THE TRUE CHURCH

http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/9170/RYLE2.HTM ^ | 11/4/03 | J.C. Ryle

[RnMomof7]

THE TRUE CHURCH

J.C. Ryle

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I want you to belong to the one true Church: to the Church outside of which there is no salvation. I do not ask where you go on a Sunday; I only ask, "Do you belong to the one true Church?"

 Where is this one true Church? What is this one true Church like? What are the marks by which this one true Church may be known? You may well ask such questions. Give me your attention, and I will provide you with some answers.

 1. The one true Church IS COMPOSED OF ALL BELIEVERS IN THE LORD JESUS. It is made up of all God's elect - of all converted men and women - of all true Christians. In whomsoever we can discern the election of God the Father, the sprinkling of the blood of God the Son, the sanctifying work of God the Spirit, in that person we see a member of Christ's true Church.

 2. It is a Church OF WHICH ALL THE MEMBERS HAVE THE SAME MARKS. They are all born again of the Spirit; they all possess "repentance towards God, faith towards our Lord Jesus Christ," and holiness of life and conversation. They all hate sin, and they all love Christ. (They worship differently, and after various fashions; some worship with a form of prayer, and some with none; some worship kneeling, and some standing; but they all worship with one heart.) They are all led by one Spirit; they all build upon one foundation; they all draw their religion from one single book - that is the Bible. They are all joined to one great center - that is Jesus Christ. They all even now can say with one heart, "Hallelujah;" and they can all respond with one heart and voice, Amen and Amen.

 3. It is a Church WHICH IS DEPENDENT UPON NO MINISTERS UPON EARTH, however much it values those who preach the gospel to its members. The life of its members does not hang upon Church-membership, or baptism, or the Lord's Supper - although they highly value these things when they are to be had. But it has only one Great Head - one Shepherd, one chief Bishop - and that is Jesus Christ. He alone, By His Spirit, admits the members of this Church, though ministers may show the door. Till He opens the door no man on earth can open it - neither bishops, nor presbyters, nor convocations, nor synods. Once let a man repent and believe the gospel, and that moment he becomes a member of this Church. Like the penitent thief, he may have no opportunity of being baptized; but he has that which is far better than any water-baptism - the baptism of the Spirit. He may not be able to receive the bread and wine in the Lord's Supper;but he eats Christ's body and drinks Christ's blood by faith every day he lives, and no minister on earth can prevent him. He may be ex-communicated by ordained men, and cut off from the outward ordinances of the professing Church; but all the ordained men in the world cannot shut him out of the true Church.

 It is a Church whose existence does not depend on forms, ceremonies, cathedrals, churches, chapels, pulpits, fonts, vestments, organs, endowments, money, kings, governments, magistrates or any act of favor whatsoever from the hand of man. It has often lived on and continued when all these things have been taken from it. It has often been driven into the wilderness, or into dens and caves of the earth, by those who ought to have been its friends. Its existence depends on nothing but the presence of Christ and His Spirit; and they being ever with it, the Church cannot die.

 4. This is the Church TO WHICH THE SCRIPTURAL TITLES OF PRESENT HONOR AND PRIVILEGE, AND THE PROMISES OF FUTURE GLORY ESPECIALLY BELONG; this is the Body of Christ; this is the flock of Christ; this is the household of faith and the family of God; this is God's building, God's foundation, and the temple of the Holy Ghost. This is the Church of the first-born, whose names are written in heaven; this is the royal priesthood, the chosen generation, the peculiar people, the purchased possession, the habitation of God, the light of the world, the salt and the wheat of the earth; this is the "Holy Catholic Church" of the Apostles' Creed; this is the "One Catholic and Apostolic Church" of the Nicene Creed; this is that Church to which the Lord Jesus promises "the gates of hell shall not prevail against it," and to which He says, "I am with you always, even unto the end of the world"(Matt.16:18; 28:2).

