Posted on 07/01/2015 7:13:05 AM PDT by RnMomof7
Recently there has been a surge in prominent Evangelicals calling for unity with Roman Catholicism. In one sense there seems to be strong foundational similarities that would justify these calls to unity. Catholics are baptized in the name of the Trinity. God’s revealed word in the Bible -- setting aside their addition of the Apocryphal books, for argument’s sake -- is foundational to their worldview. Catholics love Christ and believe that he died on the cross and rose again to provide grace for sinners.
Obviously there are theological differences associated with the specific teachings of each one of these perceived similarities, and I do not want to minimize the importance of these differences. But for argument‘s sake, at least on the surface, there is some common ground.
There is also a strong agreement in ethical standards. Both Roman Catholics and Evangelicals ground morality on God’s holy nature as revealed in the law of God. This means that on the hot button moral issues of the day; the murder of the unborn, human sexuality, the sanctity of marriage there is solidarity between Roman Catholic and Evangelical ethics because they are coming from the same source. Again, this seems to justify a call to some sense of unity.
Are these good enough reasons to publically stump for visible unity with Roman Catholics? That question is beyond the scope of this post. But there is a more fundamental question that must be answered first. That question serves as the dividing line between followers of Christ and the world, which separates biblical Christianity from every other worldview; does Rome possess and preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ?
The author of the book of Hebrews in chapter 10 contrasts the gospel with that which is but a shadow of the gospel. He argues:
"And every priest stands daily at his service, offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, waiting from that time until his enemies should be made a footstool for his feet. For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified." -- Heb 10:11–14
The argument being presented here makes it clear that Christ’s singular sacrifice, his death on the cross, perfects those for whom it is made for. This is the gospel. It is contrasted with the shadow of the gospel in which sacrifices were repeatedly made year after year because though they symbolized the atoning and perfecting sacrifice of Christ, they never themselves perfected those for whom they were made. The gospel of Jesus Christ perfects and any other religious strategies cannot.
This principle is directly applicable to the question of Roman Catholicism and the gospel of God. Roman Catholic worship centers on the mass. The mass is a series of liturgical practices that culminates in the Eucharist which according to paragraph 1068 of the Catholic of the Catholic Church (hereafter CCC) is a divine sacrifice. Paragraph 1367 of CCC calls the Eucharist a “truly propitiatory” sacrifice. This sacrifice is performed repeatedly in the life of a Catholic.
The reason the Eucharist is performed repeatedly is because even though it is claimed to be a propitiatory sacrifice that can make reparation for sins (CCC, 1414), it is a sacrifice that never perfects anyone. According to the Catholic message grace is something that you get from God by performing certain acts. First, God gives you the grace for faith in Jesus (CCC, 2000). Second, when you are baptized God graciously erases the sin of Adam from your record (CCC 1257). From that point on you get more grace by doing things like participating in the sacraments, including the Eucharist. The problem is that when you commit sins, you lose some of the grace you have gained and now need more lest your grace be found wanting at final judgment. This forces the Catholic into a position where they need to return day after day, week after week, and year after year to a priest who serves to repeatedly re-present the same sacrifice which never perfects those for whom it is made, since it only offers grace to cover some sin.
This is not the gospel.
Roman Catholics need the gospel for the same reason we all need it. We are all sinners with such a messed up and low view of how holy holiness really is that we think somehow through our own efforts we can attain it. If we just had enough time and willpower we could somehow have our good deeds outweigh our bad, and this will please God just enough for me to be acceptable to him. This is a satanic lie. A satanic lie that to some degree or another we have all bought into at some point in our life.
But the truth is glorious. God is good and God is holy. He is more good and more holy than we can possibly imagine. God is so good and so holy that anything less than absolute perfection is unacceptable in his presence. It is because of God’s awesome goodness and awesome holiness that in his wisdom he has offered us grace, through faith in Christ. A good and holy sacrifice that absolutely without question completely perfects everyone for whom it is made.
ping
Might as well. Our Pope is the worst I've seen in my lifetime. Global warming? Climate change? What's up with the Pontiff?
This easy-to-comprehend article is a basic and fundamental statement of the differences between the Gospel of Jesus Christ as given in the Holy Bible and those various teachings of Roman Catholicism as evidenced in the many diverse Roman Catholic posts on Free Republic’s Religion Forum.
This is a good post to refer to Roman Catholics who wish to understand why non-Catholic Christians follow the Lord and the RCs follow the RCC first and foremost.
It is time now, with what has been going on as of late.
Protestant Gospel = "these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name."
Catholic Gospel = Believe in us because we'll never lead you wrong.
Again? Trying to tell us (Catholics) what we believe and why we believe it?
Note the origin:
Midwestern Seminary ·
Sigh, it gets old.
The reason the Eucharist is performed repeatedly...
The Eucharist is not a repetition of an earlier event. It is as if we are at that original event. Christ's sacrifice transcends time and space.
... your continued hate campaign/crusade/vendetta against the Catholic Church seems very small and petty ...
Just sayin' ....
Ain’t that the truth.
