2 Peter 2:1: "BUT THERE WERE FALSE PROPHETS ALSO AMONG THE PEOPLE, EVEN AS THERE SHALL BE FALSE TEACHERS AMONG YOU, WHO PRIVILY SHALL BRING IN DAMNABLE HERESIES, EVEN DENYING THE LORD THAT BOUGHT THEM, AND BRINGING UPON THEMSELVES SWIFT DESTRUCTION." (Emphasis mine)
This month, let's take a closer look at the above Scripture. The words "privily shall bring in" are actually one word in the Greek. It describes the method by which false doctrines are smuggled into the church and why. The Greek word is "pareisago" which is a three-fold word that begins with the preposition "para", which means "alongside". False teaching, therefore, runs alongside true teaching. It is a very clever deception because it seems so close to the truth. The next part of "pareisago" is "eis" which means "into". This infers that false prophets would bring their false teachings alongside (para) true doctrine and thus gaining access into (eis) the body of Christ. The last part of the word is "ago" which translates into "to lead". This describes the Satanic purpose. To lead the flock astray. As Henri-Frederic Amiel said, "Error is more dangerous in proportion to the degree of truth which it contains. Take for example, the Catholicism that is being portrayed by Mr. Sungenis, Mr. Madrid, etc...with one breath, we hear that they believe all the Councils and teachings of Rome, and with their next breath they speak of joining with their brothers and sisters the Muslims, Jews, and of course, all of us Christians. Yet I have documentations where the Church of Rome called the Muslims their number one enemy and then in Vatican II, the Muslims are our number one brother. Mr. Madrid and Mr. Sungenis, joined the “Church” as adults. They were raised something other than Catholic and do not understand where true Catholics are coming from. They were not born and raised and educated in the Catholic Church. They do not know what it is like to have nuns and priests teaching you 6 days a week, 8 hours a day. They did not experience being a young child forced to go to confession every week, having to make up things to confess. And where were they when we were little kids being forbidden to eat meat on Fridays and told to kneel for hours before a statue of Mary? Mr. Madrid, Sungenis, Matatics, etc. can use terms like "evangelical, saved, sanctification, born-again", but any honest Catholic will tell you - we were NEVER taught such things. These are foreign terms to most Catholics. We never heard the gospel of Jesus Christ! In place of going to Jesus Christ, our only Mediator, for forgiveness of sins, boldly approaching the throne of grace - we were taught to fear God's wrath and run to the priest and confess all and do penance and then we could be forgiven...hopefully. But I want to be fair. Mr. Madrid stated that he believes all the Councils and their declarations, so lets look at some. For our readers unfamiliar with the term "anathema", it means to be "accursed".

"If anyone says that justifying faith is nothing more than confidence in Divine Mercy, which remits sins for Christ's sake, or that it is this confidence alone that justifies us, let him be anathema." (Council of Trent)

Well, Mr. Madrid, believe that if you wish, but Romans 4:5 tells us, "But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness."

"If anyone says that the sinner is justified by faith alone, meaning that nothing else is required to cooperate in order to obtain the grace of justification let him be anathema." (Council of Trent)

"Even as Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness. Know ye therefore that they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham. And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed. So then they which be of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham." (Gal.3:6-9) "That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved." (Rom.10:9) "Therefore by the deeds of the law shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin...Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? of works? Nay: but by the law of faith. Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law." (Rom.3:20,27) "For the wages of sin is death: but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." (Rom.6:23)

Another interesting doctrine that came out of the council of Trent on Nov.11, 1563, was their view on celibacy and marriage. Remember, these are the doctrines that Mr. Madrid admittedly holds.

"If anyone says the married state is to be place above the state of virginity or of celibacy and that it is not better and more blessed to remain in virginity and celibacy than to be united in matrimony, let him be anathema."

This is one reason why the Catholics maintain that Mary remained a virgin even after she conceived and bore Jesus. If she remained a virgin, she was more blessed than if she honored the marriage bed. Of course this also keeps the Catholic hierarchy at an advantage, since they are "holier than thou", because they remained celibate. Since when does marriage make a man or woman less holy? Heb.13:4 says,

"Marriage is honorable in all, and the bed undefiled". Growing up with nuns and priests, I can say from experience that we were taught that they were holy people who served God and we were never to question their integrity or actions. Is it any wonder that so many of the children who have been abused by priests waited till they were adults to confront their attacker? Though the "new" Catholics are promoting "unity" and use terms that sound biblical, the truth is their tactics are as old as Satan. Every evil leader has used the same method.

“The art of leadership...consists in consolidating the attention of the people against a single adversary and taking care that nothing will split up that attention...The leader of genius must have the ability to make different opponents appear as if they belonged to one category” (Mein Kampf, Adolph Hitler).

Just as Hitler did, the Catholic Church is using the pro-life issue to join forces with the “Christians”. They seem to be saying “if we just forget our differences and join together...we can overcome this great evil...” but we must not forget who it is that we are joining with!

“You say, ‘We want unity.’ Oh really? What kind of unity? ‘We want all the churches to get together.’ Oh really? You mean in error, in confusion, in heresy? That is, dear friends, the ecumenical movement of our hour, in which all the great denominations and all the great church leaders are becoming more and more unified. In what? In compromise and theological error; and this is the ultimate horror” (Human Races, a message delivered at Indian Hills Community Church, Lincoln, Nebraska, Fall of 1984).

They seem to be under the delusion that we have no memory. But we do remember. We remember the blood of the saints that cry out from the pages of history. Those who died rather than be forced into Catholicism. We remember the doctrines we were taught. We remember the Words of our Lord ringing clear:

"Behold I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves. But beware of men: for they will deliver you up to the councils, and they will scourge you in their synagogues." (Matt.10:16-17)

The false prophets are in the midst. Beware. They will bring in false doctrines that runs alongside true doctrine to get into the body of Christ and lead individuals astray as Jude 4 says, "For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation..."

The only armor and weapon we have to war against such devils (spiritual wickedness in high places) are given to us in Ephesians 6:10-20:

"...having your loins girt about with truth and having on the breastplate of righteousness: And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace. Above all taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God: Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints; And for me, that utterance may be given unto me, that I may open my mouth boldly, to make known the mystery of the gospel...."

The Catholic church teaches and preaches another Christ, another gospel than that found in God's Holy Word. (2 Cor.11:1-4) The Church of Rome has not changed their doctrines, only their methods in covering up the true facts of what they still follow by using Protestant terms. My heart cries out for the millions of lost souls who are imbedded in her false religion. We have been called out of bondage. John 8:32, "And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." Jesus said, "Come unto me, all that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." (Matt.11:28) The Greek word for "heavy laden" is "phortizo", which means "to overburden with ceremony (or spiritual anxiety)". If you are trapped in any religion that tells you salvation can be earned in any way, you need to enter into Christ's rest. Trust in Him. Rom.10:13 says, "For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved." Please call on Him today. Do not listen to any church, any man...hear ye the Word of the Lord and be saved!

by Diane M. Wachtel