The title of my sermon tonight is To the Romans, To the Romans, and I hope everybody brought
their Bible to church tonight.
You should always bring your Bible to church so that you can follow along.
If you don't have a Bible, we do have Bibles on the bookshelf back there and a big stack
of black New Testaments, go ahead and grab one of those right now.
Don't be shy or embarrassed.
I want you to follow along in the Bible tonight.
It's going to be very easy to follow along tonight.
In fact, this is going to be the easiest sermon that you've ever followed along with in your
life because the entire sermon is going to come from the book of Romans.
That's the only place we're going to turn.
So you don't have to be really adept at knowing where all 66 books are in order to follow
this sermon.
But the reason that the sermon tonight is called To the Romans is that this book of
the Bible, the epistle to the Romans, was specifically originally sent to the Romans,
literally.
Obviously, we know that the whole New Testament is written to us as Bible-believing Christians
and that any of the 27 books are geared toward each and every one of us.
But it was specifically written to that geography in the beginning.
Now flip over to chapter 1 of Romans in verse number 7, and I'll just show you where this
epistle is specifically made out to the Romans.
It says in Romans 1, verse 7, to all that be in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints,
grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
And what I want to basically preach about tonight is all of the false doctrine of the
Roman Catholic Church and how all of it can pretty much be defeated just with this one
book, the book of Romans.
And I believe that it's not a coincidence that God knew that the biggest false Christian
so-called church in the world would be the Roman Church, the Roman Catholic Church, the
Church of Rome, that would basically lead the way for false doctrine and lead the way
in heresy and work salvation and all kinds of other bad doctrine that he actually put
in the book of Romans the most verses that would prove Catholicism to be false.
And most of us that have been in church for a long time have even heard people talk about
the Romans road as being the plan of salvation just because there are so many verses in the
book of Romans that have to do with salvation.
So I'm going to preach against some of the biggest false doctrines of the Roman Catholic
Church tonight and I'm only going to use the book of Romans to do it.
Only the book that's geared toward the Romans.
Now you say, well why preach about this?
Because 20% of America is Catholic?
Because all over the world this is a huge religion that has people in darkness today.
They do not teach the true gospel.
Point number one tonight is that salvation is by faith alone, not of works.
That is not what the Roman Catholic Church teaches.
The Roman Catholic Church teaches that you have to do other things to be saved other
than just believe in the Lord Jesus Christ.
They teach that you have to perform various works and sacraments in order to make it into
heaven but that's not what the Bible teaches.
Look at Romans 1 verse 16.
The Bible reads, for I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ for it is the power of God
unto salvation, watch this, to everyone that believeth.
To the Jew first and also to the Greek.
Flip over to chapter 3.
So right there in chapter 1 the Bible has already told us that salvation is to everyone
that believeth.
Look at Romans chapter 3 verse 22.
Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all
them that believe for there is no difference for all have sinned and come short of the
glory of God being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ
Jesus whom God has set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood to declare his
righteousness for the remission of sins that are past through the forbearance of God.
To declare I say at this time his righteousness that is the righteousness of Jesus that he
might be just and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.
Where is boasting then?
It is excluded by what law of works nay but by the law of faith therefore we conclude
that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law.
Isn't that clear?
He doesn't say well you're justified by faith but you also have to have works.
No he said you're justified by faith without works.
Faith without the deeds of the law.
Sins and works are used interchangeably in the Bible.
He said in verse 22 it's upon all them that believe it's the faith of Jesus Christ why
because we've all sinned and the only way that any of us could be justified or declared
righteous in the sight of God is not through our own righteousness which is of the law
but that which is through the faith of Christ the righteousness which is of God by faith
but whoops I'm accidentally quoting something other than Romans.
I don't need anything other than Romans it's all right here in Romans.
Flip over to chapter 4 verse 1.
What shall we say then that Abraham our father as pertained to the flesh hath found for if
Abraham were justified by works he hath were of the glory but not before God for what sayeth
the scripture Abraham believed God and it was counted unto him for righteousness.
Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace but of debt but to him that
worketh not but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly his faith is counted for righteousness.
How are we justified?
How are we saved?
How are we declared righteous in the sight of God?
