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We who love Christ and believe the truth embodied in His teaching must awaken to the reality of the battle that is raging all around us. We must do our part in the ages-old truth war. We are under a sacred obligation to join the battle and contend for the faith.

- John MacArthur

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It is quite true that faith cannot be reduced to mere assent to a finite set of propositions (James 2:19). . . . Saving faith is more than a merely intellectual nod of approval to the bare facts of a minimalist gospel outline. Authentic faith in Christ involves love for His person and willingness to surrender to His authority. The human heart, will, and intellect all consent in the act of faith. In that sense, it is certainly correct, even necessary, to acknowledge that mere propositions can’t do full justice to all the dimensions of truth.

- John MacArthur

Was the Apostle Peter the first Pope?

For there is one God, and one mediator also between God and men, the man Christ Jesus . . .

2 Timothy 2:5

The Roman Catholic contention is that Saint Peter was the first Pope, the author of papal succession, and the “head of the church,” in spite of and in direct contradiction to that title already being given to no sinful, fallible man but to the Lord Jesus Christ (Ephesians 5:23). Romish tradition teaches that not only did the Apostle Peter visit Rome, but that he pastored a church in Rome, died in Rome, is buried in Rome, and St. Peters Basilica is standing where Peter is supposed to have been martyred and buried. The Bible never makes mention of any of these things and the word “pope” isn’t even found in the Bible.

I have posted below sixteen evidences (not “traditions”) for your consideration. Some of these facts were adapted from this website but the majority of this following information came from John MacArthur’s great sermon entitled Unmasking the Pope and the Catholic System. As always, I welcome your comments.

01- The Bible never says that Peter was a pope, nor does it say that he was the “head of the church.” The RCC takes biblical texts out of their context to support this pretext.

02- The Bible never mentions the word “pope.” (It also never mentions the words “monk” or “rosary” either. And the only mention of the word “nun” is in reference to a place, not a position in the church.)

03- There’s no archeological or historical evidence that Peter was ever in Rome.

04- The Bible lends additional support to the lack of evidence for Peter ever being in Rome. In Romans 15:20, the Apostle Paul says that he, aspired “to preach the gospel, not where Christ was already named, so that I would not build on another man’s foundation . . .” Had Peter been in Rome, then Paul wold not have evangelized there since Paul said he didn’t want to build on another man’s foundation.

05- Paul greets a myriad of people in Romans chapter 16, yet makes absolutely no mention of Saint Peter. If Peter was the pope or “head of the church” in Rome, this would be a grievous oversight/omission on Paul’s part.

06- Paul greets ten people in Rome throughout his letter 2 Timothy; none of them are Peter.

07- When mentioning the pillars of the Church (not the heads as Christ is the only head of the Church), the Apostle Paul mentions Peter before John but after James (Galatians 2:9). Is this any way for a pope to be recognized?

08- Peter was never called to preach to the Gentiles (which would have been those in Rome). Peter was entrusted with the Gospel to the circumcised–the Jews. (Galatians 2:7-8).

09- There’s no mention of Peter being the head of the Roman Church. He wasn’t even the head of the Jerusalem Church; James was. (See Galatians chapter 2 and Acts chapter 15).

10- Peter never considered himself the head of the Church (i.e. the pope). In the introduction of his letter letter (1 Peter 1:1), he simply calls himself “an apostle of Jesus Christ.” Notice he did not call himself the apostle, pope, or even “head of the church.” And he most certainly did not refer to himself with the ridiculous and blasphemous name “holy father.” Ridiculous and blasphemous because no man should ever accept that title; it is reserved for One and One only.

11- Peter further clarified his view of himself when he referred to himself as a “fellow elder and witness of the sufferings of Christ . . .”. (1 Peter 5:1). He equates himself on the same level as the others he was writing this letter to.

12- Who was calling the shots? Apparently Peter, the supposed “head of the church,” wasn’t. He was being told what to do by the elders of the Church (Acts 8:14). Shouldn’t the “head of the church” be the one giving instruction and direction? See additional examples of the leaders and elders of the church giving directions, not Peter: Acts 11:22, Acts 15:22-27, Acts 21:18, Acts 21:23-24.

