Posted on 10/05/2013 10:09:16 PM PDT by jodyel
Rescuing Precious Souls from the Bondage of Religion
We can be wrong about a lot of things in this life and still survive, but if we are wrong about the only way to obtain forgiveness from God, we will pay for that fatal mistake throughout all eternity. Our Creator provides only one way to redeem man from sin and He has revealed it in a divinely inspired message to mankind. However, it didn't take long for God's complete and perfect Gospel message to be corrupted by religious leaders. These men, who say they speak for God, have distorted and perverted this good news of God's mercy and grace. Their unstated goal has been to control people by keeping them in legalistic bondage to their authority. The Lord Jesus revealed the only way of escape from this bondage. He said: "If you abide in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine; and you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free" (John 8:31-32).
Establish the Supreme Authority for Truth
Reaching those who are being held captive by religious indoctrination must always begin by establishing the Bible as the supreme authority for knowing God's Gospel. Christ and His Word must rule over man's religious traditions because God has exalted His Word above all things (Psalm 138:2). The word of God is infallible and has no equal (Isa. 55:10). The Bible is the most authoritative, influential and powerful book ever written. It is the standard for discerning truth from error(1 John 4:6). It is sufficient to function as the sole, infallible rule of faith (2 Tim. 3:14-16). The Bible does not refer us to any other rule of faith because everything we must know,understand and believe to be reconciled to God is found in Scripture (1 Cor. 15:1-4).
Whenever we are confronted by two or more opinions, we must always ask, "But what does the Scripture say?" (Gal. 4:30).
What About The Traditions of Men?
Roman Catholics reject the supreme authority of Scripture by elevating their tradition to the same level of authority. They defend their position by quoting St. Paul who wrote: "Stand firm and hold to the traditions which you were taught, whether by word of mouth or by letter from us" (2 Thes. 2:15). But we must make a distinction between traditions which had already been taught by the apostles in the first century and the traditions established by men over the last 1900 years (2 Cor. 11:2 ; 2 Thes. 3:6).
Clearly there are certain apostolic traditions recorded in Scripture that Christians must embrace, but not all traditions are biblical. Paul encouraged us to make this distinction. He wrote: "See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, according to the tradition of men, according to the elementary principles of the world, rather than according to Christ" (Col. 2:8). Paul is warning us that we can become ensnared by the traditions of men when they do not conform to Christ and His word. Tradition must always be subservient to Scripture because God's word is divinely inspired while tradition is not.
What About "Infallible" Men?
Roman Catholics also reject the supreme authority of Scripture by elevating its "infallible" bishops to be equal in authority. In practice, the bishops actually sit above Scripture by declaring no one else can give an authentic interpretation of the Word of God (Catechism of the Catholic Church, para. 85). Yet the Apostle Paul commended the Bereans (who were not bishops) for interpreting the Scriptures to verify the truthfulness of his teaching. "Now the Bereans ... received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true" (Acts 17:11). It is quite clear that the apostle, who penned over half the New Testament, encouraged his listeners to submit to the supreme authority of the Hebrew Scriptures. The veracity of every man's message must be tested with the same Scriptural authority.
Getting the Gospel Right
Once the supreme authority of Scripture has been communicated to Catholics who are enslaved to another authority, the Gospel of God can be heralded. It is wise to present God's Gospel in contrast to Rome's plan of salvation so Catholics can discern the difference. The distinction between the two gospels can best be described as the difference between divine accomplishment and human achievement. The true Gospel describes what God has done through Jesus Christ to save sinners, while the gospel of Rome describes what man must do for God. Paul defines the Gospel according to Scripture alone (1 Cor. 15:1-4). The glorious Gospel of grace is what one perfect man did 2000 years ago to reconcile sinful man to God. It has nothing to do with what any imperfect man has done since, or is doing now. This eliminates all the requirements Roman Catholics have added to the finished work of Jesus Christ. It also eliminates Catholic priests making daily sin offerings on their altars.
Catholics Are Totally Dependent Upon An Illegitimate Priesthood
One of the most controlling elements of the Roman Catholic religion is its indoctrination concerning the priesthood. Each Catholic is taught that their salvation is utterly dependent upon the ministry of their priests. According to the unbiblical teachings of Rome, it is the Catholic priest who baptizes infants for their justification and spiritual birth, the priest who hears confession and demands penance as the satisfaction for sin, the priest who dispenses Jesus in the Eucharist, the priest who imparts the Holy Spirit in the sacrament of Confirmation, the priest who gives Last Rites, and the priest who offers the sacrifice of the Mass for souls suffering in purgatory. What a fatal deception!
There is no longer a need for priests offering sacrifices for sin because by one offering Jesus Christ has perfected for all time those who are sanctified (Heb. 10:14). At the very moment our Lord Jesus gave up His Spirit on Calvary's cross, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom (Mat. 27:51). The veil that separated sinful man from the Holy of Holies was ripped open, and now, anyone washed by the blood of Christ can come boldly into the presence of God. When Jesus, our High Priest, offered Himself once for all sin for all time, he made the sacrificial priesthood obsolete. Every believer in Jesus Christ has been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all (Heb.10:10).
The illegitimacy and obsolescence of the Roman Catholic priesthood is also expressly noted by the sovereign and exclusive work of the triune God in saving sinners. It is God the Father who chooses, calls and draws the lost to His Son (John 6:44; Jas. 2:5). The Holy Spirit convicts them of their sin and the coming judgment (John 16:8-11). Jesus Christ is proclaimed through His Word as the only way of salvation (John 14:6). God gives life to those dead in sin and grants the sinner repentance and faith (Rom. 4:17; Eph. 2:8-9; 2 Tim. 2:25). Jesus exchanges His righteousness for the sins of the believer (2 Cor. 5:21). The Holy Spirit seals, indwells and empowers the justified believer (Eph. 1:13-14, Rom. 8). The Father adopts, secures and glorifies His children (John 1:12; Rom. 8:30). Clearly, God alone is deserving of all glory! (Rom. 11:36). He alone is worthy to be praised!
Peter expressed the bondage that enslaves religious leaders who exchange the truth of God for the fatal errors of men. He wrote: "Speaking out arrogant words of vanity they entice by fleshly desires, by sensuality, those who barely escape from the ones who live in error, promising them freedom while they themselves are slaves of corruption; for by what a man is overcome, by this he is enslaved (2 Pet. 2:18-20).
How Can We Rescue These Precious Souls?
Paul provides the answer! "The Lord's bond servant must not be quarrelsome, but be kind to all, able to teach, patient when wronged,with gentleness correcting those who are in opposition, if perhaps God may grant them repentance leading to the knowledge of the truth, and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, having been held captive by him to do his will" (2 Tim. 2:24-26). We must take note of the correct way to approach those who are being deceived by the clever, scheming, and subtle lies of the devil. We must lovingly confront them with gentleness, patience and humility and avoid being quarrelsome or argumentative. As we correct them, we must use the Scriptures and avoid giving our own opinions, experiences or philosophy. Saving faith comes from hearing the Word (Rom. 10:17).
Liberty from the bondage of sin and deception is found only in Christ. The Father sent Him to preach the Gospel to the poor, to proclaim release to the captives and to set free those who are downtrodden (Luke 4:18). Jesus also came to give sight to the blind because a veil of spiritual blindness covers every man's heart. However there is one condition that must be met: Paul declares: "whenever a man turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away" (2 Cor. 3:16). This means turning from fallible men and their traditions and turning to Christ and His infallible word!
Fail.....
Acts 2:38 http://biblehub.com/text/acts/2-38.htm
Metanoesate = repent
http://biblesuite.com/greek/3340.htm
metanoeo: to change one's mind or purpose
Transliteration: metanoeó
Phonetic Spelling: (met-an-o-eh'-o)
Short Definition: I repent, change my mind
Definition: I repent, change my mind, change the inner man (particularly with reference to acceptance of the will of God), repent.
3340 metanoéō (from 3326 /metá, "changed after being with" and 3539 /noiéō, "think") – properly, "think differently after," "after a change of mind"; to repent (literally, "think differently afterwards").
Word Origin - from meta and noeó
Definition - to change one's mind or purpose
You can make the Bible say anything when you cherry pick verses, taking them out of context.
