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The Catholic Dilemma: Hidden Secrets of the Jerusalem Council · The Foreign Saint's Podcast

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Catholics love their church council.
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They recognize 21 of those things over the Church's
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history. But there is one Church council
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that the Catholic Church ignores, de emphasizes and
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rejects, hidden away at the start of Christianity, the
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Council of Jerusalem. Why is this council brushed
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aside by the Catholic Church? Find out why in this episode of
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Foreign Saints. I'm St.
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Kay on a mission to revive the hearts of those who are called
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to die daily. So what brought me to this
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conclusion? Well, I hopefully like you
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listening, have been watching content creators like God logic,
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inspiring philosophy, a little bit of Sam Shamoon as well and
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others in their in their Guild run this unassailable,
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impossible to beat argument against Islam, the Islamic
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dilemma. To sum it up, the Islamic
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dilemma goes a little something like this, although there's a
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bunch of them. There's like seems like there's
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an infinitely growing amount of Islamic dilemmas, but the one
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that has always been most impressive to me is this Islam
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cannot be true because it contradicts the very scripture
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that they claim supports them. All right, I'll just show you a
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little bit of that just from the Quran itself.
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All right, This is chapter 3 of the Quran, Sarah Tali Imran.
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All right, verses 78 to 85, although there's a bunch of
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chapters and passages in the Quran that you can use to run
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this argument. But you see right here in this
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particular passage, right 78 to 85 in chapter 3, the Quran very
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clearly is at least claiming to affirm the religion of Jesus and
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the apostles that came before starting here.
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There are some among them who distort the book with their
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tongues to make you think this distortion is from the Book.
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But it is not what the book says.
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They say it is from Allah, but it is not from Allah.
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And so they attribute lies to Allah knowingly.
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So the context, before we get to the good verse, the context is
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saying that there are some out there that distort what the true
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book says with their mouths, with their tongue, right?
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The book isn't corrupted. The book is not corrupted, but
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what the people say about the book, that's corrupted, right?
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And so the Quran goes on to clarify it's not appropriate for
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someone who Allah has blessed with the scripture, wisdom and
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prophethood to say to people, worship me instead of Allah.
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Rather, he would say, be devoted to the worship of your Lord
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alone by virtue of what you read in the scripture and what you
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teach. That's kind of a jab at Jesus,
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right? Jesus, you know, he, if he was a
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real prophet, he wouldn't have told people to worship him.
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He would have told people to worship God.
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Well put a feather in that right.
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He would never ask you to take angels and prophet as Lords.
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Would he ask you to disbelieve after you submitted.
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This is key verse 81. Remember when Allah made a
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covenant with the prophet saying now that I have given you the
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book and wisdom. If there comes to you a
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messenger confirming what you have supposedly Muhammad, you
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must believe in him and support him.
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He added, do you affirm this covenant and accept this
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commitment. They said yes we do Allah said
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them bear witness I to him a witness.
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Whoever turns back after this, they will be the rebellious.
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Verse 83. Do they desire away other than
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Allah's yadda yadda yadda? Verse 84 Say, O Prophet, we
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believe in Allah and what has been revealed to us and what was
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revealed to Abraham, Ishmael, Isaac, Jacob and his descendants
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and what was given to Moses, Jesus and other prophets from
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their Lord. We make no distinction between
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any of them and to Him we fully submit.
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Anyone that's actually read anything in the Bible knows the
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contradiction here without me having to point it out.
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But I'll make it plain all right.
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Earlier in the same passage, it says that it's not appropriate
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for someone who Allah has blessed with the scripture
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wisdom and prophethood to say worship me instead of Allah.
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But down here in verse 84, the command is to say that we
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believe in Allah and what has been revealed to everybody,
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basically Abraham through Jesus. Well, that doesn't make any
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sense because when you read the New Testament is clear Jesus
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does accept worship from people. Doesn't even make sense to at a
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grander level. It doesn't even make sense to
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believe that Muhammad is a prophet because Jesus taught
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that he is the true final messenger in passages of the
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Scripture like Matthew 2133 to 46 when he tells the parable of
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the tenants and he talks about the and he talks about the
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farmer sending servants to collect his fruit, right?
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And then those servants were beaten, killed and stoned,
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right? And then more servants were sent
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more than the first group. And those sinful tenants did the
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same to them. And then verse 37, finally he
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sent his son. They will respect my son, he
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said. So Jesus teaches that he's the
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last messenger coming, that God's already sent.
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The Father's already sent a bunch of prophets, and the Son
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is the final one. Finally, he sent his Son.
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The apostles also confirm this teaching in Hebrews chapter 1.
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Long ago God spoke to our ancestors by the prophets at
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different times and in different ways.
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In these last days, he has spoken to us by his Son.
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OK, so Jesus and the apostles both agree that Jesus is the
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final messenger, but then along comes Muhammad claiming that
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he's a final, final messenger. Doesn't make any sense.
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And then he claims contradictory things, right?
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Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
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Believe everything that you have, right?
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Believe what was revealed to you.
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Except, you know, don't believe the bits that were revealed to
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you that I don't want you to believe, right?
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It doesn't make any sense. It doesn't make any sense.
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But Friends, this episode is being made to tell you something
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even more incredible, which is that Catholicism has a similar
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dilemma, right? If we're going to call what I
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just shared over the last, I don't know, 10 minutes or so,
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the Islamic dilemma, then the rest of this episode you can
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consider to be laying out the Catholic dilemma.
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All right? And it goes a little something
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like this. The claim of Catholicism is that
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Catholic doctrine and its totality is based on the
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teachings of the apostles passed down over the centuries.
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However, the very Apostolic teaching that they claim
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supports them actually contradicts them.