13- The Apostle Paul opposed Peter to his face (Galatians 2:11) because Peter “stood condemned.” Hardly the thing for someone to do to the Roman Catholic “head of the church”–the pope!

14- Jesus called Peter “Satan,” and said he (Satan via Peter’s attempt to unwittingly thwart Jesus from His mission) was a stumbling block to Jesus (Matthew 16:21-23). Is this any way to talk to a pope?

15- Peter acted cowardly and denied the Lord Jesus (Matthew 26:69-75). Is this any way for a pope to act?

16- And finally, the history of the early Church as accounted in the book of Acts makes absolutely no mention of Peter after chapter 15. For someone who is supposed to be the “head of the church” and the first pope, you’d think there’d be more mention of him in this book of Church history. Instead, Peter kind of vanishes after this point.

See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, according to the tradition of men, according to the elementary principles of the world, rather than according to Christ. For in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form, and in Him you have been made complete, and He is the head over all rule and authority.

Colossians 2:8-10

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If you were to challenge me to boil down postmodern thought into its pure essence and identify the gist of it in one single, simple, central characteristic, I would say it is the rejection of every expression of certainty. In the postmodern perspective, certainty is regarded as inherently arrogant, elitist, intolerant, oppressive–and therefore always wrong.

- John MacArthur

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Postmodernism’s one goal and singular activity is the systematic deconstruction of every other truth claim. The chief tools being employed to accomplish this are relativism, subjectivism, the denial of every dogma, the dissection and annihilation of every clear definition, the relentless questioning of every axiom, the undue exaltation of mystery and paradox, the deliberate exaggeration of every ambiguity, and above all the cultivation of uncertainty about everything.

- John MacArthur

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Over the past generation–and especially the past two decades–we have seen conclusive changes in society’s moral values, philosophy, religion, and the arts. The upheaval has been so profound that our grandparents’ generation (and practically every prior generation of human history) scarcely would have thought the landscape could possibly change so quickly. Almost no aspect of human discourse has been left unaffected. The traditional, nominal, devotion to ideals and moral standards derived from Scripture is dying with the senior generation. Many believe the paradigm shift has already brought us beyond the age of modernity to the next great epoch in the development of human thought: the postmodern era.

- John MacArthur

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Controversy and conflict in the church are never to be relished or engaged in without sufficient cause. But in every generation, the battle for the truth has proved ultimately unavoidable, because the enemies of truth are relentless. Truth is always under assault. And it is actually a sin not to fight when vital truths are under attack. That is true even though fighting sometimes results in conflict within the visible community of professing Christians. In fact, whenever the enemies of gospel truth succeed in infiltrating the church, faithful believers are obliged to take the battle to them even there. That is certainly the case today, as it has been since apostolic times.

- John MacArthur

Sermon of the week: “Unmasking the Pope and the Catholic System” by John MacArthur.

   Every Wednesday (or late Tuesday night) I post the sermon of the week. After hearing this message I could barely wait till Wednesday to share this one with you.

This week’s sermon is an absolute must-hear. It is entitled Unmasking the Pope and the Catholic System by John MacArthur. It is–hands down–the best message I’ve ever heard on Roman Catholicism . . . bar none.

Even if you have a minimal interest in understanding what Roman Catholicism is about, or no interest at all, I expect this sermon will change that. I also encourage those Roman Catholics who read this blog (I know you’re out there) to seriously listen to this. If you have the truth, then you have nothing to fear.

I’ll be moving this sermon into my “Top Ten” favorites.

Click on the link to listen streaming, or right click on the link and click “Save As” (Internet Explorer) or “Save Link As” (Mozilla) to save to your computer. From there you can burn this to a CD or upload it to your MP3 player.

