Last month, I posted my opening statement from the recent debate with a Roman Catholic Priest. In this post, I want to post my closing remarks. You can find those on the video by clicking here (1:17:04 time stamp).
I copied and pasted the YouTube transcript into ChatGPT and asked it to format this for me. It did a pretty good job, but I had to clean up a few things as I listened to the closing remarks. So, below is the transcript of those remarks
Why do I think that Roman Catholicism trusts in works?
Joe Heschmeyer, he’s a Roman Catholic apologist on Catholic Answers, a very popular Catholic website, writes:
“You don’t earn justification in any way. You do have to do things to maintain it and increase it.”
That’s what he said—and I’ve quoted several times (uh, maybe to the chagrin of Pastor Hart) the Council of Trent, which says you have to increase your justification. It’s not enough when you get in. You have to increase it. If you don’t increase it, there’s a chance that you lose it. You fall away. And you’re gone forever.
Now, we haven’t even gotten to the issue of authority—maybe that will come up in the Q&A—but these aren’t two monkeys sitting in a tree, one saying, “Come over here,” and the other saying, “Come over here.” I’m the monkey saying, God says come over here—because I have an authority. My authority is what God has said: the Scriptures. That’s the authority.
So I quote the Scriptures, because that’s better than man’s words—it’s God’s words. And it says to us what God has revealed about salvation.
At the end of the day, Pastor Hart, he may have this or that view of salvation, but I’ve presented to you tonight the Roman Catholic position on salvation and shown to you how this position denies the sufficiency of grace in the life of the believer and therefore denies the gospel.
It’s not a gospel that atones for sins fully and perfectly. It’s a gospel that you must keep going, going, going. We haven’t even talked about other problems like purgatory, but maybe those things will come up later.
Let me just quote some more Scripture. You don’t want to hear from me—you want to hear from God.
Ephesians 1:7 –“In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace.”
Romans 5:19 – “For as by one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous.”
“For God so loved the world,” John 3:16, “that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.”
Romans 5:9 – “Since, therefore, we have now been justified by His blood, much more shall we be saved by Him from the wrath of God.”
2 Corinthians 5:21 – “For our sake He made Him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.”
John 1:12-13 – “But to all who did receive Him, who believed in His name, He gave the right to become the children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.”
The biblical gospel magnifies the excellencies of the person and work of Jesus Christ. It is attributed to the grace of God alone, by faith alone, in Christ alone.
Reason being—so that no ounce of boasting may be in us, and that God would receive all the glory for His work in redeeming unworthy rebels.
One cooperates with God’s grace and makes it to the end, and the other doesn’t. The one who cooperates looks to the one who doesn’t and says, “You shoulda just cooperated like I did.” The glory is in man, not in God.
Christ, by the sufficient work of Christ, whereby He obeyed the law of God perfectly, laid down His life as a substitute for sinners, shedding His blood as a wrath-satisfying sacrifice.
1 Peter 2:24 –“He Himself bore our sins in His body on the tree.”
What’s happening on the cross? God is exhausting His wrath against His people on the Son. The third day, He rises again from the dead—and by this work alone, we’re justified.
We have been declared righteous based on the merits of Christ alone. We have peace with God.
There’s no more condemnation (Romans 8:1). The moment a sinner places their faith in Christ, they are wholly, completely, and forever justified before God—legally accounted righteous because of the sufficient and perfect work of King Jesus.
As you’ve seen—it’s kind of shady. I mean, it’s just a lot of going around. A lot of just a scattergun approach. But I’ve tried to maintain consistency here.
Rome obscures this. Rome puts you back in a place that says, “Do this and you will live.”
And there is an irreconcilable difference between the gospel of Rome and the gospel of the Scriptures.
Hey—but guess what? There’s good news, Mr. Moderator.
First, I mention this:
“Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God.”
Not baptism. By the Word of God. That’s Romans 10:17
I’m not here tonight offering a man-made system. I’m offering Christ. I’m saying to those tonight who have ears to hear—there’s a way out of the trap.
