Posted on 01/05/2010 9:46:47 PM PST by the_conscience
I just witnessed a couple of Orthodox posters get kicked off a "Catholic Caucus" thread. I thought, despite their differences, they had a mutual understanding that each sect was considered "Catholic". Are not the Orthodox considered Catholic? Why do the Romanists get to monopolize the term "Catholic"?
I consider myself to be Catholic being a part of the universal church of Christ. Why should one sect be able to use a universal concept to identify themselves in a caucus thread while other Christian denominations need to use specific qualifiers to identify themselves in a caucus thread?
He commanded that you keep ALL the commandments, and to make His point He also says if you break one of them you break them all.. so did you EVER disobey your parents or tell a lie? If so you are an adulterer and a murderer ..you have broken all of them..
It is IMPOSSIBLE to keep Gods commandments because they reflect the HOLINESS of God.. and so you can never be Holy as He is holy. That is why we needed a savior that could keep them all for us
As for not agreeing with calvin on some scriptures or points of theology...I never claimed calvin was the infallible pope.. just an excellent theologian and pastor
I have no clue which religion is the right one, so I will continue to read my Bible and pray that He guide me through the crooked, unlit, "hard to find one’s way" path.
The “golden, well lit pathway” has NO desirious affect on me.
"When Jesus was asked, "Which commandment in the Law is the greatest?" Jesus replied: "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments hang all the Law and the prophets." The 10 Commandments must be interpreted in light of this twofold yet single commandment of love, the fullness of the Law. Both require works and faith to fulfill.
What of those people who do good work, but do not believe in the Father?
Their work is done in vain.
No deed, without Christ, will be righteous.
Some people whom I know cannot understand this. They think that by just "being a good person", but NOT believe in God, or Christ, will get them into heaven, or at least not send them to hell.
Can anyone keep that law? Do YOU keep it?? Do you think about Christ and praise Him and pray all day long 24/7 7/12 ??? Do you really love your neighbor as much as you love yourself?? REALLY ???
That too is an impossible commandment to keep...I am so thankful to Christ I am not under the law, but under grace.. Christ kept the law for me!! Thank You Jesus !!!
Amen!
Our God is a sovereign God. Think about that. No one lives as "free men" under a sovereign, the King's will is all that matters. And so we pray, in all matters, "Thy will, not ours, be done".
Isaiah 46
Remember this, fix it in mind, take it to heart, you rebels. Remember the former things, those of long ago; I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me. I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times, what is still to come. I say: My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please.
1 Peter 1:
Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ,
To God’s elect, strangers in the world, scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia, 2who have been chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through the sanctifying work of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and sprinkling by his blood:
2 Timothy 1:8
So do not be ashamed to testify about our Lord, or ashamed of me his prisoner. But join with me in suffering for the gospel, by the power of God, 9who has saved us and called us to a holy life—not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time
So then you would NOT hate to be wrong again.
Okay. I acknowledge that fact.
“What will does a dead man have exactly?”
We are described as dead. We are also described as slaves, and servants of sin. “ 23Now before faith came, we were held captive under the law, imprisoned until the coming faith would be revealed.” - Gal 3
“3In the same way we also, when we were children, were enslaved to the elementary principles of the world. 4But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, 5 to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.” - Gal 4
“22For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by a slave woman and one by a free woman. 23But the son of the slave was born according to the flesh, while the son of the free woman was born through promise. “ - Gal 4
“For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.” - Gal 5
It is an error to take an analogy too far.
“Our God is a sovereign God. Think about that.”
I have. And if sovereign God chooses to allow us choice, who are you to oppose Him?
And thank you for reminding me of a verse I left out earlier: 1 Peter 1: “To those who are elect exiles...according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in the sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and for sprinkling with his blood”.
Elect. How? “according to the foreknowledge of God the Father” Why? “for obedience to Jesus Christ and for sprinkling with his blood”.
