Internet Free Wittenberg: I Came To Bring Division Listening Library: July 2013

Audio Sermon Enclosed:
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Sermon on Mercy & Indulgences

I found a free audio service to upload free sermons. I also hope to post a written sermon here as soon as I can. I pray that the Spirit's presence is there in my feeble attempt to share His good news of His imputed righteousness and forgiveness through the Cross alone.

Written Sermon Enclosed Below:

A Sermon on Mercy and Indulgences

(little different than the audio)

Mike Petillo

The issue of how someone is right with God is at stake. Is sin forgiven through the Roman practice of indulgences? Or is sin forgiven through the sole person and work of Christ alone? The Bible teaches that a person is right before God through the imputation of the perfect life and perfect death of Jesus Christ alone by the instrument of faith alone. For Scripture in Isaiah 55 (NASB) says concerning "free mercy":

55 “Ho! Every one who thirsts, come to the waters;
And you who have no money come, buy and eat.
Come, buy wine and milk
Without money and without cost.
²“Why do you spend money for what is not bread,
And your wages for what does not satisfy?
Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good,
And delight yourself in abundance.
³“Incline your ear and come to Me.
Listen, that you may live;
And I will make an everlasting covenant with you,
According to the faithful mercies shown to David.
⁴“Behold, I have made him a witness to the peoples,
A leader and commander for the peoples.
⁵“Behold, you will call a nation you do not know,
And a nation which knows you not will run to you,
Because of the Lord your God, even the Holy One of Israel;
For He has glorified you.”

⁶Seek the Lord while He may be found;
Call upon Him while He is near.
⁷Let the wicked forsake his way
And the unrighteous man his thoughts;
And let him return to the Lord,
And He will have compassion on him,
And to our God,
For He will abundantly pardon.
⁸“For My thoughts are not your thoughts,
Nor are your ways My ways,” declares the Lord.
⁹“For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
So are My ways higher than your ways
And My thoughts than your thoughts.
¹⁰“For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven,
And do not return there without watering the earth
And making it bear and sprout,
And furnishing seed to the sower and bread to the eater;
¹¹So will My word be which goes forth from My mouth;
It will not return to Me empty,
Without accomplishing what I desire,
And without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it.
¹²“For you will go out with joy
And be led forth with peace;
The mountains and the hills will break forth into shouts of joy before you,
And all the trees of the field will clap their hands.
¹³“Instead of the thorn bush the cypress will come up,
And instead of the nettle the myrtle will come up,
And it will be a memorial to the Lord,
For an everlasting sign which will not be cut off.”

Does Rome still practice the doctrine of indulgences? The answer is an undoubted "yes!" Here are two examples of Rome's public display of the practice of indulgences:

"Pope authorizes granting of indulgences for Year of Faith events"

"Philadelphia archdiocese offers indulgences - Philly.com"

To understand the Bible's doctrine of how someone is right before God we should consider the following Scriptural commentary on the nature of justification according to the Bible:

Justification means to declare to be righteous—it is a judgment based upon the recognition that a person stands in right relation to law and justice...How can God justify the ungodly?...God’s justification of the ungodly presupposes or comprises within itself—that is to say the action of God denoted by justification of the ungodly—another action besides that which is expressed by our English word ‘declare righteous’...This action is one in which he actually causes to be the relation which in justification is declared to be. He effects a right relation as well as declares that relation to be. In other words he constitutes the state which is declared to be. Hence the justifying act either includes or presupposes the constitutive act. This alone will make the declaration to be a declaration according to truth...It is not only through the one righteous act (Romans 5:18) but it is by the bestowal of the free gift of righteousness...That is to say justification has not only righteousness as its proper ground, it is not only that God has respect to righteousness, but it is also a bestowment of righteousness and, because so, there is the assurance of life...Now if there is an imputation of righteousness, such righteousness meets the requirement of establishing a new relationship which not only warrants the declaration but elicits and demands it and ensures the acceptance of the person as righteous in God’s sight (John Murray, Collected Writings of John Murray (Edinburgh: Banner, 1977), Volume II, pp. 206–208).

