Chapter 10: All Roads Lead to Rome
This chapter examines the ecumenical movement: the push to unite all Christian denominations (and increasingly, all religions) under one banner. The movement sounds appealing, but its destination matters more than its rhetoric. Understanding where this road leads is essential for discernment.
A Different Movement
You've seen the spiritual paths: the Eastern meditations, channeling, psychedelics, and New Age practices examined in Chapter 1. Each one offered partial truth mixed with something else entirely.
But one movement stands apart in its scope and influence.
It doesn't come from obvious occult sources. It doesn't require altered states or exotic techniques. It doesn't ask you to consult astrology charts or channel entities.
It comes wrapped in the language of love, unity, and tolerance. It quotes Jesus saying "that they all may be one" (John 17:21). It appeals to your desire for peace, your exhaustion with division, your longing for Christians to stop fighting and start working together.
It's called the ecumenical movement.
Understanding where it leads requires examining both its methods and its destination.
Denomination decoder timeline: https://theremnantthread.com/studies/denomination-decoder
What Ecumenism Means
Ecumenism comes from the Greek oikoumene (οἰκουμένη), meaning "the whole inhabited world." The ecumenical movement seeks to unite all Christian denominations (and increasingly, all religions) under one banner.
The language speaks of unity, cooperation, breaking down walls, and setting aside petty theological differences to focus on serving humanity together.
The problem is simple: You cannot have unity without truth.
When Jesus prayed "that they all may be one" (John 17:21), He didn't pray for organizational unity at the expense of doctrine. The full prayer:
"Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth. As thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world. And for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth."
Unity comes through truth, not despite it.
I came to see that the ecumenical framework asks Christians to set aside doctrinal differences for the sake of cooperation. The effect, whether intentional or not, is placing institutional unity above commandment-keeping.
The remnant is identified by specific criteria (Revelation 12:17): those who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ, not those who have warm feelings about Jesus while ignoring what He commanded.
The Vatican's Ecumenical Strategy
The modern ecumenical movement has a clear center of gravity: the Roman Catholic Church.
Many ecumenical participants have sincere motives. Protestants involved in these initiatives often pursue genuine Christian unity, believing cooperation serves the gospel. The institutional pattern, however, tells a different story. The diplomatic initiatives, the coordinated messaging, and the power structures all flow through Vatican channels. This doesn't impugn individual sincerity; it identifies where institutional gravity pulls.
Vatican II: The Shift (1962-1965)
For centuries, the Catholic Church's position toward Protestants was straightforward:
You're heretics. Come back to the Catholic Church or face eternal damnation.
Then came the Second Vatican Council (Vatican II), which fundamentally changed the Catholic Church's public approach. Whether this represented genuine theological development, strategic repositioning, or both, historians and theologians continue to debate. What is observable is the effect.
Instead of denouncing Protestants as heretics, Vatican II called them "separated brethren," Christians who had valid baptism and elements of truth, but needed to return to "full communion" with the Catholic Church.
The language softened. Condemnations became invitations. Anathemas became dialogue.
But the goal has not changed: Bring the Protestants back under papal authority.
Vatican II's Unitatis Redintegratio (Latin: "Restoration of Unity"), the Decree on Ecumenism (1964), states:1 Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, Unitatis Redintegratio [Decree on Ecumenism], November 21, 1964, Introduction §1. Vatican Archive. Available at: https://www.vatican.va/archive/hist_councils/ii_vatican_council/documents/vat-ii_decree_19641121_unitatis-redintegratio_en.html.
"The restoration of unity among all Christians is one of the principal concerns of the Second Vatican Council... The term 'ecumenical movement' indicates the initiatives and activities encouraged and organized, according to the various needs of the Church and as opportunities offer, to promote Christian unity."
The call is for unity itself, not "unity around truth" or "unity through commandment-keeping." This framing leads to the assumption that unity under the Catholic Church is unity in truth.
The Spiritual Adoption
Ecumenism isn't just organizational. It's spiritual.
Before any unity document is signed, the preparation has already happened.
The Vocabulary Shift
The language in evangelical churches has changed over the past thirty years:
- "Quiet time" became "contemplative prayer"
- "Bible study" became "lectio divina"
- "Prayer" became "centering"
- "Devotional life" became "spiritual formation"
These aren't different words for the same thing. Proponents argue they represent recovery of ancient Christian practices that predate the Catholic-Protestant split. Critics note these practices were preserved and developed primarily within Catholic monastic tradition, and their reintroduction carries theological assumptions that may conflict with Protestant emphases on Scripture alone.