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Therefore, Catholicism cannot be true.
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I know it's a crazy thing to claim.
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It's a crazy thing to claim, especially because, you know,
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there always seems to be this, this ease of Christian
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apologists online to call Mormonism and Jehovah's
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Witnesses and other stuff like that cults.
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But no one ever wants to call Catholicism A cult, even though
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Catholicism does all the same things, theologically speaking,
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that those other groups do to the Scripture.
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But let me, let me show you what I mean.
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Let's go on this journey together.
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All of this stems from the rejection of Jerusalem.
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I mean, there's a bunch of other stuff too, but for the purposes
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of the of this episode, the rejection of the Council of
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Jerusalem is what we're focusing on.
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And that rejection, that de emphasization, that is the death
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nail for Catholicism. OK?
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So right here we have an article, the 21 Ecumenical
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Councils by this Carl Keating fellow.
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OK? Now he's going to, in this
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article on catholicanswers.com, right?
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He's going to tell us what ecumenical is.
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What does it mean for a council to be ecumenical?
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Right. Big fancy word, but it's kind of
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important for understanding the dilemma.
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All right? So look right here, He says,
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aside from the first general gathering of the bishops of the
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church, the Council of Jerusalem, which occurred around
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8050 and Acts 15, and which is usually not counted as an
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ecumenical council. Gee, I wonder why?
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But we'll answer that. We'll answer that, right?
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So he tells us right now that generally speaking, usually
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Jerusalem is not counted as ecumenical, right?
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Maybe. From the way it's worded, it
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sounds like maybe you might find some Catholics out there that
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would disagree and consider the Council of Jerusalem to be
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ecumenical, But he makes it sound like it's just a pretty
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acceptable thing. This is Catholic answers and
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I've heard similar things from other from some other Catholic
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apologist that I looked into, right?
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So if this is wrong, I'm open to correction.
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But whether or not they consider it to be ecumenical, I don't
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think changes the dilemma much, if at all.
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But the fact that I, But the fact that it's not usually
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considered ecumenical does make the dilemma quite sharp, because
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then he's going to say this. A council is recognized as
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ecumenical once its works are approved by a Pope.
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So basically an ecumenical church council is a gathering
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of, you know, there's a gathering of, you know, leaders
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and theologians and bishops and whatnot in the church.
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And the decisions that come out of an ecumenical council, those
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count, right? To say it simply, if you're a
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Catholic, the decisions that come out of ecumenical councils,
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those count. Those are binding to you in your
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faith. So it would be a Dang shame,
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wouldn't it, if you had conflicting, if you had
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conflicting conclusions coming out of equally binding councils,
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wouldn't it? Wouldn't that be a shame if that
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were the case? He even goes on to say that a
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Pope doesn't even need to attend to council for it to be
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ecumenical. But that's OK, that's OK.
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All right, so like I said, let's get into the prerequisite for
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the Catholic dilemma. As we're seeing here on Catholic
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Answers, a council is recognized as ecumenical.
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A council, A council's decisions count.
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They are binding to you as a Catholic.
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Once its works are approved by a Pope, once its works are
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approved by a Pope. Now, he said earlier here that
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the Council of Jerusalem is usually not counted as an
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ecumenical council. I don't know why, because
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premise 2, the Apostle Peter is recognized as the first Pope of
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the Christian Church by Catholics, and premise 3, the
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Apostle Peter was at the Jerusalem Council and agreed
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with its conclusion. Now, what was the conclusion of
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the Jerusalem Council? We'll get into that.
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We'll get into that, but just know that Peter was there.
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The Apostle Peter, the one they call the first Pope, he was
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there and he agreed with the conclusion that they drew right.
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I'll show you that in a few minutes once we get into the
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actual meat and potatoes of the Catholic dilemma.
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But if all the premises are true, then the conclusion
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necessarily follows. It is unavoidable that the
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Jerusalem Council is ecumenical, The Jerusalem Council counts.
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It is binding on you as a Catholic.
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You have to care about the decision that came out of
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Jerusalem in AD 50. You have to.
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And that brings us into the Catholic dilemma.
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OK, now there are 21 councils that they recognize, the first
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one being Nicaea. But the one that matters for our
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dilemma is way down here, the Council of Trent.
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The Council of Trent. All right, the Jerusalem Council
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is ecumenical, based on the definition that Catholic answers
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gave. That's premise #1 premise #2 the
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Council of Trent is also ecumenical.
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The Council of Trent counts. It is binding on you as a
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Catholic to care about the decisions that came out of Trent
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in, you know, in the 1500s, in the mid 1500s there, right?
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The problem here, the problem is that the Jerusalem Council's
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decision was that obedience to the Law of Moses is not required
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to attain salvation. However, the Council of Trent
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and Catholic Catechism 2068 says that observance of the
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commandments is required to attain salvation.
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Let me show you this all right. This right here is from Vatican
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dot VA. You know, I might just put this
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link in the description so you can just go there and see and
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just and you know and see for yourself.
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But or you just put into your Google search engine.
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Catholic Catechism 2068 you will see it right here. 2068.
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The Council of Trent teaches that the 10 commandments are
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obligatory for Christians and that the and that the justified
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man is still bound to keep them. The Second Vatican Council
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confirms the bishops, successors of the apostles received from
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the Lord the mission of teaching all peoples and of preaching the
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gospel to every creature. So that right you, you might
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agree with everything up until that comma, right?
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Yeah, I would agree that they all received from Jesus the
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mission of teaching all people and of preaching the gospel to
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every creature. Yeah, Amen to that.
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Yeah. Would you agree with this,
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though? So that all men may attain
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salvation? Now, if you're attaining
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salvation, that means you didn't have it before.
