“Therefore speak to them and tell them, ‘This is what the Sovereign LORD says: When any Israelite sets up idols in his heart and puts a wicked stumbling block before his face and then goes to a prophet, I the LORD will answer him myself in keeping with his great idolatry.’ ” (Ezekiel 14:14)

The Sad Result Of Roman Contemplative Spirituality

My concerned friend Dr. Andrew Jackson of SmartChristian.com is at it again. He was commenting on Tim Challies’ excellent post The Myth of Mother Teresa and said:

Apparently, Tim Challies doesn’t appreciate or honor Mother Theresa as I do. You can read his article, The Myth of Mother Theresa. He writes:

The reality, though, is that if she preached at all, she preached a false religion. In so doing she provides us with an example not of a Christian responding to God’s call, but an example of deeds of charity and compassion completely separated from the Truth (emphasis Jackson’s).

Tim’s post is rather harsh in my view (maybe Tim has adjusted his comments since this post), Mother Theresa was a traditional Eastern European Roman Catholic and very human, and although she might not have verbalized the Gospel exactly as some men would like, she lived the Gospel as God would like. How I pray that I could follow her example of living the love of Jesus.

“She might not have verbalized the Gospel exactly as some men would like, she lived the Gospel as God would like.” Who says so? Um, well, Dr. Jackson says so. But this is certainly shown to be false when assessed by the Word of the Lord in the Bible. Even so, Challies goes on to correctly point out that so-called “Mother” Teresa of Calcutta was actually a universalist who believed God comes into the lives of people who are allegedly “sincere,” no matter what religion they practice. I have been trying to point out that this grossly mistaken idea with eternal consequences is the end result for all who practice the transcendental meditation of contemplative spirituality long enough to receive this powerful delusion from God (see–2 Thessalonians 2:11-12).

So Out Goes The Reformation

To Jackson’s huge misconceptions I offered the following comment at his Site:

This is going to be the defining moment for this sorry generation of Christians: “If the Catholic church is right about how we get salvation, then [someone like] Mother Theresa did indeed live the gospel. If the historic Christian faith is right about how we get salvation, then [someone like] Mother Theresa is [lost].”
Either the Reformation was brought about by God the Holy Spirit, or it was brought about by disobedient and divisive men. The statements made by “Mother” Theresa can also come from the lips of devout Jehovah’s Witnesses, Mormons, or even adherents of Islam. For that matter many non-believers do much with their lives and monies to help the poor etc., so this really proves nothing. In fact, Jesus even tells us our righteousness must exceed that of the religious leaders of His day so obviously they also had some “works” themselves and yet He still called them “children of the Devil.”

Absolutely nothing has changed with the apostate Church of Rome since Trent regarding the Gospel, which the Bible teaches is by God’s grace alone; through faith alone; in Christ alone – period. We simply cannot go by our feelings in this matter because as Dr. Walter Martin often said: “We are corrupt, and sold to sin apart from Christ.” This is true of every human being, and those of us in Christ know that God only honors His Word, and not our opinions about His Word no matter how “noble” they might seem.

I encourage you to please make the time to read the material I have written on the subject of Rome at my Site, or that of my friends Richard Bennett (a former Roman Catholic priest) of Berean Beacon, and Mike Gendron of Proclaiming the Gospel. And then make a more informed opinion concerning the Church of Rome.

And because he really has no grounds Biblically upon which he can refute the above comment instead Jackson apparently felt he needed to resort to an ad hominem attack by saying: “UPDATE: Laodicea Ken apparently condemns everyone prior to the Protestant Reformation to hell, especially those of the apostate Roman Catholic Church (see his comment).” Frankly I am glad he directed his readers to my above comment that they might actually take me up on my offer to read the suggested material written by the three of us who all happen to rejoice that God saw fit to lead us out of the bondage of the apostate Church of Rome–which Dr. John MacArthur called “a front for the kingdom of Satan”–into the glorious liberty of the sons of God!

The Strong Delusion Of Eastern Religion

More specifically to the social worker who came to be known as “Mother” Teresa, Challies tells us that “the six steps to peace taught by Mother Teresa are silence, prayer, faith, love, service, and peace.” From this reference to “silence” we can see that she practiced the meditation of alleged Contemplative Prayer which Thomas Merton himself admitted stems from the monastic traditions of Roman Catholicism. And then Challies informs readers that her book:

A Simple Path is a compilation of the teachings and meditations of Mother Teresa. Labeled as a “unique spiritual guide” we would expect this book to contain unique insights into Scripture and into the Christian life by someone who is perceived as being a Christian spiritual giant. Instead, in the foreword we read,

The Christian way has always been to love God and ones neighbor as oneself. Yet Mother Teresa has, perhaps with the influence of the East, distilled six steps to creating peace in ourselves and others that can be taken by anyone — even someone of no religious beliefs or of a religious background other than Christian — with no insult to beliefs or practices. This is why, when reading Mother Teresa’s words and those of her community, we may, if we choose, replace the references to Jesus with references to other godheads or symbols of divinity.