 5. This is the only Church WHICH POSSESSES TRUE UNITY. Its members are entirely agreed on all the weightier matters of religion, for they are all taught by one Spirit. About God, and Christ, and the Spirit, and sin, and their own hearts, and faith, and repentance, and necessity of holiness, and the value of the Bible, and the importance of prayer, and the resurrection, and judgment to come - about all these points they are of one mind. Take three or four of them, strangers to one another, from the remotest corners of the earth; examine them separately on these points: you will find them all one judgment.

 6. This is the only Church WHICH POSSESSES TRUE SANCTITY. Its members are all holy. They are not merely holy by profession, holy in name, and holy in the judgment of charity; they are all holy in act, and deed, and reality, and life, and truth. They are all more or less conformed to the image of Jesus Christ. No unholy man belongs to this Church.

 7. This is the only Church WHICH IS TRULY CATHOLIC. It is not the Church of any one nation or people; its members are to be found in every part of the world where the gospel is received and believed. It is not confined within the limits of any one country, or pent up within the pale of any particular forms of outward government. In it there is no difference between Jew and Greek, black man and white, Episcopalian and Presbyterian - but faith in Christ is all. Its members will be gathered from north, and south, and east, and west, and will be of every name and tongue - but all one in Jesus Christ.

 8. This is the only Church WHICH IS TRULY APOSTOLIC. It is built on the foundation laid by the Apostles, and holds the doctrines which they preached. The two grand objects at which its members aim are apostolic faith and apostolic practice; and they consider the man who talks of following the Apostles without possessing these two things to be no better than sounding brass and tinkling cymbal.

 9. This is the only Church WHICH IS CERTAIN TO ENDURE UNTO THE END. Nothing can altogether overthrow and destroy it. Its members may be persecuted, oppressed, imprisoned, beaten, beheaded, burned; but the true Chruch is never altogether extinguished; it rises again from its afflictions; it lives on through fire and water. When crushed in one land it springs up in another. The Pharaohs, the Herods, the Neros, the Bloody Marys, have labored in vain to put down this Church; they slay their thousands, and then pass away and go to their own place. The true Church outlives them all, and sees them buried each in his turn. It is an anvil that has broken many a hammer in this world, and will break many a hammer still; it is a bush which is often burning, and yet it's not consumed.

 10. This is the only Church OF WHICH NO ONE MEMBER CAN PERISH. Once enrolled in the lists of this Church, sinners are safe for eternity; they are never cast away. The election of God the Father, the continual intercession of God the Son, the daily renewing and sanctifying power of God the Holy Ghost, surround and fence them in like a garden enclosed. Not one bone of Christ's mystical Body shall ever be broken; not one lamb of Christ's flock shall ever be plucked out of His hand.

 11. This is the Church WHICH DOES THE WORK OF CHRIST UPON EARTH. Its members are a little flock, and few in numbers, compared with the children of the world; one or two here, and two or three there - a few in this place and few in that. But these are they who shake the universe; these are they who change the fortunes of kingdoms by their prayers; these are they who are the active workers for spreading the knowledge of pure religion and undefiled; these are the life-blood of a country, the shield, the defence, the stay, and the support of any nation to which they belong.

 12. This is the Church WHICH SHALL BE TRULY GLORIOUS AT THE END. When all earthly glory is passsed away then shall this Church be presented without spot before God the Father's throne. Thrones, principalities, and powers upon earth shall come to nothing; dignities, and offices, and endowments shall all pass away; but the Church of the first-born shall shine as the stars at the last, and be presented with joy before the Father's throne, in the day of Christ's appearing. When the Lord's jewels are made up, and manifestation of the sons of God takes place, Episcopacy, and Presbyterianism, and Congregationalism will not be mentioned; one Church only will be named, and that is the Church of the elect.