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As always, a war is being waged against the truth. We are on one side or the other. There is no middle ground–no safe zone for the uncommitted. Lately the question of truth itself–what it is and whether we can truly know it at all–has become one of the major points of contention. We also happen to be living in a generation when many so-called Christians have no taste for conflict and contention. Multitudes of biblically and doctrinally malnourished Christians have come to think of controversy as something that should always be avoided, whatever the cost. Sadly, that is what many weak pastors have modeled for them.

- John MacArthur

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The doctrinal ignorance of the evangelical church is shocking; matched only by its cowardice.

- John MacArthur

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   The fact that a just and righteous God holds both unbelievers and believers alike responsible for obedience to His revelation is irrefutable proof that He has made the truth sufficiently clear to us. To claim that the Bible is not sufficiently clear is to assault God’s own wisdom and integrity.

- John MacArthur

Book Review: The Truth War.

I recently finished reading John MacArthur’s The Truth War, and I highly recommend it to the readers of this blog. It will help you to understand why this blog does what it does and it will give you a proper understanding of the role of the Christian in the defense of the truth of the Gospel.

Whether you agree with this blog or not it will certainly give you a better understanding as to why we do what we do! And for all those engaged in the Truth War, this is one book that you must have in your library.

I also highly recommend MacArthur’s book Ashamed of the Gospel: When the Church Becomes Like the World.

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Truth itself does not change just because our point of view does. As we mature in our ability to perceive truth, truth itself remains fixed. Our duty is to conform all our thoughts to the truth (Psalm 19:14); we are not entitled to redefine “truth” to fit our own personal viewpoints, preferences, or desires. We must not ignore or discard selected truths just because we might find them hard to receive or difficult to fathom. Above all, we can’t get apathetic or lazy about the truth when the price of understanding or defending the truth turns out to be demanding or costly. Such a self-willed approach to the truth is tantamount to usurping God (Psalm 12:4). People who take that route guarantee their own destruction (Romans 2:8-9).

- John MacArthur

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Truth is never determined by looking at God’s Word and asking, “What does this mean to me?” Whenever I hear someone talk like that, I’m inclined to ask, “What did the Bible mean before you existed? What does God mean by what He says?” Those are the proper questions to be asking. Truth and meaning are not determined by our intuition, experience, or desire. The true meaning of Scripture–or anything else, for that matter–has already been determined and fixed by the mind of God. The task of an interpreter is to discern that meaning. And proper interpretation must proceed application.

- John MacArthur

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We have been given a clear message for the purpose of confronting the world’s unbelief. That is what we are called, commanded, and commissioned to do (1 Corinthians 1:17-31). Faithfulness to Christ demands it. The honor of God requires it. We cannot sit by and do nothing while worldly, revisionist, and skeptical attitudes about truth are infiltrating the church. We must not embrace such confusion in the name of charity, collegiality, or unity. We have to stand and fight for the truth–and be prepared to die for it–as faithful Christians always have.

- John MacArthur

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Certain avant-garde evangelicals sometimes act as if the demise of certainty is a dramatic new intellectual development, rather than seeing it for what it actually is: an echo of the old unbelief. It is unbelief cloaked in a religious disguise and seeking legitimacy as if it were merely a humbler kind of faith. But it’s not faith at all. In reality, the contemporary refusal to regard any truth as sure and certain is the worst kind of infidelity. The church’s duty has always been to confront such skepticism and answer it by clearly proclaiming the truth God has revealed in His Word.

- John MacArthur

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   Many self-styled evangelicals today are openly questioning whether such a thing as truth even exists. Others suppose that even if truth does exist, we can’t be sure what it is, so it can’t really matter much. The twin problems of uncertainty and apathy about the truth are epidemic, even among some of the evangelical movement’s most popular authors and spokespersons. Some flatly refuse to stand for anything because they have decided that even Scripture isn’t really clear enough to argue about. Except for the massive scale on which such thinking has attained popularity today, and the way it is seeping into the church, such ideas themselves are really nothing new or particularly shocking. It is exactly the same attitude with which Pilate summarily dismissed Christ: “What is truth?” (John 18:3

- John MacArthur

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Many in the academic and philosophical realms . . . . no longer believe in truth as a sure and knowable reality. Make no mistake: unbelief is the seed of that opinion. The contemporary aversion to truth is simply a natural expression of fallen humanity’s innate hostility toward God (Romans 8:7).

