Posted on 09/25/2013 1:54:55 PM PDT by NYer
Then run on to your Catholic church, Mother, and don’t let me stop you.
As I just told SumProVita, “good” is not the entrance ticket to heaven.....being born again and baptized with the Holy Spirit is. All the “good” in the world gets you not one inch closer to God.
If “good” were the ticket, then I’ve no doubt Catholics would be there because Catholics pride themselves on being “good.” But all your “goodness” is like filthy rags in the sight of God.
And I am sorry if I am shaking up your “good” little Catholic world today, but it is about time someone did!
When any of you decide you want not “goodness,” but Christ and Christ alone, then please hit me up with a PM or post..otherwise what I said here stands.
As I said, before you pontificate on what you think Catholic beliefs are, you need to do some serious reading about what the Church actually teaches.
You are believing the rumors and outright lies that people who hate the Church are feeding you. Go to the source and see for yourself.
You are woefully deceived. That’s a lie from the pit of hell. It simply doesn’t square with Scripture. No man has ever been saved by the sacrament of baptism. No man has ever been saved by anything he does. The only way any man has ever been saved in the history of the world is by grace. That’s the message from Genesis all the way through Revelation. The Bible tells us plainly if we attempt to add anything to grace, then grace is of no effect. Cain learned the hard way that God will not accept works of man. And God is the same today as He was in Cain’s day. God changes not.
Scripture tells us that even our righteousness is filthy rags in the sight of God. That means all of your works, even your prayers and your baptism, are full of sin. Why is that? It’s because we, the sons of Adam, are dead in sins and trespasses. When Adam fell he took the whole human race with him. That’s original sin. When you do anything to earn salvation, the wage of that sinful work is death. That’s why salvation is all of grace, from beginning to end.
Ephesians 2:8-9 “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves:it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.”
Galatians 2:16 “yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified.”
What is this loveless faith in Jesus? Does it involve hate and darkness and meanness and evil doing and all that stuff?
Most Baptists believe that baptism in itself does not convey salvation or transformation, but is a sign of what has already happened in a spiritual sense to a new believer. Since it is considered not to bestow "saving grace" or be salvific as such, Baptists consider it an "ordinance" rather than a "sacrament." Being a church "ordinance"—a teaching of the Bible that Jesus intended his followers to observe, it is prerequisite to the privileges of church membership and to the Lord's Supper.
Baptism cannot be separated from one’s doctrine of Christ, since Christ himself was baptized and his redemptive work is depicted in baptism by immersion as a new relationship in Christ which all believers enjoy. The immersion in water signifies Baptism's two main effects - purification from sins and new birth in the Holy Spirit. Peter promised his hearers (on Pentecost) that by Baptism they would receive "forgiveness for your sins" and "the gift of the Holy Spirit" (Acts 2:38).
Baptism forgives all sins (original and personal) and all punishment for sin (Council of Florence). Nothing remains to impede entrance into heaven. Baptism makes the believer an adopted child of God, a sharer in God's nature, a co-heir with Christ, and a temple of the Holy Spirit. By sanctifying grace (the grace of justification), the baptized:
Are enabled to believe in God, hope in him, and love him (theological virtues)
Can live according to the power of the Holy Spirit (the sanctifying gifts)
Can grow in goodness (the moral virtues)
Baptism bestows the whole organism of the supernatural life.
By Baptism "we are members one of another" (Eph 4:25). This Body of Christ transcends all cultures, because "by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body" (1 Cor 12:13).
The baptized have become "living stones." They are a royal nation, a holy priesthood, God's own people (1 Pet 2:9) sharing in the common priesthood of all believers.
Oh me. You have fundamentally misunderstood the Scriptures. I take baptism most seriously. I would probably be a Presbyterian were it not for their teaching on baptism because I’m closer to conservative Presbyterians theologically than I am most Baptists. As much as I believe In baptism, water never saved anyone and it won’t save you. And I will never stop telling Catholics the truth, just as I won’t stop telling Baptists or rank reprobates the truth. There’s no salvation in a denomination. Too many people equate salvation with some steps to take, a decision to make, a prayer to pray. They are all wrong. There is salvation in Christ, and in Christ alone. The modern gospel of most churches is no gospel at all. Satan does his best work in the arena of religion. Some of the most lost people I know are clergymen. They are absolutely blind to the truth.
The immersion in water signifies Baptism's two main effects - purification from sins and new birth in the Holy Spirit.Don't get confused from your church fathers council decisions.Baptism forgives all sins (original and personal) and all punishment for sin (Council of Florence).
I'm glad to see a Catholic understand baptism, ie the IMMERSION in water...the only Scriptural way to be baptized.
Baptism is a believers way of demonstrating that he is born again, he is a new creature in Christ Jesus.
Baptism does NOT forgive (or purify from) sins, only Jesus does.
That happens at the moment one repents and turns away from their old life, picks up their cross, and follows Jesus.
Then baptism. Jesus has ALREADY wiped away the sins of the believer and made him/her white as snow.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.