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So this right here is entry level Christianity so that all
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men may attain salvation through faith, baptism, and the
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observance of the commandments. All right, I'll even let you
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have baptism, right? I, I wouldn't agree to that
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necessarily, but that conversation can get sticky and
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it's outside the purview of this conversation.
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What cannot be denied is the observance of the commandments.
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To attain salvation, I, I have to, I have to obey the 10
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commandments perfectly. Now, they might not say
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perfectly, but at that point you're just allowing for a
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certain amount of disobedience and we're just debating on how
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much. So you're telling me that I have
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to, to attain salvation if I don't have salvation to be able
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to attain it, I have to perfectly observe the 10
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commandments as a Gentile too. Oh, wow.
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Interesting. All right, well, that's what the
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Council of Trent decided. So if you're a Catholic, you're
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bound to that. You all 10, you got to keep all
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10. Ever broke the Sabbath?
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Probably. You probably have.
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Right. You're done.
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But that's not the dilemma. The dilemma is not that it's
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impossible for you to keep the 10 commandments, even though it
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is, even though it is, right? That's not the argument today.
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The argument today is that that's not what their first hope
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cosigned at the Council of Jerusalem.
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It's not remember what? And remember, right, if it's
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approved by a Pope, it counts. It counts.
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All right, so let's go to the Bible, right?
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The only record we have of the Jerusalem Council comes out of
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the Bible in Acts chapter 15. All right?
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In Acts chapter 15. All right, so let's get there.
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Get to my notes here. All right, Acts 15, verse one
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here, some men came down from Judea and began to teach the
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brothers. Unless you were circumcised
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according to the custom prescribed by Moses, you can't
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be saved. That's the exciting incident.
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All right, if you come down to verse 4, when they arrived at
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Jerusalem, they would be Paul and Barnabas.
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So at this point in Acts were following Paul and Barnabas.
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So when Paul and Barnabas arrived at Jerusalem, they were
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welcomed by the church, the apostles and the elders, and
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they reported all that God had done with them.
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Verse 5 But some of the believers who belonged to the
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party of the Pharisees stood up and said it is necessary to
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circumcise them and to command them to keep the law of Moses.
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So again, contrary to popular belief, the Council of Jerusalem
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wasn't even just about circumcision.
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It was about whether or not you need to keep the entire Law of
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Moses. That's what it was.
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It's necessary to circumcise and to command them to keep the Law
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of Moses. That's the debate here in Acts
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15. They're debating the very thing
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that the Council of Trent considered to be a done deal
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about 1500 years later. So let's see if the Council 1500
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years before Trent agreed with the catechism that Trent put
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out. Let's see verses 6 to 11, the
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apostles and the elders gathered to consider this matter.
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Oh, by the way, there's going to be a lot of reading of scripture
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this episode. I hope you don't mind God's Word
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being read and God's Word being the final authority because on
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this show, on this show, all you got to do is read and apply and
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apply. All right.
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So the apostles and the elders gathered to consider this
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matter. After there had been much
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debate, Peter stood up and said to the, oh, there's our boy
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Peter, the first Pope. The first Pope is standing up,
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guys, we got them. Peter, the first Pope, the
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alleged first Pope. I don't, I don't believe in the
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office of papacy, but if you're a Catholic, this is your first
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Pope. Peter stood up and said to them,
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Brothers, you are aware that in the early days God made a choice
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among you, that by my mouth the Gentiles would hear the Gospel
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message and believe. And God, who knows the heart,
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bore witness to them by giving them the Holy Spirit, just as he
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also did to us. He made no distinction between
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us and them, cleansing their hearts by faith.
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Now then, why are you testing God by putting a yoke on the
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disciples next, that neither our ancestors nor we have been able
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to bear. On the contrary, we believe that
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we are saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus in the same
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way they are in the same way they are.
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Now what does that mean? All right, because Peter.
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Clearly says we believe that we are saved through the grace of
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the Lord Jesus, right? But he gives you a clarification
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on what he means by that. In the same way they are and who
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is the they? Well, they would be those
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Gentiles that believed the Gentiles that believed when
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Peter preached. And who were those Gentiles?
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Well, the Cornelius in Acts chapter 10, all right.
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If you go read Acts chapter 10, you'll see Cornelius, not just
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Cornelius, but his whole household got saved just hearing
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the gospel, repenting and believing, right?
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They're Gentiles. They did not.
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They were not given the Law of Moses on the mouth, right?
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The Law of Moses is not part of Cornelius's cultural heritage.
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It's not part of the heritage of those within his household.
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And yet they all believed completely separate, Apart, to
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use Paul's phrase in Romans chapter 3, saved apart from the
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law. They're separate from the system
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because they're Gentiles. And yet they received the same
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salvation that the Jews did all throughout the book of Acts
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leading up to chapter 10. They received the same kind of
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salvation if the tongues, everything, the whole 9, the
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whole 9. Right now, the whole assembly,
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the entire assembly became silent.
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And listen to Barnabas and Paul describe all the signs and
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wonders God had done through them among the Gentiles.
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All right, again, let me say it again for those in the back.
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Cornelius and the other Gentiles in his house were saved
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completely apart from any involvement with the Torah.
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Therefore, Jews too will be saved without involvement of the
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Torah. That's what that's what the
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first Pope said, the one who was supposedly the first Pope,
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that's what he said. We are saved through the grace
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of the Lord Jesus in the same way they are.
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Those Jews in or those Gentiles in Acts 10 were saved apart from
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the law. So if they are saved the same
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way they are means these Jews are also saved apart from
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involvement of the law, right? That's the first Pope supposedly
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at the first Church council, and he's agreeing with the, I mean,
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we'll see what the decision is in a second.
