The Pope's "Amoris Laetitia"

Recently the Catholic church released an edit called by the above title, and it concerns the state of affairs in this denomination. The Pope, along with his bishops, wrote on issues like marriage, divorce, gay people, etc. It is hoped that this recent order will unite and do away with the schisms which ran rampant thoughout that body by compromising on these issues.

My purpose in writing is not to attack the Pope but to shed light on the Bible, what it teaches, and how people should react to its message.

First of all, let’s talk about the word of God. The Bible is absolute (Hebrews 4:12, Jeremiah 23:29). Its message is eternal (1 Peter 1:23). When issues are in question, it must be God’s way or the highway because the word of God is infallible and is the only way man can save his soul (Proverbs 30:4-5; John 17:17; James 1:16-25; 1 Timothy 4:16; 2 Thessalonians 1:6-10).

The word of God makes no apologies for its message and cannot be chided by men (Psalm 119:89). The word of God is the path by which all should check themselves, and the word of God is fitted for every generation because it is eternal and will be around after the earth is gone (Matt. 24:35).

Yet, we have people making the foolish speech that the word of God needs an upgrade for 2016. Nothing could be farther from the truth, and Satan has made great progress in getting people to believe this nonsense.

That’s right! Pay no attention to anyone who said that the word of God is outdated. The word of God is eternal and the guide for lives in every century (Matt. 4:4; Isaiah 40:8, 55:10-11; Ezekiel 12:28; John 8:31-32).

Second, people depart from the word of God (1 Tim. 4:1; Heb. 3:12; 2 Tim. 4:3-4). When men don’t read the law of God, men do what they want to do (2 Kings 22:8-13; Jer. 16:12). The problem with such living is that it will be wrong because man’s ways aren’t God’s ways (Isa. 55:8-9; Proverbs 14:12; Luke 16:15). And when people invest much into error they become attached to it and don’t want to give it up (Romans 10:16).

Instead, they will fight against the source that is trying to correct them, and such is the case with the Bible and sinful men. People today are way out in the ocean without a compass. I mean people wouldn't know sin if it walked up and introduced itself (Romans 10:3; 2 Kings 17:25-26).
Third, man must repent by conforming to the message of the word of God (Mark 2:17; 2 Peter 3:9; Matt. 4:17; Acts 2:38, 3:19, 17:30, 26:20; 2 Tim. 2:24-26; Luke 13:3). The preacher must teach the total plan of God, expecting listeners to bring their lives into harmony with the message (Acts 20:26-27; Jer. 23:22).

Since the word of God calls men sinners, no preacher should view mankind as anything else (Romans 3:23). Mankind must be viewed as lost and in need of the word of God to instruct them on how get rid of sin.

So the sins of men cannot be coddled. Sin needs to be rebuked and avoided (2 Tim. 2:19; 2 Corinthians 6:17). This brings me back to the Pope. What does he mean by saying, “show compassion?” Homosexual acts are sinful according to the word of God (Rom. 1:24-32). So how do I and other faithful preachers show compassion?

When we teach men what the word of God demands, we are showing compassion because we are letting the person know that there is danger (Jude 22-23).

It seems that the Pope is attempting to water down the voices which cry for repentance. The Pope would rather that tolerance and acceptance of the new age of sin take over. He wants this because he has no plans of telling it like it is. But the truth is, we cannot show compassion for things which the Lord does not condone (Psalm 66:18; Amos 5:14-15).

These pleas for compassion are the words of men who don’t want to preach the whole council of the gospel. Instead, they seek to please men by accepting whatever is going on in the world without demanding repentance from the people (Galatians 1:10; Jonah 3:1-10).

The world does not need churches to make concessions for sin nor write new dogmas. The world needs churches who preach the whole word of God and point out right from wrong and explain how one can get back on track.

Churches need to tell the world that reading and acting on the Bible will get them back on track. Religious leaders need to prove that they understand the bad condition of sin by simply telling it like it is and not writing laws to make it easy for those who are in sin. People who are off the track need to get back on the track.

Remember, the word of God is here among us. It is a complete message from our Creator. If any issues confront us, all we have to do is open its pages and allow the word to speak about the subject, and when that is done, the subject will either be condemned or embraced.

We in turn must take the scriptural view on any subject, and we surely shouldn’t be writing new things to please people because the world is gone wild, and we are trying to please them.
Let the word of the Lord show us what is right and what is wrong.

~James Baker