Posted on 02/19/2017 5:01:22 AM PST by metmom
“‘The Lord, the Lord God, [is] compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in lovingkindness and truth’” (Exodus 34:6).
God’s grace is His undeserved favor shown to sinners.
God’s grace has always been a focus of praise for believers. Today’s verse is quoted several times in the Psalms and elsewhere in Scripture (for example, Neh. 9:17, 31; Ps. 86:15; 103:8; 145:8). Paul is grateful for God’s abundant grace in 1 Timothy 1:14, and John writes, “For of His fulness we have all received, and grace upon grace” (John 1:16). Today some of our favorite hymns are “Amazing Grace,” “Marvelous Grace of Our Loving Lord,” and “Wonderful Grace of Jesus.”
What exactly is grace? It is simply God’s free, undeserved, and unearned favor. It is a gift given by God not because we are worthy of it, but only because God, out of His great love, wants to give it.
Grace is evident to Christians in two main ways. The first is electing, or saving, grace. God “has saved us, and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was granted us in Christ Jesus from all eternity” (2 Tim. 1:9). “By grace [we] have been saved through faith” (Eph. 2:8). This is God’s grace to sinners, for “where sin increased, grace abounded all the more” (Rom. 5:20).
Another grace in our lives is enabling, or sustaining, grace. We didn’t just receive grace to be saved; we now live in grace. It is the grace of God that enables us to live the Christian life. When Paul asked that some debilitating “thorn in the flesh” (2 Cor. 12:7) be removed, the Lord told him, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness” (v. 9). Paul elsewhere says, “I can do all things through Him who strengthens me” (Phil. 4:13).
Remember, we have earned neither saving nor sustaining grace. Nothing we can do can make us worthy of one more bit of grace. God says, “I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious” (Ex. 33:19). This truth should make us all more grateful because He saved us and sustains us despite our sin. It should also make us humble because we have no worthiness to boast about (Eph. 2:9).
Suggestions for Prayer
Thank God for His grace in saving and sustaining you.
For Further Study
Read Genesis 9:8-19.
How did God extend grace to Noah and his family? What was the visible sign or symbol?
And the Holy Spirit was given to those in the book of Acts for believing, without having eaten the eucharist to get Him.
They got the life BEFORE there was ny record of them breaking bread.
Your comment: “This so-called authority you say is imbued within the Roman Catholic church”
The authority is in the Bible and from the word of God which non Catholics tend to ignore and substitute their personal opinions or those of the over 30,000 protestant churches created by man.
So far, you haven't refuted anything you've been shown, nor demonstrated in any way that what I said was false. The Holy Scriptures which do not lie show that I gave you Truth, as they show on the other hand your method of mishandling them does force you to kid yourself.
Like the hearers of the parable of the sower and the seed, apparently your lack of the ability to discern life-giving Bible truths blinds you spiritually to perceive and understand them, a power given only to those who The Jesus of the Bible--not the one you have described--has invited to receive eternal absolute life by nothing more, nothing less, and nothing else than receiving that gift by faith in Him alone, and no other action or ingredient; which no other Gospel, and no other spirit can lead you to.
You have my sincere condolences and regrets for your condition, and I'm sure also of others on FR who have appealed to your heart in this thread.
Please, could I get you to answer one simple question:
Do you want God to treat you fairly? (yes or no)
Let's look at each verse here. Is it literal or figurative?
35 Jesus said to them,
“I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.
OK, Literally, that means anyone who partakes of the eucharist will never become hungry or thirsty again.
Is that true for Catholics. Can they cease eating and drinking for the rest of their lives? Jesus said it. Literal or figurative?
36 But I said to you that you have seen me and yet do not believe.
37 All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out.
Is our salvation secure? Literal or figurative?
38 For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me.
39 And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day.
Is our salvation secure? Literal or figurative?
40 For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.”
Here Jesus says that it's God's will that anyone who LOOKS at Jesus should have eternal life. Nothing about eating. So is it eating or looking that gives life? Which one?
John 6:47-58
47 Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes has eternal life.
Here Jesus says that it's by believing that we have eternal life. Is that literal or figurative?
Now there's three choices- looking, believing, eating. Which one gives life?
48 I am the bread of life.
He said he was bread. Literal interpretation means His body is made of wheat, bread dough. He's a man shaped loaf of bread walking around. Is that verse literal or figurative?