The entire sentence says.....
1 Peter 3:18-33 For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit, in which he went and proclaimed to the spirits in prison, because they formerly did not obey, when God's patience waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through water. Baptism, which corresponds to this, now saves you, not as a removal of dirt from the body but as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers having been subjected to him.
IOW, it is NOT water baptism.
Works do not make faith saving.
Matthew 7:21-23 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’
Luke 18:9-14 He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and treated others with contempt: “Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.’ But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’ I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”
If you want to make up history, no one can help you.
Oh, narse, nice to see you back again. :)
No, he didn’t say “do penance”, he said repent. He used the word metanoeó.
Metanoeó
Short Definition: I repent, change my mind
Definition: I repent, change my mind, change the inner man (particularly with reference to acceptance of the will of God), repent.
[http://biblesuite.com/strongs/greek/3340.htm]
>>There is no doubt that we are judged according to our works, none - it is perfectly clear in scripture.<<
What did Jesus say about that again?
“Then said they unto him, What shall we do, that we might work the works of God? Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.” John 6:28-29
LOL GMTA
I used that to illustrate that it was understood that the writings of the apostles was scripture. You do believe the writings we have today are the inspired words of God right? It that’s the case they were scripture when they were written. They didn’t become inspired scripture just because the RCC recognized the fact. They were inspired scripture the moment the Holy Spirit directed them what to write. The idea that those writings were not inspired scripture until the RCC declared they were is utter nonsense.
>> BTW: Luke, not Paul, wrote the Acts of the Apostles.<<
I understand that. Is the Book of Acts Holy Spirit inspired scripture or not?
I did???????? Would you please show the post where I said that?
Then please show the Greek source that used the word that can be translated “do penance”.
Baptism never saves someone..water cannot wash away our sins nor change our hearts and minds. Only a commitment to Jesus and accepting His sacrifice ‘personally’ for your own sins can change our standing before a Holy God. .....Baptism 'follows' the Salvation Message given and received....it never IS Salvation
I never said that the decision of the Catholic Church CAUSED any Scriptures to be inspired. I was pointing out that there was debate and doubt for a couple of hundred years about what belonged in the canon, and what should be excluded. The Gospel of Thomas and the Shepherd of Hermas were widely accepted as inspired Scripture. The Acts of the Apostles and Revelation were widely rejected.
The final decision was made in the fourth century, by the Pope. If you hold that the 27 books now included in the New Testament belong there, and no others, you are giving your assent to the decision of the Pope.
May I remind you that God used Judas and Balaam’s donkey also?
You are comparing the decision that settled the canon of the New Testament to an act of Judas.
That’s an interesting comparison.
And its a complete evasion of the fact that your conviction about what constitutes the New Testament is entirely dependent on a determination made by a Pope.
No it’s not. God is responsible for preserving what He felt needed preserved. However He preserved it doesn’t change the fact that it was HE who did so. The RCC can brag all they want but God used Judas, Herod, Balaam’s donkey and other evil pretenders as well.
Obviously you have done no research other than what's allowed by your religion...Your's is the typical Catholic response which is, 'You're wrong, my religion says so'...
You (your religion) was proven wrong by post 161 but I'll bet at the next opportunity, you'll be spewing out the same nonsense...Hopefully God will open your eyes...
I did???????? Would you please show the post where I said that?
You didn't say that; what I posted included this,
("In the Religion forum, on a thread titled Rescuing Souls, CynicalBear wrote:") I'm not being too literalistic about the name of this forum, but neither is the name meaningless or misleading.
which should be divided as follows:
("In the Religion forum, on a thread titled Rescuing Souls, CynicalBear wrote:")
I quoted this from the "Posting Comment" page. This text is what appears down the page when I start writing a response to you (look below the red "Loose lips sink ships" if it appears); it's followed by the post of yours to which I'm replying.
I quoted that part just to show that simply by starting on a reply, I find this area being explicitly called the "Religion forum." (The more isolated word "Religion" also appears on the main thread.)
I'm not being too literalistic about the name of this forum, but neither is the name meaningless or misleading.
And the second sentence is what I wrote.
Mary is alive in Heaven helping out Jesus.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.