Rick & Bubba Bible Study Live - July 15, 2020

five four three two hello and welcome to the Wednesday Bible study it's so good to be with you again as we continue to row through these uncertain times if you're joining us for the very first time we're in a brand new series right now called the unsaved Christian and we are working through this book by Dean and Sarah a pastor at Tallahassee Florida and it's talking about which I agree with Pat the pastor this may be as far as the United States of America is concerned the largest unreached people group in our country and and the reason that is is there's really no attempt to reach them at all so we've been talking about that but the other thing that we've been doing is we have been assessing ourselves to ask the uncomfortable question am i a cultural Christian and boy the emails have flooded in and I just want to commend a lot of you that are humble enough to say you know I'm asking some questions and you know why that's good because that's what we're told to do this ii corinthians i say this every week in this study a paul tells us to it tells us to assess ourself to see if we are of the faith and so today we'll jump into some specifics we talked about the moral the moral theist these are different types of cultural christians and today we'll weigh in on another type and you know we'll open in a word of prayer before we do i don't want to remind you that if you are in hazel green alabama i'm looking forward to seeing you guys with man church this Sunday night excited about that at Bethlehem Baptist Church next Friday night the twenty fourth of July I'll be in Lexington Tennessee and I'll be there first Baptist Church Lexington and also they'll be doing a man church and a big fish fry for the men as we begin to implement the discipleship strategy which is available to you at the man church com if you've never been to the man church calm we love to come alongside community groups and churches or even individuals that are serious about immense discipleship strategy as we say at the man church calm disciple men change everything and now more than ever do we desperately need godly men so let's open up with the word of prayer and we'll jump in by the way if you want to find out details about any of the events I just mentioned to you go to Burges ministries.com and look under event so let's open up with the word of Prayer Lauren thank you for our time together today and lord I pray I pray Lord that that I am not shying away from the truth but at the same time help me to have the right spirit help me to communicate clearly as I am a flawed communicator and a flawed individual my hope is only found in you in order to help me to communicate clearly not only what we are saying which is very important today but to make sure that the people that are watching and listening do not close off and interpret something that I am NOT saying today so help me Lord to balance that perfectly thank you for this time together you know discussing this very important subject of cultural Christianity and being reminded of who you say that we are not maybe who we say we are in the name of Jesus Lord we pray and we and we beg for discernment amen okay so this is that now we're going through these different types and today I know this is gonna happen some of you are going to get upset today and I apologize about that but I think sometimes in order for us to examine ourselves sometimes we have to get upset so I'm just going to lay it out as it is hopefully you'll receive it but here's the one thing that that I'm that I'm not saying here's what we're going to say today we're beginning to walk through different kinds of cultural Christians last week was the moral fist and this week will be the nominal Catholic I know I've said I've said Catholic and I know that some of you are getting ready oh my goodness here comes a Protestant let me let me clarify this for you here's what my goal is is that is to be a disciple of Jesus Christ period my identity is not found in any denomination of Christianity my identity is found under the authority and lordship of Jesus Christ who has saved me by grace through faith period and then I am working out my salvation with fear and trembling through the sanctification process that scripture speaks to as he begins to make me more like him and I begin to feed the spirit which is at battle with my flesh until I become full spirit that battle will continue until I'm standing in the presence of the Lord when he returns or when my body dies in my spirit then we'll be in his presence and so I'm a follower of Jesus that that's my identity all this denominational stuff if it means more to you than your identity in Christ including being Catholic then I think you have a problem and we're going to talk about that but I would say the exact same thing about any denomination that may be Protestant if the denominational if the denomination is more of your identity than Christ himself you already are starting at a problematic place and that's just the truth as one brother to another brother or sister who may be hearing this are viewing this and so we're going to talk about this we're not in this here's now here's what we're not saying we are not saying because you're Catholic that you're not a Christian we're not saying that okay now you may have to vet out some things that maybe you've been taught in Catholicism that maybe is not biblical but but that's part of the process that doesn't mean that you can't be I have friends that I know and love that I know I'm gonna spend eternity with and they are Catholic and they are not nominal Catholics and then I have acquaintances and friends and and my life in the past that were Catholic just like I claimed to be Protestant and both of us were as lost as we could be I was as lost as they were they lived their life the same way I did they just didn't miss mass okay but we all did the same things together and I just never went to church all they did that was different to me as they went to Mass that was it so I've seen both but this is not the the Catholics do not have the corner market on cultural Christianity but they're also not exempt from it okay so there by okay and keep in mind as I've told you guys as I go through this process I think I touched on some of this back when we were talking about inviting Jesus into our heart and the sinner's prayer and some of those things I'd say one of the things that bothers me as a Christian and having a public platform is the emails that I get from what I consider to be arrogant people of the faith who keep telling