Catholics believe
that their church is the “one true church” and that it always has been. Protestants challenge that concept for many
good reasons (which we will not go into here).
Catholics may respond, “But if we weren’t always the one true church,
then who was the true church since
the time of the apostles? What group was
there that could always claim to be following the truth? Where were these true Christians (who were
not Catholic) before the Reformation in the sixteenth century?”
Someone answered
that question this way: “Where was your face before you washed it?” In other words, your face was there all the
time, but it’s just that it got to the point of being unrecognizably dirty. Or, it
is like a ship that was once smooth, sleek, and fast-moving, but where is that
ship now? It is still there - it always
remained - but is now weighed down and hopelessly encrusted with barnacles; it
is now hidden, and unable to do what it was meant to do.
In the same way,
true believers in the early church have always been there, but through no fault
of their own, their pure gospel message became gradually distorted until unrecognizable
when the false teachings of Catholicism encrusted around it. The Catholic Church, who was dominating the
“church scene” before the Reformation, had, for the most part, lost the ability
to recognize the simple truth of the gospel.
Ok, so who exactly
were the true believers in the early church?
Catholics claim that there is no record of any group in the early church
that had the fullness of truth (other than the Catholic Church, of
course). But Catholics are forgetting
the “remnant principle.” What is the
remnant principle? The following is an
example of it:
The time was the ninth
century B.C., during the reign of King Ahab in Israel. The idolatry and other sins of the Jewish
people abounded. The prophet Elijah was
disgusted with the Jews and their Baal worship, and he complained to God that
he was the only person left who was
serving God. He truly felt all
alone. But the Lord God surprised Elijah
when He told him:
“Yet I have left me seven
thousand in Israel, all the knees which have not bowed unto Baal, and every
mouth which hath not kissed him. (1 Kings 19:18)
This is a
biblical principle. Throughout history God
has always reserved for Himself a remnant, a group that is dedicated to serving
God in the midst of an ungodly majority.
For example, Noah and his family were the remnant in the days of the
great flood (Genesis 6). And Lot and
his family were the remnant during the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah (Genesis
19). These remnant groups not
only represent the true believers in the Old Testament, but they are also a
symbol of the true church in the New Testament (Matthew 24:37-39; Luke 17:26-30).
Someone may
object, “But why is there only a remnant saved?
Aren’t most people going to
Heaven?” Unfortunately, that is not the
case. Being part of the biggest church
around is not a guarantee that it holds the truth. It is not always safe being in the
majority. In fact, it can be downright
dangerous! Jesus, Himself, said:
Enter ye in at the strait
[narrow] gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to
destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: Because strait is the gate,
and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find
it. (Matthew 7:13-14)
A big church does
not necessarily produce the truth. That
goes for Protestants and Orthodox, as well.
But Catholicism was never the true expression of the church because of
its many false teachings. Rather, it is
something that gradually “morphed” into the monstrosity that it is today (Matthew
13:31-32). But while this giant
grew in influence (both spiritually and politically), the true church was in
the background. God knew those true
believers even if the Catholic Church didn’t.
This was similar to
Elijah’s situation. God had a remnant,
but they just weren’t well known. You
would think that Elijah would have known about the 7,000 believers. After all, wasn’t he one of the greatest
prophets of God in the Old Testament?
So, if the great prophet, Elijah (who was supernaturally in direct
communion with God) was unaware of the existence of the “true church” in his
day, it is certainly possible that the Catholic Church was unaware of the
existence of true believers back in the early church.
Of course, some
will say that Catholics were the true
believers. No, sorry, but the Catholic
Church is disqualified from the title of “true church” because of its false
teachings. Nor does it automatically get
to have the title because of its size or influence. And just because there aren’t any records of
similar “big” or “influential” churches back then, that does not make the
Catholic Church the true church by default.
We have to
remember, the term “true church” means those who are truly saved and serving
God, and are biblically faithful. It is made up of individuals whose hearts are right with
God. It is not just referring to a
particular denomination, organization, or group.
Again, God always
has a remnant of true believers, whether we know them or not. The records we have of the early church are
certainly not complete. But it doesn’t
matter if you don’t have a record of every single believing group that ever
existed over the centuries. We have a
God who promised that the true church would endure (Matthew 16:18). A lack of records does not override or negate
the biblical concept of the remnant principle.
So, to say that a true remnant didn’t exist because we have no record of
it is foolish, arrogant, and unbiblical.
Conclusion
Catholic Premise:
“We have always
been the ONLY group to have the fullness of truth.”
Catholic
Conclusion:
“Therefore, we HAVE
to have been the one true church all along.
If we weren’t, then there was NO church, and the gates of Hell have
prevailed (Matthew 16:18), but Jesus would not let that happen.”
But if there was always
a remnant of true believers, then this Catholic premise is wrong in the first
place. So, since there was a remnant, Jesus was right – we
don’t have to worry that the gates of Hell have prevailed – because the true
church has always existed, even if only in the form of a remnant, at times.
But Catholics
will still insist that they must be the one true church, since their church has
been refuting heresies for centuries. That
may be, but what good is refuting all those heresies, while still embracing
today the Judaizer heresy of adding to Jesus’ work on the cross (Acts
15:1, 5), directly contradicting the nature of the atonement and the
very gospel, itself?
For anyone who still
thinks that the Catholic Church should be considered the “one true church,”
please feel free to read the articles on this blog, which we believe refute
this idea and demonstrate the unbiblical nature of many of the Catholic
Church’s teachings.
