Welcome back to Defender’s Voice. This is Paul Kattupalli. Thank you for joining us today. This channel is about opinions. People ask my opinions. And I give my opinions. You will have your own opinions. You may not like what I say. Don’t take it too personal. You can express your views. You can watch my videos – I bring even godless people like Michael Shermer and Lawrence Krauss. My faith has been growing since I have been talking to these rabid atheists because their arguments against God are so lame. Open up and talk.
I live in central Pennsylvania. Last Sunday I went to a beautiful Mennonite near my home. One person came to me and said, ‘Thank you so much for your videos. You speak the truth clearly.’I was happy about it, because even in that small Pennsylvania town, there are people learning the truth.
Someone asked me what my opinion is about Luis Palau. So, in this video, I would like to give you my honest opinion about Luis Palau. He passed away this weekend and there is renewed interest in his life and teachings. He was from Argentina. He came
to the United States to study for the ministry and later inspired by Billy Graham to start his Crusades. Hundreds of thousands people were attending his Crusades. He was preaching the gospel so passionately. Churches all over America were raising special collections to support his ministry. Back in 1974, even John MacArthur raised $5000 to help Luis Palau to broadcast the gospel in South America. He was called ‘Billy Graham
to Latin America’.
He was holding huge Crusades in South America. He preached gospel. But he did not preach the full gospel. He was friends with prominent Catholic leaders in South America. To understand this deception, you should learn a few things about doctrines.
The doctrine of salvation? The technical word is soteriology. That is the most important doctrine. What is your soteriology? My soteriology is that We are saved by the grace of God through faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.
Three Onlys:
There are three ‘Onlys’. What are they?
Sola Scriptura,
Sola Fide,
Sola Gratia
Sola Scriptura means: Scripture alone is our authority. But in Catholicism, popes and bishops also add themselves to the authority.
Sola Fide means: Faith alone. You are saved by faith alone. But in Catholicism,
they also add works to your salvation.
Sola Gratia means: Grace alone. You are saved by grace alone. But in Catholicism,
grace alone is not sufficient. They add baptism and sacraments.
In Protestant faith, salvation means only faith in Christ. But in Catholicism, salvation means faith + baptism + sacraments + good works. So, Catholic faith, salvation means Christ + baptism + sacraments + good works. No wonder you don’t meet many Catholics who are sure they are going to heaven because Christ alone is not sufficient. They always wonder, did I do enough sacraments to please God? Did I climb enough stairs to please God? Did I do enough good works to please God? If you look into Catholic history, Popes were selling indulgences to people to get saved or to get their loved ones saved from purgatory.
Luis Palau, many others evangelical celebrities like him, commit the sins of omission. They tell people: Have faith in Jesus. They tell: Jesus will save you. But they won’t tell people:
“Your baptist does not save you
Your sacraments do not save you
Your works do not save you
Your confessions to a priest do not save you
You need Christ, Christ alone.”
They omit such disturbing truths,
lest they offend their Catholic friends.
Like Palau, Pope Francis is also from Argentina. His original name is Jorge Bergoglio. He is the former archbishop of Buenos Aires. When he became Pope, Luis Palau was so excited and gave an interview to Christianity Today (Christianity Today, March 2013). When I read that interview, I realized that Luis Palau had no spiritual discernment. The heading was Luis Palau: Why It Matters that Pope Francis Drinks Maté with Evangelicals
(“Christianity Today,” March 14, 2013).
Mate is like a green tea. Argentinian green tea. So Luis says that evangelicals should drink green tea with the Pope because that is what he has been doing with him before he became Pope. Pope told him that he does Bible studies with his financial administrator who is a Protestant. Yes, the would-be Pope studied the Bible with evangelicals but he never left his false beliefs he inherited from Catholicism. Then Luis Palau said, I quote,
“He’s a very Bible-centered man, a very Jesus Christ-centered man.”
I found those words troubling.
He’s a very Bible-centered man? Really?
He is a very Jesus Christ-centered man? Really?
This Pope is allowing Muslim prayers and Quran readings in the Vatican. Does that look like he is a Bible-centered man? He has said that all religions lead to God. Does that sound like he is a Jesus Christ- centered man? US President Joe Biden likes Pope Francis so much that he keeps his photo behind his desk in the Oval Office. If Joe Biden likes you so much, that tells a lot about what kind of a person you are. Luis Palau was so excited about this Pope.
So, Luis Palau did not have spiritual discernment.
He misled countless Christians with such statements.
I understand the pressures of our culture. I work with Muslim and Jewish doctors. We literally drink tea each afternoon. One doctor is from Pakistan. He makes excellent tea. He says, “You know Jesus. You have Jesus in the Bible. We have Jesus in the Quran”. I tell him respectfully, “My dear friend, they are not the same”. Quran’s Jesus cannot save you. He did not die for your sins. He did not rise from grave. You should come to Jesus who died on the cross for your sins. He listened. We should speak truth in love.
Other day a Jewish doctor told me, I celebrated Passover. I told him, ‘Do you know what the Passover is pointing to?’ The lamb of the Passover is pointing to Jesus. He is the lamb of God you should come to. We should tell the same things to the people in other cults. Catholic Jesus cannot save you.Mormon Jesus cannot save you; Jehovah’s Witness Jesus cannot save you
Luis Palau’s friend Ravi Zacharias played the same game. Ravi went to Mormon temple and told them : Jesus loves you. But he was careful not to tell them, ‘Your Mormon Jesus is a false Jesus’. That is the sin of omission. When Ravi died, then White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany shed tears. She admired Ravi so much. She is still a Catholic. Ravi did not tell these Catholic admirers that they should leave the false teachings of Catholicism. In the same way, Luis Palau did not call out the false teachings of Catholicism. He had his opportunity to reach millions of people in Latin America and he wasted it. Even now, Latin America is 70 percent Catholic.
But you might say, ‘we should put away our differences and have unity’ ‘You should not offend people with doctrines’. If Martin Luther had thought like that, there would never have been a Protestant Reformation and we would still be counting our rosary beads, we would still be buying indulgences, we would still be climbing the basilicas of Mother Mary on our knee caps – never knowing the freedom which comes when we solely depend on Christ for our salvation.
Ok folks, that’s for today. Please leave your comments and questions below. Don’t forget to like and subscribe. Thank you and God bless you.