The question is, who or what forgives sin? Is it the practice of indulgences that forgive sin? Or is it what the Bible alone says that Jesus Christ pardons sin at His awesome Cross at Calvary? I have chosen two Christian hymns that speak to the exclusivity of the Cross of Jesus Christ:

What can wash away my sin?
Nothing but the blood of Jesus;
What can make me whole again?
Nothing but the blood of Jesus.
O precious is the flow
That makes me white as snow;
No other fount I know,
Nothing but the blood of Jesus.
For my cleansing this I see—
Nothing but the blood of Jesus;
For my pardon this my plea—
Nothing but the blood of Jesus.
Nothing can for sin atone—
Nothing but the blood of Jesus;
Naught of good that I have done—
Nothing but the blood of Jesus.
This is all my hope and peace—
Nothing but the blood of Jesus;
This is all my righteousness—
Nothing but the blood of Jesus.
Now by this I'll overcome—
Nothing but the blood of Jesus;
Now by this I'll reach my home—
Nothing but the blood of Jesus. (TH, 677).

For the Bible declares that Jesus' Cross alone expiates sin:

Rock of Ages, cleft for me
Let me hide myself in thee;
Let the water and the blood,
From thy riven side which flowed,
Be of sin the double cure,
Cleanse me from its guilt and pow'r.

Not the labors of my hands
Can fulfil thy law's demands;
Could my zeal no respite know,
Could my tears for ever flow,
All for sin could not atone;
Thou must save, and thou alone.

Nothing in my hand I bring,
Simply to thy cross I cling;
Naked, come to thee for dress,
Helpless, look to thee for grace;
Foul, I to the Fountain fly;
Wash me, Saviour, or I die.

While I draw this fleeting breath,
When mine eyelids close in death,
When I soar to worlds unknown,
See thee on thy judgment throne,
Rock of Ages, cleft for me,
Let me hide myself in thee. (TH, 421).

Rome teaches that she can expiate sin through the practice of indulgences. However, the Bible speaks of free mercy through the exclusive person and work of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Here are Bible's verses on the nature of justification by faith alone:

Being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus; whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation in His blood through faith. This was to demonstrate His righteousness, because in the forbearance of God He passed over sins previously committed; for the demonstration, I say, of His righteousness at the present time, that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus (Romans 3:24-26).

For as many as are the works of the law are under a curse; for it is written, ‘Cursed is everyone who does not abide by all things written in the book of the Law to perform them.’ Now that no one is justified by the Law before God is evident; for, ‘The righteous man shall live by faith.’ However, the Law is not of faith; on the contrary, ‘He who practices them shall live by them.’ Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law, having become a curse for us—for it is written, ‘Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree’ (Galatians 3:10–13).

But now apart from the Law the righteousness of God has been manifested, being witnessed by the Law and the prophets, even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe; for there is no distinction; for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus; whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation in His blood through faith. This was to demonstrate His righteousness, because in the forbearance of God He passed over the sins previously committed. For the demonstration I say of His righteousness at the present time that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. Where then is boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? Of works? No, but by a law of faith. For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from the works of the Law (Romans 3:21–28).

God demonstrates His own love towards us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us (Romans 5:8).

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for our sins, that He might deliver us out of this present evil age (Galatians 1:3–4).

He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross (1 Peter 2:24).

He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquity. The chastening for our well being fell upon Him and by His scourging we are healed. All of us like sheep have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way, but the Lord has caused the iniquity of us all to fall on Him (Isaiah 53:4-6).

Knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, is never to die again; death no longer is master over Him. For the death that He died, He died to sin, once for all; but the life that He lives He lives to God (Romans 6:10).

Who does not need daily, like those high priests, to offer up sacrifices, first for His own sins, and then for the sins of the people, because this He did once for all when He offered up Himself (Hebrews 7:27).

Nor was it that He should offer Himself often...otherwise He would have needed to suffer often since the foundation of the world; but now once at the consummation of the ages he has been manifested to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself (Hebrews 9:25–26).

By this will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all (Hebrews 10:10).

Knowing that you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers, but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ (1 Peter 1:18–19).

To Him who loves us and released (loosed) us from our sins by His blood (Revelation 1:5).

But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things to come, He entered through the greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this creation; and not through the blood of goats and calves, but through His own blood, He entered the holy place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption (Hebrews 9:11–12).

As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us (Psalm 103:12).

There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:1).

Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life (John 5:24).

My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; and I give eternal life to them, and they shall never perish; and no one shall snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand (John 10:27–29).

