Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

To: sitetest

Sitetest,

I have become in my faithwalk as the Apostle Paul who was a Pharisee after God healed me miraculously of cancer and high blood pressure in a period of three days. Paul said "I count all things as dung that I may know Christ" What Paul meant was that he regarded all the Jewish and religious teachings he had as refuse or garbage. I like the Catholic Church and in fact still attend. I have been very blessed and I enjoy my parish very much. There are a lot of good things going on there and there are faults as well. But once you have experienced the awesome power of God the Father as I have you will understand.

Being baptized in the Catholic Church, Lutheran Church, Assembly of God does not automatically make you a Christian and I don't care what dogma and doctrine you throw at me. I will disagree with you until the cows come home. Salvation and baptism is a personal thing that someone must act on. Roman Catholics who are true believers are only part of Christ's Body. The same applies all across every denomination:Episcopalian, Assembly of God, Lutheran, Presbetyrian, Methodist etc. There are many unsaved people who attend church too.

The text below from a previous post by Ryt Wing probably states this best:


...is what happened to the millions who lived before the Gospels were preached. Did everybody go to Hell?
The Bible actually talks about this :

Romans 2:12-15

All who sin apart from the law will also perish apart from the law, and all who sin under the law will be judged by the law. For it is not those who hear the law who are righteous in God's sight, but it is those who obey the law who will be declared righteous. Indeed, when Gentiles, who do not have the law do by nature things required by the law, they are a law for themselves, even though they do not have the law, since they show that the requirements of the law are written on their hearts, their consciences also bearing witness, and their thoughts now accusing, now even defending them.)

This indicates that there may be some people who never heard or knew the truth, yet they did what's right ("do by nature the things required by the law"). Consider also this passage:

Matthew 25:31-46 excerpts

When the Son of Man comes in his glory...He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink... Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink?...

The King will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.’

Note -- the righteous (or at least some of them), are SURPRISED: "When did we see YOU!?!?!?" Yet any Christian in such a situation would surely recognize it from the gospel story. So, as I see it, the ones who are surprised can only be those who never heard (BC or AD), yet did the best they knew. Read on...

Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat.. They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’

He will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’ Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.

Again, these people are suprised. They expected to enter heaven, they thought they served Jesus (ie, they were all Christians), yet they are told they did not. Chilling.


362 posted on 12/08/2004 11:13:24 AM PST by DarthVader
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 361 | View Replies ]


To: DarthVader

Dear DarthVader,

Thank you for sharing your own personal experiences. I will refrain from sharing my own.

"I will disagree with you..."

That's fine. I'm not trying to get you to agree with me. In fact, whether you agree with me or not is pretty much irrelevant. I'm hardly the standard for truth.

I'm only interested in comparing and contrasting your beliefs with those required of Catholics. There are fundamental differences, which you yourself admit.

My only interest is making clear that your beliefs do not represent the required beliefs of a Catholic.


sitetest


368 posted on 12/08/2004 11:32:14 AM PST by sitetest (If Roe is not overturned, no unborn child will ever be protected in law.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 362 | View Replies ]

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article


FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson