Websites By Ex

The past two weeks, I stumbled upon two website, one by an ex-Roman Catholic and another by an ex-Muslim.

Ex-Roman Catholic
Here is a powerful refutation of the Roman Catholic Church's theology of salvation using the Bible in the web page "Faith Alone".

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We are often told by our Catholic friends that Martin Luther invented the doctrine of "Sola Fide" or faith alone. They ask, "Show me any verse in the Bible that states "by faith alone." They often claim that Luther added the word "alone" to his translation of Romans 3:28-"Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith (alone) without the deeds of the law." According to Rome, the teachings of faith alone was no where to be found for the first fifteen hundred years of church history. Furthermore Catholics claim that "by faith alone" is a false premise used by the Reformers.

The Catholic church goes one step further and pronounces a curse on anyone who believes that salvation is by grace through faith alone. This is quite evident by the following statements that are found in the Council of Trent. This Council was the nineteenth general council of the Catholic church and was convened from 1545 to 1563. Everything that was espoused in Trent was later reaffirmed in Vatican Council I (1870) and Vatican Council II (1962-1965). All of the major Catholic Catechisms quote heavily from Trent.
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I am not interested in what Martin Luther had to say about "sola fide." I am also not interested in what the Roman Catholic church has to say about "sola fide" either. I am only interested in what the Bible has to say on the subject. I must concede that there are in fact no verses in the New Testament that specifically state the phrase "by faith alone." However the doctrine of salvation by faith alone is clearly espoused in the New Testament. Following is a litany of verses that clearly teach the doctrine of salvation by faith alone.
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Ex-Muslim
In this web page "My Story", an Iraqi Christian told how he "cried to the true God of the universe, 'reveal yourself to me please, I cannot find you on my own'".

Here is an excerpt of his testimony:

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Why was Jesus born from a virgin mother? Why is He sinless? Why did He not die? Why is He still living up in heaven? Why did He do all of these miracles? Why is He so special?

I was bewildered by the agreement between the Quran and the Gospel that Jesus was born from a virgin mother. Why did He have no father? I recalled the Islamic answer,

Verily, Jesus is as Adam in the sight of God. He created him of dust: He then said to him, “Be” – and he was. Quran 3:59

So, Jesus is like Adam! Hmm. There is only one thing making Jesus similar to Adam. They both did not have a father, but definitely Jesus is the opposite of Adam in everything else.

Adam lived in paradise, he was sinless and immortal then (he did not have to die) until he disobeyed God commandment and ate from the forbidden tree and was expelled from paradise to earth (Quran 20:115-123).

Though the Quran suggested that Allah forgave Adam, we cannot say that Adam is sinless. He is now “forgiven” not “sinless”. Living on earth, Adam did not enjoy his previous privilege in paradise, immortality. Adam now DIES.

It was clear to me, that Adam had been expelled from paradise was not the only punishment for his disobedience, he received an extra punishment: DEATH.

As children of Adam, we all die like him. In a way, we inherited death from him; in other words, we inherited Adam’s punishment.

Since God is just, we should not be punished for something we did not do; indeed none of us is capable to avoid sin. All of us have sin, one way or another. My conclusion was: we inherited the ability of sin or the nature of sin from Adam; therefore we received the just punishment of death just like him. (read my article "Adam’s Sin")

But just as by one man’s sin, death entered into mankind, is it possible that through one man’s sinlessness we could be restored back to eternal life in paradise?

The only sinless man like Adam is Jesus. He is the second and last Adam who never sinned. He indeed could restore us back to eternal life in paradise, if we believed in Him and followed Him.
I found that God’s Word in the Bible taught this concept. I was astonished and marveled as I gazed on texts talking about this exact concept. Read: Romans 5:12-21 and 1 Corinthians 15:20-22,45 to find for yourself.

For as by the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous. Romans 5:19

For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. 1 Corinthians 15:21-22

It made sense, Jesus had to be born not from the seed of Adam so that He does not inherit the ability of sin and the punishment of death from Adam. That way He became the last sinless Adam who could restore believers back into eternity with God in paradise.

Well, I guess you know what happened after I found this truth. I simply followed the only sinless man who came from heaven and returned back to heaven believing that He will bring me into His place in heaven after I die. I followed Jesus and confessed Him to be my only Lord and my only Savior.
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