Whether this represents legitimate historical recovery or gradual accommodation to Rome, the direction of movement is clear.
The Result
The spiritual formation movement, now mainstream in evangelical seminaries, draws explicitly from Catholic sources. Richard Foster (author of Celebration of Discipline, the book that introduced contemplative practices to evangelical audiences in 1978) admits the term came from Catholicism. Dallas Willard (influential evangelical philosopher at USC) recommended reading Catholic mystics. Evangelical leaders attend retreats based on the Spiritual Exercises of Ignatius of Loyola, founder of the Jesuits in 1540.
The Enneagram, which entered Christian circles through Jesuit (Catholic religious order) priests and has roots in esoteric traditions, is now common in evangelical leadership training.
No Vatican document is required and no interfaith summit is needed for this adoption to take effect.
The fusion has already happened in the spirituality of ordinary evangelicals.
The Implication
Organizational ecumenism makes headlines. Spiritual ecumenism transforms quietly.
When Protestants already practice Catholic-derived spirituality, unity documents just ratify what's already real.
When evangelical leaders read Catholic authors, recommend Catholic practices, and use Catholic vocabulary, the Reformation is over in practice, whatever they say in theory.
The direction isn't new. The spiritual preparation was complete a generation ago.
Pope Francis: The Acceleration
Popes since Vatican II have advanced the ecumenical agenda, but Pope Francis has accelerated it dramatically.
February 4, 2019: The Document on Human Fraternity
Pope Francis and Grand Imam Ahmad Al-Tayyeb signed a joint declaration in Abu Dhabi. The full passage states:2 Pope Francis and Grand Imam Ahmad Al-Tayyeb, "A Document on Human Fraternity for World Peace and Living Together," Abu Dhabi, February 4, 2019. https://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/travels/2019/outside/documents/papa-francesco_20190204_documento-fratellanza-umana.html. Archived at: [archive link]
"Freedom is a right of every person: each individual enjoys the freedom of belief, thought, expression and action. The pluralism and the diversity of religions, color, sex, race and language are willed by God in His wisdom, through which He created human beings."
The phrase "diversity of religions... are willed by God in His wisdom" immediately sparked controversy. Does God actively will Islam, Hinduism, and Buddhism to exist as valid paths? Or does He merely permit them while desiring all to know truth?
One month later, Bishop Athanasius Schneider confronted Pope Francis privately during a March 2019 ad limina visit. The Pope responded that the phrase should be understood in the sense of God's "permissive will" (God allows it through human free choice) rather than His "positive will" (what God actively desires).Bishop Athanasius Schneider reported Pope Francis's private clarification in March 2019. See: "Bishop Schneider: Pope clarified statement on 'diversity of religions,'" Catholic Herald, March 8, 2019. https://www.corrispondenzaromana.it/international-news/exclusive-bishop-schneider-wins-clarification-on-diversity-of-religions-from-pope-francis-brands-abuse-summit-a-failure/. Archived at: Archive.org
At an April 3, 2019 general audience, Pope Francis stated publicly: "Why does God allow many religions? God wanted to allow this: Scholastic theologians used to refer to God's voluntas permissiva [permissive will]. He wanted to allow this reality: there are many religions."Pope Francis, General Audience, April 3, 2019. Quoted in multiple sources. See: "Does God want religious diversity? Abu Dhabi text raises questions," National Catholic Reporter, February 7, 2019. https://www.ncronline.org/spirituality/does-god-want-religious-diversity-abu-dhabi-text-raises-questions. Archived at: Archive.org
The clarification itself raised further questions.
Pope Francis's distinction between "permissive will" and "positive will" is standard Catholic theology. But the document itself was never amended; the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith issued no formal statement; the controversial phrase remains unchanged on the Vatican website. The clarification came through private conversation and a general audience comment, not official magisterial teaching. And the distinction, even if accepted, still positions the Catholic Church as cooperating with religions God merely "permits" rather than actively wills.
