Posted on 04/26/2015 9:50:11 AM PDT by Gamecock
The Reformation was a return to the Word of God unencumbered by rationalist, a priori assumptions about what the nature of things must be. The church had always read the Word of God but it had done so under the control of a set of assumptions chief among which was that God can only call a human “righteous” if he is, in himself, properly, inherently, intrinsically righteous. So, the medieval church set up a scheme whereby a sinner might progressively become righteous by medicinal grace and cooperation with that medicine infused into us by the sacraments. In the medieval and later Romanist program, God was said to recognize as just those who are completely sanctified. The Protestants rejected that scheme as contrary to the biblical teaching that sinners are justified by divine favor alone (sola gratia), through faith alone (sola fide) which rests and trusts in Christ alone as the Righteous One. According to the Protestants, Christ alone is intrinsically, inherently, personally, actually righteous. He alone has condign merit and his righteousness and merit is credited to or imputed or reckoned to and counted to those who believe.
Because of the scheme set up by the medieval church and adopted by Rome at the Council of Trent (1545–64) required our personal sanctification as the precondition to justification and that by grace (and cooperation with grace) Rome had a powerful incentive to multiple the sources of medicinal grace. Thus, between the 9th and 13th centuries the number of “sacraments” grew from the two instituted by our Lord to seven. Well, formally there are seven but in reality Rome is a veritable fountain of medicine and, as my colleague Dan Borvan said recently on the Theology You Should Know podcast, a “factory of merit.” Rome manufactures sacraments, spigots of grace, at will. Most recently, in the papal bull (from bulla or a seal) Misericordiae vultus (the countenance of mercy) Rome has declared that on December 15, 2015, the door to the Basilica of St John Lateran “the Holy Door will become a Door of Mercy through which anyone who enters will experience the love of God who consoles, pardons, and instils [sic] hope.”
This is a terrific illustration of why the biblical, Protestant doctrine of sola fide is so important. Without it the church is rootless, aimless and left to its own devices, to what Paul, in Colossians 2:23 called “will worship” (ἐθελοθρησκίᾳ):
These have indeed an appearance of wisdom in promoting will-worship (ἐθελοθρησκίᾳ) and asceticism and severity to the body, but they are aof no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh.
The ESV translates this the noun ἐθελοθρησκίᾳ as “self-made religion.” That’s just right but I use “will worship” because that ‘s the way our forefathers spoke. They wanted to highlight the difference between worshipping God the way he has commanded and worshipping God the way that we think is right. They called the latter approach “will worship” to capture the centrality of the human will as opposed to the divine will. The noun is composed of two roots. The first is the root word for the will or “to choose” and the second for worship.
Rome is all about man-made, self-imposed (or rather church-imposed) worship and theology. In contrast, the Reformed churches confess that we made in worship only that which God has commanded (see Belgic Confession articles 7, 32; Heidelberg Catechism 96–98; and Westminster Confession ch. 21).
What hath will worship to do with justification and salvation sola fide? Much in every way. Just as God has revealed and appointed the way he will be worshipped, so he has also appointed the one instrument through which sinners can become righteous. Whereas Rome says that justification is sanctification and the faith is itself a powerful virtue, i.e., it is sanctification because it is formed by charity, Scripture teaches no such thing. Rather Scripture repeatedly contrasts faith, in the act of justification, as trusting, resting, leaning, receiving Christ and his righteousness. When Paul, in Romans 1:17, quoted Habakkuk 2:4, “The just shall live by faith” he understood faith not as a virtue wrought within us by infused medicine and our free cooperation with that medicine. Rather, he understood it as a divine gift (Ephesians 2:8) that receives Christ and all that Christ has done for us. That’s why just before the quotation he wrote that “the righteousness of God is revealed from faith unto faith” (ἐκ πίστεως εἰς πίστιν). Faith is not powerful except insofar as it lays hold of Christ and his righteousness. It is not revealed from faith unto sanctification. It is not revealed from faith unto cooperation with infused medicine. No, it is revealed from faith unto faith because faith, resting, receiving, trusting in Christ is the only instrument. Nevertheless, Christ, not faith, is powerful. Faith, in itself, is an empty hand. As Luther said, “Wir sein Pettler. Hoc est verum.” We are beggars. this true. It’s against this background that we confess in Heidelberg 61:
61. Why do you say that you are righteous by faith only?
Not that I am acceptable to God on account of the worthiness of my faith, but because only the satisfaction, righteousness and holiness of Christ is my righteousness before God and I can receive the same and make it my own in no other way than by faith only.
It is not by walking under arches (Rome’s Jubilee in 2000) nor will it be by walking through a magic door in December 2015 that we shall be justified and saved. It is only by faith, which looks only to Christ’s perfect righteousness, to his satisfaction of God’s justice (righteousness) for us. There is no other instrument. Baptism does not lay hold of Christ. The Lord’s Supper does not lay hold of Christ. They are divinely instituted sacraments that promise justification and salvation to all who believe. They seal those promises to those who do believe but they are not the instruments by which sinners lay hold of Christ. Only true faith lays hold of Christ and all that he has done for us.
