If you ever want to start a spiritual boxing match, just stand in a room full of Council of Trent enthusiasts and read Romans 3–5 out loud.

Toss in Ephesians 2 and Galatians 5 for good measure, and you’ll find yourself in a theological tussle before you can say sola fide.

The Council of Trent is an ecumenical council of the Roman Catholic Church, that was held between the years 1545-1563. The RCC held this council in order to fight against the biblical doctrines being spread in the Protestant Reformation.

Trent’s doctrine is deemed infallible and dogmatic, according to Rome. You must affirm this council’s teaching to be a true Romanist.

Let’s put on our funny reformation-style hats (see every picture of John Calvin ever) and watch God’s word and the Roman Catholic Church go a few rounds to see who comes out victorious.

Round 1: Paul Vs. Trent

Let’s start with Canon 9 of the Council of Trent:

“If anyone saith, that by faith alone the impious is justified… let him be anathema.”

That sounds like a direct hit against Romans 4:5:
“And to the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness,”

Trent says you must be “disposed by the movement of your own will.”

But Paul says:
“So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy.” (Romans 9:16).

Here’s a quick survey of Paul’s crystal-clear doctrine of justification:

  • Romans 3:20 – “ For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin.”
  • Romans 3:24 – “and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,”
  • Romans 3:28 – “For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law.”
  • Romans 5:1 – “so that, as sin reigned in death, grace also might reign through righteousness leading to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”

According to Trent, this message is damnable.

According to Scripture, it’s the gospel.

I will anticipate our Papist friends’ argument against this; “We agree, by the works of the law no one is justified, but you must cooperate with the ordinances/ sacraments of the church, which are not Mosaic law.”

You have now made the classic Pharisaical blunder and conflated your man-made traditions with the perfectly holy and righteous law of God, which must be followed to earn salvation.

The Lord rebukes this very thing- Mark 7:8

Round 2: Grace Or Works? (Canon 12)

Canon 12 reads:

“If anyone shall say that justifying faith is nothing else than confidence in the divine mercy pardoning sins for Christ’s sake… let him be anathema.”

But the Bible repeatedly points to just that kind of trust as saving faith:

  • John 1:12 – “But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God,”
  • Galatians 2:16 – “yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified.”
  • Ephesians 2:8–9 – “ 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.”
  • Titus 3:5 – “he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit,”

Rome wants to mix the medicine. Add sacraments. Add works. Add your cooperation.

Scripture says salvation is a gift (Romans 6:23). Not wages. Not a reward. Not a team project.

Even Abraham wasn’t justified by cooperating with grace—he simply believed, and it was counted as righteousness (Romans 4:3).

Round 3: Contenders- Canon 14 And Gospel Certainty

Canon 14 states:

“If anyone saith… that no one is truly justified but he who believes himself justified… let him be anathema.”

Translation: You can’t even be sure you’re justified—or you’re damned.

But Scripture celebrates that very assurance:

  • 2 Timothy 1:12 – “which is why I suffer as I do. But I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed, and I am convinced that he is able to guard until that day what has been entrusted to me.”
  • 1 John 5:13 – “I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life.”
  • Hebrews 10:22 – “ let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.”
  • Hebrews 7:25 – “Consequently, he is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them.”

Assurance isn’t arrogance—it’s the fruit of resting in the finished work of Christ.

Rome says: “Let him be anathema.”
God says: “There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1).

And the Winner Is…

Some might say, “Come on, this was the 1500s.” Sure. But Rome hasn’t retracted a word of it. The Council of Trent is still dogma.

We are not talking about a tertiary difference in theology here. We are talking about the very gospel of Christ, which is the power of God for salvation.

A false gospel cannot and will not save a single person (Gal. 1:8-9). Rome has anathematized the one true biblical gospel, and they teach a false gospel that you must affirm to be a part of the “true” church and be saved.

The issue hasn’t changed since Paul wrote to the Galatian church, or since the Council of Trent convened:
Is justification a divine accomplishment or a human partnership?

Trent says: Faith + Works + Sacraments + Merit = Justification.

Scripture says: Faith + Nothing = Justification (Romans 11:6).

Paul says in Galatians 5:4 – “You are severed from Christ, you who would be justified by the law; you have fallen away from grace.”

He wrote this to the Judaizers who were simply trying to add one thing to faith in Christ for salvation: circumcision. Rome is trying to add many of their laws and unbiblical traditions to faith in Christ for salvation.

Trent throws you a ladder. Scripture throws you a Savior.

“It is finished” (John 19:30).


“Who will bring a charge against God’s elect? God is the one who justifies” (Romans 8:33).

Pound for pound, punch for punch, Rome wasn’t fighting Luther or the reformation at Trent; they were fighting God’s infallible word.

God always wins.