49 Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died.
50 This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die.
Jesus said that if people ate, they would not die. Literal or figurative? Do Catholics die? Jesus said they wouldn't.
51 I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.”
again Jesus reiterated that He is bread. if he is bread, he is made out of wheat flour. And He says that by eating this man shaped loaf of bread, that people would never die. Do Catholic die? Show me Catholics who live forever. If it's literal, physical eating and literal, physical flesh, then it's literal, physical living forever here in this body on earth, the one that does the literal, physical eating.
52 The Jews then disputed among themselves, saying, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” 53 So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you.
Third choice. First was looking, second was believing. Now He's saying eating. Literal or figurative?
54 Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.
Previously Jesus said if you believed He would raise him up on the last day. Which one is it? Eating or believing? Living here on earth forever stuck in a sinful body or not?
55 For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink.
Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him.
Literal or figurative? How long does one abide in Him? Is it a one time eating? Why or why not? Does Jesus literally live in us from merely being consumed into the body?
57 As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever feeds on me, he also will live because of me.
Did Jesus eat God? Did God eat Jesus?
58 This is the bread that came down from heaven, not like the bread the fathers ate, and died. Whoever feeds on this bread will live forever.”
Jesus again saying His body is bread. That means His body is made out of wheat. Literal or figurative?
If He promised that literal physical eating results in living forever, then why do Catholics die?
And why do Catholics think and teach that they are going to hell?
In particular, I'm interested in answers to the questions for verses 35,37,39,40,47,50,51,53,56,57,58.
Also, could you explain why Jesus would teach that one must violate the Law by consuming blood to be saved?
All believers WILL be in heaven with God.
I do feel that some of your beliefs are not based on the word of God, but I will leave that between you and God.
Such as?
I believe in one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church.
Believing in a church is not going to get you anywhere. There's not one command in Scripture that we believe in a church or trust it for salvation.
Tehre are many commands to believe in Jesus, the only one who can save us.
"Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life. John 5:24 NASB
Jesus doesn't ask us to believe in a church. He asks us to believe in Him.
I confess one Baptism for the forgiveness of sins and I look forward to the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come. Amen.
Baptism doesn't save you. Faith in Christ does.
You're saying the writers of the OT were roman catholics????
Paul, Mark, Matthew, Luke....were roman catholics??
They prayed to Mary??
Paul, who wrote all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, believed Mary was immaculate??
They believed they had a pope??
That everything the roman catholic church is doing today...the writers of the NT believed??
OK, Literally, that means anyone who partakes of the eucharist will never become hungry or thirsty again.
Is that true for Catholics. Can they cease eating and drinking for the rest of their lives? Jesus said it. Literal or figurative?
Whatcha tryin' to do here; blow up EVERY Catholics head?
How can THEY say one thing is LITERAL and the other is NOT??
HEAVEN-The Mormon church teaches there are three levels of heaven (three "degrees of glory"):
I've yet to see any maimed catholics...and the verb in the Greek is an imperative...a command.
Yet catholics want to overlook this.
Hey...when you make the rules...
Your comment: “So far, you haven’t refuted anything you’ve been shown, nor demonstrated in any way that what I said was false.” I disagree, go back and read previous postings. Perhaps your reasoning is clouded by what you believe. Christ knows who are the unbelievers.
It is just your personal opinion and it has been refuted by the words of Jesus that you do not accept, and many here keep repeating personal opinions that contradict the words and Truth of Jesus.
Your understanding of Faith in God may be different than how Jesus sees you. Having Faith means believing in the words of Jesus, not your personal interpretation, following His Commandments, not living in mortal sin, not living in adultery, not being a heretic, etc.
Yes, Jesus is a just Judge.
From Catholic answers:
https://www.catholic.com/tract/fundamentalist-or-catholic
Since the Reformers rejected the papacy, they also rejected the teaching authority of the Church. They looked elsewhere for the rule of faith and thought they found it solely in the Bible.
Its interpretation would be left to the individual reader, guided by the Holy Spirit. But reason and experience tell us that the Bible could not have been intended as each man’s private guide to the truth. If individual guidance by the Holy Spirit were a reality, everyone would understand the same thing from the Bible—since God cannot teach error. But Christians have understood contradictory things from Scripture. Fundamentalists even differ among themselves in what they think the Bible says.