Just like I said.
Ecclesiastes 9:5-6 - For the living know that they shall die: but the dead know not any thing, neither have they any more a reward; for the memory of them is forgotten. Also their love, and their hatred, and their envy, is now perished; neither have they any more a portion for ever in any thing that is done under the sun.
Psalm 146:3-4 - Put not your trust in princes, nor in the son of man, in whom there is no help. His breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth; in that very day his thoughts perish.
The dead are aware of nothing.
If you're dead, and are able to communicate on FR, then we have ourselves something evil here.
I am NOT dead, hence my ability to type as I "speak".
Right, and the spiritually dead are aware of nothing spiritual.
I for one am not even close! As for others, one just needs to read this thread and see for themselves, most others don't as well.
not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time.
It was not our act of obedience that caused us to be chosen
James 2:24 - You see that a man is justified by works and not by faith alone.
From the Catechism of the Catholic Church:
1987 The grace of the Holy Spirit has the power to justify us, that is, to cleanse us from our sins and to communicate to us "the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ" and through Baptism.
But if we have died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him. For we know that Christ being raised from the dead will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. The death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God. So you also must consider yourselves as dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.
1988 Through the power of the Holy Spirit we take part in Christ's Passion by dying to sin, and in his Resurrection by being born to a new life; we are members of his Body which is the Church, branches grafted onto the vine which is himself:
[God] gave himself to us through his Spirit. By the participation of the Spirit, we become communicants in the divine nature. . . . For this reason, those in whom the Spirit dwells are divinized.
1989 The first work of the grace of the Holy Spirit is conversion, effecting justification in accordance with Jesus' proclamation at the beginning of the Gospel: "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." Moved by grace, man turns toward God and away from sin, thus accepting forgiveness and righteousness from on high. "Justification is not only the remission of sins, but also the sanctification and renewal of the interior man.
1990 Justification detaches man from sin which contradicts the love of God, and purifies his heart of sin. Justification follows upon God's merciful initiative of offering forgiveness. It reconciles man with God. It frees from the enslavement to sin, and it heals.
1991 Justification is at the same time the acceptance of God's righteousness through faith in Jesus Christ. Righteousness (or "justice") here means the rectitude of divine love. With justification, faith, hope, and charity are poured into our hearts, and obedience to the divine will is granted us.
1992 Justification has been merited for us by the Passion of Christ who offered himself on the cross as a living victim, holy and pleasing to God, and whose blood has become the instrument of atonement for the sins of all men. Justification is conferred in Baptism, the sacrament of faith. It conforms us to the righteousness of God, who makes us inwardly just by the power of his mercy. Its purpose is the glory of God and of Christ, and the gift of eternal life:
But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from law, although the law and the prophets bear witness to it, the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: since all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, they are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as an expiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God's righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins; it was to prove at the present time that he himself is righteous and that he justifies him who has faith in Jesus.
1993 Justification establishes cooperation between God's grace and man's freedom. On man's part it is expressed by the assent of faith to the Word of God, which invites him to conversion, and in the cooperation of charity with the prompting of the Holy Spirit who precedes and preserves his assent:
When God touches man's heart through the illumination of the Holy Spirit, man himself is not inactive while receiving that inspiration, since he could reject it; and yet, without God's grace, he cannot by his own free will move himself toward justice in God's sight.
1994 Justification is the most excellent work of God's love made manifest in Christ Jesus and granted by the Holy Spirit. It is the opinion of St. Augustine that "the justification of the wicked is a greater work than the creation of heaven and earth," because "heaven and earth will pass away but the salvation and justification of the elect . . . will not pass away." He holds also that the justification of sinners surpasses the creation of the angels in justice, in that it bears witness to a greater mercy.
1995 The Holy Spirit is the master of the interior life. By giving birth to the "inner man," justification entails the sanctification of his whole being:
BLASPHEMY!!!