Here are two commentaries on the nature of justification:

If we seek to ascertain the reasons which rendered it (Christ’s death) necessary...we are taught by Scripture to ascribe it to the sins of men—and the justice of God—viewed in connection with His purpose of saving sinners, in a way consistent with the honour of His law, and the interests of His righteous government, through a Divine Redeemer. If this be the correct view of the reason of His death...then we cannot fail to regard all the sufferings, which constituted so important a part of Christ’s Mediatorial work, as strictly penal. They were the punishment, not of personal, but of imputed, guilt. They were inflicted on Him as the Substitute of sinners. He was ‘made a curse’ for them, but only because He had been ‘made sin for them.’ In this view, His sufferings were penal, because they were judicially imposed on Him as the legal representative of those who had come under ‘the curse,’ according to the rule of that law which proclaimed that ‘the wages of sin is death,’ and that ‘the soul which sinneth it shall die.’(James Buchanan, The Doctrine of Justification (Edinburgh: Banner, 1961), pp. 305–306).

Again we read,

A second kind of freedom from the Law is that the Law cannot condemn any more, which yet before wrought the wrath and indignation and just vengeance of God, Rom. 4:15 and Gal. 3:10; and Deut. 27:26, where divine justice sternly thunders: ‘Cursed is everyone who continueth not in all things that are written in the book of the law, to do them.’ Christ, therefore ‘redeemed us from this curse of the law, being made a curse for us,’ that is, being nailed to the cross for us, Gal. 3:13 and Rom. 6:10. We are no longer under the Law but under grace; and if under grace, the Law cannot condemn us, for if the Law still has the power to condemn, we are not under grace. It is, therefore, Christ who has broken the wrath of the Law (that is, who has appeased God’s justice, which would have caused Him deservedly to rage against us), and who by bearing the cruelty of the cross for us has so softened it that He has chosen to make us not only free instead of slaves, but even sons...We are freed from the vengeance of the Law; for Christ has paid by His suffering that penalty which we owed for our sins. Indeed, we have been so completely freed from sin, as far as it is a disease, that it is no longer able to harm us if we trust in Christ. For ‘there is no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh’ (Rom. 8:1) (Huldrych Zwingli, Commentary On True and False Religion (Durham: Labyrinth, 1981), pp. 141–142).

We continue with divine Scripture for it says:

But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ...in order that I may gain Christ, and be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith, that I may know Him (Philippians 3:7–10).

He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him (2 Corinthians 5:21).

Now to the one who does not work, but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is reckoned as righteousness, just as David also speaks of the blessing upon the man to whom God reckons righteousness apart from works: Blessed are those whose lawless deeds have been forgiven, and whose sins have been covered. Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord will not take into account (Romans 4:4–8).

For if by the transgression of the one death reigned through the one, much more those who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ. So then as through one transgression there resulted condemnation to all men, even so through one act of righteousness there resulted justification of life to all men. For as through the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, even so through the obedience of the One the many will be made righteousness (Romans 5:17–19).

Brethren, my heart’s desire and my prayer to God for them is for their salvation. For I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God but not according to knowledge. For not knowing about God’s righteousness, and seeking to establish their own, they did not subject themselves to the righteousness of God. For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes (Romans 10:1–4).

But by His doing you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification and redemption (1 Corinthians 1:30).

Commentaries on the nature of justification say:

If we would understand the reason why it is called ‘the righteousness of God,’ we must bear in mind that there was a twofold manifestation of righteousness in the Cross of Christ: there was first a manifestation of the righteousness of God the Father, in requiring a satisfaction to His justice, and inflicting the punishment that was due to sin; and to this the Apostle refers when he says, that ‘God set forth Christ to be a propitiation’—‘to declare His righteousness, that He might be just, and the Justifier of him that believeth in Jesus;’ there was, secondly, a work of righteousness by God the Son—His vicarious righteousness as the Redeemer of His people... ‘This is the name whereby He shall be called, The Lord our righteousness’ (Jer. 23:6). He is so called on account of the righteousness which He wrought out by His obedience unto death; for this righteousness is expressly connected with His Mediatorial work...By His vicarious sufferings and obedience, He fulfilled the Law both in its precept and its penalty; and is now said to be ‘the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth’ (Rom. 10:3–4)(James Buchanan, The Doctrine of Justification (Edinburgh: Banner, 1961), p. 319).

