The Apocryphal Gospel and the Assumption

Rome teaches that Mary was assumed into heaven body and soul.  This is considered a divine truth of God and it is necessary for salvation.  Pope Pius XII says anyone who denies it is condemned:

'We pronounce, declare, and define it to be a divinely revealed dogma: that the Immaculate Mother of God, the ever Virgin Mary, having completed the course of her earthly life, was assumed body and soul into heavenly glory. Hence, if anyone, which God forbid, should dare wilfully to deny or call into doubt that which we have defined, let him know that he has completely fallen from the divine and Catholic faith….It is forbidden to any man to change this, Our declaration, pronouncement, and definition or, by rash attempt, to oppose and counter it. If any man should presume to make such an attempt, let him know that he will incur the wrath of Almighty God and of the Blessed Apostles Peter and Paul' (Munificentissimus Deus [A.D. 1950], 44-45, 47; taken from Selected Documents of Pope Pius XII [Washington: National Catholic Welfare Conference]).

There were two popes who rejected this dogma of the Roman church.  But it has been infallibly declared by the Roman church for assured belief.  There is silence in the early church about the end of Mary's life.  Gregory of Tours in A.D. 590 first promoted the teaching of the assumption of Mary.  He based it on the gnostic Transitus literature.  This literature came about in the fourth and fifth centuries.  This gnostic writing was considered as heretical as Arius.  A Roman Catholic historian and Mariologist Juniper Carol said, "The first express witness in the West to a genuine assumption comes to us in an apocryphal Gospel, the Transitus beatae Mariae of Pseudo-Melito" Juniper Carol, ed., Mariology (Milwaukee: Bruce, 1955), 1:149).  This gnostic writing was rejected as heretical.  Gelasius and Hormisdas rejected it as heretical.  Bill Webster said,

"In his decree, Decretum de Libris Canonicis Ecclesiasticis et Apocrypha, which was later affirmed by Pope Hormisdas, Gelasius lists the Transitus teaching by the following title: Liber qui apellatur Transitus, id est Assumptio Sanctae Mariae under the following condemnation: 'These and writings similar to these, which....all the heresiarchs and their disciples, or the schismatics have taught or written....we confess have not only been rejected but also banished from the whole Roman and Apostolic Church and with their authors and followers of their authors have been condemned forever under the indissoluble bond of anathema' (St. Gelasius I, Epistle 42; taken from Henry Denzinger, The Sources of Catholic Dogma [London: Herder, 1954], 69-70). Cf. Migne P.L., vol. 59, col. 162, 164." 

"Repent or Perish"

Christ proclaimed the doctrine of repentance.  It is either repent or perish.  As long as this world lasts, the call for repentance is necessary.  Repentance means to make our peace with God.  It is absolutely necessary.  Repentance is the opposite of rebellion.  We know that repentance does not save but no one was ever saved without the doctrine of repentance.  The only One who saves is our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ!  No impenitent heart can receive the good Lord.  We ought to use contrite repentance and not legal repentance.  Legal repentance is attrition but true repentance is acknowledging our offense against God’s holiness and wounding His tender and precious heart.

Sinners cannot truly believe unless a sinner repents.  The publicans and harlots repented afterwards but the rest did not repent.  This was when John the Baptist was involved in His ministry (Matthew 21:32).  We are called to repentance and belief in Mark 1:15.  Paul spoke of repentance towards God and belief in Jesus (Acts 20:21).  Don’t be confused on repentance.  God calls everyone everywhere to repent (Acts 17:30).  God stresses His righteous ways upon us.  This is why we ought to repent because it establishes the righteousness of the Lord.  However, repentance does not add to the unified work of Christ alone.  God is totally worthy of overflowing love, worship and obedience.  We have denied the Lord our obedience.  We must repent.  We must acknowledge this and amend our failures and commissions and omissions of sin.  We ought to end our rebellion against God.  We are to have affections for God but we ought to repent of our disaffection against God.  We ought to repent because we have dreadfully failed Him who is holy, holy, holy.  We ought to give God our rightful place in our hearts.  We must recognize the heinous nature of our sins if we consider God’s righteousness.  When we sin, we reject the God who made us.  Sin is refusing for God to govern us.  Sin is the pursuit to please ourselves.  It is rebellion against the Almighty.  The sin of sinfulness is lawlessness against the Lord and hated for His authority.  Sin is not caring for what God wants from us but self-will in sinfulness.  Sin wants our own way against the Lord.  We don’t care what God’s teachings are.  This is how people have lived and may the Spirit show them this.

