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On October 31, 1517, Martin Luther nailed to the door of the church in Wittenburg, Germany, his ninety-five theses, a list of arguments calling out the corrupt practices of the Roman Catholic church. This marked the beginning of the Protestant Reformation, an effort to reform the church and recover the gospel. But why did Luther choose that day to present his theses? Well November 1 was All Saints Day, and the church in Wittenburg was about to present an exhibit of newly acquired relics. Worshipers would come from great distances to genuflect upon these relics, hoping to take thousands of years off their purgatory sentence. The Catholic church was selling the forgiveness of sins, and teaching people they could be saved by their works. This was not the gospel. Salvation is not through sacraments or the Pope. It isn't earned by deeds or money. We are saved by grace through faith in Christ alone. One of Luther's theses was, "The true treasure of the church is the mo...

Papal infallibility is the belief that the Pope is incapable of error when speaking from his position of supreme apostolic authority in defining doctrine concerning faith or morals. This doesn't mean the Pope is sinless (although plenty of Catholics do believe that). Rather, it means that his teaching is perfect whenever he speaks ex cathedra , or from the chair of St. Peter. The doctrine was defined by the First Vatican Council , presided over by Pope Pius IX. Pius decreed the Immaculate Conception of Mary, the belief that Mary was without sin, even though Jesus said no one is good but God alone (Mark 10:18). Now, Catholic apologists maintain that the Pope has spoken ex cathedra only one other time , when Pope Pius the XII decreed the assumption of Mary, that she was bodily taken up into heaven. But these are not the only occasions papal infallibility has been exercised. The Second Vatican declared that even when the Pope is not speaking from the chair, "his sup...

Romans 4:5 says, "To the one who does not work but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness." Justification by faith alone is the gospel, the belief that we are forgiven our sins and made innocent before God by the atoning blood of Jesus Christ and His resurrection from the grave. You can do nothing to earn this. It is by the grace of God. "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by His grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by His blood, to be received by faith." Romans 3:23-25 Whoever teaches that salvation is a combination of faith and works is teaching a different gospel. The Catholic and Orthodox churches both deny justification by faith alone. Salvation is by faith and the Eucharist, or by faith and baptism. That's a different gospel. "If anyone saith, that by faith alone the impious is justified; in suc...