What a bizarre thing for Sean Penn to tweet.
(media.greatawakening.win)
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Not sure if this is what he is referring to, but a few years ago, several of the big name evangelicals such as Kenneth Copeland made some kind of agreement with the Catholic church to "return" to the mother church. They had a big meeting in Rome and all supposedly went to confession and went through a ceremony. It was when Tony Palmer, the Anglican bishop was working to create the Christian Convergent Community. He got killed in a motorcycle accident in 2014, and I haven't heard any more about it, but I wonder if that is what Sean is referring to?
The World Church movement has been around for decades. John MacArthur was asked to sign their Charter years ago, they stated " We believe man is saved by Faith in Jesus Christ " MacArthur said he would sign if they added one word to that statement " We believe man is saved by Faith in Jesus Christ ALONE " That one word is every Works Based Religion's downfall. Jesus Christ PLUS my good works will somehow be enough to get me into Heaven someday. God will owe me a place in Heaven because I have done so many good works.
"Saved by Grace ALONE" has been the foundation of the Protestant movement since the days of Martin Luther helping put the Bible in the hands and homes of the people.
Do Protestants intentionally misunderstand the Church’s teaching? Catholics don’t believe you can earn your way into heaven. But you can certainly earn your way out of it. Faith alone is not sufficient.
God forgives all who ask and repentance, a change in conduct, will follow if the person is truly sorrowful; as God has already worked within them through His Spirit to cause them to recognize their sins and need for salvation, He will continue to work within them to bring about a change of character, and thus works.
Given the above, there is no need for a priest to prescribe an act of penance for an individual to receive forgiveness. When this is done, that is salvation by works.
To reiterate, salvation, and consequently forgiveness, is a free gift from God. You cannot earn it and you cannot buy it; if you could, it would cease to be a gift.
An even more egregious example is when the church authorities used to sell indulgences, literally freedom from purgatory for a price. I can't help but think of what Peter said to Simon the sorcerer when the latter thought he could buy access to the Holy Spirit:
As a side note, while not an act of penance in the typical sense, a formative experience for Martin Luther as he came to understand salvation by faith was when he climbed the Scala Sancta in Rome during a pilgrimage. To quote Wikipedia:
Amen
No, Catholics intentionally misunderstand that you are saved by Faith and Faith alone.
To my understanding, if a sin can only be absolved by a priest of the Catholic Church, then Jesus has already been disregarded, since He is our high priest. There is only one name by which we are saved, and that is the name of Jesus Christ.
So I can earn my way out of Heaven? And who gets to say whether I have earned my way out of Heaven? A Pope? A Bishop? The Bible (misinterpreted if so) ? So unless I do all that is required of me, I earn my way out of Heaven? Can you not see this is just another way of saying it is a works based salvation? It still makes my being in Heaven someday dependent on Jesus PLUS me being a good decent moral upstanding person
I grew up going to church with my Aunt, latter day saints stuff, after getting saved years later in a Bible Believing church I asked her " Do you know for certain you are going to heaven?" her reply "As long as I keep doing everything that I am doing" I would assume that would be your reply also, as long as you keep doing what you are doing and don't "un-earn" your way out of Heaven.
I am going to Heaven, no ifs, ands, or but's about it, not because I have done anything extra special on this earth to earn or keep my salvation, but because Jesus Christ has Paid in Full the price for every one of my sins. I will be singing His Praises Forever for the Great Mercies and Love He has shown to poor lost helpless sinners.
Can you imagine being in the ocean drowning after your boat has capsized and the Coast Guard coming along and pulling out a 3 page questionnaire to determine if you are worth saving? You are not saved as a Catholic, you are still filling out your resume to see if God thinks you are worth saving.
The truth is : God knows you are painfully weak and immoral, with a sin nature that is bent on wrong doing and that no matter how good you try to be, you will never be good enough to enter Heaven apart from the Righteousness of Christ being given to you. The great truth that Martin Luther discovered as a monk was " The Just Shall Live By Faith " God's Word. "Abraham believed God and was imputed unto him for Righteousness." Justification is a legal term. A sinner is given the Righteousness of Christ the moment he is saved. I am standing before the Gates of Heaven waiting to enter and I am clothed in the Righteous Robes of Christ. Will your Pope be able to accuse me dressed before God in these Perfect Robes? I think not. My good works mean nothing, The Righteousness of God provided for me is my only sure hope.
Does everyone who says Lord Lord enter heaven?
That was my first thought as well.