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James is going to give it in a few verses, but he's going to
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agree with it. This is ecumenical.
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This counts for you as a Catholic.
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Let's count. All right, looks like it.
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Verses 19 to 21. All right, now this is going to
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be a, this is going to be James speaking, right?
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The whole assembly became silent after Paul and Barnabas stopped
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speaking. James responded.
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James responded. All right, brothers, listen to
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me. It's like he's talking to you
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off the page. Brothers, in the 21st century,
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listen to me, says James, leader of the Jerusalem church Simeon.
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Peter has reported how God or Simon has reported how God first
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intervened to take the Gentile take from the Gentiles of people
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for his name. He's going to quote the prophets
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here, but look at his judgement. Therefore, verse 19.
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Therefore, in my judgment, we should not 'cause difficulties
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for those among the Gentiles who turn to God, but instead we
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should write to them to abstain from things polluted by idols,
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from sexual immorality, from eating anything that has been
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strangled, and from blood. Why does he say that?
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Verse 21 or since ancient times, Moses has had those who proclaim
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him in every city and every Sabbath day he has read aloud in
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the synagogue. For the sake of those Jews that
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have not yet accepted Jesus and still value Moses and the Torah
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highly as they should, right? For their sake, abstain from
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these things, right, to prevent Christianity from getting this
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reputation of just, you know, tossing the law of Moses in the
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trash. All right.
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But you'll see, he, he never commanded that the Gentiles have
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to follow any of the law of Moses to be saved.
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He never said any of anything about that, right?
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And then they codify it, right? Then the apostles and the
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elders, with the whole church as everybody, the apostles, the
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elders, the whole church decided to select men who are among them
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and to send them to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas, and they
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wrote a letter, right? Now this letter is contained
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within the book of Acts, but you could read it as its own
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separate thing, right? It's just Luke includes this
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letter here so that you have the context of this of the context
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of this, right? This might be this one short
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letter might be considered a 67th book of the Bible in a way.
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It's just it's contained inside of Acts.
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But this is what this is what's written here from the apostles
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and the elders, your brothers. That would that would include
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the first Pope Peter, right? All right, so, so Peter cosigns
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what's about to come in this letter from the apostles and the
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elders, your brothers to the brothers and sisters among the
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Gentiles in Antioch, Syria, and Cilicia.
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Greetings. Since we have heard that some
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without our authorization, I'm a highlight.
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Some of this, without our authorization, went out from us
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and troubled you with their words and unsettled your hearts.
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We have unanimously decided to select men and send them to you,
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along with our dearly loved Barnabas and Paul who have
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risked their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
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Therefore, we have sent Judas and Silas who will personally
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report the same things by word of mouth.
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For it was the Holy Spirit's decision and ours not to place
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further burdens on you beyond these requirements.
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Beyond these requirements, let me go ahead and just highlight
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that too. For it was whose decision?
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The Holy Spirit and the Holy Spirit is God.
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The Holy Spirit is the third person of God.
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It was God's decision and ours not to place further burdens on
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you beyond these requirements that you abstain from food
27:11
offered to idols, from blood, from eating anything that has
27:16
been strangled, and from sexual immorality.
27:19
You will do well if you keep yourselves from these things.
27:23
Farewell. What was one of those
27:27
requirements? The 10 Commandments?
27:30
Was one of those requirements the Law of Moses?
27:34
No, no, it was not all right. That letter had unanimous
27:43
support of the entire church, from the apostles down to the
27:48
Lady. This is the only church council
27:51
that had a complete agreement when it was written.
27:53
The only one. The only one.
27:56
Any of these other, you know, all these other ecumenical
28:00
councils on this list did not have full agreement at the time.
28:04
They did not all right, There were there were divisions and
28:08
stuff like that. That's not to say that
28:10
everything at every one of these councils is a lie, that that's
28:13
not my argument. Don't hear that right.
28:16
But often times the argument from Catholic apologists will be
28:19
like, Oh, yeah, I mean, you know, these, these, these, these
28:22
councils, you know, were unanimous decisions.
28:24
You know, usually these, you know, usually a claim like that
28:28
is coming from Catholic apologist that aren't that
28:31
knowledgeable in their own Catholicism.
28:34
But if it's a thing that you might hear, you know, if we're
28:38
going to say that a unanimous decision at a council is what
28:45
makes it fair game, Well, the Council of Jerusalem still
28:49
stands. It was unanimous.
28:53
The apostles, the elders with the whole church decided to send
28:58
this letter to the Gentile churches in the surrounding
29:03
areas close close by to them right now notice a couple things
29:10
right here in verse 24 as well, right those when it says here we
29:19
have heard that some without our authorization.
29:22
Who is this talking about? Who are those without our
29:26
authorization, that group in verse one who went about
29:30
teaching that it was necessary to keep the law of Moses to be
29:33
saved and how does how are they described this description being
29:39
cosigned by Peter, the one that you Catholics say is the first
29:42
Pope. How is that group that's
29:47
teaching the same thing that Catholic Catechism 2068 would
29:53
say? How are they described as
29:57
without our authorization as as as not having the authorization
30:02
of Peter and the rest of the 12 as going out from us.
30:09
They didn't have our authorization and they went out
30:12
from us as people who trouble and unsettle hearts, right.
30:22
And then in verses 30 to 31, we see here that the letter
30:28
confirming complete salvation by grace alone through faith in
30:32
Christ alone was an encouragement and cause
30:35
rejoicing. Look at this.
30:36
So they were sent off and went down to Antioch, and after
30:40
gathering the assembly, they delivered the letter.
30:43
When they read it, they rejoiced because of its encouragement.
