Many Protestants bring people to a knowledge of Jesus through Baptism, marriage, and their services. They open the door to a salvation they are not sure they can provide.
The logical step for those who want to be closer to God is to use what they learn from the 40,000 Protestant denominations and move to The Only Church Jesus Founded. In this way we may see that there is some good that so many competing, conflicting groups can do.
But, the reality is different. Protestant open the door, then block it. They do not want people to leave their tiny schisms because they stop contributing. All professional schismatics learn the basic ways to keep people from becoming so obedient to Jesus that they obey His instruction: “If you do not eat My Body and drink My Blood you do not have life in you.” Professional Protestants all know that Jesus said there in only only place to receive His Body and Blood: “Thou art Peter and on this rock I build My Church. . .”
Professional Protestants are too stubborn to consider those “Implied Commands”, become Catholic, and be saved. Professional Protestants all use pretty much the same reasons to keep their sheep in the desired pens. Their arguments are, frankly, embarrassing:
1. “Catholics worship Mary. And, the saints. They worship idols.” A skilled Protestant can go on and on about such imaginary “religion crimes”. They will ignore, almost with a sense of desperation, this simple truth: “Catholics revere The Mother of God. We are profoundly grateful to Mary for choosing to bring Jesus to earth so we could be saved. And, we would be ungracious not to show the proper gratitude to her for having made it possible for Jesus to come and save us. But, God does not want us to worship her, Mary does not want us to worship her, The Church does not want that, and not one obedient Catholic would disobey such instructions.”
2. “The early Protestant reformers had to clean up the Church’s bad practices, like selling indulgences. This is utter poppycock. The Church needed to rebuild The Vatican. All Christendom was offered a chance to participate in re-building The Church headquarters, over a thousand years old and crumbling. A lot of money was needed. The Church encouraged many faithful Christians to help by repeating what everyone already knew: “If you are sincerely repentant for you sins, please contribute. God will see what you have done and be more merciful in proportion to your sacrifice. Don’t forget, as it says in the Book of Maccabees, we may pray for the souls of the dead, and ask God to forgive them. Donations help show God how serious you are.” (A far,far greater crime was committed by the early Protestants who insisted that the Books of Maccabees be removed from The Bible, thus violating John 22:19. This is all the proof a truth-seeking soul should need.)
Providing forgiveness for the sincerely repentant is not a crime. Every Protestant clergyperson who builds a new church says, or implies, that God will be pleased by contributions, and all realize they are being told God will help them if they help His church be built.
So, while we may be grateful to the schisms that at least provide Baptism and Marriage, we must also understand that they keep many from moving on to the full obedience offered only by The Church Jesus Founded.
“Come to My Church, not to His.” is what many in schism are saying.
