Posted on 02/15/2020 11:26:10 AM PST by Carpe Cerevisi
For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus, (1 Tim. 2:5)
There is no way to adequately explain priesthood without reference to mediation. A priest is a mediator between God and Man. From time to time over the years, I have had the verse from 1 Timothy pointed out to me with the argument that there cannot be any mediator other than Christ, and, thus, there cannot be any such thing as a “priest” within the Church. Sometimes the argument becomes even more pointed:
I do not need to go to a priest to have my sins forgiven! I can go directly to God. I don’t want anything or anyone standing between me and Jesus.
If the priesthood (ordained or otherwise) stood between a person and Christ, I would oppose it myself. However, its purpose, like all of the sacraments, is quite the opposite: it is to mediate the presence of Christ, that is to make Him present, not serve in His absence. The greater question, therefore, is whether there need be any sacraments.
That Christ gave us Holy Baptism and the Eucharist is beyond doubt. In particular, with the Eucharist, we are told, “Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me and I in them.” Further, we are commanded to eat His flesh and drink His blood. The notion that the Eucharist is merely a ritual action designed to make us think of Jesus is, historically speaking, absurd. There is only evidence in the early Church that the bread and the wine truly become the Body and Blood of Christ. Everything said about it in the Scriptures, including the warning of possible sickness accompanying eating it in the wrong manner, argue against mere memorialism.
(Excerpt) Read more at blogs.ancientfaith.com ...
And among other abundant examples of figurative speech with its metaphors in Scripture: Isaiah 41:14 exhorts, "Fear not, thou worm Jacob, and ye men of Israel; I will help thee, saith the Lord, and thy redeemer, the Holy One of Israel." For Isaiah 64:8 states that "we are the clay, and thou [God] our potter," and God is their "shepherd" (Psalms 23:1) of true believers, who as in the past God promises, "I will feed them in a good pasture, and upon the high mountains of Israel shall their fold be: there shall they lie in a good fold, and in a fat pasture shall they feed upon the mountains of Israel." (Ezekiel 34:14) for Israel "drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them; and that Rock was Christ." 1( Cor.10:4) Likewise the exhortation, "Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price," (Isaiah 55:1) for "The statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart: the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes...More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold: sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb." (Psalms 19:8,10 ) But of the disobedent Hosea says "Ye have plowed wickedness, ye have reaped iniquity; ye have eaten the fruit of lies.." (Hosea 10:13) for "How much more abominable and filthy is man, which drinketh iniquity like water?" (Job 15:16) Thus hath the Lord God shewed unto me: and, behold, the Lord God called to contend by fire, and it devoured the great deep, and did eat up a part." (Amos 7:4) More on figurative speech in Scripture can be read here by the grace of God. And theLord's use of metaphor in relation to eating as correspondent to obtaining spiritual life was not new: Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. Wherefore do ye spend money for that which is not bread? and your labour for that which satisfieth not? hearken diligently unto me, and eat ye that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness. Incline your ear, and come unto me: hear, and your soul shall live; and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David. (Isaiah 55:1-3) And such use for eating or drinking is what the apostles would have been familiar with, to which the Lord's representative use of bread and wine for His body and bread is correspondent to, versus the foreign concept of requiring physical consuming human flesh for spiritual purposes. A few more examples from Scripture pertinent to this are: And the three mighty men brake through the host of the Philistines, and drew water out of the well of Bethlehem, that was by the gate, and took it, and brought it to David: nevertheless he would not drink thereof, but poured it out unto the Lord. And he said, Be it far from me, O Lord, that I should do this: is not this the blood of the men that went in jeopardy of their lives? therefore he would not drink it. (2 Samuel 23:16-17) Here, David clearly calls drinking water human blood, and consistent with the command of Deuteronomy 12:16; 15:23 (cf. Lv. 17:10,11), he poured it on to the ground, and did so as an act of worship unto the Lord. What David did not do was contrive some metaphysical justification for drinking this, but to be consistent with the professed plain-language hermeneutic Catholics insist they hold to in regards to "this is my body," then they should also insist this was literal in this case. As well as when God clearly states that the Canaanites were “bread: • “Only rebel not ye against the LORD, neither fear ye the people of the land; for they are bread for us” (Num. 14:9) Other examples of the use of figurative language for eating and drinking include, • The Promised Land was “a land that eateth up the inhabitants thereof.” (Num. 13:32) • David said that his enemies came to “eat up my flesh.” (Ps. 27:2) • And complained that workers of iniquity ”eat up my people as they eat bread , and call not upon the Lord.” (Psalms 14:4) • And the Lord also said, “I will consume man and