Well, now I got that out of my system.
Repeat after me, there is no free will. There is only God's will and there is man's will. You are either doing God's will like obeying the commandments, or you are doing man's will like disobeying the commandments. (Yes Alamo-Girl, yours was one of the few posts I was able to read.)
Free will implies that you, on your own volition, can do something God would appreciate-some godly. Hence, you can save yourself by repenting. The scriptures teaches us that until we are saved we are bound by man's will. We simply do not have a desire to do the will of God. The Son must set us free from this predicament. He gives to us a new heart and spirit to allow us to have a desire to do God's will even though we are, by nature, wanting to do man's will.
Christians can do God's will by being guided and submissive to the Holy Spirit as Christ was. In this case we will be obedient to all the laws as Christ was. If we were completely submissive to being led by the Holy Spirit to do God's will, we WOULD fulfill all the laws and commandments. But this is God's will-NOT OUR FREE WILL. We don't have this capacity to be led by the Spirit 24/7 so we are still bound to do man's will from time to time. But over time this diminishes but never goes away. I'd like to emphasized that our Lord Jesus Christ was perfectly submissive to the will of God throughout His life. Where was His free will?
On the other hand Christians can do man's will. These are times when we are led by our lust and fleshy desires. God, being gracious and merciful, uses His "rod and His staff to guide us" to do His will and not the will of our flesh.
Free will implies before you are a Christian, you are totally capable of being obedient to God. This is not supported in scripture. Furthermore, after you become a Christian free will implies that YOU still are capable of doing something to please God. This is not the case either since we rest on the complete work of our Lord Jesus.
As far as what is blasphemy against the Spirit, I have yet to find a commentator that has given a clear definition. However, I would suggest probably the closest thing that comes to blasphemy is in Daniel 5 with the case of King Belshazzar. As you recall, the King held a great orgy and brought out the sacred vessels of the temple to degrade in their orgy. That was the end of King Belshazzar as he saw the handwriting on the wall. Did King B "freely" choose to blasphemy? No. He let his (man's) will go to extreme in cursing God. God doesn't tolerate it.
I'm also reminded of the case in 2 Kings 2 where Elisha was being made fun of by a bunch of children and he prayed to God. God sent two bears who devoured forty-two of the boys. God doesn't tolerate the insolence of men (or children).
All non-Christians can do is stiffle man's will such as the Philistines who decided it was better to send the ark of the covenant back with a sin offering then keep it in the house of Dagon (after God smashed their idol and inflicted them with tumors). We simply can't do godly things with man's will but we can be respectful. What pushes God over the edge, I'm not sure but I don't wish to find out. BTW-scripture tells us Christians can make God very unhappy so that He'll take them home. You might recall at one point God was ready to kill Moses.
I hate anecdotal evidence but several years ago a radio station want to do a raunchy skit. Two people decided that they would have sex in St. Patrick Cathedral and broadcast it over the air. This got them both arrested and when they went to arrange the guy, they found that he had died of a heart attack at the age of 32 and being in good health. You simply don't mess with God.
No it is not, I simply showed that the passage is not a prooftext for sola fide. The close context here is not even needed, all the passage is saying is that Abraham was not justified by works of obligation alone. We can expand it to say that no one is justified by works of obligation alone. But that is Catholic teaching.
What curiously absurd cognitions! Fascinating.
Psalm 146:3-4 - Put not your trust in princes, nor in the son of man, in whom there is no help. His breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth; in that very day his thoughts perish.
The saints hear God, — and you and me, too,— but not with their bodies. How, we don’t know, but we know even from the scripture that they do: “we also having so great a cloud of witnesses over our head” (Hebrews 12:1).
The fragmentation, scattering or any kind of destruction of the body will not prevent God, Who made Adam from mud, from restoring the dead to their glorified bodies. The relics are reminders that this will happen, but we should not imagine that God will mechanically reassemble the saint from his relics.
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