On June 10, 2019, Cardinals Raymond Burke and Jānis Pujats, along with several bishops, published a "Declaration of Truths" responding to the controversy, stating: "The religion born of faith in Jesus Christ, the Catholic Church, is the only religion positively willed by God.""Declaration of the truths relating to some of the most common errors in the life of the Church of our time," published June 10, 2019 (Pentecost Monday), signed by Cardinals Raymond Burke, Jānis Pujats, Archbishop Tomash Peta, Archbishop Jan Pawel Lenga, and Bishop Athanasius Schneider. See: Edward Pentin, "New 'Declaration of Truths' Affirms Key Church Teachings," National Catholic Register, June 10, 2019. Available at: https://www.ncregister.com/news/new-declaration-of-truths-affirms-key-church-teachings. Archived at: https://web.archive.org/web/20250910041734/https://www.ncregister.com/news/new-declaration-of-truths-affirms-key-church-teachings.
Even interpreted charitably as "permissive will," the implications are problematic. If God permits Islam's rejection of Jesus as Son of God, Hinduism's polytheism, and Buddhism's godless philosophy (while desiring unity and peace with these systems), then doctrinal truth becomes secondary to interfaith cooperation. The emphasis shifts from "What does God command?" to "What can we agree on despite our differences?"
But Jesus didn't say "I am a way, a truth, and a life."
He said: "I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me" (John 14:6).
This is an exclusive truth claim, not pluralism, not "all religions are valid paths." Whether interpreted as God's "permissive will" or not, signing a document with a Muslim leader that equates religious diversity with racial and linguistic diversity blurs the line between truth and error in service of ecumenical unity.
October 2020: Pope Francis on Civil Unions
In a documentary interview, Pope Francis endorsed civil unions for same-sex couples, saying:3 Pope Francis, interview in documentary Francesco directed by Evgeny Afineevsky, premiered October 21, 2020, Rome Film Festival. Quoted in: "Pope Francis voices support for same-sex civil unions in new documentary," Catholic News Agency, October 21, 2020. Available at: https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/46093/pope-francis-voices-support-for-same-sex-civil-unions-in-new-documentary.
"Homosexual people have the right to be in a family. They are children of God... What we have to have is a civil union law; that way they are legally covered."
I came to see a pattern here: when unity with culture becomes the priority, biblical standards become negotiable.
The Bible is clear: "Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it is abomination" (Leviticus 18:22). Jesus affirmed: "He which made them at the beginning made them male and female" (Matthew 19:4).
But ecumenism requires compromise. If you want unity with modern culture, you set aside "divisive" biblical standards.
The LGBTQ+ issue is just the test case. The real question beneath it: truth or unity?
Pope Leo XIV: The Pattern Continues
Pope Francis died on Easter Monday, April 21, 2025. Within weeks, the College of Cardinals elected Robert Prevost as Pope Leo XIV, the first American pope in history.
The choice of papal name carries weight.
Leo X (1513-1521) was the pope who excommunicated Martin Luther in 1521, fought the Protestant Reformation tooth and nail, and endorsed the selling of indulgences. He wanted Luther executed as a heretic.
Now a new pope chooses "Leo" while pursuing Protestant-Catholic reunion.
The historical contrast is notable. The name associated with crushing the Reformation now welcomes Protestants home.
Leo XIV is also the first Augustinian pope. Saint Augustine (354-430 AD) shaped the theological framework that defines Roman Catholicism:
- Trinity doctrine formulation
- Original sin theology
- Sacramental understanding
- Church authority concepts
The pope who advances ecumenical unity comes from the order of the theologian who shaped the doctrines Protestantism challenged.
In November 2025, Pope Leo XIV traveled to İznik, Turkey (ancient Nicaea) for the 1700th anniversary of the Council of Nicaea (325 AD). There he issued In Unitate Fidei (Latin: "In Unity of Faith"), an apostolic letter calling Christians to move beyond "theological controversies that no longer serve the cause of unity" and to rediscover together the faith professed at Nicaea.4 Pope Leo XIV, In Unitate Fidei, Apostolic Letter on the 1700th Anniversary of the Council of Nicaea, November 2025.
The pope proposed that the Nicene Creed "can be the basis and reference point for a renewed journey toward full communion among Christians."
The language sounds generous: unity, reconciliation, and moving beyond old disputes.
But which disputes become "outdated"?
The Council of Nicaea defined the Trinity. It said nothing about the Sabbath. It established no position on Scripture's sole authority. These remained open questions. The Reformation would later press them.