It's not through our own righteousness there's none righteous no not one.
It's his righteousness.
It's the righteousness of Jesus that is imputed unto those who believe.
It's through faith that we're saved not of works it's without works it's to him that
worketh not.
The Bible says in verse 6 even as David also describe it the blessedness of the man unto
whom God imputeth righteousness without works saying blessed are they whose iniquities are
forgiven and whose sins are covered.
Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin.
Jump down to verse 11 about Abraham who was again justified by faith and he received the
sign of circumcision a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had yet being uncircumcised
that he might be the father of all them that believe.
So Abraham's the father of all them that believe not all those who are baptized not all those
who join a church or do good deeds or perform the sacraments.
He's the father of all them that believe though they be not circumcised that righteousness
might be imputed unto them also.
Flip over to chapter 5 we've seen it in chapter 1 we've seen it in chapter 3 we've seen it
repeatedly in chapter 4 look at chapter 5 verse 1 therefore being justified by faith
we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Flip over to chapter 6 verse 23 for the wages of sin is death but the gift of God is eternal
life through Jesus Christ our Lord and by very definition a gift is something that you
don't work for it's just given to you for free unlike wages which are earned.
Look at chapter 10 verse 1 brethren my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is that
they might be saved for I bear them record that they have a zeal of God but not according
to knowledge for they being ignorant of God's righteousness and going about to establish
their own righteousness have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God for
Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone that believe it.
So the question is what are you trusting in tonight to get you to heaven?
Is it your righteousness or is it the righteousness of Jesus?
Because the Bible says the only thing that can save us is his righteousness because we
don't have any righteousness to speak of there's none righteous no not one.
See the Jews in Romans 10 were going about to establish their own righteousness by doing
good deeds doing good works performing religious ritual but the Bible says that it's not by
works or deeds and he says Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone to
believe it.
It's not through the law that we are righteous in the sight of God it's only through the
faith of Christ there are many people today even Baptists who would say well you don't
have to do good works to be saved but you do have to stop sinning.
You do have to turn from your sin but turning from your sin would be obedience to the law
because what is sin by very definition?
I mean sin is when you break God's law and so you know we're not saved by the law it's
not the law that justifies us it's not the law of works the only law that can save you
is the law of faith the law that says if you believe you'll be saved.
It's not by adherence to the law.
The Bible says that that's not the case look at look at verse nine in Romans 10 that if
thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus and shall believe in thine heart that
God has raised him from the dead thou shalt be saved.
What could be simpler than that verse?
So what if there's one person on this planet who confesses with their mouth the Lord Jesus
and truly believes in their heart that God has raised him from the dead and that person's
not saved wouldn't that make this a lie?
I mean if the Bible says it's the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth
and then there's somebody who truly believes on the Lord Jesus Christ in their heart and
that person's not saved because they didn't do works this would all be a lie or you didn't
get baptized well wait a minute everyone that believeth shall be saved according to these
verses.
