And it wasn't like I was hiding it, I got all catty about it and then it was even quoted in the response to me. So I'm wondering if we are to understand that the merits of Jesus Christ are insufficient.
I must admit that my brain almost squirted out my ears when I saw that last night. We are regularly told that we trust in our own merits to attain salvation, then when there's specific evidence to the contrary apparently it's invisible.
I'm serious about this. That prayer covers all the bases. "O my God, I believe in Thee", "All my hopes are in Thee", "I love Thee with my whole heart", "I am sorry that I have offended Thee", "Grant that I may...obtain Heaven, through the merits of Our Lord Jesus Christ". Whatever happened to all that "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved" business?
We don’t believe it when we say it. Or we don’t believe it right. Or something.
I'm serious about this. That prayer covers all the bases. "O my God, I believe in Thee", "All my hopes are in Thee", "I love Thee with my whole heart", "I am sorry that I have offended Thee", "Grant that I may...obtain Heaven, through the merits of Our Lord Jesus Christ". Whatever happened to all that "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved" business?
So does that mean the pope or any Catholic would reply to the Lord like I would (see below) ?
Lord Jesus, you suffered and died to save sinners and i am a great sinner. There is nothing good in me Lord, I deserve your justice, but I beg your mercy Lord. My only plea before you is that I trust you only to save me. I believe you are God, you suffered, died and rose to pay my penalty for sin and for those who would by Faith trust in you for salvation. You mercifully gave me the Faith to believe in You and my only hope is trusting in what you did for me which I could never do. I believe you are the Son of God and the Savior of the World for those who look to you only.
Lord, You said in John's book "As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up; 15 so that whoever believes will in Him have eternal life. 16"For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. 17"For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him. 18"He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.
Lord, I trust in You only. You are my only hope.
Now, is that what "thru the merits of the Lord Jesus Crhist" means?
I was blessed to read your prayer.
And, like Mad Dawg, I have a confidence in my spirit that I can call you an authentic Christian Brother.
Nevertheless, many of your cohorts hereon could pray that prayer ever other half hour . . .
and because of all their other UNCHRISTIAN FOCUS so seemingly MORE INTENSE, I’d think they were just mouthing those words and their priorities were otherwise.
God looks on the heart.
God sees the actions.
Sometimes the words are dreadfully inconsequential comparatively.