To build unity on Nicaea while calling later controversies "outdated" is to build on precisely the doctrinal floor the Catholic Church prefers: high enough to include Trinitarian orthodoxy, low enough to exclude the Reformation's core concerns.
The daughters are being invited home. The terms of return require only that certain questions stop being asked.
Climate-Sunday advocacy continues.
Within months of his election, Leo XIV was addressing the United Nations climate conference: "God's creation is crying out in floods, droughts, storms, and relentless heat." He explicitly invoked Laudato Si' and called for "true ecological conversion."
The platform Francis built, Leo expands.
Protestant Capitulation
You'd expect Protestants to recognize the direction and resist.
Instead, they're racing to join.
The Manhattan Declaration (2009)
More than 150 Christian leaders (Catholic, Orthodox, and Evangelical) signed a joint declaration affirming "the sanctity of life, traditional marriage, and religious liberty."5 "Manhattan Declaration: A Call of Christian Conscience," November 20, 2009. Original signatories included Chuck Colson, Robert George, Timothy George, and over 150 Christian leaders from Catholic, Orthodox, and Evangelical traditions. Available at: https://manhattandeclaration.org/. It obscured the fundamental differences (Sabbath vs Sunday, sola scriptura vs tradition, justification by faith vs works + sacraments) by focusing on shared social positions.
The appeal is obvious.
Many evangelical signatories explicitly rejected ecumenism and understood their participation as limited cooperation on specific moral issues, not theological alliance. Some prominent evangelical leaders refused to sign precisely because they feared it implied theological unity where none existed.
The question is whether limited political cooperation, whatever the signatories' intentions, creates a public perception of theological partnership. When Catholics and Evangelicals stand together on cultural issues, the doctrinal differences that separate them fade from public view.
The Lausanne Movement
The Lausanne Movement, birthed from Billy Graham's evangelistic efforts, now actively promotes Catholic-Evangelical cooperation.6 The Lausanne Movement originated from the First International Congress on World Evangelization (Lausanne, Switzerland, 1974), convened by Billy Graham. The Fourth Lausanne Congress took place in Seoul, South Korea, September 22-28, 2024. See "About Lausanne," The Lausanne Movement. Available at: https://lausanne.org/about. See also "Seoul 2024," available at: https://lausanne.org/gathering/seoul-2024.
The Fourth Lausanne Congress (Seoul, 2024) included Catholic participants and emphasized "global collaboration" in evangelism as if Catholics and Protestants preach the same gospel.
But the gospels differ fundamentally.
The Protestant gospel says you are saved by grace through faith alone (Ephesians 2:8-9). The Catholic gospel says you are saved by grace plus works plus sacraments plus purgatory.
Those aren't compatible. You can't have unity while preaching different paths to salvation.
Ecumenical Worship Services
In cities across America and Europe, Catholics, Protestants, Orthodox, and sometimes Muslims gather for joint worship services.
They pray together. Sing together. Celebrate "unity."
But fundamental differences in worship remain.
Catholics worship through Mary as mediatrix. Protestants (theoretically) reject this. Catholics observe Sunday as a holy day. The remnant keeps the seventh-day Sabbath. Many Protestants have adopted the Nicene co-equal Trinity. The biblical testimony is the Father as the only true God (John 17:3), with the Son eternally begotten and subordinate.
When you worship together despite fundamental doctrinal differences, you're not uniting in truth. You're uniting in compromise.
And compromise with error is still error.
The Climate Sabbath: Sunday as Unifying Cause
This is where ecumenism becomes prophetically significant.
Various religious and secular groups are now promoting Sunday rest as an environmental solution.
The logic goes:
- Climate change threatens the planet
- Overconsumption and constant work contribute to environmental degradation
- A mandatory day of rest would reduce carbon emissions and give the earth time to recover
- Sunday is the traditional Christian day of rest
- Therefore, Sunday rest laws would benefit both spiritual life and planetary health
The Vatican has been explicit about this.
Pope Francis's 2015 encyclical Laudato Si' (On Care for Our Common Home) calls for Sunday rest as ecological necessity:
"On Sunday, our participation in the Eucharist has special importance. Sunday, like the Jewish Sabbath, is meant to be a day which heals our relationships with God, with ourselves, with others and with the world... We tend to demean contemplative rest as something unproductive and unnecessary, but this is to do away with the very thing which is most important about work: its meaning. We are called to include in our work a dimension of receptivity and gratuity."