30:51
When they read this letter, when the Gentile Christians read this
30:57
letter on your screen, they rejoiced because of its
31:00
encouragement. Is that not amazing?
31:06
Is that not amazing, right? We see right here the doctrine
31:10
of justification through grace alone or by grace alone through
31:14
faith alone in Jesus Christ alone, right?
31:17
Separate apart from the Law of Moses is a message that gives
31:24
encouragement, right? Because forgiveness is an
31:28
encouraging thing. If I no one forgiven, I know
31:31
there's still room to keep pursuing the holiness of God.
31:35
He's not cast me off. It's not over for me.
31:39
Let me keep chasing after Christ as He continues to pursue me.
31:45
However, if you're going to teach people that you have to
31:49
obey the 10 commandments to attain salvation, anyone that's
31:53
going to be honest is going to know, well, I haven't actually
31:56
obeyed the 10 commandments perfectly, all right?
32:01
I've not, especially the way Jesus redefined some of these
32:05
commands, right? Don't, don't commit adultery.
32:10
Well, Jesus said if you look at a person with lust, you've
32:13
committed adultery already in your heart, right?
32:16
Don't murder. Well, Jesus says if you're angry
32:20
at your brother, you've committed murder in your heart,
32:26
Right, Jesus? Actually, if we're going to talk
32:28
about what Jesus said right in Matthew 5, this is extra, not in
32:35
my notes. This is extra in Matthew 5.
32:40
People love quoting this right? Don't think I came to abolish
32:43
the Law of the Prophets. Matthew 517 Yes and Amen.
32:46
And didn't come to abolish but to fulfill right?
32:49
Whoever breaks one of the least of these commands and teaches
32:51
others do the same will be called least in the Kingdom of
32:54
heaven. But whoever does and teaches
32:56
these commands will be called great in the Kingdom of heaven.
32:58
Yes and Amen to that. However, don't leave all 1st 20.
33:02
No one ever wants to quote verse 20, which completely changes the
33:05
game. For I tell you, says Jesus,
33:07
unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes
33:11
and Pharisees, you'll never get into the king of heaven.
33:16
You're not getting in if you're not as perfect as they are.
33:19
So how perfect would you have to be for your righteousness to
33:23
surpass that of the scribes and Pharisees?
33:25
I'll give you a quick little overview.
33:26
OK, Without a functioning temple or priests that can trace their
33:31
ancestry back to Aaron's, how is that possible, right?
33:35
How would it be possible for you to follow any of the laws that
33:38
had to do with the temple? You can't, right?
33:41
Do you tithe out of even the food in your pantry as they did
33:45
Matthew 2323? Do you, while doing all the
33:49
tithes and rituals, prioritize justice, mercy, and faithfulness
33:53
the way that they didn't? Matthew 2323 As I said a few
33:57
seconds ago, he says don't hate. Even insulting your brother
34:00
places you in danger of being brought before the Sanhedrin.
34:03
Matthew 521 to 26 Have you ever called someone an idiot or a
34:07
fool or an airhead? Have you ever stopped dead in
34:10
the track of whatever religious rights you do at your church and
34:13
go settle a beef with your brother?
34:15
Do you engage in ministry works while a grudge festers between
34:20
you and a brother? All right, Jesus says don't have
34:24
sex with someone who's not your spouse.
34:27
Even lusting for a non spouse internally is a violation of
34:31
righteousness. That's Matthew 527 and 30.
34:34
Don't try to use your false understanding of biology to
34:38
dodge morality. OK, yes, porn and masturbation
34:43
count. Jesus says don't divorce your
34:45
wives for frivolous reasons and not to marry a woman who is
34:48
divorced. Matthew 531 to 32 is marriage.
34:51
Is your marriage handled as that sacred to God?
34:55
Jesus says not to promise rashly or duplicitously and to be as
35:00
good as your word. Don't compromise as what you say
35:04
no to, and don't go back on what you say you'll do for somebody.
35:09
That's Matthew 533 to 37. Keep your promises and don't
35:13
make hypocritical or stupid or predatory ones.
35:17
Jesus says not to take personal vengeance outside the civil
35:20
authorities. Eye for an eye was a judicial
35:23
was a judicial maximum in ancient Israel, not a vigilante
35:27
code. He also commands us not to
35:29
resist one who's evil. That's Matthew 538 to 42.
35:32
He also teaches that we do good to those that harm us above and
35:36
beyond what they expect or deserve.
35:39
And this extends even to oppressive colonizers that have
35:43
subjugated your entire ethnic group, as Rome had done to the
35:47
Jews. Jesus says pray for your enemies
35:51
and persecutors. Do you pray for those that
35:54
actively make your life more difficult because you're a
35:57
Christian? Or do you claim to want to drink
35:59
their tears out of an expensive mug?
36:02
All right, Do you make sure to bless and not curse them?
36:05
Romans 12/14 Do we make sure to do what is honorable to all
36:09
instead of repay evil for evil and live peaceably with all we
36:13
can? That's Romans 12/17/18.
36:16
Do we feed and clothe our enemies if they need it and will
36:19
accept it from us instead of seeking revenge and trying to do
36:24
to them what the Father did to Jesus on their behalf?
36:27
That's Romans 12/19 to 20. Do we overcome evil with good
36:32
instead of being overtaken with evil ourselves?
36:35
That's Romans 12 verse 21. Then Jesus says to be perfect as
36:42
God is perfect, and He just laid out what that means.