 13. Reader, THIS IS THE TRUE CHURCH TO WHICH A MAN MUST BELONG, IF HE WOULD BE SAVED. Till you belong to this, you are nothing better than a lost soul. You may have the form, the husk, the skin, and the shell of religion, but you have not got the substance and the life. Yes, you may have countless outward privileges; you may enjoy great light, and knowledge - but if you do not belong to the Body of Christ, your light and knowledge and privileges will not save your soul. Alas, for the ignorance that prevails on this point! Men fancy if they join this church or that church, and become communicants, and go through certain forms, that all must be right in their souls. It is an utter delusion, it is a gross mistake. All were not Israel who were called Israel, and all are not members of Christ's Body who profess themselves Christian. TAKE NOTICE; you may be a staunch Episcopalian, or Presbyterian, or Independent, or Baptist, or Wesleyan, or Plymouth Brother - and yet not belong to the true Church. And if you do not, it will be better at last if you had never been born.
 

Return to Rich's Home Page of Reformed Theology

[jjm2111]

And Faith in Jesus is all it takes?

[SoothingDave]

What is a vowel anyway? dictionary.com says: A speech sound, such as () or (), created by the relatively free passage of breath through the larynx and oral cavity, usually forming the most prominent and central sound of a syllable.

I guess "h" is a true borderline kind of thingy. Or can be. I can say "hi" without relatively restricting the breath coming out.

All of this seems irrelevant. I can accept that Hebrew was written without vowels. My only concern is with the claim that this would never ever introduce any type of confusion. Obviously it must have, since they later started using other marks to signal the proper vowels.

SD

[Blessed]

>You are confusing the doctrines of Catholicism with the practices of Catholics. Catholicism is true. Doctrinally, it is well documented and explained. Catholics are human. Catholics sin. The Church, comprised of such sinners, is always in need of reform.<

I agree this is the case for all Christians.The assertion was made that only under the teaching of the Catholic Church was it possible to know what was sin.If the leaders don't know how can they instruct? If we are incapable of interpeting scripture without their leadership how can we be "protected from sin"? How is this current group of "teologians" any different than the ones who's writing you are relying on? After all they are the spiritual children of their predecesors.

[jjm2111]

One thing that amazes me is all the "you suck, you blow" vitriol that flies around the Christian threads.

I'm probably the sh!ttiest Christian around and a sinner bar none, but in a world where it seems like the barbarians are at the gates why do Christians have to be so mean to one another?

I'll bet Jesus never said something along the lines of "Nice try, dum@ss!" to even the most reprobate criminal or pompous Pharisee.

[RnMomof7]

And Faith in Jesus is all it takes?

That is what Jesus said and the apostles taught .

If you have to do things to earn it, it is not grace and it is not Mercy

[jjm2111]

I'm glad I've found a faith in Christ. Yesterday, I was really pissed off at myself for a goof at work. It was almost a Devilish sort of anger that can creep up on me from time-to-time. When I got home, I found the Sinner's Prayer on the net and I felt so much better. My anger just melted away.

Christ truly is wonderful.

[RnMomof7]

Nevertheless, the simple and clear interpretation of this is that the Jews took him literally. Are you suggesting that the symbolic meaning, the easier meaning, drove them away? Clearly not.

No what drove them away was Jesus telling them that unless the Father draws them they can not be saved..How does a legalist Jew that believes that Law keeping will save him respond to this ? It gives all the control for their eternity into the hand of the Father.

The rejected the thought that they could not earn heaven by their merit..that in fact even with the diligent law keeping they still might not be saved.

And then there is the historical reality that, for nigh on 2,000 years, back to the very first believers who learned from the Apostles, the Catholic Church has unambiguosly believed in the Real Presence. Can you appreciate what that means for all Christians? It was not a doctrine of the church until 1215 when the doctrine of Transubstantiation promulgated by Pope Innocent III as official dogma of the church. (it had been debated since the second century)

Even then it was years before their was any way to defend it. Then in 1265 Thomas Aquinas developed an explanation for the Transubstantion doctrine.

So until the 1200's one could be a Catholic and not believe the doctrine. It was not a clear cut as you portray it.

Protestants often misunderstand the Catholic teaching on merit, thinking that Catholics believe that one must do good works to come to God and be saved. This is exactly the opposite of what the Church teaches. The Council of Trent stressed: "[N]one of those things which precede justification, whether faith or works, merit the grace of justification; for if it is by grace, it is not now by works; otherwise, as the Apostle [Paul] says, grace is no more grace" (Decree on Justification 8, citing Rom. 11:6). It is the free gift of God's grace that brings salvation.