The Bible also tells us that private interpretation is not to be the rule for understanding the Bible. Peter declares this to be a matter of prime importance, saying, “First of all you must understand this, that no prophecy of scripture is a matter of one’s own interpretation” (2 Pet. 1:20).
Later he warns what can happen if a person ignorantly approaches Scripture on his own or is unstable in clinging to the apostolic teachings he has received. He states of Paul’s letters, “There are some things in them hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they do the other scriptures” (2 Pet. 3:16).
Private interpretation and instability in clinging to the doctrines passed down from the apostles can thus result in one twisting the scriptures to one’s own destruction.
The Bible also denies that it is sufficient as the Church’s rule of faith. Paul acknowledges that much Christian teaching is to be found in the tradition which is handed down by word of mouth (1 Cor. 11:2, 2 Tim. 2:2). He instructs us to “stand firm and hold to the traditions which you were taught by us, either by word of mouth or by letter” (2 Thess. 2:15).
We are told that the first Christians “devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching” (Acts 2:42), which was the oral teaching that was given even before the New Testament was written.
Many questions. Most have been previously answered. But to help you may go to catholic answers for help with your questions.
https://www.catholic.com/tract/fundamentalist-or-catholic
You have heard any number of people speak against the Catholic Church. Some do it casually, while others have made it their profession. Some are blunt, while others are subtle. They all paint an uninviting picture of a Church that believes in the most peculiar things. But do you really think a fourth of all Americans would be Catholic if their religion were as odd as its opponents claim? Isn’t it rather likely that you haven’t been told the whole story? To make an informed decision, you need to hear both sides. Why not write to Catholic Answers for additional information and tracts? Either your suspicions will be confirmed, or you will discover that there is more to Catholicism than you once thought.
Perhaps it would help for you to read:
https://www.catholic.com/tract/fundamentalist-or-catholic
You can ask questions if you like and if you really want to learn.
You have heard any number of people speak against the Catholic Church. Some do it casually, while others have made it their profession. Some are blunt, while others are subtle. They all paint an uninviting picture of a Church that believes in the most peculiar things. But do you really think a fourth of all Americans would be Catholic if their religion were as odd as its opponents claim? Isn’t it rather likely that you haven’t been told the whole story? To make an informed decision, you need to hear both sides. Why not write to Catholic Answers for additional information and tracts? Either your suspicions will be confirmed, or you will discover that there is more to Catholicism than you once thought.
IF you ever comprehend the Gospel of God's Grace, then you will comprehend Paul's teaching which is inspired by God's Holy Spirit.
God did not take flesh and dwell among us so you Catholics can have a pagan, a cannibal's ritual. GOD took flesh and dwelt among us so that HE could sacrifice that body and blood for your salvation, not your sacred snack.
By Jesus's words: It is The Spirit that gives life because it is spiritual life God is giving, not carnal life. You cannot eat that spirit into your spirit; ONLY GOD can place HIS LIFE GIVING SPIRIT into your dead human spirit.
You cannot serve a wafer to kneeling persons and thereby serve them GOD's soul and DIVINTY. You blaspheme God's Grace when you dupe those souls into believing their acts of ritual fealty earns them salvation. And that is the great lie you serve at every Mass, that you are feeding them God's soul and divinity and they thereby have salvation ... until they need to re-up the snack! THAT is not only mumbo jumbo, it is contrary to the Gospel of Grace!
You have no power over their individual salvation.
IF you offered them the truth of the Gospel, they could be born from above, not by eating your wafer or visiting your confessional or being sprinkled by you, but by turning their will to believe the Promise of GOD. That Promise is stated over and over by JESUS and His Apostles: Believe on the One God has sent for your Salvation and you will be born again, born from above, BORN BY GOD's Spirit, not by Catholic rituals.
Finally, I would ask you, Catholic Priest, can a Promise from God not be true? Can a priest nullify a promise from God?
You have obviously NOT learned the meaning of the sower and the seed parable ... there is a gif visual on the Net that illustrates your fallacy; people rushing to jump into a hole in the earth.
Note Paul says "hard to understand"...not impossible. The catholic seems to forget we have the Holy Spirit to guide us in these matters...if we ask Him.
We have the example of the Bereans who constantly searched the Scriptures (at the time the OT) to verify what they were hearing.