True repentance comes from the heart.  May we realize the exceeding sinfulness of sin!  May we realize that we have defied our Creator!  Repentance is a holy and pure hatred or sin and the horror of sin as well.  We ought to have a deep sorrow for sin.  Godly sorrow is essential in repentance.  That means we realize we have done wrong.   Repentance is a total soul-forsaking of sin.  God pardons those who repent.  If we cover our sins, we will not prosper.  If we confess and forsake our sins we will have mercy (Proverbs 28:13).

True repentance is turning to God.  It is turning to God and turning our back on the world. We have been set upon a vain world.  We have loved the devil and this fallen world.  We are fallen creatures in need of a divine Savior.  We cannot save ourselves.  This world cannot satisfy our souls.  But only God the Trinity can rescue us from sin through God the Son.  We are rebellious creatures and we show disloyalty to Him.  We should determine and desire an interest in the Lord.  We ought to obey Him and serve Him.  

Whoever reads this has the duty to repent.  Repentance is continuous.  It always continues until we enter glory.  We ought never to repent of the same sins twice.  We should repent of sins committed at any time in our lives.  You shouldn’t wait to leave repentance to a dying hour.  Turn from your self-absorption and self-will to the living Redeemer.  You should seek mercy in Christ.  You should turn with a total mission of heart to please Him.  Will you repent or end up in hell? Hell is a place where no one ever repented in this life.  God exalted Jesus to His right hand and granted repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins (Acts 5:31).  May God grant you godly sorrow that works repentance that needs no rejection, “but the sorrow of the world works death” (2 Corinthians 7:10). 

We Are Saved By Christ Alone And Not By Our Repentance

We are saved by God through Christ alone and not our repentance.  It is Christ alone that saves us.  We enter heaven because of Christ alone.  He forgives us and cleanses us from all sin through Christ alone.  Satan has no charge against us at the Day of Judgment because no charge can be laid against us. 

Christ, of all my hopes the ground,
Christ, the spring of all my joy,
Still in thee may I be found,
Still for thee my pow'rs employ.

Let thy love my heart inflame;
Keep thy fear before my sight;
Be thy praise my highest aim;
Be thy smile my chief delight.

Fountain of o'erflowing grace,
Freely from thy fullness give;
Till I close my earthly race,
May I prove it "Christ to live."

Firmly trusting in thy blood,
Nothing shall my heart confound;
Safely I shall pass the flood,
Safely reach Immanuel's ground.

Thus, O thus, an entrance give
To the land of cloudless sky;
Having known it "Christ to live,"
Let me know it "gain to die."  (TH, 437).

I Belong To Jesus Christ Alone

Those who put their trust in Jesus belong to Him.  Those who focus on Jesus belong to Him.  Those who have confidence in Him belong to Him.  Those who love Jesus belong to Him.  Those who belong to Christ Jesus have the happiness of repentance and faith.  We ought to repent of every sin and it cannot be reversed or taken away.  No one can undo the blood of Jesus Christ our Lord and Redeemer (2 Corinthians 1:22; 5:5; Ephesians 4:14).  It is a great happiness of the soul to love Jesus and focus on Him as our Redeemer.   It brings comfort to the soul and feelings of joy.  Let all bath themselves in the flood of the ocean of Christ and Him alone.  I belong to Jesus Christ alone.  He is mine and I am His.  No one can undo this happiness of the soul.  Secular psychology does not have the answers but Jesus has the answers.  We need to belong to Christ to be connected to the vine of Christ alone.  When we belong to Christ we find ourselves, forgiving our enemies who provoke and abuse us.   Why would anyone want to undo a Christian?  It is a great injustice.  But the fact is no one can undo a Christian because we belong to Christ in an unmistakable way.   Amen.