Really ?

Trent CANON IX.-If any one saith, that by faith alone the impious is justified; in such wise as to mean, that nothing else is required to co-operate in order to the obtaining the grace of Justification, and that it is not in any way necessary, that he be prepared and disposed by the movement of his own will; let him be anathema.

6:30 The crowd responds to Jesus’ statement about believing in the one whom God has sent by demanding a sign—especially something like the manna given in the wilderness. Probably those who had not seen the multiplication of the bread had heard about it from those who had, and wanted to see something similar.

Note again the Johannine play on the physical versus the spiritual (32-33)—the food which perishes versus the food which remains for eternal life. Compare with chapter 4 where the contrast was between the water that quenched thirst temporarily versus the living water that would satisfy thirst forever.

Note also the interplay between works and faith in Johannine thought: The crowd asks Jesus (6:28), “What must we do that we may work the works of God?” Note Jesus’ reply: “This is the work of God: that you believe in the one he sent.” By the very phrase Jesus has shifted the emphasis from a work of man to the work of God—the initiative which God took in sending the Son into the world. (Qeou' is best understood as a subjective genitive in 6:32-34.) Note that at this point the crowd still misunderstands the nature of the true bread from heaven: “Lord, give us this bread.” If they conceive of it as something that Jesus himself gives them, they have still missed it, because he himself is the ‘Bread’ from heaven. (Note in this regard Jesus’ response in verses 35-36.)

[F16Fighter]

Thanks for the ping, Mom! A "TRUE CHURCH" amen!

[Tantumergo]

"And Faith in Jesus is all it takes?
That is what Jesus said and the apostles taught"

That's why all the devils are saved as well isn't it Mom?

Remember that the "one true church" is also the one that cuts out the bits of the bible that it can't handle (a bit like Vicky really):

James 2,19 "Thou believest that there is one God. Thou dost well: the devils also believe and tremble.
20 But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead?"

[polemikos]

...please read the Epistle I cited.

As previously noted, I did.
Please respond to my comments, which you did not.

My use of "your bible" was ironic...To show it's absurdity.

I'm afraid it backfired.

Since I believe in the Sacred nature of scripture, it matters nothing to me who defined canon

But why? How do you know the New Testament is sacred? What is your authority? Without the Catholic Church, you have none. It's a logical contradiction of Protestantism.

the idea that God limits the elect to a single church is silly.

We're talking about truth. The fullness of Christian truth is found in the Catholic Church. That Protestant denominations, relying on novel theologies, have developed conflicting and therefore erroneous doctrines is a simple and obvious proof of that.

[Iowegian]

I'm Catholic and stick to the Catholic threads, but the overt attack on the ONE TRUE CHURCH did catch my eye.

Oh I see, it's OK with you when the RB church is arrogant enough to call itself the one true church, but when the true Biblical message of what the church really means, you object. Very telling. BTW there's nothing that I see in the above message that excludes RC's from the one true church. Can you make that claim?

[Iowegian]

Oops, that should read "RC church" not RB church.

[franky]

Do we measure up for eternity? Are we saved if we have any of the following sins? Is being a Roman Catholic too dificult for many, too restrictive? In some religions (Churches) some of the following are justified. Is yours?
Examine your conscience. Any of the following condemns you to hell or to hope to get to heaven after a stay in Purgatory.

1. I am the Lord your God. You shall not have strange gods before me.

- Involvement in occult practices, e.g., witchcraft, ouija boards, seances, palm reading, tarot cards, hypnotism, divination, astrology, black magic, sorcery, etc.
- Involvement in or adherence to New Age or Eastern philosophies, atheism or agnosticism
- Apostasy (leaving the Church)
- Adherence to a schismatic group
- Putting faith in superstition, e.g., horoscopes, good luck charms, etc.
- Joining the Masons or other secret society
- Receiving Holy Communion in the state of mortal sin
- Receiving the Sacraments of Confirmation or Matrimony while in the state of mortal sin
- Willful participation in illicit (non-emergency) “General Absolution” services
- Being married by a Justice of the Peace or by a minister of another denomination (without dispensation)
- Involvement in false or pagan worship
- Willfully denying the Faith of the Catholic Church
- Despair of God’s grace or mercy
- Presumption (committing a mortal sin with the idea that you can just go to confession)
- Hatred of God
- Simony (buying or selling spiritual things)
- Failure to receive Holy Communion at least once per year ( if possible, during the Easter Season)
- Desecration of the Holy Eucharist