By walking under arches or through doors all you gain is a little exercise. Without true faith in the only Savior you are still outside of Christ, outside of his righteousness, and outside of acceptance with God (justification) and salvation from his righteous wrath. Why is sola fide important? Because Christ is the only way to the Father, the only Savior and faith is the only instrument by which we gain Christ.
I would suggest you read it again. See how many times it says "by faith". It was the saving faith that enabled them to do. It was their saving faith that made their works efficacious. Without that saving faith none of what they did would have been anything. It all came down once again to faith.
Can you re-phrase this question? I'm not sure of what you are asking.
It is drawn from your comments here, " One can believe all he wants, but if it does not push you into performing good acts, to love your neighbor as yourself, then that faith is dead or demonic. It does no good. Everyone is known by their fruits (works)."
"Are the Jewish people, at the very least, the least of Jesus' brethren ?"
I understand where it came from. I’m just not sure what you mean by “the least of Jesus’ brethren.”
I would like to help you be sure. Where did "to love your neighbor as yourself," which you posted to me come from ?
OK--it came from the 10 Commandments, as well as Jesus teaching in the NT.
False, True
It is not one of the Ten Commandments. Jesus did teach that it was the Second Greatest commandment. The Greatest commandment is also not one of the Ten. Here is the commandment Jesus taught. Thou shalt not avenge, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people, but thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself: I am the Lord.
Leviticus, Catholic chapter nineteen, Protestant verse eighteen,
as authorized, but not authored, by King James
Are you now able to understand my question ?
Lord => LORD; Smartphones do not love the LORD, but I do.
Hmmm. So your claim is that because it doesn't say so in so many words, that "Love your neighbor" isn't part of the ten commandments?
What, then, is the purpose of commandments 6-10? All Jesus really did was condense 5 commandments into three words.
Are you now able to understand my question ?
Not yet. Please connect the dots for me. I must be dense.
Sola Fide is everything. Have it and you have eternal life with Christ. Don’t have it and you go to hell. It is precisely what the Catholic church does NOT have.
Yes, the Ten Commandments appear in different books of the Torah (First five books of the Bible), specifically in Exodus, and repeated in Deuteronomy. The love to love they neighbor is part of the Law of Moses, yet not one of the Ten Commandments.
What, then, is the purpose of commandments 6-10? All Jesus really did was condense 5 commandments into three words.
False, the three words already exist eternally in Leviticus from whence I quoted them.
Not yet. Please connect the dots for me. I must be dense.
Do not be hard on yourself. The Messiah kept the commandments, including Leviticus, which specifically commands to love the Jewish people as thyself. He said it was the second greatest commandment, just so we know where he's coming from, so to speak. He came unto his own, and his own received him not. Now before the feast of the passover, when Jesus knew that his hour was come that he should depart out of this world unto the Father, having loved his own which were in the world, he loved them unto the end. And when they were come to the place, which is called Calvary, there they crucified him, and the malefactors, one on the right hand, and the other on the left. Then said Jesus, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do. And they parted his raiment, and cast lots. But he, being full of the Holy Ghost, looked up stedfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God, And said, Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God. Then they cried out with a loud voice, and stopped their ears, and ran upon him with one accord, And cast him out of the city, and stoned him: and the witnesses laid down their clothes at a young man's feet, whose name was Saul. And they stoned Stephen, calling upon God, and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit. And he kneeled down, and cried with a loud voice, Lord, lay not this sin to their charge. And when he had said this, he fell asleep. Brethren, I write no new commandment unto you, but an old commandment which ye had from the beginning. The old commandment is the word which ye have heard from the beginning.
John, Catholic chapter one, Protestant verse eleven,
John, Catholic chapter thirteen, Protestant verse one,
Luke, Catholic chapter twenty three, Protestant verses thirty three to thirty four,
Acts, Catholic chapter seven, Protestant verses fifty five to sixty,
First John, Catholic chapter two, Protestant verse seven,
as authorized, but not authored, by King James
If it's limited to the Jewish people, then why the parable of the Good Samaritan? Samaritans were hated (understatement) by the Jews at that time.
Precisely; think of how the Jews viewed the Samaritans in terms of how Christians commonly view Moslems. Yet the question I posed is whether the Jewish people are at the very least, the least of Jesus' brethren, not are they the only brethren of the Messiah.
OK—then I’ll answer the question as I see it—there are no “least” of Jesus’ brethren. There are no “greatest.”
That is odd; Jesus said there were ... Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah: Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith the LORD: But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people. And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the LORD: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the LORD; for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more. Thus saith the LORD, which giveth the sun for a light by day, and the ordinances of the moon and of the stars for a light by night, which divideth the sea when the waves thereof roar; The LORD of hosts is his name: If those ordinances depart from before me, saith the LORD, then the seed of Israel also shall cease from being a nation before me for ever. Thus saith the LORD; If heaven above can be measured, and the foundations of the earth searched out beneath, I will also cast off all the seed of Israel for all that they have done, saith the LORD. When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory: And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats: And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left. Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in: Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me. Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink? When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee? Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee? And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me. Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels: For I was an hungred, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not. Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee? Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me. And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.
Jeremiah, Catholic chapter thirty one, Protestant verses thirty one to thirty seven,
Matthew, Catholic chapter twenty five, Protestant verses thirty one to forty size,
as authorized, but not authored, by King James
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.