36:47
Everything that I just laid out is a small sampling of what it
36:51
means to be perfect as God is perfect is what it means for
36:54
your righteousness to exceed that of the scribes and
36:57
Pharisees. So does anyone listening or has
37:04
anyone other than Jesus lived up to what he just laid out
37:09
perfectly? If you're going to be honest,
37:14
the answer is no. So why on earth would God make
37:24
it necessary for people to follow the law of Moses as the
37:28
only way to attain salvation? If you could be perfect and live
37:33
up to everything I just said, Jesus did not have to die for
37:36
you. He did not.
37:39
Now we also have everything that was in the Council of Jerusalem
37:43
get confirmed later on in the same book, right?
37:46
The Jerusalem Council is Acts 15.
37:48
If you turn forward to Acts 2117 to 25, right, Remember they sent
37:55
Paul and Barnabas out with that letter from the council to go
37:59
around to the Gentile churches to let them know a salvation is
38:03
by grace alone, through faith alone in Jesus Christ alone.
38:06
It's not about obedience to the law of Moses, right?
38:10
They sent them out with that decision to strengthen and
38:13
encourage the Gentile churches. What we're looking at here is
38:16
when Paul returned from that mission, when we reached
38:20
Jerusalem, the brothers and sisters welcomed us warmly.
38:25
The following day, Paul went in with us to James.
38:28
James, the leader of the Jerusalem church.
38:31
James, the one that initially gave that decision 6 chapters
38:35
ago. Paul went in with us to James
38:38
and all the elders were present. After greeting them, he reported
38:42
in detail what God had done among the Gentiles through his
38:46
ministry in detail. He didn't leave stuff out.
38:51
He gave the details which would include what he taught and how
38:56
he taught it. When they heard it, James and
39:00
the elders of the Jerusalem church, when they heard it, they
39:03
glorified God and said, you see, brother, now we'll get into
39:08
that. But they glorified God, and they
39:11
have some news for him too. But they glorified God, all
39:14
right. So when Paul returned to James,
39:16
who was present at the earlier council and retells his ministry
39:20
exploits since the council, James and the other elders
39:23
present glorified God for Paul, bringing the message of
39:27
salvation apart from the law being accepted among the
39:31
Gentiles. All right.
39:35
The fact that they glorified God about Paul's report of his
39:40
ministry to the Gentiles affirms it reaffirms that salvation by
39:45
grace through faith is not antinomianism.
39:49
That's a fancy word for anti law, right?
39:52
No, if you think that salvation by grace alone through faith
39:56
alone in Jesus Christ alone is antinomianism is anti the law of
40:01
the Old Testament, you are misunderstanding something.
40:06
You're misunderstanding the Law, the prophets.
40:09
Or the gospel. And usually people are
40:12
misunderstanding all three. All right, Jesus fulfilled the
40:16
law because we failed to carry that load.
40:19
But make no mistake, that load was carried.
40:22
It was not tossed in the trash. It's not tossed in the trash,
40:28
but it was carried. The debt was paid.
40:35
All right, what we see the implications of James and the
40:40
elders glorifying God in Paul's report here is that James is
40:45
doubling down on the earlier decision of the council.
40:49
The Gentiles do not have to follow Moses to attain
40:52
salvation. All right, let's let's just read
40:54
what they have to say here, right?
40:56
When they heard it, they glorified God and said, you see,
40:58
brother, how many thousands of Jews there are who have
41:01
believed, and they're all zealous for the law, but they
41:05
have been informed about you that you're teaching all the
41:09
Jews who are among the Gentiles to abandon Moses.
41:13
That's a lie. That's not what Paul's teaching.
41:15
But people that misunderstand Paul and misunderstand the
41:18
gospel will accuse you of the same thing they accused Paul of.
41:23
Oh, you're teaching people to abandon Moses.
41:25
No one's teaching that. We're teaching that Jesus
41:29
fulfilled Moses. The prophet, like Moses that
41:31
Moses predicted, came and did exactly what he was prophesied
41:34
to do, right? So what is to be done?
41:41
This is what James is saying to Paul.
41:44
This is the situation. There's this lie going.
41:46
I mean, praise God for what's happening among the Gentiles,
41:50
but there are a bunch of false teachers coming in amongst the
41:52
Jews now telling the Jews, poisoning the well of their
41:57
minds with lies about what you actually say about Moses.
42:03
But by extension, that's also a lie on James and Peter and the
42:10
rest of the church because Paul is only going about preaching
42:13
what Peter and the 12 Co signed at the council.
42:18
So if people are taking an issue with Paul's doctrine, they're
42:22
just taking issue with Christianity, right, Right.
42:26
Paul's Apostolic ministry was given the go ahead by the
42:29
apostles. That's why they care here and
42:32
that's why Luke records this issue in Acts so that you can
42:38
see when the church, when the leadership of the church was put
42:42
to the fire, was put in the fire.
42:45
Did they abandoned salvation by grace alone through faith alone
42:49
in Jesus Christ alone? No, they didn't.
42:52
They did not abandon that doctrine.
42:54
They held to it. They're having a conversation on
42:59
how to best dispel this myth about Paul, this lie about Paul.
43:05
So what is to be done? They will certainly hear that
43:07
you've come. Therefore, do what we tell you.
43:10
We have 4 men who have made a vow.
43:12
Take these men, purify yourself along with them, and pay for
43:16
them to get their heads shaved. Then everyone will know that
43:19
what they are told about you amounts to nothing and that you
43:23
yourself are also careful about observing the law.
43:26
With regard to the Gentiles who believes we have written a
43:29
letter containing our decision that they should keep themselves
43:32
from food, sacrifice to idols, from blood, from what is
43:35
strangled, and from sexual morality.
43:37
See what I mean? James double S down on the
43:40
earlier letter saying, hey, take these four men, go to the
43:44
temple, do some of the religious rites right.
43:46
Show people that you're not abandoning Moses.