Saving Faith and Repentance

 James Montgomery Boice wrote on saving faith and repentance,

There is a fatal defect in the life of Christ’s church in the twentieth century: a lack of true discipleship. Discipleship means forsaking everything to follow Christ. But for many of today’s supposed Christians—perhaps the majority—it is the case that while there is much talk about Christ and even much furious activity, there is actually very little following of Christ Himself. And that means in some circles there is very little genuine Christianity. Many who fervently call Him ‘Lord, Lord’ are not Christians (Matthew 7:21)...There are several reasons that the situation I have described is common in today’s church. The first is a defective theology that has crept over us like a deadening fog. This theology separates faith from discipleship and grace from obedience. It teaches that Jesus can be received as one’s Savior without being received as one’s Lord...Discipleship in not a supposed second step in Christianity, as if one first became a believer in Jesus and then, if he chooses, a disciple. From the beginning, discipleship is involved in what it means to be a Christian....Is ‘faith’ minus commitment a true biblical faith?...If faith without works is dead—how much truer is it that faith without commitment is dead...True faith involves these elements: knowledge...heart response...and commitment, without which ‘faith’ is no different from the assent of the demons who ‘believe...and shudder’ (James 2:19) (James Montgomery Boice, Christ’s Call to Discipleship (Chicago: Moody, 1986), pp. 13, 14, 16, 21).
In one of Jesus’ most important sayings about discipleship...the Lord pictures discipleship as putting on a yoke. This suggests a number of things, but chiefly it suggests submission to Christ for His assigned work. It is the picture of an animal yoked to others as well as to a plow.
A yoke is also the connection between submission and subjection. ‘Submit’ comes from the two Latin words sub (meaning ‘under’) and mitto, mittere (meaning ‘to put’ or ‘place’). So submission means putting oneself under the authority of another. ‘Subject’ also comes from two Latin words, in this case sub (meaning ‘under’) and iacto, iactare (meaning ‘cast’ or ‘throw’). It means being put under the authority of another. In other words, although the first word has an active sense (I put myself under another’s authority) and the second word has a passive sense (I am placed under that authority), the idea is nevertheless essentially the same. Moreover, it is connected with ‘yoke’ in this way. In ancient times it was customary for a ruler, when he had conquered a new people or territory, to place a staff across two upright poles, perhaps four feet off the ground, and require the captured people to pass under it.By this act they passed under his yoke or submitted to his authority. When Jesus used this image He was saying that to follow Him was to submit to Him. It was to receive Him as Lord of one’s life (James Montgomery Boice, Christ’s Call to Discipleship (Chicago: Moody, 1986), p. 19).

Saved By Grace Alone

Grace is all-sufficient.  It is enough to save us.  But Rome has grace and merit of the saints.  We are not saved by the merit of the saints but of the unified merit of Christ alone.  Sing this hymn that is dear to me in the Trinity Hymnal #403:

Not what my hands have done
Can save my guilty soul;
Not what my toiling flesh has borne
Can make my spirit whole.
Not what I feel or do
Can give me peace with God;
Not all my prayers and sighs and tears
Can bear my awful load.

Thy work alone, O Christ,
Can ease this weight of sin;
Thy blood alone, O Lamb of God,
Can give me peace within.
Thy love to me, O God,
Not mine, O Lord to thee,
Can rid me of this dark unrest
And set my spirit free.

Thy grace alone, O God,
To me can pardon speak;
Thy pow'r alone, O Son of God,
Can this sore bondage break.
No other work, save thine,
No other blood will do;
No strength, save that which is divine,
Can bear me safely through.

I bless the Christ of God;
I rest on love divine;
And with unfalt'ring lip and heart
I call this Saviour mine.
This cross dispels each doubt;
I bury in his tomb
Each thought of unbelief and fear,
Each ling'ring shade of gloom.

I praise the God of grace;
I trust his truth and might;
He calls me his, I call him mine,
My God, my joy, my light.
'Tis he who saveth me,
And freely pardon gives;
I love because he loveth me,
I live because he lives.

Justification by Christ Alone

We are not justified by the law, men's righteousness, human works, faith mixed with works and a dead faith.  We justified by grace alone, Christ's blood, resurrection, righteousness and faith.  The fruits of justification is forgiveness, holiness, imputed righteousness, outward righteousness and eternal life.  The evidence of justification is works by faith, wisdom, patience and suffering.  There is no greater divine righteousness than Christ alone.  A man is justified by a faith that works.  However, our works do not add to the unified merit of Christ alone.