Verse 13 for whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved it didn't
say whosoever that joins the church lives a good life is baptized no no it's just whosoever
shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved how then shall they call on him on
whom they've not heard or whom they've not believed obviously you have to believe in
order to call upon him by faith and be saved you have to believe in your heart and confess
with your mouth not just saying words to get into heaven but it has to be the faith
that saves the Bible says in verse 10 there for with the heart man believeth unto righteousness
and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation what comes out of the mouth is nothing
more than just a reflection of the faith in your heart it's the faith that saves you it's
believing that saves you that is expressed through words with your mouth that's all that
is just an outward expression of that which is present in your heart the Bible says in
verse 14 how then shall they call on him and whom they've not believed how should they
believe in him of whom they've not heard and how should they hear without a preacher that's
all it takes to be saved some preacher and it doesn't say pastor you know just some preacher
which could be man woman boy or girl preaches you the gospel and thereby you hear God's
word and believe and say I believe that and if you truly mean it from your heart the Bible
says you shall be saved look at chapter 11 verse 5 people will say well I still think
works plays a role I think it's faith and works this is often what Roman Catholics will
tell you but the Bible says in verse 5 of chapter 11 even so then at this present time
only also there is a remnant according to the election of grace and if by grace then
is it no more of works otherwise grace is no more grace but if it be of works then is
it no more grace otherwise work is no more work you can't have it both ways folks either
salvation is by grace through faith or salvation is by works you can't mix the two as soon
as you mix in that's the smallest amount of works as a requirement for salvation grace
is gone at that point the question is how cheap would something have to be in order
for it to be free it would have to cost zero and if it costs one cent it's not free that's
how it is with works now should we do works of course of course we should do works but
wait a minute what saves us works do we have to do works no you can do no works the Bible
says to him that worketh not but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly his faith
is counted for righteousness therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith
without the deeds of the law but let's move on to the second point we just saw a lot of
verses just from one book of the Bible just from Romans alone that destroy the Catholic
doctrine of salvation being by works well they believe also it's faith and it's faith
and works no no well now it's not grace anymore now it's just all works now and your trust
is not in Christ to save you your trust is in yourself at that point and the deeds that
you perform or your faith is in a church or your faith is in a priest or your faith is
in someone else who you think has the power to get you into heaven it's all through what
Christ did on the cross when he died and buried and rose again and it's unto all those that
believe but number two flip over to Romans chapter six and we'll see that a second doctrine
of the Catholic Church is destroyed by the book of Romans you know you'd think since
this book is specifically addressed to them they would pay special attention to it I mean
I don't know about you but if there were a book of the Bible that said to the church
at Arizona the church of Phoenix to the Phoenicians you know turn in your Bible to Phoenicians
chapter one you know I would say I would pay special attention to that book wouldn't
you think like oh well we live in Phoenix this is especially applicable unto us we should
take extra heed well to the Romans tonight the Roman Catholics they need to take special
heed to the book that's made out specifically to them at church at Rome number two baptism
is by immersion not by sprinkling or pouring so number one we saw salvation by faith according
to the book of Romans number two baptisms by immersion it's by being dunked underwater
it's this in baptism you know sprinkling or pouring or this little you know I heard Roman
Catholics say repeatedly that all it takes is just one drop of water one drop of holy
water is all you need to baptize then why did John well I can't use books other than
Romans just look at Romans chapter six verse four watch this therefore we are buried with
him by baptism into death that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of
the Father even so we also should walk in newness of life for if we have been planted
together in the likeness of his death we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection
notice the language regarding baptism buried with him by baptism it is now when you get
buried do they just sprinkle a little dirt on you or just pour a little dirt on your
head just touch your forehead with some dirt no being buried means you're completely submerged
you're completely immersed you're completely covered in earth the Bible says we're buried
with them by baptism and it says if we've been planted together what about when you
plant something you sprinkle dirt on it or do you put it under the earth just like when
you're baptized you go under the water so the Bible uses the words buried in regard
to baptism planted what because baptism according to this is a likeness or a picture or an image
of the death burial and resurrection of Christ that's what's being symbolized when you come
