Faith

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Pope Francis recently said that non-believers and even those who don't believe in God at all, will be forgiven if they follow their conscience. He went on to say that "sin, even for those who have no faith, exists when people disobey their conscience." Is this an accurate biblical statement?

     Let's see what the Bible has to say about this. After all, it is, or should be, the pope's source of truth. At least, it used to be. Several passages in the New Testament mention the word "conscience" or strongly imply the concept. 

     * Romans 2:15 says "their conscience bearing witness, and their thoughts alternately accusing or else defending them."

     * I Timothy 4:2 adds to this, "...seared in their own conscience, as with a branding iron."

     These two verses indicate that a person's conscience may not be a reliable guage. In fact, some people in our culture have no conscience at all. If they did, they would not go around killing people and doing evil acts. 

     Romans 1:18-32 expounds on this further. People can get to the point where they "suppress the truth in unrighteousness" (1:18). Verse 21 makes it clear that "even though they knew God, they did not honor him as God." Then in verse 25 we see that many times people exchange "the truth of God for a lie" and do not "see fit to acknowledge God any longer"(verse 28).

     The conscience was already violated way back in Genesis when Adam and Eve "hid themselves from the presence of Lord God " after eating of the forbidden fruit. The sin nature of man causes one to violate the conscience. While it is true that sin exists when people disobey their conscience, the fact is that the sin nature existed at birth. Psalm 51:5 says, "Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin my mother conceived me." Violating the conscience is a result of the sin nature. 

     Those people who don't believe in God have chosen to not acknowledge him even though it says in Romans 1:20 that "Since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse."

     Further in the same chapter it says what God's actions are as a result. "God gave them over to the lusts of their heart...degrading passions...to a depraved mind." The phrase "God gave them over" sure does not sound like forgiveness; it is just the opposite. God offers forgiveness to those who come humbly before Him, acknowledging Him as God, and asking for forgiveness through the shed blood of Jesus on the cross, then confessing Him as Lord and Savior. This is what the Bible teaches, and hasn't it always been Catholic teaching as well? 

     Pope Francis also now believes that all religions lead to God, and that we are all children of God. In the words of Michael Synder, the pope "has completely abandoned any notion that a relationship with God is available through Jesus Christ." Therefore, it is safe to say that the pope is no longer Catholic, in a theological sense of the word. Where does the Bible say all religions lead to God, and that all people are children of God? It doesn't, folks! No where! It says in John 14:6 that "Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life; no man comes to the father except through him." That is a claim that Jesus himself made. John 1:12 reinforces this truth. "But as many as received Him, to them he gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in his name." That is pretty clear. Whey then is the pope speaking to the contrary? The answer is that Pope Francis has fallen into the apostacy of the last days before the return of Christ. He is leading many people astray, and not only Catholics. 

    If you are a Catholic reading this, don't accept what is said just because your pope says it. Read the Bible for yourself. Stake your eternal salvation and forgiveness on the truth of the Bible and the claims of Jesus. The pope did not die for your sins. Jesus did! The pope did not rise from the dead. Jesus did! John 3;16 says, "For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believes in him shall not perish, but have everalasting life." Have you made that decision?

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