Weekly Bible Study – December 29, 2014

Doctrine of Election, Part 10.
The Hypocrisy of the Roman Catholic Church.

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Prepare yourself for learning the Word of God!

Before we begin, if you are a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ (that is; you have believed [trusted] in Him for His promised gift of eternal life), it is important to prepare yourself to learn God's Word so take a moment to name, cite or acknowledge (confess) your sins privately to God (i.e.; with your thoughts directed only to God the Father).

1 John 1:9 says: "If we confess our sins, He (God) is faithful and just to forgive us our sins (known sins) and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness [unknown or forgotten sins]." NKJV (New King James Version) [italics added]

If you have never personally believed in the Lord Jesus Christ as your Savior (that is, believed in Him for eternal life), the issue for you is not to name your sins; the issue for you is to have faith alone in Jesus Christ alone for eternal life:

John 6:47 says: "Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me (Jesus Christ) has everlasting life." NKJV [italics added]

Notice again what Jesus said in John 6:47: "…he who believes in Me (Jesus Christ) has everlasting life." It doesn't say, "will have"; it says, "has." Therefore, the very moment you believe in Jesus Christ for His promise of everlasting life, you have it (it's really just that simple; nothing more and nothing less), and it can never be taken away from you (John 10:28-29). Furthermore, the gift (Ephesians 2:8c) of everlasting life (also called eternal life in scripture) is available to every human being; there are absolutely no exceptions.

John 3:14-18 says: "¹⁴ And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, ¹⁵ that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. ¹⁶ For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. ¹⁷ For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. ¹⁸ He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God." NKJV

Let us now bow our hearts and take a moment to prepare for worship and learning God's Word. If there is any known sin in your life, this is the time to just cite it privately to God the Father with your thoughts directed towards Him. With your head bowed and your eyes closed, you have total privacy in your mind and soul:

Study to show yourself approved to God!

Grace Bible Church
Robert R. McLaughlin Bible Ministries

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STUDY TITLE:

Doctrine of Election, Part 10.
The Hypocrisy of the Roman Catholic Church.



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Terms & Abbreviations used:

PPOG = Predesigned Plan of God
Human Good = Evil + Good Deeds while not in fellowship with God
OSN = Old Sin Nature
TLJC = The Lord Jesus Christ
SSE = Spiritual Self Esteem
PVTD = Positive Volition Towards Doctrine
+H - The Happiness of God
NVTD = Negative Volition Towards Doctrine
Doctrine = Bible Truth

To look up other “terms”, go to:

Alphabetical Listing

BEGIN BIBLE STUDY
Unless otherwise noted, all scripture quotes and references
are from the NASB – New American Standard Bible

Doctrine of Election, Part 10.
The Hypocrisy of the Roman Catholic Church.

So far in our study we have noted;

Point 1. Definition.
Point 2, There have only been three Elections in history.
Point 3, The Election of Israel.
Point 4. The unique Election of history: Thee lord jesus Christ.
Point 5. The Election of the Church.
Point 6. Election and the believer’s escrow account.
Point 7. Winner and loser believer.
Point 8. SElection and Election.
Point 9. Election and the sovereignty of God with the free will of man and all His creatures.

We are now ready for Point 10 which deals with the equal privilege of Election manifested by the universal priesthood of every Church-age believer. Our royal priesthood shows that God’s plan for us in the Church-age as Royal family is totally and completely unique. Never before the Church-age and never after the Rapture is there ever another universal priesthood; it is only for us in the Church-age. This makes this dispensation the dispensation of personal responsibility.


A priest is a human being who represents people before God. And in the Church-age, since every believer is a priest, every believer represents himself before God.


GAL 3:26-28, For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.

This establishes a system of what is known and what is called: Privacy. This is why the apostle Paul said what he did in ROM 14:4, Who are you to judge the servant of another? To his own master he stands or falls; and stand he will, for the Lord is able to make him stand.

ROM 14:5-8, One man regards one day above another, another regards every day alike. Let each man be fully convinced in his own mind. He who observes the day, observes it for the Lord, and he who eats, does so for the Lord, for he gives thanks to God; and he who eats not, for the Lord he does not eat, and gives thanks to God. For not one of us lives for himself, and not one dies for himself; for if we live, we live for the Lord, or if we die, we die for the Lord; therefore whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s.

ROM 14:10-12, But you, why do you judge your brother? Or you again, why do you regard your brother with contempt? For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of God. For it is written, “As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to Me, And every tongue shall give praise to God.” So then each one of us shall give account of himself to God.

ROM 14:22, The faith which you have, have as your own conviction before God. Happy is he who does not condemn himself in what he approves.

Under the privacy of your priesthood, you are responsible for yourself before God.

This means you are responsible for; every thought you think, every thing you say, every motive you have, and every decision you make, whether it is good or bad. In other words, God is holding you personally responsible for your own decisions. Because he made you a priest so that you could represent yourself before Him. And a very vital part of representing yourself before God is to receive what you have been elected to receive. What really gives God pleasure is when He is able to give to you that which He has elected you to receive, fantastic blessing. The Bible is the mind of Christ and ACT 20:35 tells us that God derives more pleasure from “giving to us” then He does from “receiving from us.”