In this post I'm not going to do the work for readers, because I would appreciate it if they went to the Bible they use and find the passages referred to. First, we notice that Jesus has come into the world to save sinners. When asked what work God demands to be righteous, Jesus replied 'This is the work of God, that you believe on Him whom God has sent' for the job of saving sinners.
The Church of Jesus is the Body of Christ, referred to also as The Bride of Christ. This is a spiritual group and is beyond the identifying by which Apostle baptized you or in which city is your groups of believers present.
The Church of Jesus Christ is the population, the body of believers, the individual souls seen collectively yet still as individual members for The Kingdom of which Jesus spoke, saying 'My Kingdom is not of this world.'
That's part one. There's more, oh yes, there's more.
So, what is the Church which is not of this world It is a spiritual entity having one essential thing in common and without that one thing there is no membership, regardless of how long the institution has been functioning or by what earthly powers it is backed. The thing common to all the members of the Church of Jesus Christ is not any physical characteristic. It is not found in rituals, sacraments, or liturgies. It is a spiritual reality which has real physical impact upon the members of the Church of Jesus Christ, and which can actually be seen to influence the behaviors of the individual members.
God's Spirit instructs us through the Apostles to be in the world but not of it. There is only one power which can make that real in our lives. It is not found in mystical meditations or physical regimens or mantra repetitions or ritual practices. This one thing is in fact the very thing which identifies ALL the members of the Church of Jesus Christ, regardless of vagaries in style and techniques of worship.
This one element is so important that it imparts the Righteousness of God upon the member in the Church of Jesus Christ. And that is a righteousness no man can achieve by works he may do regardless of how long he lives in the flesh. To have this one characteristic, this single most important thing to be a member in the Church of Jesus Christ, The Body of Christ, you must be a family member of the most eclectic family humanity could possibly produce. You must be in God's family.
But family membership is not the one thing you must have to be a member of the Church of Jesus Christ. No, what every member must have is The Life of God in their spirit. ONLY the Life of God can produce works of righteousness that measure up to the righteousness standards of God's nature. So to be a family member you must have the Life of the Head of the Church of Jesus Christ.
If we divide the debate into two camps, two sides, it is the means by which a human being obtains the Life of God in them that is at issue.
PFL
So the catholic priest has the power to pull Jesus down from Heaven and put Him in a wafer defined by the catechism as ‘truly the real, substantial body, blood, soul and divinity of Jesus Christ’? I don’t think so, and therein lies the basis for dispute. Jesus Himself said that what goes into the mouth comes out through the drought. To get the Life of God in you is not done by ingesting the ‘physical presence of Jesus’. God is Spirit. Wafers are wafers and bread is bread and wine is wine and water is water. To play games of mystery magic and assume powers of magic to call Jesus out of Heaven to the catholic altar is to contradict what Jesus taught in the Olivet Discourse, that He would return TO EARTH, not in the air, at the end of the Great Tribulation. Jesus was so emphatic about His Second Coming to the Earth, setting foot upon the earth, that He revealed the event to John on the Island of Patmos!
The link you directed people to takes them to this FR thread:
United Church of Christ Anti-Israel Extremism (Obama's denomination)
Do you seriously believe that this denomination and thread represents the "Protestant Gospel" message?
I have always said, I don't care about all these little word games that people seem to enjoy playing. I want to know what their plan of salvation is. How do they intend to obtain the life of God, and go to Heaven? All the rest of this stuff doesn't matter a hill of beans, if one can't get that right.
Our foundation is the ‘finished’ work of Jesus Christ...that we are justified by grace through faith because of Christ.....therefore the only righteousness that has the merit necessary to meet the requirements of the holiness of God is that righteousness that was achieved and performed by Jesus Christ and by Jesus Christ alone....we cannot earn any righteousness (perfection) on our own worthy of salvation....’only’ His righteousness alone is sufficient to save us.
If you present the salvation message read as,... “We are justified by grace alone through faith alone because of Christ alone,” ...the Roman Catholic will back away from it and he won't accept it.
We recognize that God is a God of distinctions.... justification by faith and faith ‘alone’ in Christ Alone’ is a central distinction between catholics and non-catholics.... Justification for catholics is a lifetime ‘works process’.....for Christian non-catholics justification is 'a finished work' Jesus Christ accomplished on the sinners behalf.
Furthermore...though catholics talk about Jesus, God, faith and grace it is not sufficient to unite with them...False doctrine always cries the loudest about unity...if you listen closely it's a cover for false doctrine encroaching.
So the problem is to say we need to fight together on these social issues gives ‘the appearance of compromising’ the basic doctrine of the gospel...of the Bible which is the gospel...which is the heart of all Christianity.....particularly since we all are fighting these anyway apart from unity of the faiths.
BTW there already is unity 'of true believers"...you can go anywhere in the world and can find a brother or sister in Christ regardless of what denomination he's in if he's really trusting Christ.
I believe the unity that is being presented today is a false unity and all need to be warned regarding it.
Do you seriously believe that the Midwestern Seminary represents the "Catholic Gospel" message?
I am done. I have assiduously avoided RnMomof7 threads for good reason. Jesus prayed and wished that we would all be one, just as the Father was in Him and He in the Father.
These threads do the exact opposite. I was finally prompted in my spirit to make that point, which has now been done. God bless.
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