me if I would just do fill in the blank then I would be a real Christian I've been told with every denomination that exists if I would just be them then I would finally get it right I've had the same thing happen with the Catholic Church if I would just declare myself part of the Catholic Church then I would finally be a true Christian and I must tell you that is not a biblical statement I'm sorry it's just not I don't have to be Catholic to truly be a Christian I don't have to be a hyper-calvinist to truly be a Christian I don't have to be a member of the Church of Christ to truly be a Christian I don't have to be a Baptist a Methodist fill in the Blake a Nazarene a seventh-day Adventist not what makes me a Christian and I reject anybody who says otherwise what makes me a Christian is whether I have been redeemed by Jesus or not so we will we will jump in to this particular study because it's going to be about the nominal Catholic it starts out about how we go about reaching generational Catholics in and there's a quote that starts out chapter 12 in the book by Dina and Sarah who by the way came from a Catholic background and he said the cultural Catholic this is Chris cast all those quote the cultural Catholic is like an agnostic offering lip service to God's existence while resting I mean while resisting his divine authority and he tells the story and and you see this in all all types of cultural Christianity he kept wondering why Papa Tony who was his uncle continued to take him to Notre Dame football games or watch them on TV when they lived in Florida and and the reason why his his Papa Tony told him they were a Notre Dame fan he said I asked him one day on this great day when he took me to Indiana to see Notre Dame play we went to all the sides touchdown Jesus and all this I asked him why are we Notre Dame fans most of my friends like teams that were closer to where we lived and this was a really long drive to watch our team and his answer was we are Notre Dame fans because we are Catholic and he said he quickly and confidently replied that answer he said I had never been told about anything about that before I didn't even know what he meant I knew that I was Italian and I need my grandpa loved to talk about that so I figured it had something to do with being Italian but for 20 more years I never heard another word from him again about his faith aside from his affiliation with a service group called the Knights of Columbus then years later he asked me now that he said when he was an adult and keep in mind Dean and Sara became a Protestant pastor and is today and he said the next time that faith was brought up is when my Papa Tony asked me while we were watching a Notre Dame football game in my parents living room why aren't you Catholic and he said I'm Catholic your dad's Catholic and so are all your uncle's well surprised and confused I continued the conversation and learned that my grandfather was content with family members and friends who were professing atheist and agnostics as long as they still said they were Catholic and he said but it bothered him that I was saying that I was a Christian but I didn't identify myself as a Catholic 20 years after our trip to Notre Dame I set there fascinated another example of this was a was about his wife my grandmother who was a professing unbeliever and not a Catholic his grandmother had no faith and didn't speak of any faith at all but when she died my grandfather at her funeral had a priest officiate the ceremony and conduct the traditions of a Catholic funeral and burial and he said this is an example of what we call the cultural Christianity version of being Catholic he said this this grandfather I said uncle I met grandfather his grandfather Papa Tony lived his life with no evidence of faith whatsoever but he still professed to be a Catholic and still pulled for Notre Dame because he was Catholic and even when his wife died who never acknowledged faith of any kind and didn't acknowledge being Catholic he made sure that a priest officiated the ceremony and she was given a Catholic burial he said today I understand that my late grandfather was a cultural a nominal Catholic this is a different animal than the cultural than cultural Christianity from a Protestant background Catholicism is is such a deeply rooted family-oriented tradition that even people who are not believers whatsoever will still claim that they are Catholic it can be almost like an ethnic or cultural identity rather than a set of beliefs and and I will admit that I have I have experienced this myself as I said growing up I remember vividly being you know completely away from the authority of Christ a cultural Christian I believed in Jesus I was baptized as a child baptized again as a teenager then left the church at the age of 19 and did not return till I was 31 and in that entire time I claim to be a Christian even though as you've heard my testimony I lived as a perpetual deliberate sinner in opposition to everything the Bible says a follower of Christ should be but I remember having friends who were Catholic who lived exactly the same way that I did but as I said in the opening I remember thinking it was kind of odd that wherever we were they would they would look in the phonebook because we didn't have cell phones in those days and they would find the nearest Catholic Church and they would go to Mass after we had been out all night doing things that that we should never been doing as followers of Christ and these were not stumbles for them they lived their life this way but they were still gonna make Mass every week and and they at least we're doing more than then pastor Dean and Sarah's grandfather doesn't sound like even attended Mass but but it is a different animal because Catholicism is so to some people tied to their identity not Jesus but Catholicism that it almost comes across as an ethnicity versus their faith think about your friends and neighbors and you realize this is something you see regularly a young couple will be unmarried and have a child while they have no connection to the Catholic Church outside of their own childhood christenings confirmations and first communions as soon as the newborn baby is ready to leave the house this non-christian but apparently Catholic couple will schedule their baby's baptism and go before the church there will likely be a special gown handmade for the occasion and celebration following the service with food and dessert with the exception of Christmas Eve Mass you know if this year they go the extra mile for their Catholicism and go see family