2. You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain.

- Using God’s name intentionally as a curse
- Seriously wishing evil upon another
- Serious slander or insult of a sacred person or object
- Making an oath in a secret society
- Telling a lie or withholding a serious sin in confession
- Blasphemy (words of hatred, reproach or defiance toward God; speaking ill of God)
- Perjury (lying under oath)
- Swearing false oaths

3. Remember to keep holy the Lord’s Day.

- Missing Mass on Sunday or a Holy Day of Obligation without a serious reason
- Doing unnecessary work on Sunday for a long period of time, i.e., more than several hours
- Intentional failure to fast or abstain on appointed days
- Requiring employees to work on Sunday in non-essential occupations

4. Honor your father and mother.

- Serious failure to care for aged parents
- Serious neglect of the duties of one’s state in life
- Serious disrespect for or disobedience to parents, superiors or authorities
- Wishing death or evil on parents
- Abuse or serious neglect of children
- Failure to baptize children in a reasonable time (within a few months) after birth
- Serious neglect of the religious education or upbringing of children
- Failure to carry out the last will of deceased parents

5. You shall not kill.

- Murder, homicide or manslaughter
- Procurement of an abortion
- Promoting, counseling or paying for an abortion
- Knowingly voting for someone who is pro-abortion
- Willfully injuring or trying to hurt another person
- Willfully leading another into serious sin
- Driving dangerously or recklessly
- Driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol
- Willfully harboring hatred for another
- Taking or selling illegal drugs
- Willful drunkenness
- Self mutilation
- Excessive tattoos
- Excessive body piercing
- Piercing of the nipples or sexual organs
- Sterilization
- Promotion of or involvement in euthanasia
- Serious entertainment of suicidal thoughts
- Attempting or intending suicide
- Willful failure to bury the body or ashes of the dead
- Willful engagement in unjust lawsuits
- Bigotry (hatred for persons of other races)
- Intentionally placing temptation before the weak

6. You shall not commit adultery.

- Adultery
- Fornication (intercourse prior to marriage)
- Masturbation or other impure acts with self
- Homosexual acts
- Using a contraceptive
- Dressing or acting in a manner intended to cause arousal in another (spouses excepted)
- Kissing or touching another passionately for the purpose of arousal (spouses excepted)
- Allowing another to kiss or touch you in a sexual manner (spouses excepted)
- Intentionally causing a sexual climax outside of intercourse
- Onanism, i.e. intentional withdrawal and non-vaginal ejaculation
- Flagrant immodesty in dress
- Bestiality (sexual acts with animals)
- Oral sex (permitted as foreplay in marriage)
- Anal sex or other degrading sex practices
- Prostitution
- Rape
- In-vitro fertilization or artificial insemination
- Surrogate motherhood
- “Selective reduction” of babies in the womb
- Types of fertility testing that involve immoral acts
- Involvement in or support of human cloning
- Willful divorce or desertion
- Incest
- Polygamy or polyandry (many wives/husbands)
- Cohabitation prior to marriage
- Destroying the innocence of another by seducing or introducing them to immorality
- Lust in the heart (“if I could I would”)
- “Swinging” or wife swapping
- Transvestitism or cross dressing

7. You shall not steal.

- Stealing a large amount of money or a valuable item
- Willfully destroying or defacing another’s property
- Stealing something consecrated to God or from a holy place
- Buying, selling, receiving or concealing items known to be stolen
- Willful failure to make restitution
- Excessive gambling
- Defrauding workers of their wages
- Serious failure to fulfill work requirements
- Padding expense or per diem accounts
- Taking advantage of the poor, simple, inexperienced or less fortunate
- Denying help to the poor, needy or destitute when able to help them easily
- Defrauding creditors
- Bribery or taking bribes
- Blackmail
- Fraud or embezzlement
- Price fixing
- Tax evasion
- Forgery
- Excessive waste or expense
- Violating copyrights
- Pirating computer software
- Slavery
- Serious cruelty to animals

8. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.

