A Very Costly Decision

"...when they saw that the Gospel for the uncircumcised
had been committed to me, (Paul)
as the Gospel for the circumcised was to Peter,
for he who worked effectively in Peter
for the apostleship to the circumcised
also worked effectively in me toward the Gentiles..."
Galatians 2:7-8

Peter was not the first "pope.' That is a fabrication of the Roman Catholic church. This passage in Galatians clearly states that PAUL was given the ministry to the "uncircumcised," which means to those who are not Jews. Peter was actually given the ministry to the "circumcised," which means the Jews. Peter was not a Jewish pope. The papacy is one of many, VERY many false doctrines of the Roman Catholic church.

Catholicism has enslaved millions upon millions teaching them that the way of salvation is submission to the teachings of the Catholic church. It's the teaching of "works," which the book of Galatians clearly refutes. Doing good or being "good" is NOT the way of salvation. In fact, it's the very opposite - the way of salvation is in the acknowledging of one's INABILITY to not sin, the acknowledging that one is NOT "good." Only when a person comes to these conclusions can he then find the true way of salvation and that is through the atonement God provided in his Son when he hung on a cross in our place bearing the judgment on our sins in himself.

Having graduated from a Catholic high school after 12 years of Catholic indoctrination, I probably knew as much about the Catholic church's teachings as the pope did. But in all those years, I did not learn why Jesus Christ died on that cross. The Catechism told us he died "to open the gates of heaven." Well what on earth does that mean? And more ...what does it mean for me? It meant nothing because all I could picture was the closed gates of heaven being opened. Does that mean everyone can now enter heaven? No, they taught, you can't get to heaven outside the Catholic Church and following its doctrines. I tried to do that and hated myself because I failed miserably, over and over and over again. And the accumulated doctrines they taught me led me to utter despondency, because it was impossible to me to follow them.

Then the Lord sent two people, a man and his wife, into my life. I was a shattered soul, and they put a Bible in my hands - which would set me free. Not that it was easy, it was a very difficult and painful way because upon reading the Word of God for the first time, I realized that MOST of the doctrines of the Catholic system CONTRADICT the Word of God. This was a shock to me, an absolute shock. I could hardly believe what I was reading. No wonder Catholic indoctrination told us NOT to read the Bible. They said it was too hard for us to understand, and that there was a specific order of priests, the Jesuits, whose purpose was to interpret it for us. And we bought that, hook, line, and sinker.

It took a few YEARS for me to unlearn the false doctrines I had once held dear, and to understand what the Word of God really said. To leave the Roman Catholic church which all my extended family belonged to was a very costly decision for me. But after reading the Bible, I knew I could not be a part of a system of lies, lies diametrically opposed to the truth found in the Word of God.

Jesus reveals himself to his people in many ways. To me, he revealed himself as "the Truth" (John 14:6). Love for truth became the driving force in my life. And that meant that I had to "come out of her" (Revelation 18:4). And so I did. At a great cost, because my family was appalled that I should leave the "mother church." No amount of debate could convince them of what I now had to say. I had to leave them as they were, and bear the cost of their anger because I was bid to leave by the very Lord who came to me on the day I was "born again."

If you are a member of any church whose doctrines are based on some "holy" book other than or in addition to the Word of God, have the courage to question it, have the courage to go to the Lord in humility and ASK him whether the doctrines you believe are true, then get on your knees and seek the Lord to know if he would bid you to leave it. And know that leaving it will cost you. A decision will have to be made: whether to stay with the lies because of the cost in leaving, or to leave knowing that THE TRUTH is the most important thing in life.

“He who loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me.
And he who loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.
And he who does not take his cross and follow after me is not worthy of me.
He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for my sake will find it.

Matthew 10:37-39

I found it. Will you?