- John MacArthur

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   God and truth are inseparable. Every thought about the essence of truth–what it is, what makes it “true,” and how we can possibly know anything for sure, quickly moves us back to God. That is why God incarnate–Jesus Christ–is called the truth (John 14:6). That is also why it is not particularly surprising when someone who repudiates God rejects His truth as well. If a person can’t tolerate the thought of God, there is simply no comfortable place for the concept of truth in that person’s worldview, either. So the consistent atheist, agnostic, or idolater might as well hate the very idea of truth. After all, to reject God is to reject the Giver of all truth, the final Judge of what really is true, and the very essence and embodiment of truth itself.

- John MacArthur

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   Much of the visible church nowadays seems to think Christians are supposed to be at play rather than at war. The idea of actually fighting for doctrinal truth is the furthest thing from most churchgoers’ thoughts. Contemporary Christians are determined to get the world to like them–and of course in the process they also want to have as much fun as possible. They are so obsessed with making the church seem “cool” to unbelievers that they can’t be bothered with questions about whether another person’s doctrine is sound or not. In a climate like that, the thought of even identifying someone else’s teaching as false (much less “contending earnestly” for the faith) is a distasteful and dangerously countercultural suggestion. Christians have bought into the notion that almost nothing is more “uncool” in the world’s eyes than when someone shows a sincere concern about the danger of heresy. After all, the world simply doesn’t take spiritual truth that seriously, so they cannot fathom why anyone would.
- John Macarthur

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The evangelical movement itself must take some blame for devaluing the truth by catering to people’s itching ears (2 Timothy 4:1-4). Does anyone really imagine that many of the entertainment-hungry churchgoers who pack today’s megachurches would be willing to give their lives for the truth? As a matter of fact, many of them are unwilling to take a bold stand for the truth even among other Christians in an environment where there is no serious threat against them and the worst effect of such a stand might be that someone’s feelings get hurt.
- John MacArthur

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    In every generation across the history of the Church, countless martyrs have similarly died rather than deny the truth. Were such people just fools, making too much of their own convictions? Was their absolute confidence in what they believed actually misguided zeal? Did they die needlessly? Many these days evidently think so–including some who profess faith in Christ. Living in a culture where violent persecution is almost unknown, multitudes who call themselves Christians seem to have forgotten what faithfulness to the truth often costs. Did I say “often”? As a matter of fact, faithfulness to the truth is always costly in some way or another (2 Timothy 3:12), and that is precisely why Jesus insisted that anyone who wants to be His disciple must be willing to take up a cross (Luke 9:23-26).
 

- John MacArthur

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History is filled with accounts of people who choose to accept torture or death rather than deny the truth. In previous generations it was generally considered heroic to give your life for what you believed in. That is not necessarily the case anymore. Part of the problem, of course, is that terrorists and suicide bombers have co-opted the idea of “martyrdom” and turned it on its head. They call themselves “martyrs,” but they are suicidal murderers who kill people for not believing. Their violent aggression is actually the polar opposite of martyrdom, and the ruthless ideologies that drive them are the exact antitheses of truth. There is nothing heroic about what they do and nothing noble about what they stand for. But they are significant symbols of a deeply troubling trend that plagues this current generation worldwide. It seems there is no shortage of people nowadays willing to kill for a lie. Yet few seem to be willing to speak up for truth–much less die for it. Consider the testimonies of the Christian martyrs throughout history. They were valiant warriors for the truth. They were not terrorists or violent people, of course. But they “fought” for the truth by proclaiming it in the face of fierce opposition, by living lives that gave testimony to the power and goodness of truth, and by refusing to renounce or forsake the truth no matter what threats were made against them.

- John MacArthur

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The modern canonization of compromise represents a detour down a dead-end alley. Both Scripture and church history reveal the danger of compromising biblical truth. Those whom God uses are invariably men and women who swim against the tide. They hold strong convictions with great courage and refuse to compromise in the face of incredible opposition.