And we also read,

It is necessary to say a word...about the verb dikaioo which in the New Testament is translated ‘to justify’ but which has been understood in more ways than one. Since verbs in -ow commonly express a causative idea it is urged by some that dikaioo must mean to ‘make righteous’. But it is to be noted in the first place that verbs of this class denoting moral qualities do not have the causative meaning (e.g. axioo means ‘to deem worthy’ not ‘to make worthy’ and similarly with homioo, hosioo etc.), and in the second, that in any case the meaning of a word is to be determined in the last resort by the way people used it. We cannot at this distance in time say that, since a verb is formed in such and such a fashion, therefore the Greeks must have understood it to mean so and so; all that we can do is to note how they did in fact use it, and deduce from that what it meant to them. And by this test dikaioo certainly does not mean ‘to make righteous.’ In Greek literature generally it seems to mean ‘to hold right’, ‘to deem right’, and thence ‘to claim or demand as a right’, and ‘to do a man right or justice’...Neither the word structure nor the use of the verb outside the Bible, then, gives countenance to the idea that ‘to make righteous’ is the meaning we are to understand. When we turn to those passages where the verb ‘to justify’ occurs, there can be no doubt that the meaning is to declare rather than to make righteous...the basic idea is one of acquittal...The Hebrew and Greek verbs remind us of processes of law, and take their essential meaning from those processes of law. That a declaratory process rather a making righteous is meant is clear from the fact that the verb is applied to Jehovah (Ps. 51: 4), for it is an impossible thought that He should be ‘made righteous’ in any sense other than ‘made righteous before men’ or ‘declared righteous’. When we turn to the noun and the adjective from this root we find the same essentially forensic significance. The righteous are those acquitted at the bar of God’s justice, and righteousness is the standing of those so acquitted. Nobody who has taken the trouble to examine the ninety–two examples of the use of dikaiosune in the New Testament will doubt that the forensic use is primary...When, for example, St. Paul speaks of the righteousness which is by faith, he is not thinking in terms of mercy in men, but of their legal standing before God (Leon Morris, The Apostolic Preaching of the Cross (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1955), pp. 225-226, 234-235, 249).

John Calvin wrote,

Let us explain what these expressions mean: that man is justified in God’s sight, and that he is justified by faith or works. He is said to be justified in God’s sight who is both reckoned righteous in God’s judgment and has been accepted on account of his righteousness. Indeed as iniquity is abominable to God, so no sinner can find favor in his eyes in so far as he is a sinner and so long as he is reckoned as such. Accordingly wherever there is sin, there also the wrath and vengeance of God show themselves. Now he is justified who is reckoned in the condition not of a sinner, but of a righteous man; and for that reason, he stands firm before God’s judgment seat while all sinners fall. If an innocent accused person be summoned before the judgment seat of a fair judge, where he will be judged according to his innocence, he is said to be ‘justified’ before the judge. Thus, justified before God is the man who, freed from the company of sinners, has God to witness and affirm his righteousness. In the same way, therefore, he in whose life that purity and holiness will be found which deserves a testimony of righteousness before God’s throne will be said to be justified by works, or else he who, by the wholeness of his works, can meet and satisfy God’s judgment. On the contrary, justified by faith is he who, excluded from the righteousness of works, grasps the righteousness of Christ through faith, and clothed in it, appears in God’s sight not as a sinner but as a righteous man. Therefore we explain justification simply as the acceptance with which God receives us into his favor as righteous men. And we say that it consists in the remission of sins and the imputation of Christ’s righteousness.
Therefore, ‘to justify’ means nothing else than to acquit of guilt him who was accused, as if his innocence were confirmed. Therefore, since God justifies us by the intercession of Christ, he absolves us not by the confirmation of our innocence but by the imputation of righteousness, so that we who are not righteous in ourselves may be reckoned as such in Christ (John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion. Found in The Library of Christian Classics (Philadelphia: Westminster, 1960), Volume XIX, Book III, Chapter XI.2–3, pp. 726–728).

For Scripture still says in light of indulgences,

If it is by grace it is no longer on the basis of works otherwise grace is no longer grace (Romans 11:6).

For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from the works of the Law (Romans 3:28).

By grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, that no one should boast (Ephesians 2:8–9).

In conclusion Luther wrote on justification,

Because an eternal, unchangeable sentence of condemnation has passed upon sin—for God cannot and will not regard sin with favor, but his wrath abides upon it eternally and irrevocably—redemption was not possible without a ransom of such precious worth as to atone for sin, to assume the guilt, pay the price of wrath and thus abolish sin. This no creature was able to do. There was no remedy except for God’s only Son to step into our distress and himself become man, to take upon himself the load of awful and eternal wrath and make his own body and blood a sacrifice for sin. And so he did, out of the immeasurably great mercy and love towards us, giving himself up and bearing the sentence of unending wrath and death. So infinitely precious to God is this sacrifice and atonement of his only begotten Son who is one with him in divinity and majesty, that God is reconciled thereby and receives into grace and forgiveness of sins all who believe in his Son. Only by believing may we enjoy the precious atonement of Christ, the forgiveness obtained for us and given us out of profound, inexpressible love. We have nothing to boast of for ourselves, but must ever joyfully thank and praise him who at such priceless cost redeemed us condemned and lost sinners (Martin Luther, Epistle Sermon, Twenty–fourth Sunday After Trinity (Lenker Edition, Vol. IX, #43–45. Found in A Compend of Luther’s Theology, Hugh Kerr, Ed., (Philadelphia: Westminster, 1966), pp. 52–53).