beast; I will consume the fowls of the heaven, and the fishes of the sea, and the stumblingblocks with the wicked; and I will cut off man from off the land, saith the Lord.” (Zephaniah 1:3) • While even arrows can drink: “I will make mine arrows drunk with blood, and my sword shall devour flesh ; and that with the blood of the slain and of the captives, from the beginning of revenges upon the enemy.' (Deuteronomy 32:42) • But David says the word of God (the Law) was “sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb. (Psalms 19:10) • Another psalmist also declared the word as “sweet:” “How sweet are thy words unto my taste! yea, sweeter than honey to my mouth!” (Psalms 119:103) • Jeremiah likewise proclaimed, “Your words were found. and I ate them. and your word was to me the joy and rejoicing of my heart” (Jer. 15:16) • Ezekiel was told to eat the words, “open thy mouth, and eat that I give thee...” “eat that thou findest; eat this scroll, and go, speak to the house of Israel.” (Ezek. 2:8; 3:1) • John is also commanded, “Take the scroll ... Take it and eat it.” (Rev. 10:8-9 ) And Scripture refers to Christ being spiritual food and drink which even OT believers consumed: • And did all eat the same spiritual meat; "And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ." (1 Corinthians 10:3-4) • And Christ's word in Jn. 6, "I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst," (John 6:35) are correspondent to, "Wherefore do ye spend money for that which is not bread? and your labour for that which satisfieth not? hearken diligently unto me, and eat ye that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness. Incline your ear, and come unto me: hear, and your soul shall live; and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David." (Isaiah 55:2-3) • Moreover, like as bread is broken, Is. 53:10 states that "it pleased the Lord to bruise him," and the word for "bruise" (da^ka^') means to crumble, to break..., (Strong's). And like as wine is poured out, so Is. 53:12 also states of Christ, "he hath poured out his soul unto death," both of which are correspondent to the words of the Last Supper regarding bread and wine. And which use of figurative language for Christ and spiritual things abounds in John, using the physical to refer to the spiritual: • In John 1:29, Jesus is called “the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world” — but he does not have hoofs and literal physical wool. • In John 2:19 Jesus is the temple of God: “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up” — but He is not made of literal stone. • In John 3:14,15, Jesus is the likened to the serpent in the wilderness (Num. 21) who must “be lifted up: That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal” (vs. 14, 15) — but He is not made of literal bronze. • In John 4:14, Jesus provides living water, that “whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life,” — but which was not literally consumed by mouth. • In John 7:37 Jesus is the One who promises “He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water” — but believers were not water fountains, but He spoke ”of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive.” (John 7:38) • In Jn. 9:5 Jesus is “the Light of the world” — but who is not blocked by an umbrella. •I n John 10, Jesus is “the door of the sheep,” and “the good shepherd [who] giveth his life for the sheep”, “that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly” vs. 7, 10, 11) — but who again, is not literally an animal with cloven hoofs. • In John 15, Jesus is the true vine — but who does not physically grow from the ground nor whose fruit is literally physically consumed.
Thus even a partial examination reveals that such use of figurative speech especially abounds in John, with over 35 instances of such even before the use of "meat" and drink" in chapter 6. And which gospel characteristically contrasts the physical with the spiritual, as is the case contextually in chapter 6, in which the Lord feeds multitudes physically and in response to the demand for more, tells the supplicants labor not for the meat which does perish, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life, and which He then defines as believing on Him. (Jn. 6:27-29) And which is how He "lived by the Father," and said that we are to live by Him (Jn. 6:57) believing and thus doing His will, that being His "meat," (Jn. 4:34) and thus the Jn. 6 discourse ends with the Lord declaring that the flesh (as in consuming it) profits nothing, but His words they "are spirit and are life." (Jn. 6:63) Thus in contrast to the "real" Christ of Catholicism in the form of bread and wine, in John and rest of the Scripture spiritual life is never obtained by literally physically eating anything, nor spiritual nourished by the same, but by believing the gospel and being strengthen in faith by the word of God, and thus living it out. Consistent with this, it is the word of God that is referred to as "milk" (1Cor. 3:2; 1Pt. 1:22) and "meat," (Heb. 5:12,14) and is said to nourish souls, (1Tim. 4:6) and build them up, (Acts 20:32) and thus the primary active function of pastors is to preach the word, (2Tim. 4:2) which is how they "feed the flock." (Acts 20:28; 1Pt. 5:2)
AND in a dark room where the uneaten wafers are placed after the Mass. Jesus warned that men would say ‘here is Christ, there is Christ’ in the last days, just as the fraudulent Roman Catholic religion claims for their ‘mass’ ceremony.
But all I was trying t o show in my long diatribe was the exact corrrespondence of Deut. 32:14 to Jesus' Jn. 6:53, not cluttering up the sandbox with similar, but not exact examples.