for the holidays they will likely not return again until the next catholic rite of passage comes for their child the grandparents will not care about their lack of church attendance or beliefs as long as their granddaughter was baptized and their family doesn't leave the Catholic Church and this is something you look at if you want to see a nominal Catholic they don't attend church at all they don't even profess to be believers they might even be unmarried and they might even have a baby but they're gonna make sure the baby gets christened at the Catholic Church and nobody questions it everybody well as long as that's not everything will be all right of course that's not Scripture but but that's what you'll see and it says you'll see pictures of the next milestone of Catholic life first communion if nothing changes in their spiritual lives the confirmation classes begin a few years later and the child and parents might not be back it may not grace the door of the church again until it's time for the daughter's wedding in which the grandma will insist it will be a Catholic wedding and I remember a conversation that went on one time between I better get real general about this too people that I know in love very well and one of them is Protestant and one is Catholic neither one at the time that I knew were all that devoted to either but they were having a discussion and I remember the the Protestant person saying to his friend the Catholic when they were talking about the Catholic man's son versus the Protestant man's daughter and the comment was made by the Catholic friend will you Protestants think that you know it's either your way or no way and you think you're the only ones that are really going to heaven to which the Protestants said to the Catholic well wait a minute if our children decide to get married I will not demand that they get married in any certain Church but you'll demand that they be married in the Catholic Church or the marriage won't be acknowledged so which one of us thinks we're the only true church which is a great point so and you know you look at the word Catholic which stands for the universal Church that is a declaration that a lot of people believe that the Catholic Church is the true universal Church scripture wouldn't support that but I know that a lot of Catholic people believe that and and I and I've certainly dealt with that in my own Walt but I also have many friends who are Catholic that you know we acknowledge that we will we are serving the same Jesus we are followers of Jesus and we do not let our identity be and whether we're Catholic or Protestant or any denomination the identity is found with whether we follow Christ or not so as you know in this book the unsaved Christian pastor Dean and Sarah does a great job of putting together these lists that you can kind of look at and see is this is this you or is this someone you love and he does this for the nominal Catholic as well and of course me being Protestant I don't know as much about these things so a lot of this was very informative to me even though I have seen it in people that I know who are Catholic and here's what the nominal Catholic here's the list use Jeff Foxworthy you would say you might be a redneck if just like we have done in other chapters you might be a nominal Catholic if what you were claimed to be catholic before you claim to be a Christian I remember this in a very harsh moment in my life one that you'll see me reference a lot and hear me reference a lot because it doesn't get much bigger than the death of one of your children and I remember when my two and a half year old son went to heaven the night that that happened when I was standing in the hospital with the medical team and the Lord was just prompting me that this was a incredible moment to try to point people to Jesus everybody's watching to see if your faith is real first Peter 1 6 & 7 learned that verse it'll help you it'll help them if you learn those two verses in the Bible it'll help you a lot there's many others but but cling cling to that one so when trials come your way you can quote that so you kind of understand what's going on but anyway so I was standing there and I asked the medical team you know and my son's sweet little body was laying on that table with no life in it I asked them I said if you were in this position right now or if that was your body laying right there what would happen to you would you be standing in the presence of the Lord I'm asking all of you if you are followers of Jesus to which one of them said well I'm Catholic and I said I didn't ask you if you were Catholic I asked you if you've been redeemed are you a follower of Jesus and say that that's an example of what he's talking about and I will say that the Lord used that the evening for some in the in that exact moment for others I found out years later that God actually changed some of that medical teams lives forever in that moment and of course prompting that conversation to take place so you're probably a nominal Catholic if you're if being a Catholic is your identity not being a Christian or not being a follower of Christ if being Catholic supersedes being a follower of Jesus that is likely problematic number two if you point to rites of passage and family heritage as a reason for being Catholic and not any actual belief of any doctrine or theology what makes you Catholic well I was born into a Catholic family that's that's probably not good that that that's not the answer that the Bible would be looking for nominal Catholic rarely attends mass unless prompted by a family member but not going to church is better than going to a Protestant Church or worse getting saved in a non Catholic Church if you believe that redemption can't be found outside the Catholic Church and you would rather your children not be attending church than to be active in a Protestant Church that's probably a bad sign another thing on the list of you might be a nominal Catholic if if you briefly re-engage once you become a parent by having the baby christened and then again for confirmation and First Communion meaning you've never been in church at all but when you finally have a baby all of a sudden you reengaged the church again because you want the baby to be baptized as a baby and and you know and we we've talked a little bit about baby baptisms nothing wrong with dedicating dedicating your child to God and nothing wrong with declaring that you'll raise the child in the faith but I'm telling you and I've heard some of the answers that are not very good on how we will you justify biblically