The substitution is telling: "like the Jewish Sabbath." This acknowledges Saturday was the original, but promotes Sunday as its Christian replacement. Yet what God placed inside the Ark of the Covenant (the Fourth Commandment, Exodus 40:20) cannot be legitimately "replaced" by what humans positioned outside it. The moral law in God's presence doesn't yield to papal encyclicals.
Various Protestant groups have joined the push:
- The World Council of Churches has endorsed Sunday rest legislation as environmental stewardship
- Evangelical Climate Initiative has promoted "Sabbath rest" (Sunday) as carbon reduction
- Faith-based environmental groups present Sunday laws as religious freedom (choosing to rest) rather than coercion
Here is where the direction leads: Once Sunday rest becomes tied to planetary survival, dissent becomes ecocide.
If you refuse to observe Sunday because you keep the seventh-day Sabbath (Saturday), you're not just religiously stubborn; you're actively harming the planet. You're selfish. You're putting your "legalistic" Sabbath-keeping above the survival of future generations.
This is how persecution becomes morally justified in the persecutors' minds.
They won't see themselves as opposing religious freedom. They'll see themselves as protecting the planet from dangerous fundamentalists who won't cooperate for the common good.
The Pattern: Babylon's Final Form
Stepping back, a pattern emerges:
- Doctrinal differences minimized ("We're all Christians; let's focus on what unites us")
- Social/political goals emphasized (Fight abortion, defend traditional marriage, save the planet)
- The Catholic Church positioned as moral leader (Pope Francis as global conscience, Vatican as diplomatic center)
- Sunday promoted as universal rest day (For faith, family, and planetary health)
- Dissenters marginalized (Sabbath-keepers labeled divisive, legalistic, anti-environment)
- Legal enforcement proposed (Sunday laws "for the common good")
Revelation predicted this exact progression:
"And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet. For they are the spirits of devils, working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty."
Three unclean spirits (working through dragon, beast, and false prophet) gather the whole world.
The historicist reading identifies these symbols: Dragon represents spiritualism and non-Christian religion (the deceptions covered in Chapter 13). Beast represents the Catholic Church (the papal system that changed the Sabbath). False prophet represents Protestant institutions that retained Rome's changes (churches claiming biblical authority while observing a day the Catholic Church established).
This interpretation suggests the ecumenical movement unites all three.
Spiritual movements, Catholic mystics, and some Protestant leaders find common ground. Many agree that unity matters more than doctrinal precision, and that cooperation should take precedence over theological differences.
And Sunday becomes the visible, universal sign of that unity.
Revelation suggests the final conflict takes this form: not obvious idolatry, not open opposition to God, but pressure toward conformity in the name of love, unity, and global welfare.
The direction that concerns me most isn't the one that looks evil. It's the one that looks righteous.
Why Sabbath-Keepers Are the Target
You might wonder: "If the goal is global unity, why focus specifically on Sabbath-keepers? Why not just let us do our thing while everyone else observes Sunday?"
The reason is that the seventh-day Sabbath is the seal of God, the sign of His authority as Creator.
God Himself defines it:
"Moreover also I gave them my sabbaths, to be a sign between me and them, that they might know that I am the LORD that sanctify them."
"And hallow my sabbaths; and they shall be a sign between me and you, that ye may know that I am the LORD your God."
The Sabbath is explicitly called God's sign, His mark, His seal, and His identifier. Revelation 7:3 shows God sealing His servants "in their foreheads" before the final judgments. What is that seal? The sign between God and His people: the Sabbath.
Sunday is the mark of the beast, the sign of the Catholic Church's authority to change God's law.
You can't have both.
When Sunday becomes the universal rest day enforced by law, keeping the seventh-day Sabbath becomes an act of visible defiance. It's a public declaration:
"I reject the authority that changed God's commandment. I obey the Creator, not the creature. I will not bow to Babylon."
That's why Sabbath-keepers become the final battleground.
Not because Sabbath-keeping saves you (it doesn't; only faith in Christ does). But because Sabbath-keeping is the visible test of loyalty when the world enforces Sunday worship.
Revelation 13:15-17 describes the enforcement:
"And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed. And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads: And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name."
The prophecy describes economic boycott, social exclusion, legal persecution, and eventually a death decree.
