A Guide for the 1689 Reformed Baptist
To evangelize effectively, we must represent Rome’s position with such accuracy that they recognize it themselves. We distinguish the Church of Rome from the catholic (universal) church, noting that while Rome claims the title, we hold to the historic, creedal catholicity of the Christian faith.
Select a Guide or continue to the summary below:
Summary
The differences between 1689 Reformed Baptist theology and Roman Catholicism are not peripheral—they cut to the heart of how a sinner stands righteous before a holy God. Rome offers an elaborate sacramental system; Scripture offers Christ alone. The following is a summary of the key areas where Rome has departed from the teaching of Scripture.
Rome binds the consciences of all the faithful to four Marian dogmas: the Immaculate Conception (1854), which teaches Mary was preserved from original sin from the moment of her conception; the Perpetual Virginity, which claims Mary remained a virgin before, during, and after the birth of Christ; the Assumption (1950), which teaches Mary was taken bodily into heaven; and Mary as Mother of God (Theotokos), confirmed at the Council of Ephesus in 431 AD.
Beyond these dogmas, Rome teaches that Mary is a “Mediatrix” who cooperated in the work of redemption, intercedes for believers, and continues to “bring us the gifts of eternal salvation” through her manifold intercession (Lumen Gentium 62). She is honored with hyperdulia—a special category of veneration said to be below worship but above the honor given to other saints.
Mary herself declared, “My spirit rejoices in God my Savior” (Luke 1:47)—a sinless person needs no Savior. Romans 3:23 states “all have sinned.” Scripture names Jesus’ brothers (Matt. 13:55–56) using adelphos, the standard term for biological siblings. No scriptural evidence exists for the Assumption. And 1 Timothy 2:5 is definitive: “There is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.”
Rome distinguishes latria (worship due to God alone), dulia (veneration given to saints), and hyperdulia (special veneration given to Mary). Rome explicitly denies worshiping Mary or the saints, insisting these practices are requests for intercession, not divine worship.
However, specific devotional practices strain this distinction to the breaking point. The Salve Regina addresses Mary as “our life, our sweetness, and our hope.” The Memorare attributes unfailing efficacy to her intercession. These prayers presuppose that Mary can hear millions of simultaneous petitions—an attribute approaching omniscience. Even Vatican II warned against “gross exaggerations” in Marian devotion (Lumen Gentium 67).
Reformed theologians like Francis Turretin and John Owen argued that the distinction between dulia and latria is a distinction without a biblical difference. The act of praying to, kneeling before, and consecrating oneself to a creature constitutes the “religious worship” that Scripture reserves for God alone (Matt. 4:10). The 1689 LBCF 22.2: “Religious worship is to be given to God… and to him alone; not to angels, saints, or any other creature.”
Rome follows the satisfaction theory of Anselm (as modified by Aquinas): sin is an infinite offense against God’s honor, and Christ’s death offered a voluntary sacrifice of infinite value that “satisfied” the debt of honor. This is substitutionary satisfaction, not penal substitution. Rome generally denies that the Father poured out His wrath on the Son. Christ’s merit is stored in the “Treasury of Merit” (along with the merits of Mary and the saints) and distributed through the sacraments.
From this atonement theology flows the entire Roman sacramental system: the Mass as a “truly propitiatory” re-presentation of Calvary (CCC 1367), purgatory as post-mortem purification of “temporal punishment” (CCC 1030), and indulgences drawn from the treasury of merit to remit that punishment.
If Christ bore the full legal penalty for sin, there is no remaining temporal punishment to purge, no ongoing sacrifice to re-present, and no treasury to dole out. Hebrews is devastating on this point: Christ offered Himself “once for all” (7:27), secured “an eternal redemption” (9:12), and “by a single offering perfected for all time those who are being sanctified” (10:14). Then He sat down—because the work was finished (Heb. 1:3; 10:11–12). “It is finished” (John 19:30).
This is the central divide. The Council of Trent (1547) defined justification as “not only a remission of sins but also the sanctification and renewal of the inward man.” Rome teaches infused righteousness: at baptism, God pours grace into the soul, making the person inherently righteous. This righteousness can be increased through good works and sacraments, and lost through mortal sin. Faith is necessary but not sufficient; works done in grace are truly meritorious. Assurance of salvation is denied—Trent calls it presumption.
Trent explicitly condemned sola fide with an anathema that remains in force: “If anyone says that the sinner is justified by faith alone… let him be anathema” (Canon 9). It also rejected the “sole imputation of the justice of Christ” (Canon 11).
The 1689 LBCF 11.1 states the Reformed position with magnificent clarity: God justifies “not by infusing righteousness into them, but by pardoning their sins, and by accounting and accepting their persons as righteous… not for anything wrought in them, or done by them, but for Christ’s sake alone… by imputing Christ’s active obedience unto the whole law, and passive obedience in his death for their whole and sole righteousness.”
Justification is a forensic declaration, not an ontological transformation. Sanctification is an ongoing process—Rome collapses these categories. The Scriptures teach that we are justified by faith apart from works of the law (Rom. 3:28), that the one who “does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly” has his faith counted as righteousness (Rom. 4:5), and that we are saved “not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy” (Titus 3:5).
Because Rome teaches justification as an internal process that can be lost, it follows that no one can have certainty of their final salvation. Trent anathematizes anyone who claims “infallible certainty” of perseverance.
The 1689 LBCF 18.1 affirms that believers may be “certainly assured that they are in the state of grace” with “an infallible assurance of faith.” Scripture teaches this directly: “The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God” (Rom. 8:16). “I write these things to you who believe… that you may know that you have eternal life” (1 John 5:13). “I give them eternal life, and they will never perish” (John 10:28).
The issue is not whether Rome speaks of grace—but whether that grace rests entirely on Christ’s finished work or is mediated through a system that ultimately depends on the sinner’s transformation as the ground of acceptance before God. This is where the Reformed confessions, following Scripture, draw a decisive and necessary line.
Continue Reading
The summary above covers the key points. For the full treatment—with extensive citations from Rome’s own sources, detailed Reformed responses from Scripture and the Confessions, theologian quotations, and practical guidance for evangelism—choose one of the guides below.
The most loving thing you can do for a Roman Catholic is tell them the truth: that the righteousness that saves is entirely alien—it belongs to Another, and it is given freely to all who believe.
Soli Deo Gloria