OCTOBER 2012: So the Vatican has declared…

…  a Year of Faith, and in the press release states the following:

“During the Year of Faith, which will last from 11 October 2012 to 24 November 2013, Plenary Indulgence for the temporal punishment of sins, imparted by the mercy of God and applicable also to the souls of deceased faithful, may be obtained by all faithful who, truly penitent, take Sacramental Confession and the Eucharist and pray in accordance with the intentions of the Supreme Pontiff.”

There are then laid out 4 circumstances where the plenary indulgence applies, such as hearing certain sermons, or attending certain religious places and so forth.

Now, (and I say this to my Roman Catholic friends with all the love in my heart because you know I count many of you as my brothers and sisters in Christ), why on earth is this “indulgence” stuff still going on? Why on earth does the Vatican still think it has the power to dictate to God whose sins are forgiven (and who comes out of purgatory… if it exists, that is… I thought you guys were pretty much agreed that there is no biblical foundation for this? So you’re saying that this indulgence may be efficacious to remove “deceased faithful” from a place which may not exist…?)

By doing this, the Vatican is simply saying that “YES, there are ways to WORK yourself into God’s good graces… just do one of these things…”

And yet, there it is, clear as day in Romans 3:38… “For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from works of the Law.” And again in Ephesians 2:8-9, “For 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, so that no one may boast.”

So it seems to me that the “free gift” of salvation and redemption can only come in one way, at the foot of the cross, by repenting of the sins for which Christ died. That’s a FREE gift by the way.

That is why Martin Luther began his reformation, and that is why I continue to stand as a Protestant.

Simply put, I protest.