"Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid." [John 14:27]

"He who believes on Him [Jesus speaking of Himself] is not judged, he who trusts in Me never comes up for judgment; for him there is no rejection, no condemnation -- he incurs no damnation." [John 3:18; Parallel Bible, KJV/Amplified Commentary] The Hebrew word for "believe" is not just a mental agreement that a fact is true, but such a deep belief that your entire soul is transformed! The literal meaning for the Hebrew word we translate as "belief" is, "clings to, trusts in, and relies on". Then, we have Jesus' further enlightenment in the very next chapter, 3:3, that such a belief can only be part of the spiritual rebirth He called being "Born Again". The Catholic Church has not taught the necessity of being "Born Again" for over 1,000 years!

"There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love. We love him, because he first loved us." [1 John 4:18]

If your heart is not settled and peaceful, with the absolute assurance that you ARE going to Heaven, then you are not practicing Biblical Christianity! When Jesus, the Son, the Second Member of the Trinity, left Heaven to come to Earth as a human being, so He could be the Perfect Sacrifice which would satisfy the Justice attribute of the Father, He came as part of a Plan which was perfect in all ways. God intended for the believer in Jesus Christ to live a life of settled peace because he was full of assurance that he was saved! The Holy Spirit comes to live within the believer, and one of His main gifts is the minute-by-minute complete heart assurance of Salvation and of eternal life!

The last verse we quoted, above, states that "perfect love casts out fear, because fear has torment." The beautiful message this verse conveys to us is that, if we have the love of Jesus Christ dwelling within us, we will not fear torment! Why would we not fear torment? We do not fear torment because the Born Again Christian is promised that he or she will never see torment!

The Roman Catholic adherent will just shake their heads at this revelation, because Catholicism teaches that all men and women will have to go through 'purifying' fires of Purgatory. [See RC111, RC111a, and RC111b for full discussion of the false doctrine of Purgatory] Further, Catholic doctrine states that no one can be sure that they will go to Heaven when they die, because the "Scales of Justice" may be tilted against them, thus casting them into eternal Hell.

Yet, we have quoted Jesus' own words, above, in John 3:18, that anyone who believes on Him will never even see Judgment! The Apostle Paul reiterates this wonderful truth in Romans 8:1, when he says, "Therefore, there is no condemnation, no adjudging guilty of wrong, for those who are in Christ Jesus, who live and walk not after the dictates of the flesh, but after the dictates of the Spirit." ]Parallel Bible, KJV/Amplified Commentary]

Let us return now to the subject of Biblical Assurance that the Holy Spirit gives each believer.

" That their hearts might be comforted, being knit together in love, and unto all riches of the full assurance of understanding, to the acknowledgment of the mystery of God, and of the Father, and of Christ; In whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge." [Colossians 2:2-3]

" For our gospel came not unto you in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Ghost, and in much assurance" [1 Thessalonians 1:5]

" And we desire that every one of you do show the same diligence to the full assurance of hope unto the end" [Hebrews 6:11]

" Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water." {Believer's Baptism} [Hebrews 10:22]

In these four verses, we are reassured that the assurance that the Holy spirits gives each believer is full assurance [in 3 verses] and much assurance in the fourth verse. Yet, if you are honest with yourself, in your inner spiritual heart, you will admit that you have no such assurance, even if you are a zealous Roman Catholic. You try really hard, and you are really sincere, but you do not have this full assurance of your eternal salvation!

Let us hear one more word of assurance of our salvation from our precious Jesus Christ.

" Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me." [Revelation 3:20] Here, Jesus is promising that, once a person opens the door of his or her heart, in response to the prompting of the Holy Spirit, desiring to be Born Again, as Jesus stated was required, then we can be assured that Jesus will walk through our heart's door. Notice Jesus did not say that He might come in, or possibly would come in, but He promised that He will come in. We have a 100% guaranteed promise from our Redeemer that He would come in to our heart. Then, once he gets in to our heart, and takes up residence, He promises to "sup" with us! This word, "sup" means to share your dinner, or your feast. But, it also denotes a familiar intimacy. Jesus is promising to come in to our hearts, become intimate with us, and provide full and complete assurance of our salvation and of our eternal life in Heaven!

To see how the Roman Catholic Bible subtly twists this wonderful assurance, let us examine the most popular verse in the entire New Testament, John 3:16.