All for refusing to worship (observe Sunday) when commanded.
This is why the remnant is identified as "those who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus" (Revelation 12:17, 14:12).
When the world says, "Bow to unity and observe Sunday like the rest," the remnant says:
"I will keep God's commandments, including the Fourth. I will worship on the day He commanded, not the day the world mandates. I will stand with the Creator, even if I stand alone."
That's the final test.
The Counterfeit Unity
Ecumenism offers something attractive: an end to conflict, cooperation instead of condemnation, and peace among Christians.
But it's a counterfeit unity.
True unity is found in obedience to the Father's commands and testimony of His Son. False unity is found in tolerance of disobedience disguised as love.
Jesus didn't pray for organizational unity at the expense of truth. He prayed for unity through truth:
"Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth... that they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us." (John 17:17, 21)
Unity in the Father means unity in His Word, His commands, and obedience.
The ecumenical movement reverses this:
- Unity first, truth later (if ever)
- Tolerance of doctrinal error for the sake of cooperation
- Setting aside "divisive" commandments (like Sabbath) to focus on "more important" things (like social justice)
But God doesn't have a hierarchy of "important" and "less important" commandments.
James 2:10 settles it:
"For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all."
You can't keep nine commandments and ignore the fourth. Breaking one breaks all.
The ecumenical movement says, "Let's ignore the fourth commandment (Sabbath) so we can all get along."
The remnant says, "Let's obey all ten, no matter the cost."
One path leads to unity with Babylon. The other leads to unity with the Father.
Where Universalism Leads
Universalism is the belief that all people will eventually be saved, regardless of their faith, obedience, or response to Christ. Some versions say all are already saved; others say all will eventually be saved after death. Either way, the result is the same: no one is ultimately lost.
This teaching is spreading through modern Christianity. It makes the ecumenical movement look cautious by comparison.
It says all humanity is already saved, with no exceptions. They just don't know it yet.
Christ reconciled the entire cosmos to Himself at the Cross. The work is finished, universal, and complete. All humanity is already "woven into His divinity."
This theology (sometimes called hyper-grace or universal reconciliation) makes the remnant invisible.
If all are already saved, why separate? Why obey commandments? Why come out of Babylon?
You're already in.
The Texts They Cite
Universalists point to passages that use the word "all":
"Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth."
"And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself."
"For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive."
See? All men. All things. All made alive.
This leads to universal salvation with no remnant, no separation, and no judgment.
But context changes the meaning.
What "All" Means
Paul wrote another "all" passage in Romans:
"Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life."
If "all" means each individual without exception, then all are condemned through Adam (true) and all are justified through Christ (universalism claims this too).
But six verses earlier, Paul clarified:
"For if by one man's offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ."
"They which receive."
Salvation is not automatic, not universal, not given without response.
Christ's sacrifice is sufficient for all. It's applied to those who receive.
The offer is universal. Acceptance is not.
Jesus' Binary Language
Jesus Himself spoke in absolutes:
"Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it."
Jesus does not say "many go in but don't know it yet." He says few find it.
At the judgment, He divides humanity into two groups:
"And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal."
Scripture presents binary categories: sheep and goats, wheat and tares, and saved and lost. Jesus taught separation, not universal inclusion, and not the claim that "all are already saved, some just don't realize it."
This pattern repeats throughout the Catholic Church's theological innovations. The Trinity doctrine obscures the Father's unique position as "the only true God" (John 17:3). The immortal soul doctrine obscures the distinction between conditional life and death. Universal reconciliation obscures the distinction between saved and lost. Eastern mysticism's "all is one" theology takes this to its logical extreme: everything is divine, nothing is profane, Creator and creation merge. Each step blurs a biblical distinction God established. Each step makes the remnant's separation seem unnecessary.
Permanent Separation
In the parable of the rich man and Lazarus, Abraham explains:
"And beside all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed: so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot; neither can they pass to us, that would come from thence."
There is a gulf. It is fixed. There is no crossing.
Revelation describes those who worship the beast and receive his mark:
"And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name."
The consequences are permanent, the separation is eternal, and Scripture does not teach that "all are saved, but some don't experience it yet."
Why This Matters
Universal reconciliation theology erases the remnant.
If all are already saved, commandment-keeping doesn't matter. The Sabbath doesn't matter. Coming out of Babylon doesn't matter.