- John MacArthur

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The goal of human philosophy used to be truth without God. Today’s philosophies are open to the notion of God without truth–or to be more accurate, personal “spirituality” in which everyone is free to create his or her own god. Personal gods pose no threat to sinful self-will, because they suit each sinner’s personal preferences anyway, and they make no demands on anyone else.

- John MacArthur

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Clearly, spiritual ignorance and biblical illiteracy are commonplace among professing Christians. That kind of spiritual shallowness is a direct result of shallow teaching. Solid preaching with deep substance and sound doctrine is essential for Christians to grow. But churches today often teach only the barest basics–and sometimes less than that. Churches are therefore filled with baby Christians–people who are spiritual infants. That is a fitting description, because the characteristic that is most descriptive of an infant is selfishness. Babies are completely self-centered. They scream if they don’t get what they want when they want it. All they are aware of are their own needs and desires. They never say thanks for anything. They can’t help others; they can’t give anything. They can only receive. And certainly there is nothing wrong with that when it occurs in the natural stage of infancy. But to see a child whose development is arrested so that he never gets beyond that stage of helpless selfishness is a tragedy. And that is exactly the spiritual state of multitudes in the church today. They are utterly preoccupied with self. They want their own problems solved and their own comfort elevated. Their spiritual development is arrested, and they remain in a perpetual state of selfish helplessness. It is evidence of a tragic abnormality. Arrested infancy means people do not discern. Just as a baby crawls along the floor, putting anything it finds in its mouth, spiritual babies don’t know what is good for them and what isn’t. Immaturity and lack of discernment go together; they are virtually the same thing.

- John MacArthur

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   If truth cannot be fearlessly proclaimed in the church, what place is there for truth at all? How can we build a generation of discerning Christians if we are terror-struck at the thought that non-Christians might not like hearing the universal truth? And since when has it been legitimate for the church to woo the world? Didn’t the apostle John write, “Do not marvel, my brethren, if the world hates you” (1 John 3:13)? And did not Jesus say, “The world . . . hates Me because I testify of it that its works are evil” (John 7:7)? Biblical Christians have always understood that they must shun the world. . . . The apostle Paul frankly would have had no patience for such tactics. He never sought to win the world through intellectual acceptance, personal popularity, image, status, reputation, or things of that sort. He wrote, “We have been made as the filth of the world, the offscouring of all things” (1 Corinthians 4:13). Is the contemporary church right to attempt a “more sophisticated” approach? Dare we set ourselves apart from the godly men of the past, all of whom had to fight for the truth?

- John MacArthur

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The only infallible interpreter of what we see in nature or know innately in our own consciences is the explicit revelation of Scripture. Since Scripture is also the one place where we are given the way of salvation, entrance into the kingdom of God, and an infallible account of Christ, the Bible is the touchstone to which all truth claims should be brought and by which all other truth must finally be measured.

- John MacArthur

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Not knowing what you believe (especially on a matter as essential to Christianity as the gospel) is by definition a kind of unbelief. Refusing to acknowledge and defend the revealed truth of God is a particularly stubborn and pernicious kind of unbelief. Advocating ambiguity, exalting uncertainty, or otherwise deliberately clouding the truth is a sinful way of nurturing unbelief. Every true Christian should know and love the truth.

- John MacArthur

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One gets the distinct impression that objective, propositional truth means so little to [Brian] McLaren that he would consider a broad-minded Hindu who always tries to speak positively and tolerantly about others’ beliefs a better “Christian” that the preacher who openly curses someone else for teaching a wrong view of the law and the gospel. That, of course, would make the apostle Paul a bad Christian (Galatians 1:8-9)–not to mention Jesus (Matthew 23).

- John MacArthur

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Rationality (the right use of sanctified reason through sound logic) is never condemned in Scripture. Faith is not irrational. Authentic biblical truth demands that we employ logic and clear, sensible thinking. . . . Scripture frequently employs logical devices, such as antithesis, if-then arguments, syllogisms, and propositions. These are all standard logical forms, and Scripture is full of them.