All Other “gods” Are Demons

O but the Word of God expressly forbids this apostate practice among God’s people which is as old as the original Hebrew Scriptures themselves. Consider this from the Decalogue – “Thou shalt have no other gods before me” (Exodus 20:3, KJV). This would seem clear enough, but it obviously wasn’t for ancient Israel because later the LORD God Almighty would have to tell them:

Jeshurun grew fat and kicked; filled with food, he became heavy and sleek. He abandoned the God who made him and rejected the Rock his Savior. They made him jealous with their foreign gods and angered him with their detestable idols. They sacrificed to demons, which are not God—gods they had not known, gods that recently appeared, gods your fathers did not fear.

You deserted the Rock, who fathered you; you forgot the God who gave you birth. The LORD saw this and rejected them because he was angered by his sons and daughters (Deuteronomy 32:15-19).

You may also note above that God, in polar opposition to the Church of Rome, refers to Himself as the Rock. Later He came into His world and – Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6). Then yet again concerning this point the Lord would still have to bring about the Reformation in what now appears to have been a vain attempt to get what passes for evangelical Christianity to return to what He has said in the Scriptures alone. And keeping in mind Deuteronomy 32:19 quoted above God the unchanging Holy Spirit most clearly speaks down the corridors of time to this inclusive generation:

“I have this against you, that you have left your first love. Therefore remember from where you have fallen, and repent and do the deeds you did at first; or else I am coming to you and will remove your lampstand out of its place–unless you repent”…and…“I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot; I wish that you were cold or hot. So because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of My mouth.” (Revelation 2:4-5; 3:15-16)

I think it’s safe to say this is a recurring theme in the Word of God and that the Lord demands that we live up to this standard whether a capricious culture surrounding us likes it or not. So when Dr. Jackson says of me, “Laodicea Ken apparently condemns everyone prior to the Protestant Reformation to hell, especially those of the apostate Roman Catholic Church” we immediately recognize he is not speaking according to the Spirit of the Lord. Does this mean he is not a Christian? Of course not, Satan even spoke through the great Apostle Peter, who by the way, was most definitely not the first “Pope.” The interested reader is referred to my article The Real Cornerstone where you will see Peter himself refute Rome’s fallacious claims concerning him.

Let’s Be A Smart Christian And Do What God Has Said

Does the above mean that I hate Dr. Jackson? Of course not, 1 Corinthians 15:10 tells me that – But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. As I often tell my local church: “If not for the grace of God we would be the Roman Catholic or the Jehovah’s Witness or the professing Christian we are trying to reach with the true Gospel of Jesus Christ.” And there is an element of truth in what Jackson says in that all those who deny the Apostolic and Biblical doctrine recovered by the Reformers concerning justification will have condemned themselves to Hell. That’s not my opinion, this is exactly what the Lord has stated incontrovertably within the pages of inerrant and infallible Holy Scriptures themselves.

Dr. Jackson, if you and I truly are Christians, then we will both put aside our sentimental feelings about other human beings in favor of doing what we can in the Great Commission that God Himself has given to the Body of Christ:

From now on, therefore, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh, we regard him thus no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation;

that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. (2 Corinthians 5:16-21, ESV)

One should be able to see that to be saved someone must be in Christ before he is a new creation in complete agreement with what God Himself told us when our Lord said – “I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again” (John 3:3). The absolute Truth is that until one is born of the Spirit he cannot say – behold, the new has come. So as nice a man as Dr. Jackson may be, he most seriously errs when he says that, “[‘Mother’ Teresa] lived the Gospel as God would like.” Her mission as a Christian is clearly stated above and since by her own words she denied that, as did John Paul II, they both are found guilty when judged by the Words of the Christ they claimed to have served:

“You hypocrites! You shut the kingdom of heaven in men’s faces. You yourselves do not enter, nor will you let those enter who are trying to.” (Matthew 23:13)

The Bible tells us in Hebrews 9:27 that it’s too late for those two – as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment. However, if your heart is still beating then it’s not too late for you. But Dr. Jackson, I can tell you this, as long as the Lord gives me the strength I’m going forth with the actual Gospel of Jesus Christ, and the only real question is: “Are you going to go with me?”