that a baby can be redeemed and and and be saved by being christened at a church now I believe and can support that the Bible teaches that there is an age of accountability not a specific number but you know baby throughout Scriptures you see you think about David when his baby died you hear David saying that once the baby died that he the baby will not be coming back to him but he will go to the baby in the presence of God one of the places where you see this but I think we all can say that you know it's it's pretty difficult to for a baby to believe in their heart and confess with their mouth that Jesus Christ is Lord and to acknowledge that God raised him from the dead on the third day and it's difficult for a baby to repent of sin and Jesus say clearly repent or perish however if you reengage the church once you have a baby and go these rituals but that's your only involvement in the church you're probably a nominal Catholic and you probably have been led with a false sense of where salvation comes from second he carries enough exposure to the idea of God to possess some guilt and know that something is off-base concerning their faith but often have very little understanding of the gospel believes pleasing God is about meeting milestones and then managing guilt that's not the gospel you know I that's one of the things I have Catholic friends that if you bring up the gospel they can tell you what the gospel is exactly and they are actually quite knowledgeable of Scripture but I've noticed just like the cultural Protestant that the nominal Catholic doesn't know much about Scripture at all so that's usually a sign you don't know much about Scripture you know something's not right you've got some guilt you think you can manage that guilt by certain rituals in and things but you don't really understand what it means to be redeemed the last sign that you might be a nominal Catholic you often have a which is kind of curious a small view of God he can be easily a piece but doesn't interfere in decision-making with a large view of our obligation to him and that obligation usually revolves around guilt not devotion and so that that's a list I don't know how you match up on that list I don't know how people you love match up on that list but but but that is the list now he also talks about this this funny story next in the book he tells the story about being asked to wear a white collar to actually officiate a wedding these were former members of the Catholic Church that had become Protestants but they were very involved they occurred they clearly been redeemed and they were active members of the church and they wanted their pastor Dean and Sarah to marry them and when he's going through pre-marriage counseling he then finds out from the woman that he's about to marry that she asked would it be too much trouble for him to wear a white collar when he a few Shh the wedding to which he says I've never put on a white collar I don't know how to do it and she says well I go ahead and tell you I've never told my grandmother that we left the Catholic Church and I want her to think that a Catholic priest is officiating the wedding pastor Dean and Sarah respectfully declined that request it says here's what you can tell your grandmother she's gonna watch you be married under the authority of God and everything we hear today will be straight out of the Bible and and so that was one of these things I mean it was almost like you know he said I've also had people that left the Catholic Church and have been immersed in baptized and they do not want that posted online because they don't want their family to see that they are not in the not in the Catholic Church anymore but and then because they think their family says you are already baptized as a child and they're offended that you've been baptized again but I have to go back to this if you were only baptized as a child how did you repent of sin if you've only been baptized as a child how did you confess Jesus as Lord if you have if you were sprinkled as a child how did you publicly declare to the world that you were dying to your old self and you've been raised to walk a new self how did how did that happen because the Bible says that's what happens involving Redemption so I think that is a question to ask and again any time you asked a nominal Catholic if they're a Christian they will say I'm Catholic they usually don't give any personal story about personal faith in Jesus and what they do is they get their faith tied up in the tenants of the Catholic Church and so then he gets into what I think is we all want to know well how do you start a conversation because I mean these this let's just call it this could be highly offensive and I acknowledge that by the way but can I tell you this I remember the day that a man looked at me and said hey your problem is you're lost and I had claim to be a Christian since I was a little boy and I was standing there at 30 years old when he told me this and it was highly offensive but it saved my life so we so we do acknowledge that this can be difficult and so some conversations that you could have with people that may be nominal Catholics he kind of lays out some of the some of the things that can help he said a good friend of mine as a faithful believer who converted from a Catholic upbringing she has maintained a loving and respectful relationships with her extended family and so much as she can control those relationships remember we can only control our part of the relationship we can't control other people she allows the differences in theological alone that's it not any other differences says they she acknowledges theologically she doesn't agree with everything that her Catholic family believes but she remains an active part of her family while respectfully maintaining the reasons for personally adhering to the teachings of the Bible and attending a Protestant church however we know the cost of following Jesus is real and sometimes people who are struggling to follow Jesus face threats of severing family relationships like like Christian who can converge from Muslim families you know they could even be put to death but they certainly lose their family and this can happen sometimes when you may decide that you don't want to be a nominal Catholic anymore or you may decide that you want to to leave the church and go attend another church this sometimes can be can be very very difficult and so how do you discuss the gospel with people who have been conditioned to think that being identified with something like the Catholic Church is more important