Rose42

The writer of Hebrews is inescapably clear about the singular nature of Christ’s sacrifice.

For Christ did not enter a holy place made with hands, a mere copy of the true one, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us; 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. And inasmuch as it is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment, 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. (Hebrews 9:24-28, emphasis added)

Scripture does not waver on the finality of Christ’s sacrifice on our behalf. He came to make a one-time offering for sin, never to be repeated. It was a contrast to the Mosaic covenant, which necessitated a system of near-constant sacrifices. But none of the Old Testament sacrifices could actually atone for sin. They could only serve as a reminder of God’s deliverance and foreshadow Christ’s final sacrifice which would conquer sin.

In the practice of the mass, the Roman Catholic Church has reinstituted an unbiblical system of repeated sacrifices, blaspheming Christ and perverting His work on the cross.

How important is the mass to Catholicism? The Catechism of the Catholic Church refers to it as “the source and summit of the Christian life.” That is to say, it is the origin and the high point of the Catholic faith. It’s not peripheral—it’s the heart and soul of the entire system.

In his book The Faith of Millions, John O’Brien, a Catholic priest, explains the procedure of the mass.

When the priest pronounces the tremendous words 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 monarchs and emperors: it is greater than that of saints and angels, greater than that of Seraphim and Cherubim. Indeed it is greater even than the power of the Virgin Mary. While the Blessed Virgin was the human agency by which Christ became incarnate a single time, the priest brings Christ down from heaven, and renders Him present on our altar as the eternal Victim for the sins of man—not once but a thousand times! The priest speaks and lo! Christ, the eternal and omnipotent God, bows His head in humble obedience to the priest’s command.

Put simply, the Catholic Church won’t let Christ off the cross. In the mass, the substance of the bread and the wine are supposedly transformed into the actual body and blood of Jesus, rendering Him as a repeated, incomplete sacrifice for sins. He’s not Lord and Savior—He’s the eternal Victim, perpetually bound to the altar by the power of the priest, visibly and ubiquitously symbolized in the Roman Catholic crucifix.

That’s a direct denial of Paul’s teaching in Romans 6:8-10.

Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, 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 (emphasis added).

By denying the singular sacrifice of Christ, Catholicism imbues its illegitimate priesthood with artificial power and authority, enslaving its followers to a repetitious system of ineffective, ungodly offerings for sin. It’s essentially paganism sprinkled with enough Christian terminology to deceive and delude souls, convincing them Christ’s death on the cross was not enough to accomplish their salvation. In effect, the mass cancels out the real meaning of the cross.

In Light from Old Times, J.C. Ryle explained the theological and spiritual implications—and imperfections—of the Catholic mass.

Whatever men please to think or say, the Romish doctrine of the real presence, if pursued to its legitimate consequences, obscures every leading doctrine of the gospel, and damages and interferes with the whole system of Christ’s truth. Grant for a moment that the Lord’s Supper is a sacrifice, and not a sacrament—grant that every time the words of the consecration are used the natural body and blood of Christ are present on the communion table under the forms of bread and wine—grant that every one who eats that consecrated bread and drinks that consecrated wine does really eat and drink the natural body and blood of Christ—grant for a moment these things, and then see what momentous consequences result from these premises. You spoil the blessed doctrine of Christ’s finished work when He died on the cross. A sacrifice that needs to be repeated is not a perfect and complete thing. You spoil the priestly office of Christ. If there are priests that can offer an acceptable sacrifice to God besides Him, the great High Priest is robbed of His glory. You spoil the scriptural doctrine of the Christian ministry. You exalt sinful men into the position of mediators between God and man. You give to the sacramental elements of bread and wine an honour and veneration they were never meant to receive, and produce an idolatry to be abhorred of faithful Christians. Last, but not least, you overthrow the true doctrine of Christ’s human nature. If the body born of the Virgin Mary can be in more places than one at the same time, it is not a body like our own, and Jesus was not “the last Adam” in the truth of our nature.

In simple terms, the mass has nothing to do with the Christian gospel, nothing to do with the Christian life, and nothing to do with the Christian church. It rejects the true, biblical nature of God, Christ, sin, salvation, atonement, and forgiveness. It robs the cross of its meaning and replaces it with superficial, man-centered idolatry. It’s a lie, a fraud, and a damning fabrication that enslaves hearts and ushers people to hell.

https://www.gty.org/library/blog/B130228

padremike Loc: Phenix City, Al

When it finally dawned on later generation Protestants that their faux clergy did not possess apostolic succession and authority required to validly celebrate the Eucharist, they naturally had to claim the Eucharist was something other than what Christ and His apostles taught. Did they make fun of it? Of course they did and continue to do so today, just like you. Do you know the origin of "Hocus Pocus?" I'll bet you don't. You deny the Body and Blood of Jesus at your own peril. 2000 years of Christ and apostolic teaching and reception by the faithful, plus the tradition and teaching of the one, holy, catholic, church declare that you are grievously in error. The corruption of scripture through, your heretical belief in sola scriptura, can make it say or deny any thing you wish. Need proof? Look to the thousands of interpretations by the thousands of denominations you have created by your satanic type of confusions and schisms. God is a God of perfect order, not confusion! It is proof of God's mercy, pity and love that allows a portion of His grace to flow into you as far removed from the faith as you presently are.

