The key to salvation is repentance - changing one’s life, and not abiding in the old ways but putting on Christ Jesus. We Catholics have it a lot more abundantly than do evangelicals and protestants who are missing the fullness of the sacraments. Which simply means we have more responsibility to change so as to give the example the Lord asks of us.
It is about Grace. Christ stood between an adulteress and the Pharisees who were going to stone her but the part that too often is forgotten is that she was told to “go and sin no more”. Grace isn’t a license its an activity in which we are freed from a debt of sin that we could never repay. It doesn’t make our sins right nor good nor acceptable but it gives us a way back from the dead for we were effectively buried in our sin. The following verse speaks to this very thing.
Romans 6:13
“Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its lusts, and do not go on presenting the members of your body to sin as instruments of unrighteousness; but present yourselves to God as those alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. 14 For sin shall not be master over you, for you are not under law but under grace.”
Thanks for posting.
God’s Riches At Christ’s Expense. GRACE.
I heard him preach at Key Biscayne Presbyterian Church in the mid-80’s. He was great.
Sacraments — they are the answer.
There were many years that I had no concept of the word grace. It was as if my mind had rejected the notion that God still loved me after being so disgusting and its definition was blocked.
Paul’s discussion on grace is really remarkable, especially the part where he talks about sinning more to receive more grace. That is a brain twister. Love the letter to the Romans, including 2:1
“Therefore you have no excuse, everyone of you who passes judgment, for in that which you judge another, you condemn yourself; for you who judge practice the same things.”
Ever notice that when there is someone who gets on your nerves because of a quirk, when you are honest about it, you do the same thing?
Great post.
The term for “gay” is homosexual.
I see the truth in his insights and he puts a better focus on a couple of things I've been struggling to understand. Good stuff!
We are saved by grace.
John 3
16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
If you believe in some one, do you believe what they say?
If they tell you to do something do you believe it or do you think they do not know what they are talking about?
Jesus told us what he expected of us in Mathew 25, 31 to 46.