than actually believe in the gospel I mean you may be surprised sometimes a nominal Catholic is actually easier than a nominal prostitute now when now there's some of you go what do you think I'll tell you why I saw this happen with a friend of mine the reason why that is is nominal Protestants which we'll talk about in Ch mile-wide Protestants next week the reason why sometimes a cultural Protestant is difficult to convince of their cultural Christianity is most of the things you try to tell them they have heard before they may not be in applying it when you're talking about a nominal Protestant you got to get deeper sometimes and start pointing to the standard you got to talk to them about sanctification you got to talk to them about holiness you got to talk to them about obedience and then you'll get to places where they'll see it doesn't match up sometimes with a nominal Catholic when you present the gospel they've never heard it before they've never heard it presented the way the Bible presents it because a lot of nominal Catholics attend parishes and churches that don't really teach the Bible to individual people he taught he talked about he had he knew of one man that has spent his whole life in the Roman Catholic Church and it only heard the message presented in Latin he'd never heard it in his own language so he had he had no idea what the Bible actually said because he'd never been given a copy of his own you so it says a lot of times it's easier because with the nominal Catholic if you present the theology of the actual Bible and what the Bible actually says is the true gospel sometimes they're hearing that for the first time and they'll be receptive to it and I saw this happen with a friend of mine they they may you know they realized that what they believed and what the Bible says sometimes is a lot different based on you know what parish or Church they attend and they realize hey this is not what I've been taught but with the Protestant whose cultural Christian they've heard all this they've heard the tenets of the gospel over and over they may never replied I've never applied it or like me they may never been understood lordship in repentance but they certainly have heard it but I had a friend of mine even if a Catholic disagrees with you usually what they're hearing is new unlike the cultural Protestant but there are some documentaries and you can get them I know you can get them on some of the reaming services and you can go look for this and it's a great tool there's two versions of it it's called the American gospel the American gospel there's two different ones but if you watch the first one and the first one starts out talking about the heresy of the prosperity gospel so don't don't think that's all it's about it gets deeper than that because it gets into that a lot of places the true gospel is not being presented or taught so I had a friend of mine who had left the Catholic Church and he said he was never really taught the Bible and his mother was in the same boat and she was very angry about him leaving the church and I suggested why don't you sit down with her and y'all watch the American gospel because in the American gospel it clearly lays out the the the way the gospel is presented and a lot of Catholic churches versus the way the Bible presents the gospel and it has diagrams and everything well he was expecting her to give him this huge push back but when she saw it laid out clearly she'd never seen that before and it changed her and and and she understood that she really had never been redeemed so it didn't offend her she just had never heard this before and she was so wrapped up on oh no my son's not in the Catholic Church anymore and I can't believe you left the guy of the church and he says but mom I've been redeemed by Jesus which you should be celebrating because I was not saved you know until I encountered the true gospel so when she saw this it was just presented so clearly so it's called the American gospel there's two of them the second one is called in Christ alone and that deals with universalism and some of the the the false prophets and teachers we have in churches in America today that's the second one but the first one if you get it it actually has a great part in there that that talks about the nominal Catholic and I think it'll be very beneficial to you as a matter of fact it radically changed a friend of Mines mother who has given her life to Christ and been redeemed praise His Holy Name so some conversations you can have if you're talking to the Christian with a Catholic upbringing and you they're a nominal Catholic keep the big picture in mind the battle is not Catholic versus Protestant they always want to make it that but that's not what it is it's rather a battle for the souls to be rendered to Christ don't be combative you know in your newfound zeal for new theology so if you were brought up a Catholic and now you're not and you're trying to reach out and reach a nominal Catholic the last thing that you need to be is arrogant like you found something they don't know that that doesn't need to be your approach all you need to do is like this friend of mine did just present the gospel clearly and point them to Christ in all things now you must prepare for pushback you may found that Catholic relatives are threatened and offended by your exploration of the gospel but be courageous be humble and be patient they may want you to identify first as Catholic the way you were raised they may expect that you are loyal to the Catholic rites of passage you can respectfully disagree with theological precepts without scorning the way you were raised I had a man in my life that I will always be thankful for Malcolm Street a first radio job that I was getting paid for I worked for Malcolm Street at WH ma am 1390 Anniston Alabama and I remember sitting down with him and I was young and stupid and he was old and wise and he sent that with me and I was you know I was bombastic I know that Michelle Kell as a young man and he said you know what he said you're passionate and you have things that you really really are passionate about he said but as we get out in the world of marketing and we get out in the world of advertising and he was teaching me how you know you don't get to have all the freedom of a radio show if you don't have any advertisers and how it all works and he said one thing I you probably need to learn son do not offend the alligator until you get across the river and and I've often thought about Malcolm Street meaning don't pick a battle just to have a battle because you know