestant bashing). To show the fact that the Catholic Church has a different gospel, I will also include some statements that are not just about the Mass. Keep in mind that they are saying that if you do not believe what the Catholic Church teaches via The Catechism or Magisterium, etc., then you are cursed.  The RCC can not change this, they claim to be infallible.

Canon 1 If anyone denies that in the sacraments of the most Holy Eucharist are contained truly, really and substantially the body and blood together with the soul and divinity of our Lord Jesus Christ, and consequently the whole Christ, but says that He is in it only  as in a sign, or figure of force, let him be anathema.

Cannon 4 ”If anyone says that the sacraments of the New Law are not necessary for salvation but are superfluous, and that without them or without the desire of them men obtain from God through faith alone the grace of justification, though all are not necessary for each one, let him be anathema. 

This is part of their work salvation system. But the book of Romans says:

Romans 3:20  “By the works of the Law no flesh will be justified in His sight.”

Romans 3:28  “For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh,  God did: sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh, so that the requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.”

The law was powerless. Romans 1:16 says ^“For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes.”

Canon 6 “If anyone says that in the Holy sacrament of the Eucharist, Christ, the only begotten Son of God, is not to be adored with the worship of latria, also outwardly manifested, and is consequently neither to be venerated with a special festive solemnity, nor to be solemnly borne about in procession according to the laudable and universal rite of custom of holy church, or is not to be set publicly before the people to be adored and that the adorers thereof are idolaters, let him be anathema”. 

In this, they command their worshippers to worship the Eucharist. They are worshipping something that is made with hands, which is idolatry.  The bread of the Eucharist is man made, we are not to worship anything that is made with hands, it has not changed into the body of Christ as shown above and as you will see through out the rest of this study. They actually think that the Lord of the universe can be passed around handled and eaten, this is similar to some occultic ceremonies.

Canon 8 “If anyone says that Christ received in the Eucharist is received spiritually only and not also sacramentally and really, let him be anathema.” 

As you can see, if you believe the Catholic dogmas you have to deny the Bible.  If you deny the teachings of the Catholic Church the unchanging Council of Trent curses you.  Paul says that you who have a different gospel are cursed. When we cover John 6 we will show that it cannot be the literal body.

Cannon 9. “If anyone says that the sinner is justified by faith alone, meaning that nothing else is required to cooperate in order to obtain the grace of justification, and that it is not in any way necessary that he be prepared and disposed by the action of his own will, let him be anathema.” 

This is another salvation by faith and works, just like the Judaizers of Paul’s day. But Ephesians 2:8 says, “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God”. A gift is something that cannot be earned or merited.  Since God says, “All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.”  Romans 3:23, He has to save us His way, not by our “righteousness” but by His everlasting grace. Or Titus 3:4,5 “But when the kindness of God our Savior and His love for mankind appeared, He save us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit.”  This Cannon disagrees with the Gospel that Paul preached, and it is cursed (anathema) like Paul says in Gal. 1:7,8

Canon 15. ”If anyone says that a man who is born again and justified is bound of faith to believe that he is assuredly in the number of the predestinate (saved) let him be anathema.” 

IN PLAIN ENGLISH: No one has the right to believe he or she has assurance of salvation. If you do believe it, you are automatically consigned to Hell, damnation, loss of salvation. The Pope and all Catholics do not know if they will make it to heaven. They say if you claim to be secure in your salvation you are cursed by the Church. But 1 John 5:13 says, ”These things I have written to you, who believe in the name of the Son of God, In order that you may know that you have eternal life,” is John cursed?  The word Gospel means good news. What kind of good news is it, when you have to be uncertain that you are saved? Hebrews 12:2 says, ”Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith…” When Jesus saves, he saves to the uttermost. His salvation is perfect, what he starts He lovingly guards to the end.  We were bought with a price - His precious blood. His Word will not return void. He will accomplish what He sets out to do. Romans 8:31-39 says that no one can separate us from the love of Christ. Ephesians 3:20 says “Now to Him who is able to do exceeding abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us.” Does that sound like our salvation is in uncertain hands? This is what the Good news is all about. Jesus did it all!

Cannon 18 “If anyone says that the commandments of God are, even for one that is justified and constituted in grace, impossible to observe, let him be anathema.”

They believe that we are able to keep the law!  Then according to the RCC the apostle John is cursed as he said, ”If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves, and the truth is not in us.”  In 1 John1: 8 James says, “For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles in one point, he has become guilty of all.”  James 2:10.  That takes care of their false dogma of mortal and venial sins. All sins are serious to God as His son died for all sins. Since they think that the commandments of God are not impossible to observe, they make keeping the commandments a way to salvation. This is a works system. God says that all our works (to attain salvation) are filthy rags (Isaiah 64:6).

Cannon 30  “If anyone says after the reception of the grace of justification the guilt is so remitted and the debt of eternal punishment so blotted out to every repentant sinner, that no debt of temporal punishment remains to be discharged either in this world or in purgatory before the gates of heaven can be opened, let him be anathema.”  

Yes, since Jesus died before we were born He then died for all our sins past, present and future. Jesus purged our sins Hebrews 1:3 says “Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high.” He sat down because He was finished with His redemptive work. Everything Jesus does, He does perfectly (John 5:19). He died for our sins and His perfect life was all that was needed to satisfy the judgment of God.

Based on these teachings Catholics are taught their redemption comes not from the perfect and finished work of Christ on Calvary’s cross but through the liturgy of the Eucharistic sacrifice.

Para 1068,1405 For it is in the liturgy, especially in the divine sacrifice of the Eucharist, that the work of our redemption is accomplished. Every time this mystery is celebrated, the work of our redemption is carried on.

In part two of this article, we will cover some of the scripture that the RCC uses to try to prove their doctrine of the Mass/Eucharist.

The author would like to acknowledge the following men for their work, and expertise in apologetics and their study of Catholicism: DR. Robert Morey, DR. Ron Rhodes, Eric Svendsen, Loraine Boettner, Robert. Zins, Dave Hunt, Richard Bennett, James White, John MacArthur, William Webster, R.C. Sproul, Mike Gendron, and Timothy F. Kauffman.

 © 2001 Dominic Rizzo

You are free to re-print all or portions of this article without alteration.  For further copyright information please contact leastofhis@juno.com.

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Updated February 15, 2002