up out of the water it's a picture of Christ coming up out of the grave arising from the
dead and so just sprinkling water on you or pouring water on you doesn't do that and so
this verse wouldn't make any sense if that were biblical baptism and of course there
are many many scriptures outside of the book of Romans that teach that but we're limiting
ourselves to the book of Romans flip back just one chapter to chapter five and we'll
get to the third thing and this ties in with this whole sprinkling pouring baptism because
not only do the Roman Catholics sprinkle but they also perform baptism on babies they perform
infant baptism and this doctrine is also defeated by the book of Romans you see the reason why
Roman Catholics baptize babies is because they have a false doctrine called original
sin now a lot of people that are Bible believing Christians Baptists evangelicals would say
well original sin is a true doctrine that's a biblical doctrine but that's just because
you don't really understand what the Catholics mean when they say original sin what the Bible
teaches is that because Adam sinned we all inherited the sin nature meaning that because
Adam was a sinner and we descend from Adam we have the tendency to sin we all sin naturally
we sin that's what we would often mean and some people use the term original sin to mean
that but you shouldn't use the term original sin that's a Catholic term and that's not
what it means it means something else okay so of course we know that Adam sinned and
because of that we're all sinners of course that's the truth but that is not what the
doctrine of original sin teaches now look if you would at the Bible here in Romans chapter
5 it says in verse 12 wherefore is by one man sin entered into the world talking about
Adam and death by sin and so death passed upon all men for that all have sinned and
that is the key phrase for that all have sinned now for means because so the Bible is saying
by one man sin entered into the world and death by sin and so death passed upon all
men now if we just stop there you'd have the Catholic doctrine of original sin what they
teach is that we are responsible for the sin that Adam committed we're punished that sin
is held against us now that is false God does not hold Adam sin against me I'm not punished
for Adam's sin and so here it makes it clear that the reason that death passed upon all
men is not simply just because Adam sinned but it's because all have sinned you see that
death passed upon all men because all have sinned and just because we inherited our sin
nature from Adam we became sinners but that doesn't mean we're being punished for what
he did we would only ever be punished by God for what we ourselves have done not for what
Adam did thousands of years ago in the Garden of Eden now the reason that this is so important
is that the Roman Catholics this is the reason why they feel that they have to baptize babies
because Catholics will admit the common sense that a newborn baby is not really capable
of sinning because you know can a newborn baby commit adultery or murder or steal or
take the name of God in vain or make a graven image obviously a newborn baby is incapable
of committing sin but the Catholic Church teaches well baptism washes away your sins
they don't believe in justification by faith alone they believe that baptism washes away
your sins so you'd think to yourself well then why baptize a baby then they say well
even though this baby has not sinned on its own we have to wash away the original sin
everybody see where they're going with this because Adam sinned we have to wash away that
original sin and they say that if that baby dies without being baptized it's gonna go
to hell now this is a false doctrine there are many scriptures in the Bible that teach
that a baby will go to heaven when it dies no matter what it's not it it's a newborn
baby and it doesn't even understand and it doesn't even have sin in its life it will
go to heaven that's another sermon there's plenty of scripture to teach that that before
a certain age obviously a child is not held responsible for you know receiving Christ
as Savior before it can even understand any of these concepts or even commit sin but listen
to what they say on I've got some stuff from the Vatican's website and I've got some stuff
from Catholic.com so this is out of the horse's mouth okay here's from Catholic.com the Catholic
Church has always understood baptism differently meaning differently than people who actually
believe the Bible teaching that it is a sacrament which accomplishes several things the first
of which is the remission of sin both original sin and actual sin only original sin in the
case of infants and young children since they are incapable of actual sin and both original
and actual sin in the case of older persons so they're coming right out and saying well
the baby hasn't sinned but yet it needs to be baptized so we can wash away the original
sin Adam's sin which is a totally made up false doctrine here's from their catechism
on the Vatican website point twelve hundred and fifty says born with a fallen human nature
I agree with that and tainted by original sin that's their false idea that they put
on here children also have need of the new birth in baptism so they teach that born again
oh that's being baptized false he says they also have need of the new birth in baptism
to be freed from the power of darkness and brought into the realm of the freedom of the
children of God to which all men are called the sheer gratuitousness of the grace of salvation
is particularly manifest in infant baptism no it's actually particularly manifest when
you teach that salvation is by believing by faith then you see how free it is when you
just confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised
