Vinegar in the milk.

A position in some quarters is that the ritual/ordinance/sacrament of baptism removes only the earthly guilt of original sin and only the earthly guilt of sins committed before baptism.

What if that’s wrong?

What if, say, the Holy Spirit (not some man in a pointy hat or his underlings) applies the salvation accomplished fully for all time by Jesus Christ the Son of God (His Divine Person and His work – moral perfection, Cross, Resurrection, etc)?

Well then ——

…there is no need for purgatory, a extra-biblical doctrine (2 Maccabees is not inspired Scripture, and, despite certain claims,?the Jews do not believe in it, and the church before Gregory, i.e., 604 AD, did not teach it).

…there is no need for a sacrament of Confession/absolution.

…there is no need for transubstantiation, as the sinless, risen Christ made the only sacrifice necessary, having now ascended after making the only perfect mediation, being by the only perfect mediator.

…there is no need for invocation of saints – prayer to imaginary additional created so-called co-mediators (neither a lady dressed in blue nor humans whose body parts are in a reliquary)— sinners (redeemed sinners even) are not omnipresent, not omniscient, and not omnipotent, and are not to be offered prayer, which is worship.

…there is no need for a treasury of merits (other than that one banked Christ himself, the only One who fulfilled the Law of God, and filled the treasury with His righteousness, the content of which is already imputed to the believer by grace through faith)

…there is no need of a autocratic church who deprives the people of the Scripture so as to make them superstitious dupes who are easy to tempt with indulgences (i.e., reducing their purgatorial sentence) by disguising ill-conceived papal fundraisers, man-made conscience binding doctrines or jingoistic power grabbing military campaigns as Holy Wars in the name of Christ.

…there is no need for a usurping church which has confused/assumed the work of the Holy Spirit with/as the work of the church.

BUT there is need of true Protestants

whose remission of sins is in Christ alone, both once and for all, who are those of the circumcision of the heart, who are members of the true communion of the saints, united to Christ by one life-giving Spirit,

— there have always been such, disciples who are NOT dazzled by the clever shell game offering the teaching of men as the teaching of God, who are not, like them, seeking the world’s admiration, who are not swayed by their fancy buildings, their ornate robes, their inquisitions, their sadistic harpies in habits, their tyrants in silly hats, nor their man-made titles.