the alligator might let you come across the river if you don't upset it so one of the things that you need to keep in mind is that the last thing that you need to say to your family if you've been raised a Catholic is to scorn the way you were raised because now you've offended the alligator when you're just trying to get across the river so that that's not wise don't don't be combative about that stay on topic and omission confess what beautiful things about the gospel that drew you to the true gospel what was new to you what what were some new things that you maybe had not learned being raised a Catholic that you have found that you'd love for them to know about you do it as if you're excited that you found something that they might like to not that they're wrong and now suddenly you're right remember what we said about persecution and I've had to learn this and I've got some friends that can be bombastic as well and one thing that we always try to say to each other and you've heard me say this in this Bible study over the several years that we've been doing it if people persecute you Rick because you're devoted to Jesus then you celebrate that you you you can you consider that joy but if people don't like you because you're a jerk that's not persecution okay so persecution is people don't like me because I refuse to compromise Jesus and I'm devoted to Jesus that kind of persecution is to be celebrated but people when you claim sometimes you're being persecuted but really the reason why people don't like you is because you're a jerk that's not the same thing so it's not our goal to be combative bombastic and we can still stick to our guns without going there remember what the Bible says try to do everything you do including defending the truth and love now there they're certainly righteous anger Jesus showed us that with the turning over the temple tables but that standard is pretty high and so be sure we're not getting Petty and our flesh is not leading the way in these kinds of conversations you should also pray for them pray that you would love Jesus more than your family and that may be through your faithfulness to Christ they might be reached the next one is there stay on the narrow road you will undoubtably find theological differences between Catholic teachings and Protestant teachings of the Bible after all the texts themselves contain different books not to mention centuries of different tradition omitting the catholic bible bible will have books in it that the protestant bible does not when you do lean into those differences and ask questions surround yourself with gospel community and trustworthy mentors be sure you have sound theology and learn it if you don't from mentors mentors that you can trust if you're being accused of betraying the Lord by leaving the Catholic Church know that nowhere in Scripture does Jesus call us to a denomination of any kind as a matter of fact all he calls us to is to him to himself so for the friend pastor mentor our relative walking alongside a new believer from the Catholic background let me let you hear this know that they may be dealing with significant pressure from family to remain loyal to Catholic tradition and I've seen this knowing that they may be feeling the loss of family relationships because of their newfound commitment to the gospel they may be the only person in their entire family who now is not Catholic they may be wrestling with years of being told that to go against the Catholic Church is to go against God they must have read some of my email be prepared to spend time and effort helping them sort through years of ingrained Catholic theology so these are these are the different categories that we may be dealing with when dealing with nominal Catholic friends or maybe you are nominal Catholic and now you're trying to reach friends and family members of you you may find that nominal Catholics have never opened and studied the Bible personally so this could be refreshing for them to hear biblical principles shared from Scripture and I told you the part about what Dina and Sarah said about his dad that he never heard the Bible in anything but Latin and he said an overwhelming majority of the former Catholics that he has baptized were drawn to the gospel because they really had just never heard it before they carry tremendous burden they that you've heard called before a Catholic guilt and we've all read the jokes about that he said then they heard the good news in Christ that God will never again remember their sins and their lawless acts write down Hebrews 10:17 you'll need that never again remember the sins and lawless acts when you've repented Hebrews 10:17 that Catholic guilt became the very chauffeur that drove them to the cross now use it yeah we ought we all start thinking what's gonna happen to me when I die I don't know that I've ever been good enough member I thought about that last week well you'll never be good enough that that's reason why we need Jesus and because he makes us fully righteous so this may actually be good news for the nominal Catholic that is just burdened burdened with with guilt because they're not quite sure of how a Redemption actually takes place he said in his experience the biggest barrier to a nominal Catholic making a decision to follow Christ is not one of damnable good works or a false sense of eternal security or gospel confusion like many cultural Christians of any denomination who identify as Protestants the biggest barrier for many Catholics is fear not for their personal safety but the fear for relationships and being ruined and being perceived as disrespectful toward their own family and that family's heritage if a 32 year old cultural Christian raised in a mainline Protestant Church comes to faith in Christ his parents may just think their son has gotten a little extreme and they'll likely be happy that he's found his happiness if that's helping him well good for him as long as he doesn't get too religious you know with with everyone else in other words it isn't a big deal for a Protestant family to have someone say they were a cultural Christian before a converted former Catholic this can be relationally catastrophic they can send a message to the family that he or she is ungrateful for how they were raised you know and and and that's something I think that we need to never never take lightly you know if you're if you're a cultural Protestant your family might not even care enough about it to be upset but the the nominal Catholic who says I'm leaving the Catholic Church for them it is a really really big deal and