him in it thou shalt be saved so they're saying oh well we believe baptism we believe salvation
is free just look at our teaching on infant baptism right but they teach that you have
to continue and do all the other works also that not even that's enough the church and
the parents would deny a child the priceless grace of becoming a child of God were they
not to confer baptism shortly after birth do you see that according to the Catholics
if you don't baptize your baby which is taught nowhere in the Bible you're denying them being
a child of God you're stopping them from being a child of God they can't be a child of God
they don't have access to the grace of God it's from the Vatican's own website so according
to them salvation is putting water on a baby's head according to the Bible in what twenty
or thirty verses that we just read it's based on whether or not a person believes on Christ
and parents don't have any control over that the church doesn't have any control that's
a personal decision made in your own heart here's what they say in point twelve hundred
sixty three by baptism all sins are forgiven original sin and all personal sins as well
as all punishment for sin in those who have been reborn nothing remains that would impede
their entry into the kingdom of God neither Adam sin nor personal sin nor the consequences
of sin the gravest of which is separation from God so we see very clearly that when
they say original sin they don't mean what you thought that they meant if you say well
that's a biblical doctrine no no they're not saying that you have a sin nature they're
saying you are held responsible for Adam's sin and we gotta get rid of that through baby
baptism it's garbage let's look at it in Romans five and see how it falls apart this doctrine
of original sin it's a false doctrine look at verse twelve wherefore is by one man sin
entered into the world and death by sin and so death passed upon all men why for that
all have sinned that's why that's the part they're not getting verse thirteen for until
the law sin was in the world but sin is not imputed when there is no law nevertheless
death rained from Adam to Moses even over them that had not sinned after the similitude
of Adam's transgression who is the figure of him that was to come now verse fourteen
is often misunderstood saying well these people didn't sin it wasn't imputed unto them but
death still rained no no it says they didn't sin after the similitude of Adam's transgression
they still sinned they committed other sins they just didn't sin in the same way that
Adam sinned verse fifteen but not as the offense so also as the free gift for if through the
offense of one Adam many be dead much more the grace of God and the gift by grace which
is by one man Jesus Christ had the bounded unto many and not as it was by one that sinned
so is the gift for the judgment was by one to condemnation but the free gift is of many
offenses unto justification for if by one man's offense death rained by one much more
they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in
life by one Jesus Christ therefore as by the offense of one judgment came upon all men
to condemnation even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men at
the justification of life you say well no it was just by one man's offense you know
the death came upon all men but keep reading look at verse nineteen for as by one man's
disobedience watch this this is the key many were made sinners so by the obedience of one
shall many be made righteous so clearly the reason why death comes upon us based on Adam's
sin is that we were made sinners for that all have sinned that's why death passed upon
all men not death upon us because of what Adam did even if we don't sin even if we're
a newborn baby I mean it's a weird doctrine but I'll prove it to you further from the
book of Romans go to chapter seven look what Romans seven teaches beginning verse number
seven what shall we say then is the law sin God forbid nay I had not known sin but by
the law for I had not known lust except the law it said thou shalt not covet but sin
taking occasion by the commandment wrought in me all manner of concupiscence watch this
for without the law sin was dead for I was alive without the law once but when the commandment
came sin revived and I died and the commandment which was ordained to life I found to be unto
death for sin taking occasion by the commandment deceived me and by it slew me now notice what
he clearly says in verse nine here I was alive without the law once but when the commandment
came sin revived and I died is he saying I was born into this world completely dead in
trespasses and sins is that what he's saying no before he was old enough to know what lust
even was before he was old enough to even know thou shalt not covet to even know what
sin was when he was born into this world he was alive spiritually then once he sinned
then once he understood the law of God and that he was breaking God's law and sinning
then the Bible says that's when he died spiritually and then obviously when he believed on the
Lord Jesus Christ he was quickened and made alive in Christ you see Adam was told in the
Garden of Eden that in the day he ate of that forbidden fruit that he would surely
die and if you remember when Adam took that fruit in the Garden of Eden did he die physically
that day no but spiritually he died his spirit died and it's the same thing with us when
we commit sin personally ourselves our spirit dies when we get to the age where we're capable
of understanding that and willfully you know committing a sin and doing something against
God's law at that point our spirit dies then when we believe on the Lord Jesus Christ that
spirit is quickened that spirit is made alive in Christ we who were dead in trespasses and
