Posted on 10/03/2018 7:21:05 AM PDT by SoFloFreeper
Let us begin with a church history exam question. Cardinal Robert Bellarmine (1542–1621) was a figure not to be taken lightly. He was Pope Clement VIII’s personal theologian and one of the most able figures in the Counter-Reformation movement within sixteenth-century Roman Catholicism. On one occasion, he wrote: “The greatest of all Protestant heresies is _______ .”
...How would you answer? What is the greatest of all Protestant heresies?
...What he wrote was: “The greatest of all Protestant heresies is assurance.”
A moment’s reflection explains why. If justification is not by faith alone, in Christ alone, by grace alone — if faith needs to be completed by works; if Christ’s work is somehow repeated; if grace is not free and sovereign, then something always needs to be done, to be “added” for final justification to be ours. That is exactly the problem. If final justification is dependent on something we have to complete it is not possible to enjoy assurance of salvation. For then, theologically, final justification is contingent and uncertain, and it is impossible for anyone (apart from special revelation, Rome conceded) to be sure of salvation. But if Christ has done everything, if justification is by grace, without contributory works; it is received by faith’s empty hands — then assurance, even “full assurance” is possible for every believer.
(Excerpt) Read more at ligonier.org ...
Being God’s Co-Laborer (09/06/2007)
One day a minister got it into his head that he should give a sermon on being God’s co-laborer and he thought it should happen soon. So he got ahold of the fellow responsible for the bulletins and told him to change the next week’s printing.
It was really off the cuff but he really wasn’t worried, after all, it was a vast topic and he was only giving it one lesson.
That Sunday after servises he started reading and highlighting text. By late Monday he’d found enough scriptures to work with and so, after an elaborate dinner and a nap, he started writing.
Amazingly, he was done my early Tuesday morning and had found the last typo before the secretary even showed up.
As he reread the sermon again he was amazed at just how good it was.
It was certainly the best thing he’d ever written and the flow was such that it would be a joy to give.
“Here is one that will stand the test of time!” he congradulated himself.
Then he got a naughty thought: confirming that he was still alone he highlighted the text and had his Mac read it back to him (Macs can do that, it’s built into their OS).
The minister sat there soaking in his lesson and congradulated himself for a job well done!
But no sooner had the Mac stopped speaking and he heard it’s voice chime: “WOW! I never knew I had it in me!!!”
As the minister sat there, mouth agape, his computer’s word processor took credit for the sermon.
“You didn’t write that! I did!!!” the minister yelled at the screen, “How can you take credit for my work?!?”
“That,” a booming voice filled the whole room even as the lighting grew blazingly bright, “is pretty much what I was wondering about too.”
I hear this often. While I am no homophile, I don’t see why a homo can’t be saved, in fact, we should all pray for that. “Continuing to live in sin”. Unfortunately, we all do. “We all fall short” our Sin is covered in His Grace. THis week has been a challenge in discriminating Righteous Indignation vs Hate. Righteous Indignation is a pretty delicate trick to pull off and best avoided by most of us.
Ephesians tells us the indwelling of the Holy Spirit is a “seal” and a “pledge” (ie. assurance and down payment) of our salvation. Why would God “save” someone he knows he is going to have to “un-save” in the future? It would make the thing a sham. Saving someone you know you are going to un-save down the road means they were never actually saved to begin with. It makes no sense.
Jesus’ half-brother, James, had the same problem with “faith-only” and you do! Read his letter! It is really enlightening.
The point is you don’t HAVE to do anything for your salvation, except believe, BUT, if you really believe then you WILL DO things that show you are “keeping His commandments.”
When He says we are sealed with the Holy Spirit until the day of redemption, being the guarantee of our inheritance, He means it.
Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven. (Matt. 7:21)
God does not lie. When He says this, He means it.
Uh, no. It's does not.
One lives his faith. Everyone does. If you stumble, it's because your faith stumbles. If you "glibly fly in the face of God," then you do not have the faith that saves.
Very excellent read. Thanks for posting.
This tread reminds me of the decline of the Byzantine Empire, when the Romans bickered and fought amongst themselves while the Ottomans conquered their territory bit by bit till only Constantinople was left.
Yes to This!
So are the disgraced former Cardinal McCarrick, and all those other priests guilty of sins against chastity, assured of salvation because of their faith, despite their intransigence in sin?
We’re talking about real faith here, not lip service.
People who pay lip service to God and profess to be Chrisitans and have that kind of attitude are no Chrisitans.
Your comparison does not negate the security of the BELIEVER, the one who is born again by God, not the one who claims to be and has no fruit to show it.
That does not negate the security of the believer.
Their sn is not against chastity but against God.
And you tell us. They are your priests.
LOL!
No, taking up the cross is the result - it all starts with justification (which the law could never provide).
Without justification we are lost - and we cannot achieve (nor add too) justification.
>>Catholicism is well designed to control humans here in earth. It i simply a non-hereditary monarchy. <<
Perhaps.
It may also be a structure within which people can reach God.
Some people are more comfortable with a structure. Chaos is not always to be applauded.
Caucus threads cannot discuss a group that is excluded from the caucus, so how do such threads "stirring up trouble", since they can only pertain to topics exclusive to whatever denomination is caucusing? There are both Catholic and Protestant caucus threads every day. Are only the Catholic caucus threads for stirring up trouble, in your estimation?
Which leads to comparisons to the “No True Scotsman” bit. Everyone stumbles, so everyone’s faith stumbles. Thus nobody has assurance.
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