" For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." [KJV] The verb usage in this verse is one of absolute promise, providing no ambiguity. The words, "should not perish" is an absolute promise, one that should fill our hearts with joy and assurance as we place our confidence in it.

Yet, listen to the Roman Catholic Bible on this point. "For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish, but might have eternal life." ["The New American Bible, Authorized by the Board of Trustees of the Confraternity of Christian Doctrine and Approved by the Administrative Committee Board of the National Conference of Catholic Bishops and the United States Catholic Conference, Catholic Bible Press, NIHIL OBSTAT Stephen J. Hartdegen, O.F.M., Christian P. Ceroke, O. Carm., S.T.D., IMPRIMATUR: +Patrick O'Boyle, D.D., Archbishop of Washington, 1986.]

Have you noticed how important a change they made in their verbs, from "shall" to "might"! I might win the lottery and be financially set for the rest of my life, but I had better not quit my day job! Very subtly, Catholic doctrine changes the wording of this precious promise to suit their non-Christian doctrine! Of course, changing even one word of God's Word violates God's warnings in several Scriptures not to change by adding to, or taking away from, His Word. [Read Deuteronomy 4:2 and 12:32; Proverbs 30:5-6; Revelation 20:18-19]

Speaking of subtly changing words to soften the wonderful promise of assurance of salvation, I checked these other verses with this Catholic Bible. I found the same type of change with these verses, as well.

Now that we have demonstrated that the Roman Catholic religion does not provide for the peace of heart, the confidence that we will not have to fear condemnation, and assurance of eternal life in Heaven, let us review exactly what it does teach. We will be quoting from a book entitled, "My Catholic Faith: A Manual of Religion", by the Most Reverend Louis Laravoire Morrow, Bishop of Krishnagar, S.T.D., My Mission House, Kenosha, WI, 1959.

In discussing Particular Judgment, the Most Reverend Morrow says, "The judgment which will be passed on each one of us immediately after death is called the particular judgment. As soon as each soul leaves the body at death it undergoes the Particular Judgment, at which its eternal destiny is decided. 'We must all be manifested at the judgment seat of Christ.' " [Quoting 2 Corinthians 5:10]

Someone needs to inform the Most Reverend Morrow that the word translated "judgment seat" in this passage, above, is not the Judicial Judgment Seat in Revelation 20:12. Let us quickly clarify these two very different words in the original Greek, words that the King James scholars both unfortunately translated as "judge".

In Revelation 20:12, the word, "judge" is from the key word, "krino", pronounced "kree'-no" [Strong's Number G2919], meaning to decide judicially; to try, condemn, punish, avenge, conclude, condemn, damn" [Strong's Greek Concordance Dictionary]

But, in 2 Corinthians 5:10, the word, "judgment" is a far different word. This word is "bema", pronounced "bay'-ma" [Strong's Number G939] meaning "a reward stand, a rostrum". In Greek times, when the New Testament was written, the "bema" seat was the rewards seat in front of which the top three winners of a race or a contest would appear to receive their reward! We see this type of awards ceremony at each Olympics, where the top three finishers go to the "bema" seat to receive their medals, be it Gold, Silver, or Bronze. Thus, what Paul is saying here is that each Christian must appear before the Judgment [Bema] Seat of Christ, to receive their reward or lack of reward.

Paul further explains this Bema Rewards Seat of Christ in 1 Corinthians 3:13-15, and the picture is both frightening and insightful. Let us examine this scene of a person standing before the Judgment [Bema] Seat of Christ.

" Every man's work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is. If any man's work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire."

Paul explains that, when a born again believer stands before this Judgment [Bema] Seat of Christ, his works that he has done in the body after he was saved are all gathered together and placed in a crucible. Jesus will subject the works in this crucible to fire. If the works are consumed totally, the person is still saved, "yet so as by fire". We call this getting in "by the skin of your teeth"! If the works were done with proper motives, and with dependence upon the Lord, they will be changed by this Heavenly Fire into precious eternal jewels that somehow translate into eternal rewards.

However, this person is saved, even if all his works are totally burned up. We encourage you to also read Romans 14:10-11, where the word "Bema" is used again to describe the Judgment Seat of Christ. Jesus tells us all about His rewards in Revelation 22:12, where He says, " And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be." Notice that Jesus never mentioned His punishments, which will never be meted out to the Born Again believer!