You're already woven into divinity. Just relax and enjoy it.
But Scripture describes a remnant--a specific people distinguished by commandment-keeping (Revelation 12:17).
Not everyone is saved. Only a remnant endures.
The dragon makes war against them specifically. Why wage war if they're already saved?
Universalism is where ecumenism ultimately leads. It removes every boundary, erases every distinction, and eliminates the need for obedience.
The wide gate gets wider.
And the narrow way grows harder to find.
The Prosperity Gospel: Another Road
The prosperity gospel traces from nineteenth-century mesmerism through New Thought, Christian Science, and E.W. Kenyon to Kenneth Hagin and his modern successors.7 D.R. McConnell, A Different Gospel (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 1995), traces this lineage in detail, documenting how metaphysical and New Thought concepts entered evangelical Christianity through E.W. Kenyon and later Kenneth Hagin. Each iteration promised the same thing: mastery over physical reality through mental technique. Biblical faith trusts a Person; prosperity teaching wields a force. One is relationship; the other is technique.
Like ecumenism, it leads away from commandment-keeping. The prosperity gospel focuses on personal blessing rather than obedience. The Sabbath commandment becomes irrelevant when the goal is wealth rather than holiness. It is another road leading to the same destination.
How It Ends
Revelation 18 describes Babylon's final collapse:
"Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird... And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues."
"Come out of her, my people."
God has people still in Babylon: Christians in Catholic churches, Protestant churches, and ecumenical organizations.
Their sincerity is real. Their love for Jesus is genuine. Their attempts to serve faithfully are recognized by the God who sees hearts.
And they're in Babylon. Both truths coexist. Sincerity doesn't nullify location. The call to "come out" isn't a judgment on their character. It's an invitation based on fuller understanding.
The call is clear: Come out.
The call is unconditional. It doesn't wait for convenience, pastoral agreement, or family understanding.
The plagues are falling (see Chapter 15), and judgment is already in motion.
Ecumenism is the framework that counsels patience: "Don't be divisive. Don't leave. We're all Christians. We're working toward unity."
The question is whether patience with institutional error is the same as patience with God's timing. Babylon has not shown capacity to question her foundational doctrines. The call remains.
When judgment falls, the remnant will be standing outside.
What Does This Mean for You?
If you're currently part of a church that participates in ecumenical activities, this chapter isn't asking you to become hostile. It's inviting honest evaluation. Many sincere Christians in these movements genuinely seek unity for the right reasons. The question isn't their motives; it's the direction of the movement itself.
Consider: What doctrines is your church setting aside for the sake of unity? What practices have you adopted that trace back to Rome rather than Scripture? If your church celebrates joint worship with Catholics while observing the day the Catholic Church admits it changed, the doctrinal fusion has already happened in practice.
You don't need to have every answer before acting. You don't need your pastor's permission or your family's approval. God calls individuals before He calls institutions. The call to "come out" in Revelation 18:4 is addressed to "my people" still inside Babylon, not to those who were never there.
This might cost you fellowship. It might cost you relationships. It might cost you the comfort of familiar worship. Those costs are real. But Scripture is clear: the roads are converging, and the remnant takes a different path.
The Cost of Clarity
Unity without truth is compromise.
Unity with error is still error. Biblical unity comes through obedience to God's commands, not tolerance of their violation.
The ecumenical movement trades truth for acceptance.
The remnant trades acceptance for truth. Both positions have a cost. Only one has eternal value.
The groundwork for Sunday legislation framed as environmental necessity is already being laid.
If such pressure intensifies--social, economic, legal--the choice made now shapes the choice made then.
Division from error is not the same as division from truth.
Jesus said He came not to bring peace, but a sword (Matthew 10:34). Following truth divides. The minority who obey have always been outnumbered by those who compromise.
The ecumenical framework is in place. All roads are converging. The question is whether you will recognize where they lead before arriving there.
All roads lead to Rome. The remnant takes a different path.
If your church is participating in ecumenical activities: Evaluate honestly. Ask what doctrines are being set aside for unity. Ask where the movement leads. If your church celebrates joint worship with Catholics while ignoring the Sabbath change, the direction is clear. You don't need to be hostile. You do need to be honest. Some will hear the call and respond. Others will not. Your responsibility is to follow truth wherever it leads, even if it means walking alone for a season.