- John MacArthur

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The idea that the Christian message should be kept pliable and ambiguous seems especially attractive to young people who are in tune with the culture and in love with the spirit of the age and can’t stand to have authoritative biblical truth applied with precision as a corrective to worldly lifestyles, unholy minds, and ungodly behavior. And the poison of this perspective is being increasingly injected into the evangelical church body.

- John MacArthur

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Marketing principles are becoming the arbiter of truth. Elements of the message that don’t fit the promotional plan are simply omitted. Marketing savvy demands that the offense of the cross must be downplayed. Salesmanship requires that negative subjects like divine wrath be avoided. Consumer satisfaction means that the standard of righteousness cannot be raised too high. The seeds of watered-down gospel are thus sown in the very philosophy that drives many ministries today.

- John MacArthur

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A hundred years after Spurgeon sounded the alarm, most theological education in England is rank liberal. Church attendance is a fraction of what it was then. Evangelicals are a tiny minority, true biblical preaching is uncommon even in supposedly Bible-believing churches, and the evangelical movement has been dangerously susceptible to almost every theological fad exported from America. In short, evangelicalism in England never recovered from the modernist/liberal assault that began a century ago.

- John MacArthur

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I am not in favor of a stagnant church. . . . My complaint is with a philosophy that relegates God and His Word to a subordinate role in the church. I believe it is unbiblical to elevate entertainment over biblical preaching and worship in the church service. And I stand in opposition to those who believe salesmanship can bring people into the kingdom more effectively than a sovereign God. That philosophy has opened the door to worldliness in the church.

- John MacArthur

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If the unchurched multitudes don’t want biblical preaching, we are told, we must give them what they want. . . . Subtly the overriding goal is becoming church attendance and worldly acceptability rather than a transformed life. Preaching the Word and boldly confronting sin are seen as archaic, ineffectual means of winning the world. . . . Why not entice people into the fold by offering what they want, creating a friendly, comfortable environment, and catering to the very desires that constitute their strongest urges? As if we might get them to accept Jesus by somehow making Him more likable or making His message more less offensive.

- John MacArthur

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In the past half decade, some of America’s largest evangelical churches have employed worldly gimmicks like slapstick, vaudeville, wrestling exhibitions, and even mock striptease to spice up their Sunday meetings. No brand of horseplay, it seems, is too outrageous to be brought into the sanctuary. Burlesque is fast becoming the liturgy of the pragmatic church.

- John MacArthur

Book review: Ashamed of the Gospel by John MacArthur.

I just finished reading John MacArthur’s book Ashamed of the Gospel: When the Church Becomes Like the World. I swallowed this up and enjoyed every minute of it.

In this book (written in the early 1990s) MacArthur parallels the compromise in the Church that Charles Spurgeon dealt with in the 19th century with the compromise that we are dealing with in the Church today. MacArthur also deals heavily with the “end justifies the means” approach to evangelism that’s plaguing Christianity today.

The book is well written and an easy read. I highly recommend it to anyone who is concerned with the state of the Church today. I even recommend it more urgently to those who see no problems with the state of the Church today.

John MacArthur definitely hit a home run with this book. My only regret is that I didn’t read it sooner.

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Worldliness is rarely even mentioned today, much less identified for what it is. The world itself is beginning to sound quaint. Worldliness is the sin of allowing one’s appetites, ambitions, or conduct to be fashioned according to earthly values. . . . Yet today we have the extraordinary spectacle of church programs designed explicitly to cater to fleshly desire, sensual appetites, and human pride–”the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life.”

- John MacArthur

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If church history teaches us anything, it teaches us that the most devastating assaults on the faith have always begun as subtle errors arising from inside the body itself. Living in an unstable age, the church cannot afford to be vacillating. We minister to people desperate for answers, and we cannot soft-pedal the truth or extenuate the gospel. If we make friends with the world, we set ourselves at enmity with God. If we trust worldly devices, we automatically relinquish the power of the Holy Spirit.

- John MacArthur