and you know I haven't been through that but I have been through it in relationships with family members that that I believe that the Word of God is inerrant and I believe this is God's revelation about everything and I have family members who do not and I've had I've had it take place that if I was going to have a relationship with them then I would have to compromise what scripture says and and when I was put in the position to choose Jesus or them you got to choose Jesus and Jesus did not leave us in a position where that should catch us off guard listen to the cost of discipleship from Luke 14 verse 25 if any 126 if anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters yes even his own life he cannot be my disciple Wow for which of you desiring to build a tower does not first sit down and count the cost whether he has enough to complete it otherwise when he has laid a foundation is not able to finish all who see it begin to mock him saying this man begin to build it was not able to finish he says oh what King going out to encounter another King in war will not sit down first and deliberate whether he's able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand and if not while the other is yet a great way off he sends a delegation and asked for terms of peace so therefore any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple you know what Jesus says there's a cost to being a disciple and it may even call to your family it might you hope it didn't come to that but it might if anybody in your family says it's either us or Jesus if you're truly gonna follow Jesus you Pig Jesus not just because not because you don't like them or you don't respect them or you're trying to dishonor them but because you're a disciple of Jesus period but know that this can take place and certainly not just I'm not saying exclusively to Catholics in their family because it's happened to me as a Protestant in my family but for the Catholic family sometimes this is more likely so you just need to keep that in the back of your mind if you're trying to help someone you may be going through this and and then you get down to some things that can they can be uncomfortable and remember this not only has a converted former Catholic left the most sacred family traditions but in the eyes of their family members they are now not complete Christians you can't blame grandma who attends a mourning mass several times a week for being concerned these factors obviously carry great weight in making decisions to trust Christ Jesus gave some difficult words to all of his followers and I read it to you from Luke 14 but Matthew covers this same speech and Matthew 10:37 if you want to write that down the one who loves the father or mother more than me is not worthy of me the one who loves the son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me and that doesn't mean that you're you know I'm here my dad struggled with this part of the gospel I remember this even as a little boy hearing him talking to my mom I mean God didn't expect me to to you know to do not love my kids and not love my wife no dad you know you didn't understand that my dad does now but know what he's saying is if your family draws lines and says it's either us or him we go with him meaning that we and if you really love your family you will love God more than them I see so many people claim to love their children but they make their children their God that's not loving your children at all if you really love your children then you'll put God ahead of them if you really love your husband or you love your wife you will love Christ more than them because when you love Christ more than your spouse and when you love Christ more than your children and when you love Christ more than your family and you put him first then being under his authority and placing him at the number one spot he then makes you someone capable of really loving them that now they're not possessions to you they're not they don't have the the pressure put on them to fulfill your peace and joy don't put that kind of pressure on a spouse don't forget that kind of pressure on children no but they kind of pressure on your family you free them from that when you said that's only found in Jesus and now Jesus will make me the husband the wife the father the mother the son the daughter the uncle the aunt that only he can make me now I can really love you you don't love people when you put them before God you actually you actually put them in a terrible position and that's why Jesus says this in case you don't understand that but he's also making the point that we are loyal to him above all and that sometimes can be very very difficult especially if your family says if you leave the Catholic Church you now are no longer a Christian you have condemned yourself to hell by leaving the Catholic Church that's a biggie and if you don't think that's true sadly you probably have not read some of the canons that the Catholic Church believes canon number four if anyone's a sayeth that by faith alone one is justified in such wise as to mean that nothing else is required to cooperate in order to the obtaining the grace of justification and that is not in any way necessary that he be prepared and disposed by the movement of his own will let him be a nun Nathan a thermal that means to be cast out to be excommunicated that's canon for canon six if anyone sayeth the men are justified either by soul by solely in christ are by the so remission of sins to the exclusion of the Grace and the charity which is poured forth in the hearts of the Holy Ghost and as inherit in them or even that the grace whereby we are justified and only the favor of God let him be excommunicated so what some of the canons say if anybody believes that we are saved by grace through faith alone let them be excommunicated so there's an uncomfortable moment that we have to also remember the bottom line is Catholics and Protestants are not the same concerning some pretty significant core beliefs the Catholic Church knows it and it's okay to acknowledge it but it must be done in Grace with a gentle spirit and in love and it can be a very important mission field we believe the Bible and we believe that we are saved in faith alone in Christ by grace through faith if you have your Bible and or something with your Bible on it if you want to turn with me to Ephesians there's many places that we can turn to but I'll give you some others but I'll go to Ephesians first if you go to the book of Ephesians and look at chapter 1 verse 7 in him we have redemption through his blood the