The Royal priesthood of the believer is taught many times in the New Testament. In fact, it was a favorite subject of Peter. Although his teaching has been was distorted by the Catholic Church, he was really teaching about the Royal priesthood of each Church-age believer. The Catholic Church, not Peter are the ones who:

Promoted making the sign of the Cross in 300 A.D.

The worship of angels and dead Saints in 375A.D.

Exaltation of Mary, As the Mother of God was first applied by the Council of Ephesus in 431 A.D.

The idea of Purgatory established by Gregory I in 593 A.D.

Latin language, used in prayer and worship, imposed by Gregory I in 600 A.D.

Prayers directed to Mary.

Dead Saints and Angels in 600 A.D.

The Title of Pope, or universal Bishop, given to Boniface III by Emperor Phocas in 607 A.D.

Kissing of Pope’s foot, began with Pope Constantine in 709 A.D.

Worship of the Cross and the images and relics authorized in 786 A.D.

Holy water, mixed with a pinch of salt and blessed by a Priest in 850 A.D.

Fasting on Fridays and during Lent in 998 A.D.

The Rosary mechanical praying with beads, invented by Peter the Hermit in 1090 A.D.

Sale of Indulgences in 1190 A.D.

Transubstantiation, proclaimed by Pope Innocent III in 1215 A.D.

Confession of sins to a Priest instead of God, instituted by Pope Innocent III, in 1215 A.D.

Adoration of the wafer (Host), decreed by Pope Honorius III in 1220 A.D.

Bible forbidden to laymen, placed on the Indes of Forbidden Books by the Council of Toulouse in 1229 A.D.

Cup forbidden to the people at communion by Council of Constance in 1414 A.D.

Purgatory proclaimed as a dogma by the Council of Florence in 1439 A.D.

Apocryphal books added to the Bible by the Council of Trent in 1546 A.D.

Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary, proclaimed by Pope Pius IX in 1854 A.D.

Infallibility of the pope in matters of faith and morals, proclaimed by the Vatican Council in 1870 A.D.

Forty days Lent-holy week

Palm Sunday

Ash Wednesday

All Saints day

and many, many others:

In the true word of God, Peter was the first to teach the doctrine that every believer is a Priest around 65 A.D., found in 1PE 2:5 and 9. John taught the doctrine as well. However in 1PE 2:5, we read you also, as living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.

1PE 2:6-9, For this is contained in Scripture: “Behold I lay in Zion a choice stone, a precious corner stone, And he who believes in Him shall not be disappointed.” This precious value, then, is for you who believe. But for those who disbelieve, The stone which the builders rejected, This became the very corner stone, A stone of stumbling and a rock of offense”; for they stumble because they are disobedient to the word, and to this doom they were also appointed. But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light;

As a Royal priest, every believer has a direct line to God, which means he represents himself before God, he evaluates himself, and he offers prayer for himself. Hence, the privacy of your priesthood is related to the importance of the Perception, Metabolization and Application of Bible Doctrine. You have privacy so that you can learn the word of God or Bible doctrine yourself. However, you can never learn anything if you are not objective, if you reject authority, or if you have any form of arrogance. You can never learn anything if you already have a preconceived knowledge about the one who is teaching you are therefore you become critical and judgmental concerning the communicator.

1TI 4:10, For this reason, we [pastors] work hard to the point of exhaustion, and we hang in there tough [keep on contending], because we have confidence in the living God, who is the Savior of all men, especially of believers.

Notice that a distinction is made between all men and believers. Now, first of all, all mankind is born in sin and is sinful and separated from God and therefore incapable of saving himself, PSA 51:5; PSA 58:3; 1CO 15:22. The perfect righteousness of God cannot have fellowship with sinfulness so the Lord Jesus Christ was judged for our sins and He satisfied the righteousness of God the Father, we call that propitiation. However, this separation has been dealt with through Lord Jesus Christ.

We are told that in ROM 3:23, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

Secondly, there is the penalty of sin which is spiritual death. ROM 6:23, For the wages of sin is [spiritual] death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Thirdly, we are born spiritually dead and physically alive. This is why the lord jesus Christ said in JOH 3:6-7, “That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’”

Fourth, man’s righteousness is unable to meet the demands of the perfect righteousness of God.

ISA 64:6, For all of us have become like one who is unclean, And all our righteous deeds are like a filthy garment;

Then number five, there is the problem of our position in Adam, 1CO 15:22, For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all shall be made alive.

The problem of sin is removed by the doctrine of redemption which is the unlimited atonement, 2CO 5:18-21, Now all these things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ, and gave us the ministry of reconciliation, namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were entreating through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

So, the problem of sin is removed by the doctrine of redemption which is the unlimited atonement.