This is the Biblical teaching. The Born Again believer stands before the "Bema" Judgment Seat of Christ, to receive rewards, whether none or much, for the works he has done after being Born Again. The unbeliever, or those who have believed falsely, stand before the White Throne Judgment Seat, where Jesus Christ is on the throne [Revelation 20:11-15]. At this throne, all the works of the person testify against them, and by their works, thoughts, and words are condemned to Hell for eternity.

Thus, Jesus is correct, and so is Paul, when they say that the Born Again believer can rest assured that their sins are forgiven and they are on their way to Heaven! A true believer can be as assured of Heaven as if they are already there!

Now, let us return to Roman Catholic teaching on "Particular Judgment". We must warn you before we get started that portions of this teaching are very accurate regarding the White Throne Judgment in Revelation 20:11-15. Other portions are just Pagan nonsense.

This fact is why a person cannot lose their salvation! A little later, the Most Reverend Morrow states, "He who dies in mortal sin, even if only with one single mortal sin, will be sent at once to hell". This teaching is Pagan nonsense, and totally un-Biblical! We are passed from death unto life the moment we genuinely accept Jesus Christ as Savior.

If a Born Again believer falls again into sin, we are told how to get back into relationship with Jesus Christ in 1 John 1:8-9. "If we freely admit that we have sinned and confess our sins, He is faithful and just, true to His own nature and promises, and will forgive our sins, dismiss our lawlessness and continuously cleanse us from all unrighteousness." [Parallel Bible, KJV/Amplified Commentary] How precious! Once the Holy Spirit reveals to us that we have sinned, we only have to quickly breathe a prayer of forgiveness and we are totally restored!

Jesus even reveals how many times a person will be forgiven. In Luke 17:4, we see that Jesus is prepared to forgive His believer seven times a day!! We find this kind of forgiveness of sin incomprehensible, even for an addict. However, Jesus' Mercy, when it is accepted and understood Biblically, is without measure.

Now, let us return to Catholic teaching on Particular Judgment.

But, now let us return to this idea of God's balance scale. At last, we can see the Pagan origins of Roman Catholic teaching of Judgment. Nowhere in the Bible do we see the concept of such a scale. We see such an idea only in Paganism. In Daniel 5, we read of the account of the wicked King of Babylon, Belshazzar, reigning on the last night of his life, and the life of his nation. In the midst of the revelry, God suddenly initiates action that scared the Pagan king to death. In verse 5, we read, " In the same hour came forth fingers of a man's hand, and wrote over against the candlestick upon the plaster of the wall of the king's palace: and the king saw the part of the hand that wrote." This scene is like that of a light being cast upon a wall, and the shadow of a man's hand being imposed upon it. However, this hand was not playing funny games, but writing a message that neither the King nor his enchanters [spiritual advisors] could interpret. The King brings Daniel in to interpret, and Daniel delivers God's word of Judgment against the King. Let us read this Judgment from God against the King of Babylon.

" And this is the writing that was written, MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN. This is the interpretation of the thing: MENE -- God hath numbered thy kingdom, and finished it. TEKEL -- Thou art weighed in the balances, and art found wanting. PERES -- Thy kingdom is divided, and given to the Medes and Persians. [Daniel 5:25-28]

God did judge King Belshazzar that night, for the King and all his entourage were slain that very night by the Medo-Persian army. God did not use this illustration of the final judgment of the King of Babylon because that was His system. Rather, God used this illustration because He knew that this was what the King of Babylon and his advisors believed!

In this most Pagan of illustrations, we can see the following three sections:

1. A Godly angel is holding a portion of the balance. This portion is filled with good and Godly things that are subdivided so a portion of them can be added to the good side of the balance. We see the following good things depicted:

1. Love of God
2. Love for our Neighbor
3. Observance of All the Commandments
4. Eternal Reward
5. Enjoyment of God in Heaven

1. Another angel is depicted holding the same type of a portion of the balance. This angel is holding the types of things which will count against the person negatively, and could send them to Hell. We see the following negative things depicted:

1. Venial Sin
2. Forgiven Mortal Sin
3. Temporal Punishment Purgatory

1. Then, at the bottom, in the middle, we see an angel in anguish because punishment to Hell has just been meted out for some poor soul whose good deeds did not outweigh his bad deeds!

