Joseph Ratzinger, the retired pope also known as Pope Benedict XVI, acknowledges that he will soon meet his eternal fate. According to the Associated Press, Ratzinger says he hopes to join his “friends” who have all passed away soon.
“Of all my colleagues and friends he was the closest to me,” Benedict’s letter reportedly said. “Now he has reached the afterlife, where many friends certainly await him. I hope I can join them soon.”
The Roman Catholic Church is a false church that teaches a false way of salvation by works instead of salvation by grace alone through faith alone.
Simply put, the biblical doctrine of justification is by Grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, according to the Scriptures alone, to the Glory of God alone. When this doctrine is rejected, salvation is passed up.
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For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. –Ephesians 2:8-9
Historically, Protestants and Evangelicals have defended this doctrine passionately. In contrast, the Roman Catholic Church has vehemently denied and rejected it. Canon 9 of the Roman Catholic Council of Trent says:
“If anyone says that the sinner is justified by faith alone, meaning that nothing else is required to cooperate in order to obtain the grace of justification and that it is not in any way necessary that he be prepared and disposed by the action of his own will, let him be anathema.”
Ratzinger is correct in that he will soon be joining his friends in the afterlife–and it will not be in the glorious presence of God. The Roman Catholic Church teaches that when sinners die, they go to Purgatory for a time to be cleansed of their remaining sins, and then on to Heaven. However, Purgatory is Hell and it is not temporary–this is where Roman Catholics who don’t repent and believe the gospel go when they die. And this is exactly where Pope Benedict knows he is going, and it is exactly where he wants to go, because he hates God.