Here are quotations on the Roman practices of indulgences defined in Indulgentiarum Doctrina:

1. The doctrine and practice of indulgences which have been in force for many centuries in the Catholic Church have a solid foundation in divine revelation¹ which comes from the Apostles and "develops in the Church with the help of the Holy Spirit," while "as the centuries succeed one another the Church constantly moves forward toward the fullness of divine truth until the words of God reach their complete fulfillment in her."²

For an exact understanding of this doctrine and of its beneficial use it is necessary, however, to remember truths which the entire Church illumined by the Word of God has always believed and which the bishops, the successors of the Apostles, and first and foremost among them the Roman Pontiffs, the successors of Peter, have taught by means of pastoral practice as well as doctrinal documents throughout the course of centuries to this day.

2. It is a divinely revealed truth that sins bring punishments inflicted by God's sanctity and justice. These must be expiated either on this earth through the sorrows, miseries and calamities of this life and above all through death,³ or else in the life beyond through fire and torments or "purifying" punishments.⁴ Therefore it has always been the conviction of the faithful that the paths of evil are fraught with many stumbling blocks and bring adversities, bitterness and harm to those who follow them.5

...3. It is therefore necessary for the full remission and -- as it is called -- reparation of sins not only that friendship with God be reestablished by a sincere conversion of the mind and amends made for the offense against His wisdom and goodness, but also that all the personal as well as social values and those of the universal order itself, which have been diminished or destroyed by sin, be fully reintegrated whether through voluntary reparation which will involve punishment or through acceptance of the punishments established by the just and most holy wisdom of God, from which there will shine forth throughout the world the sanctity and the splendor of His glory. The very existence and the gravity of the punishment enable us to understand the foolishness and malice of sin and its harmful consequences.

That punishment or the vestiges of sin may remain to be expiated or cleansed and that they in fact frequently do even after the remission of guilt⁸ is clearly demonstrated by the doctrine on purgatory. In purgatory, in fact, the souls of those "who died in the charity of God and truly repentant, but before satisfying with worthy fruits of penance for sins committed and for omissions"⁹ are cleansed after death with purgatorial punishments. This is also clearly evidenced in the liturgical prayers with which the Christian community admitted to Holy Communion has addressed God since most ancient times: "that we, who are justly subjected to afflictions because of our sins, may be mercifully set free from them for the glory of thy name."¹⁰

...4. There reigns among men, by the hidden and benign mystery of the divine will, a supernatural solidarity whereby the sin of one harms the others just as the holiness of one also benefits the others.¹² Thus the Christian faithful give each other mutual aid to attain their supernatural aim. A testimony of this solidarity is manifested in Adam himself, whose sin is passed on through propagation to all men. But of this supernatural solidarity the greatest and most perfect principle, foundation and example is Christ Himself to communion with Whom God has called us.¹³

Thus is explained the "treasury of the Church"²⁰ which should certainly not be imagined as the sum total of material goods accumulated in the course of the centuries, but the infinite and inexhaustible value the expiation and the merits of Christ Our Lord have before God, offered as they were so that all of mankind could be set free from sin and attain communion with the Father. It is Christ the Redeemer Himself in whom the satisfactions and merits of His redemption exist and find their force.²¹ This treasury also includes the truly immense, unfathomable and ever pristine value before God of the prayers and good works of the Blessed Virgin Mary and all the saints, who following in the footsteps of Christ the Lord and by His grace have sanctified their lives and fulfilled the mission entrusted to them by the Father. Thus while attaining their own salvation, they have also cooperated in the salvation of their brothers in the unity of the Mystical Body.

For this reason there certainly exists between the faithful who have already reached their heavenly home, those who are expiating their sins in purgatory and those who are still pilgrims on earth a perennial link of charity and an abundant exchange of all the goods by which, with the expiation of all the sins of the entire Mystical Body, divine justice is placated. God's mercy is thus led to forgiveness, so that sincerely repentant sinners may participate as soon as possible in the full enjoyment of the benefits of the family of God.