Ladies and Gentlemen, this teaching is not only un-Biblical, but it is Satanic! The Roman Catholic Church has simply imported Pagan teaching and has misrepresented it as Christian. If this were the way we were to be judged, no one would ever get to Heaven! Jesus told us the standard we have to achieve if we were to hope to get to Heaven by this method.

Jesus said, " Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect." [Matthew 5:48]. If we sin just once, by act, word, thought, or omission, that one sin will weigh so heavily in the "balance scale" that no amount of good works could ever, ever, ever outweigh that one sin. When you understand that man is inherently sinful, and that every man and woman sin, this means that no one will ever get into Heaven by trying to do enough good works to counterbalance the sin they commit! Yet, the Bible tells us that there are millions upon untold millions of people in Heaven, from every race and nation under earth! How did they get there if they cannot work their way to Heaven?

In Ephesians 2:8-9, we are given the answer. "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast." You see, the Jews of Jesus' day believed that you worked your way to Heaven by doing enough good deeds. This false idea has been believed by untold millions of people over the past 2,000 years.

In Isaiah 53:5-6, we receive the wonderful clarification. Speaking of Messiah, later called Jesus Christ, God revealed His plan of salvation. " But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all." God intended that His Son, Jesus Christ, would have all the iniquity of everyone who wanted his sins forgiven laid on Him! He paid it all!

Now, when we fast-forward to the cross, as Jesus hung there, dying, we get the last piece of this puzzle. Listen to Jesus' own final words to humanity. " When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, It is finished: and he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost." The key to understanding this verse is to understand properly the word, "finished". This word in the Greek original is quite different. It is Strong's Number G5055. "teleo", pronounced "tel-eh'-o"; from G5056; to discharge a debt! The Greeks used this term to denote a debt that had been fully paid. Today, we write or stamp across a bill of debt, "Paid in Full" once the last payment has been made.

Jesus paid all the sin debt of everyone who will accept this free gift! In other words, Jesus just took all that sin debt that is pictured above as being on the negative side of the balance and just forgave it all! Now, the negative side is empty! Empty, empty, empty! Do you hear me? Empty!

Jesus instantly declares a Born Again believer to be righteous. We call this Imputed Righteousness. We are righteous because the Son has declared us to be.

Listen to God's own promises as to how He deals with forgiven sin.

This wonderful news means that sinful mankind is reconciled back to God through Jesus Christ in a process called "Justification". Justification means that man is returned to a right standing with God, even though man cannot ever merit such standing. Justification is totally the result of God's actions, through Jesus' sacrifice on the cross. You can read more about Justification in Romans 4:25; 5:16-18. Some scholars love to call Justification, "Just-As-Though-You-Had-Never-Sinned".

Once we are made right with God through Jesus' sacrifice, we are saved at that moment. Nothing and no one can ever take us out of the Father's hand. We are saved for eternity from the moment we genuinely accept Jesus' plan of salvation, thus becoming Born Again [John 3:3-7]

This Truth is so refreshing compared to the laborious, complicated, and false system of Roman Catholicism that you can truly feel free! You can genuinely understand what Jesus meant when He said, " If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed." [John 3:36]

If you are Roman Catholic, you can know the spiritual freedom once you reject the falsity of Catholic doctrine, and embrace the simple Biblical truth! Won't you turn from images to the true Jesus Christ today? Won't you turn from Pagan teachings that enslave you and terrify you, to the true teachings that will liberate you from your bondage of sin and of fear of Judgment?

If you would like to learn how to become Born Again, just as Jesus said you must, click now to our Salvation Page. If you have any questions specifically about Catholicism, you can email Rebecca Sexton, Former Catholics For Christ.

If you have never accepted Jesus Christ as Savior, but have come to realize His reality and want to accept His FREE Gift of Eternal Life, you can also do so now, in the privacy of your home. Once you accept Him as Savior, you are spiritually Born Again, and are as assured of Heaven as if you were already there. Then, you can rest assured that nothing will not hurt you spiritually. You will also know the greatest heart peace that the greatest God can give to one of His own children.

If you would like to become Born Again, and come to know this wonderful heart peace, turn to our Salvation Page now.

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