sins this makes perfect sense when you understand the biblical doctrine that's taught in many
other places that those who die in their mother's womb go straight to heaven and those
who are a young child newborn baby go to heaven as well it makes sense because they're alive
spiritually it makes sense that their names in the book of life it makes sense that they
are one who is under grace and really they haven't done anything wrong at that point
they're a baby they're a newborn they're an infant but not according to the Roman Catholic
Church they teach this doctrine of original sin that hey you better baptize that baby
in our pagan shrine or else that baby is in danger of eternal damnation because you didn't
sprinkle holy water on its head from the priest where does the New Testament tell us about
priests and monks and nuns and monasteries and cathedrals and archbishops and cardinals
and the pope and holy water none of these things are mentioned anywhere in the New Testament
they're all made up it's all just completely made up junk that's not even in the Bible
if you don't participate in their made up weird ritual of sprinkling a baby's head with
their so-called holy water you're supposedly can't even be a child of God we look the first
ten minutes of the sermon was just a litany of verse after verse saying that it's through
believing that we're safe not through getting water put on your head and how do they make
this holy water anyway what makes it so holy where is that concept the best definition
I've ever heard of how they make holy water with someone said they boil the hell out of
it you know okay I mean all right I guess that's how you make holy water but anyway
let's move on to the fourth point number four Mary was not sinless that's another false
doctrine of the Roman Catholic Church that can be defeated by the book of Romans alone
look at Romans 3 23 I mean this isn't really tough Romans 3 23 says for all have sinned
and come short of the glory of God everyone has sinned the only person who is without
sin is Jesus Christ because he was God in the flesh and the Bible of course tells us
in many places that Christ was sinless but to sit there and say well Mary was also sinless
there's not a verse in the Bible that even comes close to saying that show me one verse
in the Bible that says hey Mary was without sin Mary didn't commit sin but in their idolatry
of Mary and their graven image worship of Mary they say Mary was sinless no there's
none righteous no not one all have sinned and come short glory of God and here's the
key being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus Mary
had to be saved if you again this is from Catholic.com here's what they say about Mary
being sinless she was given the grace to be saved completely from sin so that she never
committed even the slightest transgression did you hear that according to Catholic.com
and this is their official doctrine of course they say Mary did not even commit the slightest
transgression Protestants tend to emphasize God's salvation almost exclusively to the
forgiveness of sins actually committed I mean where did we get that crazy idea that you
know that salvation means we're saved from our sins that we actually committed well I
don't know because the Bible says over and over again that we're saved from our sins
our sins I mean what does he mean to be saved what is saved even saved from our sins our
sins that's what the Bible says and it's our sins that are condemning us and it's our sins
that need to be forgiven through Jesus but they say well she was yeah she was saved because
you know they have to admit that the Bible teaches that Mary was saved so they just say
well she wasn't saved from her sins she was saved so that she never even committed a sin
but where are they getting that from nowhere there's no verse that says anything like that
in the Bible it's a false doctrine look at Romans chapter 5 verse 8 the Bible says but
God commanded his love toward us in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us much
more than being now justified by his blood we shall be saved from wrath through him verse
12 wherefore as by one man sin entered into the world and death by sin and so death passed
upon all men for that all have sinned now when the Bible says all men we understand
of course that all men is referring to both men and women if the Bible says all men are
sinners it's not saying well women aren't obviously it's understood that we're talking
about man in the sense of mankind and when the Bible says here that death passed upon
all men through Adam let me ask you something didn't Mary descend from just a human mother
and father and isn't she a child of Adam wasn't she born of flesh and blood the only reason
why Christ did not inherit that sin nature is because he did not have an earthly father
he's the son of God is Mary the the daughter of God I mean I guess you'd have to say well
you know Mary was born of a virgin I mean I'm surprised they haven't come up with that
yet that'll be the next papal bull that comes out hey Mary was born of a virgin and and
oh her mother was a virgin turns out it was thousands of years of virgins I mean how else
can you get around the fact that Mary was an ordinary human being flesh and blood she
was chosen to perform an important function but don't make too much of it folks she's
a human being not only that go to Romans 13 I'm almost done but just a few other things
and honestly we we could take this thing into so many different directions if I showed you
everything in the book of Romans that flies in the faith the face of Roman Catholic teaching
we'd be here all night I'm just hitting some highlights with you okay how about this Roman
Catholic doctrine that thou shalt covet is two commandments not one because they have
