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TranscriptThis summer as part of our vacation, we went to Rome. In the heart of Rome, in the center of it, is the Vatican. It is a country surrounded, landlocked, by another country. The Vatican is actually it's own country in the middle of the country of Italy. It's kind of interesting. It's also the only country with a religious leader, who is also the head of state. The Pope is technically the ruler of the country of the Vatican, but he is also the head of the Catholic Church.

Well, we went to tour the Vatican, and this was not my first time there. I went in around 9th grade, when my mother took me on a trip to Europe. I will tell you that what I remember from back then and what I remember from today, while being quite similar, is also remarkably different. I'd like to talk about a few things that are actually of significance to us as Christians, living in America today. As Christians living at this time in history.

The Mass

You know, it's interesting, the Vatican is magnificently beautiful. Some people might actually say too ornate. Setting that aside, you walk in and it's magnificent. The architecture, just how things are carved and painted and sculpted. It's remarkable. It's incredible. Then, there's that moment when I had to bring myself back and think, "You know what, I have to remember what happens here."

You look up front to the magnificently beautiful altar, and you think, "Well, what happens there? Oh, that's where the Mass takes place." The mass is one of those things that isn't just a service, like Christians or Protestants or whomever would go to church on Sunday. The mass is a special type of thing, which contains the Eucharist, which is where they believe the real body and real blood of Christ are transformed on the altar when the priest, who is called an "alter Christus" (“another Christ”, someone who stands in the place of Christ, which should be very troubling to us) blesses those elements and they are said to turn into the real body and blood of Christ, even though they still look like real bread and real wine.

Then, that Mass, that sacrifice of the Mass as it's called, is taken for the forgiveness of sins. By taking that, your sins are forgiven. What is said, is that Christ's work on the Cross is not finished in Roman Catholicism. You must continually reapply it. It does not perfect. It does not accomplish once and for all what Jesus offered it to accomplish. We constantly have to be reapplying this sacrifice of Jesus Christ, because we were not justified once and for all as we talked about last week (that legal declaration of non-guilt). That didn't happen once and for all on a Roman Catholic view.

This is why they continually have to offer sacrifices for the forgiveness of their sins. That sounds a whole lot like the Old Testament law, doesn't it? Continual sacrifices for the forgiveness of sins that don't perfect the people they're offered for. Whereas, Christianity ... And I understand I'm making a distinction between Roman Catholicism and Christianity. (Here’s a podcast where I go into this in more detail) On Christianity, there was a once and for all sacrifice for sin. It was Jesus on the Cross. It doesn't need to be continually reapplied. It doesn't wear off. It doesn't have an expiration date, but this is not what Roman Catholicism teaches.

I'm standing there—to come back to my story—and I'm transfixed by just how magnificent this building is, but I have to remember what happens here. What happens here is the finality and efficacy of Jesus' atoning work on the Cross is actually blasphemed on Sundays, and every other day there's a mass there. You need to come back to mass to get your sins forgiven, because only the church can forgive your sins this way. This sacrifice of the Mass is offered c…