Rose42

I'm not making fun of it nor is the one who wrote this. Not at all. It breaks my heart that I have some close relatives who are Catholics.

God's word is perfect. Man perverts it to his own ends.

padremike Loc: Phenix City, Al

Protestants have perverted the faith beyond their ability to repair. The "diversity" of beliefs within Protestantism are incomprehensible to one another, yet all enjoy the embrace of a common identity - protestant! Then there is the constancy of the one, holy, catholic and apostolic church.

Rose42

Saying man twists scripture to his own end also applies to the Catholic Church. Many don't identify themselves as Protestants - simply Christians. There are many who believe themselves to be Christians but are not.

Christians reject Catholic doctrine because it places man's word on par and sometimes above God's word

padremike Loc: Phenix City, Al

Those who belong to the one, holy, catholic and apostolic church reject the protestant Christian heresy because they reject the the ancient history, teachings, traditions and sacred word of Christ and His Apostles favoring, instead, their own heretical interpretations and changing that faith once delivered by Christ to His Apostles, a faith to last for all times, nothing added nothing taken away.

bahmer

Amen and Amen with you on all of that thanks Rose42.

padremike Loc: Phenix City, Al

You can "Amen" all you want, but Rose is wrong and spiritually, she's dead wrong. The Eucharist (which means thanksgiving) is not recrucifying Jesus, it is bloodless and it remembers and participates in the sacrifice of the Cross that Christ paid for us. Here again she has presented a corrupted interpretation of holy scripture which is common for those who have departed from the one, holy, catholic and apostolic church. You may choose to be fed with a corruption of holy scripture, we prefer to be fed with the resurrected body and blood of Jesus Christ in obedience to His Word.

bahmer

You can say as you want but from reading Radiance3 and Doc110 they both seem to believe that they are actually eating the body of the Lord and drinking his blood maybe you should be communicating with them because I believe that the bread and wine are mearly symbols to represent the Crucifixion of our Lord Jesus Christ and are not his actual body and blood as Radiance and Doc seem to believe. In fact Radiance has stated not only once but multiple times that they receive the actual body and blood of the Lord which we protestants can't receive because we don't have the priesthood in our church and we are only sola scriptura and not the true church sort of like you are stating here.

Rose42

It's not me it's the Bible that is correct. I have nothing to do with it.

I presented Catholic doctrine not a corrupted interpretation of it. The Catholic church isn't "the one" and the Bible illustrates that.

Rose42

We were taught it was the real body of Christ. I don't know the orthodox views on it.

padremike Loc: Phenix City, Al

When protestants rebelled Luther brought the understanding of the Real Presence of the Body and Blood of Christ, the veneration of the Virgin Mary and Saints and other teachings of the Church along with him. Those items of faith and practice were not foreign or denied by him. Many protestant churches today continue to believe in the Real Presence while many more now believe in the total absence. The trouble with those believing protestant churches is in their clergy who are outside the protection of apostolic succession and therefore, there is no guarantee of the efficacy of the Blessed Sacrament administered to their congregations. How our Lord handles that unfortunate circumstance is up to Him. I believe, at least I hope, His grace flows to where He says it will flow, even to those who follow their own way, but it must flow to a lesser degree. Why have standards of faith and practice if it doesn't matter? We prefer to follow exactly His teachings and the Traditions of Holy Church to receive the fullness of His Grace, faith and revealed Truth. It's a choice.

padremike Loc: Phenix City, Al

Orthodox also understand the teachings of the Church regarding the Real Pesence of Christ in the Eucharist. Any one receiving the Body and blood of Christ unworthily takes it not to their salvation but to their damnation.

jack sequim wa Loc: Blanchard, Idaho

Rose42,

God Bless and an excellent article explaining in simple terms.
The false catholic teaching that apostles forwarded their position to another, the foundation on the Catholic church lead by men, having authority over men, telling men what the scriptures mean is an area that Doc110, Padre or Radiance3 refuse to acknowledge regardless of what scripture says.

They gave a very arrogant claim to know what we believe as Christians regardless of what we tell them we believe.
Its difficult to understand because it's not rational. If the Catholic church tells them, it doesn't matter what we say because "the church said it".
The catholic church has had centuries to perfect control over their members just like leftist mind control we see.
Evidence is meaningless unless the church sanctions it...
Scripture is meaningless, unless the church sanctions it..

If we are an orange but the church says we are an apple. No amount of proof or anything we say to convince them we are oranges matters. Truth is what the Catholic church tells them it is.

Droids, cult followers by definition.

padremike Loc: Phenix City, Al

The only reason you applaud Jack's article is because it conforms to your own personal/individual beliefs. What the three or four of you in agreement possess is what is called continuous agreement. It has nothing to do with Truth because thousands can be in continuous agreement, applaud each other and pat one another on the back and still remain in grievous error. You are all in grievous error! It is as simple and basic as that.