I will puut some of the references that you singled out, as aiding in my work of discipling babes (brephoi) in Christ, to help them separate from the "carnal" non-maturing Christianoids.
No.
The Roman Catholics praying to their Mary is far worse than them believing they can pray to dead people and have prayers answered by them or the god of Roman Catholicism. When they pray to whom they presume to be dead saints, at least they are not worshipping, as they do with the Mary of Catholicism, the same one who deceives the world with events like Fatima and the Guadalupe promotion.
But; as has been pointed out hundreds of times...
There are key verses; and then there are those that come BEFORE key verses...
A direct question deserves a direct answer:
John 6:25-40
25 When they found him on the other side of the lake, they asked him, “Rabbi, when did you get here?”
26 Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, you are looking for me, not because you saw the signs I performed but because you ate the loaves and had your fill. 27 Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For on him God the Father has placed his seal of approval.”
28 Then they asked him, “What must we do to do the works God requires?”
29 Jesus answered, “The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.”
30 So they asked him, “What sign then will you give that we may see it and believe you? What will you do? 31 Our ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written: ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’[c]”
32 Jesus said to them, “Very truly I tell you, it is not Moses who has given you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. 33 For the bread of God is the bread that comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”
34 “Sir,” they said, “always give us this bread.”
35 Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty. 36 But as I told you, you have seen me and still you do not believe. 37 All those the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away. 38 For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me. 39 And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all those he has given me, but raise them up at the last day. 40 For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day.”
We have been warned!!
Matthew 24:23
If anyone says to you then, ‘Look, here is the Messiah!’ or, ‘There he is!’ do not believe it.
It was Moses that brought the words and law of GOD to the people.
It was Rome that compiled various words of GOD into one assembled book: the Bible.
I have never read that Moses added any words of his own to GOD's; but I HAVE read of the words that Rome has added; by practice; into the mouth of GOD.
The formation of the canon has an interesting history, and it was not solely Rome’s responsibility. To this day certain books of the bible (out of 66 books commonly accepted by the Church) that some reject as being non-canonical. Among them are James and Revelation.
Does one believe that in John 6:53-54 (and context) Jesus was addressing all the listening followers with plain-literal language referring to "eat," "flesh." "drink." and "blood"; or was His communication of these entities couched in figurative-literal language? It cannot be both, eh?
If I pick the wrong mode of address as the one He was employing, then I make him to be a liar, and thus I do not have everlasting life, and I am still under condemnation.
Of those to whom God did not give understanding (vv. 64 and 65), who being spiritually blind thought that He was aking them to act as cannibals, rejected these words as being plain-literal material words, and no longer followed him, thus remaining under condemnation.
But those who obtained favor from God took these words to be spiritual, and in this case figuratively literal, hence living words, and comtinued on with Him, walking in the Way of Life. Eleven of them remaind fastened to Him by His promises, and attained unto regeneration in the Spirit, and absolute eternal life in union with God.
+++ So who’s lying??? Jesus in the scriptures or the Catholic’s ghost of Mary???
Faith is a gift from God.
More's the pity for those who weren't given that gift.
If they can't believe that JESUS could rise from the dead then they are lost souls.
Imagine that! The God Creator of the entire Universe and all there is comes up short in the Catholic religion so the hierarchy of that religion assumes co-mediator power!
Look, SQUIRREL!
Please don’t forget our saint, Mother Earth, who was recently worshipped at our great Vatican.
That should be so easy, the Word of God tells us that there is ONLY ONE MEDIATOR between man and God
Well that's only YOUR interpretation...The pope-a-dope claims the verse doesn't say, (watch this) what it says...HaHaHaHa
And the people bow down and kiss his feet...
1Ti 2:5 For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus;
1Ti 2:6 Who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time.
ITi 2:6:5 But there is another mediator between the man Christ Jesus and men; Jesus' Ma...
1Ti 2:7 Whereunto I am ordained a preacher, and an apostle, (I speak the truth in Christ, and lie not;) a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and verity.
1Co_11:3 But I would have you know, that the head of every man is Christ Christ's mom; and the head of the woman is the man; and the head of Christ is God.
Eph 1:22 And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him his mammy to be the head over all things to the church,
And they actually teach this one:
Heb_4:16 Let us therefore come boldly unto the Mary's throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.
I guess that's because those scriptures don't say what they say...They say what the Catholic religion says they say...
Had they only known that the mother of Jesus would have come into such prominence when they wrote the Catholic version of the bible.
There is only a Catholic bible, unless there is another version written in the 1500’s.
Quit posting anti Catholic lies, the Church does not worship Mary as a God. It gets old and it’s BS and you know it
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