Good works, particularly those which human frailty finds difficult, were also offered to God for the salvation of sinners from the Church's most ancient times.²⁷ And since the sufferings of the martyrs for the faith and for the law of God were considered of great value, penitents used to turn to the martyrs, to be helped by their merits to obtain from the bishops a more speedy reconciliation.²⁸ Indeed the prayer and good works of the upright were considered to be of so great value that it could be asserted the penitent was washed, cleansed and redeemed with the help of the entire Christian people.²⁹

The use of indulgences, which spread gradually, became a very evident fact in the history of the Church when the Roman Pontiffs decreed that certain works useful to the common good of the Church "could replace all penitential practices"³⁴ and that the faithful who were "truly repentant and had confessed their sins" and performed such works were granted "by the mercy of Almighty God and . . . trusting in the merits and the authority of His Apostles" and 'by virtue of the fullness of the apostolic power', not only full and abundant forgiveness, but the most complete forgiveness for their sins possible."³⁵

10. Likewise, the religious practice of indulgences reawakens trust and hope in a full reconciliation with God the Father, but in such a way as will not justify any negligence nor in any way diminish the effort to acquire the dispositions required for full communion with God. Although indulgences are in fact free gifts, nevertheless they are granted for the living as well as for the dead only on determined conditions. To acquire them, it is indeed required on the one hand that prescribed works be performed, and on the other that the faithful have the necessary dispositions, that is to say, that they love God, detest sin, place their trust in the merits of Christ and believe firmly in the great assistance they derive from the Communion of Saints.

The salutary institution of indulgences therefore contributes in its own way to bringing it about that the Church appear before Christ without blemish or defect, but holy and immaculate,⁴⁵ admirably united with Christ in the supernatural bond of charity. Since in fact by means of indulgences members of the Church who are undergoing purification are united more speedily to those of the Church in heaven, the kingdom of Christ is through these same indulgences established more extensively and more speedily "until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the deep knowledge of the Son of God, to perfect manhood, to the mature measure of the fullness of Christ."⁴⁶

^{In passing, the Bible says that Jesus Christ alone makes His people without blemish or defect, but holy and unblameable (Ephesians chapter 5).}

...n.1 -- An indulgence is the remission before God of the temporal punishment due sins already forgiven as far as their guilt is concerned, which the follower of Christ with the proper dispositions and under certain determined conditions acquires through the intervention of the Church which, as minister of the Redemption, authoritatively dispenses and applies the treasury of the satisfaction won by Christ and the saints.

The basis for the Roman practice of indulgences comes from their papal supremacy through their self-proclamation that they can forgive sins and from this concept comes the unbiblical view of indulgences (Vatican Council II, Constitution of the Revision of Indulgences). The Bible says that righteousness does not come from works. Rather righteousness comes through Jesus our Savior and God (Galatians 2:21). The practice of indulgences fits with the unbiblical view of purgatory. St. Augustine declared that purgatory was "left doubtful" (The Euchiridion, 69) and Polycarp spoke of the presence of the Lord through faith and righteousness (The Epistle of Polycarp to the Philippians, 9).

The Second Vatican Council spoke of punishments that expiate sin (pg. 63). John Hardon author of "The Catholic Catechism" with an imprimatur spoke of "satisfaction won by Christ and the saints" (cf. RCC 1471/1498/1479/1477). The Council of Trent anathematizes anyone who rejects their doctrine of indulgences (Decree on Indulgences, Ses. 25).

Dear sinner, will you be satisfied with the robes of righteousness of sinner/saints and Jesus? Or will you be satisfied with the very robes of the unified merit and divine righteousness of Jesus Christ alone in His life and His death through simple trust in His Almighty name? Justin the Martyr speaks of Jewish sinners that know God have no imputation of sin and Michael Horton mentions that indulgences are still sold today (The Christian Faith, pg. 765).

Do you seek expiation of sins through torments, punishments, sufferings and meritorious judgements in this life and/or in the fires of purgatory? Why not be satisfied with the all-meritorious sufferings of Jesus Christ at His Cross alone? Fatherly displeasure in chastening is not meritorious. Rather it is God chastening His children to conform us to His Son's image; none of it is adding to the Cross of Jesus Christ.

May God enable you to seek Him out while there is yet time.

To God alone be the glory!

Internet Free Wittenberg: I Came To Bring Division Listening Library

Monday, July 8, 2013

"A Sermon on Mercy and Indulgences"

Saturday, July 6, 2013

A List of What I Am Planning in Apologetics