Christians today do the same thing. We have the written record to confirm or deny what we are hearing in terms of teaching. Scripture is the only source we have that is in spired by the Holy Spirit. I think on that we all agree.
The other writings by all the others are not accorded that level of authority.
I've often wondered why at Trent the RCC didn't expand the Canon of the NT to include the ECFs writings. The only reason I can conclude why they didn't is that they did not reach the level of authority or acceptance of the NT.
Hence, it must be against the Scriptures, now including the NT, that all truth must be measured against. This does not mean we measure the Law of Gravity against Scripture for that is not what Scripture is for.
Without that ultimate source of authority, everything else written becomes someone's opinion. On another thread a catholic poster wrote all beliefs are based on Scripture. I'll see if I can get the exact wording for you.
The opinions of the ECFs must be measured against Scripture. When done so many of the doctrines which the RCC bases on the ECFs begin to fall apart.
The dogmas of Mary are a prime example. The catholic encyclopedia online backs this up. It admits there is no direct scriptural support for the dogma and even calls into question the vulgate's interpretation of the passage in Genesis 3:15.
This is why Christianity rejects roman catholic tradition as being equal to or in some cases superior to Scripture.
This article gives a good explanation of the problems of Faith alone doctrine.
With his doctrine of justification by faith alone, Martin Luther brought in a new kind of Christianity unlike anything that had gone before. Faith for a Catholic is an intellectual virtue based on belief in truth revealed by God and safeguarded by the teaching authority of the Catholic Church. For Luther it was instead an affective virtue, a sentiment of confidence in God’s favor. Religious feelings supplanted doctrinal orthodoxy and allowed emotional experiences to run riot at the expense of reason.
All man can do, ran the new teaching, is to trust in the mercy of God and believe with firm confidence that God has received him into his favor. As the Augsburg Confession, puts it, “Men are freely justified for Christ’s sake through faith, when they believe that they are received into favor and that their sins are forgiven for Christ’s sake.” This doctrine of justification by faith was the keystone of the whole Lutheran system and became the battle cry of the Protestant Reformation.
The most drastic consequences followed. An almost entirely self-centered individualism resulted, evangelical piety making personal conversion, guaranteed by feelings of assurance, the center of its work. Popular Protestantism urges the individual “to believe in Christ and be saved.” The sense of community and of corporate religion inevitably declined. No intermediaries—priests, sacraments, or saints—were needed. The individual was prior to the very Church itself, which had to be defined in a totally different way: no longer as a visible institution founded by our Lord but as a vague, invisible aggregate of the “saved,” known only to God.
The Catholic has the gospel set before him by his Church. He accepts the truth guaranteed for him by the guidance of the Holy Spirit operating within the Church; He repents of his sins. From the Church, the mystical body of Christ, he receives the very grace and life of Christ, a life he must make his own in accordance with Paul’s words, “I live, yet not I, but Christ lives in me” (Gal. 2:20). In Catholic teaching neither the individual nor the Church can be ignored; but Protestant theology, with its doctrine of justification by faith only, quite upsets this balance.
https://www.catholic.com/magazine/print-edition/the-disasters-of-by-faith-alone
Why are Protestants divided from Catholics throughout the world, not having the same mind and judgment, not speaking the same thing as the millions of all nations so remarkably united religiously within the unity of the Catholic Church? It is because they have inherited wrong principles from the very beginning of the Reformation, principles that were not the means appointed by Christ for the attaining of the truth. He established his Church, guaranteed its infallibility and perpetuity, and sent it to teach all nations. That Church is the Catholic Church, and the only road to the unity demanded by the New Testament is to belong to and be guided by that Church. It is only in the Catholic Church that one will be able to learn without error the teachings of the gospel and receive all the means of grace Christ intended us to have.
You may want to read this article on Mary Mother of Salvation by Fr. Dwight Longenecker a former Evangelical Anglican. While many non Catholics like to pick on how the Church honors the Mother of Jesus, the Scriptures were about Jesus and not His mother. Jesus delegated His authority to the Church and stated that He would always be with the Catholic Church. Again, Jesus taught orally, and not everything was recorded in the Bible and very little was said about Mary. The Magisterium has the authority of Jesus and the Holy Spirit protects them from error.
https://www.catholic.com/magazine/print-edition/mary-mother-of-salvation
Your assumptions don’t meet the test of Truth.
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