- False witness (not under oath) or perjury (under oath)
-Telling large or premeditated lies
- Serious gossip, detraction (revealing the faults of another without serious reason), or calumny (harming the reputation of another by falsities)
- Violation of a confidence without good reason
- Being an accomplice to another’s grave sin

9. You shall not desire your neighbor’s wife.

- Viewing pornography in books, magazines, movies, the internet, etc.
- Reading sexually explicit materials
- Dwelling on impure thoughts or fantasies for the purpose of arousal
- Willfully lusting after another

10. You shall not desire your neighbor’s goods.

- Serious and willful greed or avarice
- Intention to steal or destroy the goods of another

Venial Sins and Imperfections*

* Imperfections are not sins so they do not need to be confessed. No distinction is made on this sheet between venial sins and imperfections because it is not always easy to make the distinction. Some things are imperfections because they are very small, other things are imperfections because they are dispositions of the soul and not willful actions or failures, still others because they are habitual.
1. I am the Lord your God. You shall not have strange gods before me.
- Failure to pray on a daily basis
- Not trying to love God with my whole mind, heart, soul and strength
- Trying to control things rather than seek God’s will
- Entertaining doubts against the Faith
- Failing to seek out or learn the teachings of the Church
- Indifference or ingratitude to God
- Lukewarmness in the relationship with God
- Not trying to grow spiritually; being content with mediocrity
- Acedia (spiritual sloth)
- Putting other things or people before God, e.g., TV, radio, sports, hobbies, etc.
- Attachment to human respect or affection, i.e., caring more about what others think than what God thinks in order to fit in or be liked
- Not trusting God
- Failure to fulfill the duties of one’s state in life
- Playing Dungeons and Dragons or similar games
- Tempting God
- Being angry at God
- Embarrassment of being Catholic
- Failure to defend the Church when ridiculed
- Failure to support the work of the Church monetarily and/or with time and ability
- Not taking part in the work of evangelization
- Being willfully distracted at Mass or in prayer
- Putting off confession needlessly
- Failing to accept or offer up suffering
- Refusing or denying the mercy of God
- Not trying to practice recollection or the frequent remembrance of God’s presence
- Failure to pray when tempted
- Failure to examine one’s conscience daily
- Giving into depression, self pity or self deprecating thoughts
2. You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain.
- Using the Lord’s name lightly, in surprise or in anger (habitual, not thinking)
- Cursing thoughtlessly
- Using the names of Mary, a Saint, the Pope or other sacred persons irreverently
- Using vulgar or inappropriate language
- Telling bad jokes about sacred persons or objects
- Speaking badly of the Church
- Inappropriate or irreverent use of Scripture
3. Remember to keep holy the Lord’s Day.
- Doing unnecessary work on Sunday
- Failing to keep Sunday as a day for family and recreation
- Failing to spend extra time on Sunday in prayer and study of the Faith
- Allowing sports or other schedules to dictate the Sunday schedule
- Being irreverent in church
- Not paying attention or participating at Mass
- Coming late to Mass or leaving early without a serious reason
- Desecrating the day by sinful amusements, bad company, inappropriate entertainment, etc.
4. Honor your father and mother.
- Fighting with siblings
- Disobedience to parents or authorities
- Failure to give proper respect to parents or those in authority
- Treating those under one’s authority disrespectfully
- Failure to respect the dignity of children
- Speaking badly about parents
- Speaking badly about children
- Speaking badly about one’s spouse
- Neglecting duties toward spouse or children
- Failing to give good example to one’s family
- Not trying to cultivate peace in the family
- Taking one’s spouse for granted
- Making fun of or failing to help the elderly or handicapped
- Not praying for those entrusted to your care
- Failing to pray for those in authority over you, e.g., parents, teachers, employers, government officials, etc.
- Failure to teach children adequately about God and the spiritual life
- Lack of gratitude toward parents
- Nagging spouse or children
- Treating adult children like minors
- Meddling in the affairs of married children