The penalty of sin is removed by the doctrine of expiation, the satisfying of the holiness of God, JOH 19:30.

The problem of physical birth is removed by the doctrine of regeneration, JOH 3:3, TIT 3:5.

The problem of man’s righteousness is removed by the doctrine of justification and imputation, GAL 2:16, ROM 3:24. The problem of our position in Adam is handled by our new position in Christ, or the doctrine of positional truth through the baptism of the Spirit, 2CO 5:17, GAL 6:15. The point is that all of these things are barriers that no member of the human race could ever solve himself. We cannot solve these problems by religion, works or deeds. To learn Bible doctrine under the principle of perception requires a tremendous amount of objectivity. This is why the local church should be an environment where believers can gather together and yet have their privacy respected. This means both your sins and your strengths should be kept private.

The pastor-teacher, as the final authority in the local church, must protect the privacy of all priests in his congregation by disciplining or removing those who violate or impose upon others’ privacy. The believer priest cannot account for his thoughts, motives, decisions, or actions in undefinable terms. Under the privacy of your priesthood, you must be able to define your life in terms of the PPOG, which means you must learn the technical language and vocabulary. Once you do, you as your own priest can analyze and evaluate your own life and your own problems, and apply doctrine and make corrections to your own life under the privacy of your own priesthood.

God does not want you to depend on someone else for counsel or for a crutch, God wants you to become spiritually self-sustained! Therefore, the privacy of the priesthood demands that we learn doctrine so that we can define our situation at any given time. The Royal Priest’s self improvement is based on the function of perception of doctrine, not upon the advice and counsel of others. Any self improvement based on the advice and counsel of others is really a set back. The Royal priesthood is designed by God to function under the concept of thought. And no believer can think, apply doctrine, or solve problems through the mind or the personality of another Christian. This is why each one of us is a Priest.

To the extent that we seek counsel or advice, we’re not getting enough doctrine or we’re not using our own doctrine. Initially there’s a place for giving advice for new believers, but as you grow you should begin to handle your own life. You should know when you’re wrong and when you’re right, and you should be able to utilize all the doctrine you have learned to advance to maturity. This is because only in spiritual maturity will you truly glorify God.

Under the privacy of your priesthood, you have the right to assemble with other believers in a group, where your privacy is respected, to learn doctrine from your pastor teacher. The privacy of your priesthood permits the function of both your positive volition toward doctrine plus the right to metabolize and apply that doctrine to your own experience. The tendency is to get arrogant and want to apply it to everyone else’s experience.

The only human dependence of the royal priesthood is the divine provision of your very own pastor teacher, and consistent positive volition under his teaching ministry. In that sense, a pastor is very much like a parent and should be honored and respected, not loved personally. Your pastor should not bully you or intrude upon your privacy (unless, of course, you intrude on someone else’s privacy). He should communicate and teach doctrine faithfully. Remember those two verses which we have noted in the past concerning this principle;

ACT 20:28which teaches that the Holy Spirit assigns a certain pastor to a certain congregation.

1PE 5:3 which teaches that there are certain believers who are allotted or assigned to a certain pastor.

So, Your pastor should not bully you or intrude upon your privacy and he should communicate and teach doctrine faithfully. And faithful Bible teaching from your right pastor demands your faith perception, metabolization, and application of that teaching to your own life as a royal priest. You cannot advance to maturity on your own; someone has to train you.

Life in the PPOG is not only spiritual freedom under the filling of the Spirit, but spiritual independence within the framework of your royal priesthood. This means that as a believer priest, you cannot fulfill your Election and the PPOG by advancing to spiritual maturity on someone else’s thinking, motivation, decisions, actions, advice, counseling, emotion, or even their leadership. The only exception is your dependence on the teaching of your pastor teacher. You have to advance to maturity on your own.

The first stage of spiritual adulthood is spiritual self esteem, which is when you know how to do it on your own, and you no longer feel threatened by all the things in life that cause fear, worry, and anxiety. Major functions of the royal priesthood include:

a. Rebound as the basic technique for the recovery of fellowship.

b. A consistent prayer life.

c. Perception, metabolization, and application of doctrine to your own experience.

d. Worship.

e. The sacrifices of life, such as praise, which is your doctrinal momentum resulting in spiritual adulthood and the manner of operating of virtue-love.

f. Divine viewpoint mental attitude from metabolized doctrine. It isn’t what the other person thinks that counts; it’s what you think from metabolized doctrine that counts.

g. Self motivation from metabolized doctrine.

You have to motivate yourself; you can’t depend on someone else’s leadership. If you depend on them, then you are borrowing their inspiration. That will never work, for it results in stifling your own motivation. Then when you are under adversity, you have no motivation to keep driving. Remember, your pastor is neither the leader of your social life or the head of a lonely hearts club. He is neither a counselor nor a crutch to lean on.

The following link is to a good news message describing how one can receive eternal life:
Ticket to Heaven, it was written for anyone not absolutely certain about their eternal future.