Consider more words of God:
Isaiah 1:18 – “Come now, let us reason together, says the LORD. Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be white as snow. Though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool.”
Jeremiah 29:13 – “You will seek Me and find Me, when you seek Me with all your heart.”
Isaiah 45:22 – “Turn to Me and be saved, all the ends of the earth! For I am God, and there is no other.”
Romans 10:13 – “For everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord will be saved.”
Acts 16:31 –“Believe on the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved.”
Revelation 22:17 –“The Spirit and the Bride say, ‘Come!’ Come, and let the one who hears say Come and let the one who is thirsty come let the one who desires take the water of life without price.”
Matthew 11:28–30 – “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
Mark 1:15 –“The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.”
I don’t care if I have a microphone, a bullhorn, or Facebook, or in the pulpit—this is the good news of Jesus Christ.
And I give it to you tonight upon the authority of the Word of the living God:
that you do not have to be enslaved to any system—whether it’s popery, or Jehovah’s Witnesses, or Christian nominalism. Whatever the case may be.
I’m not here tonight because I disdain Roman Catholics. I do not.
I’m here tonight because I love you. And I am repulsed at the institution of Rome.
And I need you to understand tonight that we can hate the false gospel of Rome even as we love those caught up in this unbiblical system—and I would go so far as to say, demonically influenced system.
Why? Because Rome shuts the door –[inaudible crowd booing] thank you for your kindness – Rome shuts the door of salvation in the face of billions.
I’m not ashamed at all to say: Pope Leo XIV is antichrist. He doesn’t stand for peace, or hope, or love, or unity. He stands opposed to the blessed gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.
But tonight, I proclaim to you what God has said:
Hebrews 9:27-28 –“And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment, so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for Him.”
So I am saying, Mr. Moderator, that all those within the sound of my voice—which even includes you, Mr. Moderator, and Pastor Hart—there is a way out of darkness.
There’s a way out of bondage.
There’s a way out of this never-ending, devious treadmill that is the man-made religion of Roman Catholicism.
But that way is only Christ alone.
He is our only suitable and all-sufficient Savior.
I’m telling you tonight: standing between you and Christ is no one.
It’s not the saints.
It’s not Mary.
It’s not a priest.
All that separates you and Christ is your unwillingness to trust His mercy.
From His mouth, the Bible says, comes a sharp sword and which He will strike down the nations.
And that includes Morrilton, Arkansas.
And it includes Perryville, Arkansas.
He will crush these places in His fury.
But tonight—oh, tonight—the mercy of Christ reigns in the free offer of the gospel to poor and needy sinners.
You must cast yourself upon the mercy that you hear.
Turning from tradition.
Turning from family pride.
Turning from trust in yourself.
Turning from trust in the Eucharist, where you would say you worship a wafer—this is paganism.
Turn from these things.
And turn from the idolatry of Mary.
Turn, my friends, from these things—and turn to Christ.
He will save you.
He will justify you tonight—even by His sovereign grace and undeserving mercy.
He is a glorious and wonderful Savior.
Turn to Jesus—who is King of kings and Lord of lords.
Find in Him the all-sufficiency of your salvation.
I’m not offering you grace to get you started and then you make it to the end.
I’m offering you grace that brings you home.
Find in Christ a righteousness that is not yours—but His.
And the righteousness that He is willing to give to your account.
A righteousness that meets God’s perfect standard perfectly.
Trust the Holy Spirit’s working in your heart even now—and yield to Christ.
I came tonight because I believe in the power of the gospel.
And I know that as many as are appointed to eternal life (Acts 13:48) will believe. Maybe not tonight. But God’s going to get you.
Will it be easy? Well, depending on how long you’ve been steeped in a false gospel, it may be difficult.
Maybe you’ll lose friends.
Maybe you’ll lose family.
Maybe you’ll lose reputation.
But I hold out to you the unparalleled joy of salvation and peace with God—not by anything that you can do, but only by Christ.
Receive the gift of salvation by the grace of God alone, through faith in Christ alone, to the glory of God alone.