forgiveness of our trespasses according to the riches of His grace and then of course you look at chapter 2 in Ephesians these are very famous verses if you are familiar with the Bible this is verse 8 for by grace you have been saved through faith and this is not your own doing it is the gift of God not a result of works so that no one may boast for we are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them oh yea we are prepared for good works but we are not saved by good works that would be something that we would respectfully disagree on if you have your Bible or something with your Bible on it you can go to Colossians write this down to go to Colossians if you go to Colossians you want to go to a chapter one and you want to look at verse 19 let's go to verse 119 for in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell we convenient continue in verse 20 and through him to reconcile to himself all things whether on earth or in heaven making peace by the blood of his cross that's Colossians 1:19 and 20 some other verses that you might want to make a note of Titus chapter three five and then of course we look at John 19 and in verse 30 and we hear the words what it is finished so it's finished before I even do anything it's finished now does that mean that obedience isn't a sound of salvation I mean a sign of salvation doesn't mean that at all as a matter of fact if you've been in this Bible study eating amount of time you know that we we land on that hard and heavy Jesus makes it clear that those who are obedient are the ones who love him and the ones who love him are the ones that actually know it but now if you start getting into this thing out of whack you start saying that somehow the things that we do earn this salvation and now you're leaving sound biblical theology so this is a mission field it's right in front of us and a lot of the mission field includes people that will make sure that there's ashes on their forehead every Ash Wednesday they may be given up diet coke for Lent many of our Catholic neighbors need the gospel of Jesus Christ especially generational Catholics who find themselves in that nominal practice of their religion not devoted followers of Jesus we're told about nominal Catholics honestly they may have never heard the true gospel before so what a pleasure and a privilege it is to share it with them well we missed the opportunity by incorrectly assuming that there are Christians because they claim some sort of religious heritage if we believe that salvation is truly by grace through faith alone then we should care whether or not someone else believes that because their eternity may depend on now I realize that's some of you I don't know how many probably a lot of you if you're Catholic you probably don't listen or watch this Bible study but you might because you may already have some creat preconceived mark against me because you know that I'm not Catholic and I know many of your emails claim that I'm not a true Christian because I'm not I don't you can't support that with Scripture I've heard some of the attempts to do that they are weak on all accounts nor am I going to declare that any denomination makes you a Christian and because I know that's not biblical either we we are redeemed by Christ alone by His grace through our faith we're told if we repent of our sin and and and nowhere in there does it say that we can we live a life of perpetual deliberate sin that we keep running back and going through a few rituals that somehow that removes it now our sins are removed by Jesus Christ and Jesus Christ alone as a matter of fact you see that paul writing to timothy says that we only have one who intercedes on our behalf and that's jesus you know when that veil was torn when Jesus Christ said it is finished we now have access to God not through another human being but we have access to God through Jesus himself and Paul makes this extremely clear in Scripture and his letters to Timothy so I hope that you can receive this and the way it's intended the next week we'll get back to another version of cultural Christianity if you have any questions I'm happy to help any way that I can you can email me Rick at Rick and Bubba calm and I'm always more than willing not to argue with you but to as brothers or brothers and sisters in Christ to be able to as a fellow follower of Christ or maybe it's a follower of Christ to you who may be seeking and searching we can have an adult conversation with a gentle spirit but as Paul also instructed me I will not engage in foolish arguments that only deter people from the gospel not draw people to it so let's let's bow for a word of Prayer lord thank you for this time together I pray Lord that my attempt to communicate throughout this study things that sometimes can be difficult to hear and difficult to to apply but I pray on this specific topic this week if if anyone out there is watching or listening that maybe as a nominal Catholic that type of cultural Christian that today maybe is a wake-up call that your spirit would pierce their heart or maybe they have family members maybe they have left the Catholic Church and and have not even told their family this that they would start conversations that may be beneficial to all involved I pray Lord that you know if someone is watching and listening this that says I don't even know what you are talking about well I don't even know what is Protestant and Catholic he would mean but I heard something today about redemption is found only in Jesus and I want to know about that whatever the case may be I pray right now if you're if you're there God you would just you would just pierce their heart and prompt them to submit to you confess their sins our Lord bring them to me if there's any way that I can help them that they would reach out to me via email or on social media or me know if there's somebody that that that I know well enough that they had my my number that they would they would reach out and call me but ultimately lord I pray that you received the glory and that you the gospel of redemption was clearly presented in the name of Jesus we pray amen thank you for being with us you

Channel: Rick & Bubba

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Keywords: bible study, catholic, catholic vs protestant, catholic vs orthodox, catholic vs protestant debate, bible study with me, bible study for beginners, in-depth bible study, how to study the bible, christian youtuber, how i study the bible, how to bible study, christian

Id: KMiW8RCVQ4U

Length: 57min 52sec (3472 seconds)

Published: Wed Jul 15 2020