43:50
You're not teaching people to abandon Moses.
43:52
You're teaching people that that obedience to the law of Moses
43:56
does not attain your salvation, but being forgiven by the Son of
44:00
God is what attains your salvation.
44:04
All right. And so that that's what they go
44:07
on to do, right? But a riot breaks out, Paul gets
44:10
arrested, and then Paul goes on to have two trials.
44:14
And we were, and we're going to look at Paul's testimony in
44:17
those trials because again, it's relevant.
44:20
I'm again, I'm doing this to show you all of this stems back
44:24
to Acts 15, right? All of this is taking place
44:28
because of Acts 15, right? Because they made that decision
44:32
and sent Paul to the Gentile churches to go encourage them in
44:36
the doctrine of salvation by grace alone through faith alone
44:40
in Jesus Christ alone. People that hate Christianity
44:44
heard that Paul was doing that, twisted what he was doing, and
44:48
so Paul had to defend himself and by extension, the doctrine
44:51
in Roman court twice. All right.
44:54
The first time is in Acts chapter 24, verses 1 to 21.
45:00
All right, when you know, when through Tullus begins to accuse
45:04
him, right, And he accuses him of let's see here in verse 5.
45:10
We have found this man to be a plague, an agitator among all
45:13
the Jews throughout the Roman world and a ringleader of the
45:16
sect of the Nazarenes. He even tried to desecrate the
45:19
temple and so he apprehended him, right?
45:24
However, if you look at what Paul says, he, you know, he
45:30
renounces this starting in verse 10.
45:34
When the governor motioned for him to speak, Paul replied.
45:37
Because I know you've been a judge of this nation for many
45:40
years. I'm glad to offer my defense.
45:42
And what concerns me you can verify for yourself.
45:45
But it's no more than 12 days since I went up to worship in
45:48
Jerusalem. They didn't find me arguing with
45:51
anyone or causing a disturbance among the crowd, either in the
45:54
temple or in the synagogues or anywhere in the city.
45:58
Neither can they prove the charges they're now making
46:00
against me. But I admit this to you.
46:03
Pay attention to verse 14. I admit this to you, says Paul.
46:07
I worship the God of my ancestors according to the way,
46:12
which they call a sect, believing everything that is in
46:15
accordance with the law and written in the prophet.
46:19
All right, Paul says that he worships the God of the Torah
46:23
according to the Way, AKA Jesus. Jesus's teachings saying it's in
46:29
accordance with the Law and the prophets.
46:32
Therefore, Paul, when he's on trial the first time, just puts
46:37
it all out there. He says that salvation by grace
46:39
and long through faith alone in Jesus Christ alone accords with
46:43
the Torah and the prophets. That's incredible.
46:48
That's absolutely incredible. Now jump ahead to Paul's second
46:53
trial. Acts 26.
46:57
Acts 26, This is one of my, this is might be one of my favorite
47:00
things from Paul is his defense, say King Agrippa.
47:05
I absolutely love it. All right, Agrippa said to Paul.
47:10
You have permission to speak for yourself.
47:12
Then Paul stretched out his hand and began his defense.
47:16
I consider myself fortunate that it is before you, King Agrippa.
47:21
I am to make. I don't know if it's Agrippa or
47:23
Agrippa, right? I'm alliance with my favorite
47:26
movie, so I see a Agrippa. You know it's before you, King
47:31
Agrippa. I'm to make my defense today
47:33
against all the accusations of the Jews, especially since you
47:37
are very knowledgeable about all the Jewish customs and
47:40
controversies. Therefore, I beg you to listen
47:43
to me patiently that that's going to be relevant later.
47:45
Pay attention to that. All the Jews know my way of life
47:49
from my youth, which was spent from the beginning among my own
47:52
people in Jerusalem. They've known me for a long
47:55
time. If they're willing to testify
47:57
that according to the strictest sect of our religion, I lived as
48:00
a Pharisee. All right.
48:03
Paul was one of those that would have agreed with Catholic
48:07
Catechism 2068 that you had to observe and obey the Law of
48:12
Moses to attain salvation. He would have agreed with that,
48:16
but now I stand on trial because of the hope in what God promised
48:21
to our ancestors, the promise to our 12 tribes, hope to reach as
48:26
they earnestly serve Him night and day.
48:29
King Agrippa, I am being accused by the Jews because of this
48:33
hope. Why do any of you consider it
48:35
incredible that God raises the dead?
48:38
In fact, I myself was convinced that it was necessary to do many
48:41
things in opposition to the name of Jesus of Nazareth.
48:45
So he goes on to explain the nonsense that he used to do
48:49
right? And then he talks about the
48:53
vision when Jesus appeared to him on the road to Damascus.
48:58
And he says, get up and stand on your feet.
49:01
This is what Jesus said to Paul. Get up and stand on your feet.
49:03
For I have appeared to you for this purpose to appoint you as a
49:07
servant and a witness of what you have seen and will see of
49:10
me. I will rescue you from your
49:13
people and from the Gentiles. I am sending you to them to open
49:17
their eyes so that they may turn from darkness to light and from
49:22
the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of
49:26
sins and a share among those who are sanctified by faith in Me.
49:31
Did you notice that that the Gentiles receive forgiveness?
49:36
We don't earn it, we don't merit it.
49:37
We receive forgiveness of sins, all right.
49:44
So then, King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly
49:47
vision. Instead, I preached to those in
49:50
Damascus 1st and to those in Jerusalem and all the region of
49:54
Judea and to the Gentiles that they should repent and turn to
49:57
God and do works worthy of repentance, All right.
50:02
Here in verse 20, Paul says good works of repentance come after
50:06
repenting and turning to God, right to the Gentiles, that they
50:11
should repent and turn to God and do works worthy of
50:16
repentance. All right.