- Too lax with rules, boundaries and discipline
- Too strict with rules, boundaries and discipline
- Breaking just civil laws without serious reason
- Being ashamed of or embarrassed about parents
5. You shall not kill.
- Pride, arrogance
- Vanity
- Stubbornness without good reason
- Rudeness
- Failure to apologize
- Fighting or arguing over slight matters
- Anger
- Using obscene or vulgar gestures
- Prejudice
- Harboring a grudge
- Seeking revenge or retaliation
- Wishing evil upon another
- Impatience
- Selfishness
- Listening to bad music
- Excessive watching of television
- Excessive playing of computer games
- Excessive use of the internet
- Watching TV or movies that promote sex or violence
- Playing computer games that promote sex or violence
- Refusing to forgive another
- Intemperance (overeating or drinking too much)
- Driving carelessly
- Failing to care for one’s health
- Smoking or chewing tobacco
- Abusing medications
- Sloth (laziness)
- Procrastination
- Lack of puncuality
- Failure to respect the dignity of self or others
- Giving scandal to another
- Treating another unjustly
- Failure to take medications if such are necessary
- Doing things willfully to anger others
- Violating friendships
- Failure to pray for deceased parents or relatives
- Using the “silent treatment” on others
- Failure to pray for sinners
6. You shall not commit adultery.
- Lack of custody of the eyes (looking inappropriately at others)
- Allowing the heart to stray from one’s spouse
- Dressing somewhat immodestly
- Acting or carrying oneself immodestly
- Treating others as objects
- Failure to respect persons of the opposite sex
- Seeking wrongful attention from another
- Selfishness in marital intimacy
- Failure to be open to life without serious reason
- Keeping bad company
7. You shall not steal.
- Attachments to persons or things
- Theft of small or inexpensive items
- Willful Failure to return borrowed items
- Wasting time
- Failure to pay debts promptly
- Failing to practice charity or to help the poor
- Squandering money on needless things or pursuits
- Not keeping a promise
8. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
- Lying
- Gossiping
- Spreading rumors or tale bearing
- Talking behind another’s back
- Being negative, critical or uncharitable in thought regarding others
- Making rash judgments
- Being unjustly suspicious
- Failure to seek to restore the good name of another whom you have injured through speech
- Cheating in games, school work, etc.
- Speaking unkindly to or about others
- Exaggerating the truth
- Bragging or boasting
- Flattery
- Complaining, whining or attention seeking
9. You shall not desire your neighbor’s wife.
- Telling or listening to impure or vulgar jokes or stories
- Brief entertainment of impure thoughts or fantasies
- Not trying to control the imagination
- Curiosity or playing with temptation
- Seeking out or looking at persons or pictures which are immodest
10. You shall not desire your neighbor’s goods.
- Envy (sadness or anger at the good fortune of another)
- Jealousy (desire for the goods of another)
- Greed
- Materialism
- Not trusting that God will provide for all material and spiritual needs
- Attachment to riches or material goods
How to go to Confession
1. The Priest will begin with the Sign of the Cross.
2. The Penitent begins by saying “Bless me Father for I have sinned, it has been ____ (number of days, weeks, months, etc.) since my last confession. These are my sins”.
3. Confess all mortal sins committed since your last confession by kind and number. You may also confess any venial sins.
4. At the end of your confession say these or similar words: “For these and all the sins of my life I am sorry.”
5. The Priest may ask questions for clarification or give you some counsel on a point from your confession.
6. The Priest will give you a penance.
7. The Penitent makes an act of contrition in these or similar words: O my God, I am heartily sorry for having offended Thee, and I detest all of my sins because of Thy just punishments. But most of all because they offend Thee my God, who art all good and deserving of all my love. I firmly resolve, with the help of Thy grace, to sin no more, and to avoid the near occasions of sin. Amen.
8. The Priest will give you absolution. (The words necessary for forgiveness are “I absolve you from your sins in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit”).
© 2001 Fr. Robert Altier, CPO Spiritual Director

[anncoulteriscool]

Hey mom, put me on your ping list!

