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This gentleman, bless his soul, seems to have had a very shallow understanding of evangelical Christianity.

"All these arcane arguments out of the Reformation about extrinsic justification were only so much hooey."

Here's Paul's clear statement of this "hooey"...

"Consequently, just as the result of one trespass was condemnation for all men, so also the result of one act of righteousness was justification that brings life for all men. For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous." - Rom 5: 18-19

"God doesn't merely impute righteousness to you, but He does something in the soul to make you righteous."

God's imputation of righteousness on a sinner should NEVER be referred to as merely. That mere act cost Christ his life.

"Paul also expected the obedience of faith."

We are saved in order to do good works - not as a result of good works.

"Most of the gospel preaching you hear is, "come to Jesus because He will fulfill you; you'll receive some benefit."

That is taught by some. They may be guilty of leading people astray if they do not finish teaching that in coming to Jesus you are accepting a role of servant to the Lord.

"It's as though people have to be reminded that there's no crown without the cross. Our baptism into Jesus is a baptism into His death. Christ's work is quite complete, but the application of it has to go on in the world, and so it's in that sense that we share His suffering because we are members of His body, applying the work of redemption which He wrought for us on Calvary."

This is solid evangelical teaching - I've been taught it all my life. If he missed this then he was in a very shallow church.

"Thirdly, I became aware that the apostles believed in sacraments of some sort; undeveloped, I think."

Undeveloped???

"In the mind of the apostles, water and spirit were not separate entities. "

I guess Paul never got around to reading Matthew's gospel...

"I baptize you with water for repentance. But after me will come one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not fit to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.

"where do you find unbaptized Christians in the New Testament? "

In Acts 10...

"While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit came on all who heard the message. The circumcised believers who had come with Peter were astonished that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on the Gentiles. For they heard them speaking in tongues and praising God.

Then Peter said, Can anyone keep these people from being baptized with water? They have received the Holy Spirit just as we have."

The Holy Spirit does not come though water baptism, he precedes baptism. He regenerates the heart of those who believe the message and water baptism is a secondary, outward sign of an inward change.

very shallow understanding of evangelical Christianity.

I wish Al elaborated on justification more than he did. However, Rom 5: 18-19 does not say anything about extrinsic justification or imputed righteousness. It says, many will be made righteous. The plain reading is the Catholic reading, -- men will be made anew, not recomputed.

This is the operative verse from 1 Corinthians that Al makes reference to: "such [injust] some of you were; but you are washed, but you are sanctified, but you are justified in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the Spirit of our God". Juistification is sanctification. Separating the two is a bunch of hooey.

We are saved in order to do good works - not as a result of good works

This is an unscriptural slogan (unlike the radio Al I am a polite man using polite words). The scripture teaches otherwise: "by works a man is justified; and not by faith only (James 2:24).

This is solid evangelical teaching

That by applying our suffering to the Cross we reach sanctification is Evangelical teaching?

Undeveloped???M

Again, I wish he elaborated, but indeed the sacrament of laying of hands is used in several ways in the scripture, it is hard to disambiguate confirmation from baptism, some aspects of the sacrament of penance are not made explicit, the issue of baptism of infants left unresolved.

reading Matthew's gospel

The issue is Christian baptism, both of the water and of the spirit, not Johannine baptism of water onto repentance.

In Acts 10 [you find unbaptized Christians]

No, Acts 10 confirms what Al is saying: as soon as one believes, the first thing to do is to baptise, not do a Bible study. The gift of the Holy Ghost is inseparable from the sacraments of the Church..

Afternoon, PM. Hope all is well with you.

Perhaps I can shed a bit of light on how Catholics interpret the Scriptures.

"Consequently, just as the result of one trespass was condemnation for all men, so also the result of one act of righteousness was justification that brings life for all men. For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous." - Rom 5: 18-19

God's plan of salvation of mankind is operative through the one Man, just as Paul ALSO discusses how man fell through the operation of one man, Adam. Paul is not saying that we will receive some legal ticket because of Jesus' actions. Rather, the gates of heaven will be opened by Christ - and it is up to our cooperation with God's graces on whether OUR righteousness is "greater than the scribes" so as to enter the Kingdom of Heaven.

We are saved in order to do good works...

Can you show me a precedent in Scriptures where a disobedient servant will enter into His Master's rest? Since we are made to do good works (Eph 2:10 and so forth), than clearly, those who do not obey God are disobedient, for "even the pagans can know Him". The promises are held out ONLY to those who obey God - that is how Covenants work.

They may be guilty of leading people astray if they do not finish teaching that in coming to Jesus you are accepting a role of servant to the Lord.

You are correct. There are numerous Protestants who also teach this, as well.

"I baptize you with water for repentance. But after me will come one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not fit to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.

This does not mean that water will NO LONGER BE USED or has no effect. John is merely saying that there will be something MORE to water baptism that will follow his own baptism of repentance that he gave. God clearly acts invisibly through the visible water - whether it was Naaman the leper, or Jesus - whom only John saw the Spirit alighting upon Him in the form of a dove. Jesus sets the precedent for our own baptisms. We, too, receive the Spirit to begin our "ministry" at baptism.

The Holy Spirit does not come though water baptism, he precedes baptism. He regenerates the heart of those who believe the message and water baptism is a secondary, outward sign of an inward change.

The Holy Spirit precedes into the heart of ALL men, blowing where He wills, whether they are baptized or not (Romans 2). The OT Scriptures clearly show that prophets, kings, and priests also received the Spirit. However, "don't you know you were baptized into Christ's death?" DURING water baptism, the Spirit comes in a special and unique way. As a result of this baptism, invisibly effective as a result of the Holy Spirit, we are incorporated into the Body of Christ. Mystically, WE have DIED with Him and ROSE with Him. These are Paul's words in Romans 6, and He speaks as such in numerous Scriptures in the "syn-Christo" theme (like Christ). The Bible tells us that Baptism SAVES. It is not merely a show-ritual that means nothing. Christ wouldn't command His apostles upon His ascension to "baptize in the name of the Father..." as His last command if it had no effect (which is effective BY the Spirit working invisibly).

Hope these explanations help understand another point of view on Scripture interpretations.

Regards