50:19
For this reason, the Jews seized me in the temple and were trying
50:24
to kill me. So this very day I've had that,
50:27
I've had help from God, and I stand and testify to both small
50:30
and great, saying nothing other than what the prophets and Moses
50:34
said would take place, that the Messiah would suffer, and that
50:38
as the first to rise from the dead, He will proclaim light to
50:41
our people and to the Gentiles. This bit right here is why.
50:46
This is why. This is my favorite part.
50:48
As he was saying these things in his defense, Festus exclaimed in
50:52
a loud voice. You're out of your mind, Paul.
50:54
Too much study is driving you mad.
50:57
But Paul replied, I'm not out of my mind, Most excellent, Festus.
51:02
On the contrary, I'm speaking words of truth and good
51:06
judgement. Notice here, Paul just called
51:09
this doctrine, the doctrine that he just espoused.
51:12
Justification, salvation by grace alone, through faith alone
51:20
in Jesus Christ alone, right? He just called that doctrine
51:24
words of truth and good judgment.
51:27
Now, I want you to watch as we finish this out.
51:30
As we finish this out. He bases this whole argument on
51:33
King Agrippa's knowledge of what the prophets say, IE It should
51:40
be obvious even to you, King. But let's see what he says.
51:43
I'm not out of my mind, Most excellent Festus.
51:45
On the contrary, I'm speaking words of truth and good
51:48
judgment. For the king knows about these
51:50
matters, and I can speak boldly to him, for I'm convinced that
51:54
none of these things has escaped his notice, since this was not
51:57
done in a corner. King Agrippa, do you believe the
52:01
prophets? I know you believe, Agrippa said
52:07
to Paul. Are you going to persuade me to
52:10
become a Christian so easily? I wish before God, replied Paul,
52:15
that whether easily or with difficulty, not only you but all
52:19
who listen to me today might become as I am.
52:23
You know, except for these chains, except for these chains,
52:34
All right, now, having heard all of that from Acts 15, the
52:39
Council of Trent through the reaffirmation of Trent, through
52:44
the two trials of Paul, were not the reaffirmation of Trent, the
52:48
reaffirmation of Jerusalem to the two trials of Paul where he
52:52
reaffirms the Jerusalem Council's decision again.
52:56
Now let's look. Now let's look again at Catholic
53:00
Catechism 2068. Reading this again, can you
53:04
honestly say that this matches that this matches with what we
53:09
heard out of Paul? The Council of Trent teaches
53:15
that the 10 commandments are obligatory for Christians and
53:18
that the justified man is still bound to keep them.
53:22
The Second Vatican Council confirms the Bishops, successors
53:26
of the apostles, received from the Lord the mission of teaching
53:30
all peoples and of preaching the Gospel to every creature so that
53:34
all men may attain salvation through faith, baptism, and the
53:39
observance of the commandments. That doesn't make any sense.
53:47
It doesn't make any sense. All right.
53:49
That, my friends, is the count, is the Catholic dilemma.
53:54
The Council of Jerusalem is ecumenical.
53:58
It counts. The Council of Trent is
54:02
ecumenical. It counts OK Jerusalem says that
54:09
obedience to the Law of Moses is not required to attain
54:13
salvation, but Trent says that observance of the commandments
54:17
is required to attain salvation. Catholicism claims that the
54:24
teachings of the apostles accord with their church traditions
54:31
that have grown up throughout the ages.
54:34
But when we simply look at the historical record of what the
54:37
Apostles and the one they call the first Pope believed, which
54:42
we all agree as those that claim to be Christian, we all agree
54:46
that the record of the book of Acts is historically reliable.
54:49
We're not like Muslims. Muslims will in in some ways,
54:53
it's the smart thing. They understand that they have
54:55
to discredit the record of the scripture to make their point.
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But Catholicism wants to stand on it 10 toes down.
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OK, OK, But it doesn't support you.
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It doesn't support you. The historical record of the
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apostles as recorded by Luke in the book of Acts completely
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contradicts the Council of Trent's catechism and a lot of
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their other decisions. Trent being one of the most
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influential councils in Catholic history up to this point.
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All right, Catholicism cannot be true.
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Catholicism does not preach the gospel.
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They preach what they want to preach.
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All right. This argument is just as
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unassailable as the Islamic dilemma.
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To argue against this, to argue against this, you're going to
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have to lie, you're going to have to make something up.
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You're going to have to argue like a dawa brand Muslim to get
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out of this dilemma. All right, just like, just like
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God logic would say an honest and knowledgeable Muslim is an
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ex Muslim. Well, let me add an addendum to
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that. An honest and knowledgeable
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Catholic is an ex Catholic. All right, let's pray.
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Holy Father, righteous Son, King of the Universe and Spirit of
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God who gives the new birth, the one true God who gives bloom to
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every fruit that grows on the vine and especially the fruit
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within us. Prune those listening around the
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world that we would bear more fruit for your glory and our
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good. The point of life is to learn
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how to receive and reflect the love of God.
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So train our hands for the spiritual warfare of holding the
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faith and destroying arguments to bring rebel centers under the
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kingship of Jesus. Thank you for equipping us with
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all that is good to do Your will by the blood of the eternal
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covenant. Thank you and Amen.
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Until next time people use this argument, rescue Catholics from
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the darkness, or at the very least, expose the false gospel
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of Catholicism to protect sheep from going down.
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This extremely seductive Rd. Catholicism is the most
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seductive of the Christian cults out there, and it's been
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snatching people up for a long time.
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All right, do what you can resist.
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Hold on to the Gospel until He comes.
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Go in peace.