[Lexinom]

And the Scripture is history... and poetry... and prophecy... and doctrine... It is God's letter to man about the meaning and purpose of life.

[polemikos]

what drove them away was Jesus telling them that unless the Father draws them they can not be saved..How does a legalist Jew that believes that Law keeping will save him respond to this?

Huh? Virtually an entire chapter spent on the Bread of Life. Throughout, the Jews are explicitly troubled by his claims as the Bread from Heaven (41-2) and that they are to eat his flesh (52), even more so when he becomes more explicit (60). Jesus spends several verses not only repeating, but becoming more literal. Jesus confirms their literal understanding by asking are they offended (61) by his literalness? Yet some how this becomes an issue, not over the "hard saying", but over a legalism? I don't see how your argument can work. Those that leave are not the Pharisees. They are his disciples (6:66). His disciples have seen the excess legalisms swept away throughout his ministry. It is ONLY here that they are explicitly troubled by his teaching on "eat my flesh". It is ONLY here that they leave. Leaving over a "hard saying" makes perfect sense. Leaving over a "legalism" does not. And perhaps most importantly for those that deny the Real Presence, it is here that Judas is lost.

It was not a doctrine of the church until 1215 when the doctrine of Transubstantiation promulgated by Pope Innocent III as official dogma of the church

You misunderstand how Councils work. Councils define things formally because a confusion arises (generally a heresy) about an established belief. Generally, councils do not create dogma per se, they strip away false teachings. As pointed out above in comment 65, the early church fathers universally taught the Real Presence. There was no need to formally define otherwise because the Church was of one mind. The last thing a church father wants to do is make new doctrine. It was only with the novel teachings of the "Reformation" that a more formal definition was needed. Trent was so important because of the confusions wrought by the Reformation.

The historical reality, the fact that you cannot escape, is that those who were directly taught by the Apostles believed as the Catholic Church believes.

[RnMomof7]

That's why all the devils are saved as well isn't it Mom?

Context

Here James is speaking about the justification of our faith before men. (By their fruits you WILL KNOW THEM) , a faith that produces no works is a dead faith . (no fruit)

and that is exactly what James is saying here

Jam 2:18   Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works.

Works show our faith

What are the fruits of the demons?

 Jam 2:19  
Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble.

They know for sure their is a God (they knew him personally..that takes no faith ..no belief..Yet even knowing for sure of the existence , they produce rotten fruit.

You may want to consider the words of Paul

Eph 2:8   For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: [it is] the gift of God:

    
Eph 2:9   Not of works, lest any man should boast.     
Eph 2:10   For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.

Rom 3:24   Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:

Jhn 5:24   Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.

Jhn 6:27   Labour not for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son of man shall give unto you: for him hath God the Father sealed.

Rom 4:5   But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.

Rom 10:9   That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.

Jhn 1:12   But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, [even] to them that believe on his name:

I could go on tonto..But I suspect you get the point

[RnMomof7]

Do we measure up for eternity? Are we saved if we have any of the following sins? Is being a Roman Catholic too dificult for many, too restrictive? In some religions (Churches) some of the following are justified. Is yours? Examine your conscience. Any of the following condemns you to hell or to hope to get to heaven after a stay in Purgatory.

You make the Pharisees look down right liberal

I am forever grateful That Christ bore ALL my sins and transgression and was the propitiation for my sin ! I praise Him for offering continual sacrifices for me and mediation for me before the Father..Because ever the righteousness of the most holy men is sinful to the father. He only sees the righteousness of His Son..Thank you Lord for placing me in Christ.

You carry the burden of legalism my friend..Jesus rebuked that then and He has not changed.

BTW Did you have anything on your list about the worship of idols? You may want to add that !