to get rid of the graven image commandment they throw that out and then they're left
with nine commandments it's like what are we gonna do we got a building full of graven
images so we threw out that commandment against making idols so now we got to get from nine
to 10 somehow somebody came up with the bright idea of splitting thou shalt covet into two
and saying well thou shalt covet thy neighbor's wife and thou shalt covet thou shalt not covet
thy neighbor's wife and thou shalt not covet everything else two commandments but reading
the book of Romans shows that that's not how God looks at it God looks at it as one because
God gives an abbreviated form of the last five commandments here you see Moses received
two tablets of stone and there are ten commandments on these and if you look at the ten commandments
it's interesting how the first half of the commandments have to do with our relationship
with God the first five commandments have to do with our walk with God and the latter
five commandments have to do with our relationship with man with our fellow man I mean think
about it thou shalt not steal thou shalt not kill that's between us and man not having
any other gods before him not making any graven image not taking God's name in vain remembering
the Sabbath and you say well honor thy father mother but there's the father right there
honoring the father would be under that but look at this scripture here beginning verse
number eight oh no man anything but to love one another for he that loveth another had
fulfilled the law for this thou shalt not commit adultery thou shalt not kill thou shalt
not steal thou shalt not bear false witness thou shalt not covet and if there be any other
commandment it is briefly comprehended in this saying namely thou shalt love thy neighbor
as thyself so when God gives just an abbreviated form here of just thou shalt not bear false
witness instead of against thy neighbor you know he's just shortening it and we do this
all the time we just kind of shorten the ten commandments say hey no thou shalt have no
other gods before me thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image thou shalt not take
the name of the Lord thy God in vain remember the Sabbath keep it all there's more to those
commandments but we're giving them in an abbreviated form just like the Bible is doing here so
let me ask you this Roman Catholic which thou shalt not covet is this is this commandment
nine or is it commandment ten and another thing if you would flip over to Romans chapter
eight I'm gonna I'm gonna just get here for sake of time but we could go into other things
like for example how to deal with heretics and I already preached a whole sermon on that
last Sunday so I'm not gonna retread that ground but Romans 16 verse 17 says to avoid
heretics stay away from them mark them avoid them whereas the Catholic Church had a doctrine
of torturing and killing heretics forcing them to recant and arresting them punishing
them torturing them murdering them I already went over that in my sermon on the Inquisition
but Romans doesn't teach that you're not gonna find that in the letter of the Romans he said
just avoid heretics just stay away from them you don't have to go kill them but here's
a key point that the Roman Catholics are totally wrong on is that they teach that you can't
know whether you're saved or not you don't know if you're saved and if you go soloing
you'll know this is true because I've knocked on the doors of so many hundreds and hundreds
of Catholics and you ask them the question do you know for sure if you died today that
you'd go to heaven and often they'll say this no one can know that and in fact in the Catholic
Church this is known as the sin of presumption to think that you know you're going to heaven
to think you know you're saved and the reason why they don't know that they're saved is
because they think salvation is based on all of these factors all these deeds all these
works that they have to do all these sacraments of you know continually confessing their sins
to the priest continually receiving communion continually doing the deeds paying the tithes
going to church doing good works they don't believe that it's just a one-time thing of
just believing in Christ and being saved and and so no they believe that you can't know
that you're saved because anybody who believes in work salvation can't really know that
they're saved well it's faith plus works well then how can you know you're saved because
how do you know if you've done enough works well it's faith but you also have to repent
of your sins but how can you know whether you've repented of enough sins because none
of us has repented of all of our sins good night we'd be perfect we'd be Jesus we wouldn't
be Mary because she was a sinner but look what Romans 8 16 says the spirit itself beareth
the spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit that we are the children of God you
see we know that we're saved because we have the Holy Spirit living inside of us and that's
why we even go out and knock on somebody's door and say do you know for sure if you died
today you'd go to heaven because that's a great indication on whether they're saved
because the person who's saved is gonna know that they're saved because they have the Holy
Spirit inside of them bearing witness with their spirit that they're the children of
God we don't have to wonder if we're saved we don't have to hope so we know that if we
have believed on the Lord Jesus Christ as our Savior we know that we're saved that's
not a sin of presumption unless you're trusting in yourself to get to heaven and the very
fact that they call it the sin of presumption just shows who they're trusting in themselves
because oh that would be presumptuous does everybody know what presumptuous means you
