108. The first reason why Roman Catholics are better equipped than Protestants to become part of the New Jerusalem (that is, the new church) is this: The belief that we are justified by being assigned Christ’s merit, which is wrong and cannot live alongside the faith of the new church (see §§102– 104), has been wiped out among Roman Catholics, and should be completely eradicated. This belief is firmly fixed in Protestants, however, as if it were carved into their being. It is the chief teaching in their church.

The second reason is that Roman Catholics have more of an idea than Protestants that there is divine majesty in the Lord’s human manifestation. This is abundantly clear in the extremely sacred way in which Roman Catholics venerate the Host.

The third reason is that Roman Catholics see goodwill, good works, repentance, and the effort to live a new life as essential to salvation; the new church, too, considers them essential. Protestants who are committed to faith alone, though, have a very different view. They see these as playing a nonessential role or even no role at all in our faith; they see them as contributing nothing to our salvation.

These are three reasons why Roman Catholics, if they turn to God the Savior himself directly rather than indirectly and if they take both elements in the Holy Eucharist, are better equipped than Protestants to receive a living faith in place of a dead one and be led by the Lord, through the agency of his angels, to the gates of the New Jerusalem (the new church) and brought in shouting for joy.

[The Assignment of Christ’s Merit]

32. The existence of the divine Trinity is made very clear by the Lord’s words in Matthew:

Jesus said, “Go forth and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.” (Matthew 28:19)

The existence of the Trinity is also made clear by the following words in Matthew:

When Jesus was being baptized, behold, the heavens were opened and he saw the Holy Spirit coming down like a dove upon him; and a voice from heaven said, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” (Matthew 3:16, 17)

The reason why the Lord sent his disciples forth to baptize people in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit was that this divine trinity existed within him in his then-glorified state. In the verse preceding the quotation from Matthew 28 just given, the Lord says, “All power has been given to me in heaven and on earth” (Matthew 28:18); and in the verse following, he says, “Behold I am with you all the days, even to the close of the age” (Matthew 28:20). In these verses, then, he mentions only himself and not three persons. In John we read, “There was not the Holy Spirit yet because Jesus was not yet glorified” (John 7:39). He made the statement in Matthew after he was glorified, and his glorification was when he became fully united with his Father, the divinity that had been inside him since conception. The Holy Spirit was the divine quality that emanated from him once he was glorified (John 20:22).