know presumptuous comes from the word to presume and presumptuous is when someone presumes
too much and this would be someone who is assuming or presuming that they are good enough
to go to heaven that's very presumptuous to think that you're good enough to get into
heaven I agree that is presumptuous but that's not why I know I'm going to heaven I know
I'm going to heaven because of the blood of Jesus Christ because I've been justified freely
by Christ being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that's in Christ Jesus
because he's the justifier of hidden the believer than Jesus why would it present be presumptuous
to say that Jesus will keep his word why is it presumptuous to say that Jesus died for
all my sins why is it presumptuous to say that he was buried and that he rose again
from the dead why is it presumptuous to say that I'm a sinner who deserves to go to hell
but that Jesus Christ saved me by his grace and why is it presumptuous to declare that
his righteousness is my ticket into heaven it's not presumptuous at all in fact it's
quite humble see a presumptuous person often lacks humility but in fact salvation is for
the humble it's for those who are willing to admit they're a sinner and to believe on
Jesus Christ as their Savior but the Roman Catholic Church teaches that you can't know
that you're saved no one can know that well I know that and I have the Holy Spirit inside
of me to bear witness with my spirit and it's not just the Holy Spirit that tells me I'm
saved the Holy Spirit bears witness with my spirit I know I'm saved because I've believed
on Jesus I mean you know tonight whether or not you've put your faith in Jesus now I can't
look within your soul tonight and know whether you've put your faith in Jesus but you know
look Judas he did not believe but he knew that all right now the people around him didn't
know that but he knew that and you know tonight whether you have put all of your faith in
Jesus there's nothing complicated about this well I don't know it's comp no it's simple
what are you trusting in to get you to have a night are you trusting Jesus or are you
trusting self are you trusting your repenting of sin or your being baptized or your church
attendance or your tithing or your good deeds and good works or adherence to God's laws
you know the answer to that question and the spirit itself the Holy Spirit along with your
spirit should both be telling you you're a child of God why through faith in Christ Jesus
it's that simple the Catholics don't have that assurance for two reasons number one
because they don't have the Spirit of God living inside of them because they're not
saved and the second reason why they don't have that assurance is that their spirit can't
tell them that they're saved because they think salvation is through this unattainable
goal of works and ritual and confession and all these other things and so of course they
can't really know whether they've dotted all the I's and crossed all the T's and how lenient
God's going to be in the final rundown so all that to say this there are 66 books in
the Bible I could demolish Catholic doctrine from any of them we could have gone to the
book of Matthew tonight and I could show you hey here's a sermon from the book of Matthew
on why the Roman Catholic Church is a false religion I can do it don't test me I'll do
it okay you know we could have gone to the book of John and had a field day with salvation
verses we'd pulled more out of the book of John than we pulled out of Romans we could
have gone to a number of books but I find it interesting that probably the best book
probably the one-stop shop where we're going to be able to destroy the most Catholic doctrines
in a single book just happens to be the book of Romans and they just happen to be the church
of Rome and I don't believe that that's a coincidence I believe that God is trying to
grab these people and shake them and say you're in a false religion I'm trying to warn you
I'm trying to I mean I put your name on the book that that really will straighten you
out more than anything but will you pay attention let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer
father thank you so much for the book of Romans Lord and and for the the great teachings in
it Lord that it it teaches us Lord that salvation is by faith it teaches us that baptism is
by immersion it teaches us that everyone's a sinner which would of course include the
human being Mary it teaches us that we are responsible for our own sins because we've
all sinned we don't we aren't held accountable for someone else's sins Lord it teaches us
that the that the newborn baby is not condemned to hell unjustly when it hasn't even done
anything wrong it teaches us how to deal with people who believe false doctrine it teaches
us that the church at Rome's not infallible but that it would be broken off if they did
not continue in the right doctrine according to Romans chapter 11 Lord it teaches us so
many things and I pray that that those who are Roman Catholic which is a multitude tonight
even in the United States of America it's a great multitude of people many tens of millions
of people who've been deceived Lord I pray that that faithful soul winners from our church
and from elsewhere Lord would knock on the doors of Roman Catholics and would open the
book of Romans and show them down that Romans road how to be saved Lord I pray that and
I know Lord many Catholics are being saved on a weekly basis through the ministry of
this church Lord and especially through our door-to-door soul winning but Lord I pray
that I pray that we would continue that and expand that Lord and that many Catholics would
be reached as a result of being taken down that Romans road and in Jesus name we pray
amen