Posted on 08/15/2013 7:03:11 PM PDT by annalex
Once a woman in the crowd surrounding Christ and His disciples cries out to Him:
Blessed is the womb that bore thee, and the paps that gave thee suck. (Luke 11:27)
What is it? We have, clearly, an act of venerating Mary. Note that the Blessed Virgin is venerated properly: not on her own but as the mother of Christ. Yet the reason for venerating is indeed concerning: it is her physiological and physiologically unique relationship with Jesus that is emphasized. That is not yet paganism with its crude theories of gods giving birth to other gods, but it is lacking proper focus and Jesus corrects it:
Yea rather, blessed are they who hear the word of God, and keep it. (Luke 11:28)
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| The Virgin with the Child on her knees and a prophet pointing at the star. Catacomb of Priscilla, late 2nd c. Source |
Having gotten past this linguistic hurdle, we can understand clearly what this passage, Luke 11:27-28, does: it establishes veneration of saints based not on their blood relation to Christ but on their obedience to God. It is in that sense that we venerate Our Lady: given that Christ is the Word of God personified, she heard and kept both Him in person as her Child and His teaching, figuratively. In Mary the essence of sainthood is seen in the flesh as well as in the mind. We could say that by the late second century at the latest, when we find evidence of the veneration of both the prophets and the Mother of God in the catacombs, the two reasons to venerate a saint: his martyrdom as in the case of Polycarp, or his obedience to the Word, as in Mary, -- unite into a single practice.
All believers have the Holy Spirit in them. If a person doesn't have the Holy Spirit in them, they do not belong to Christ.
Romans 8:9-10 You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness.
John 5:24 Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life.
John 10:25-30 Jesus answered them, “I told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in my Father's name bear witness about me, but you do not believe because you are not among my sheep. My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand. I and the Father are one.”
Ephesians 1:13-14 In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.
Ephesians 4:30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.
Colossians 1:13-14 He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
2 Corinthians 1:21-22 And it is God who establishes us with you in Christ, and has anointed us, and who has also put his seal on us and given us his Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee.
2 Corinthians 5:4-8 For while we are still in this tent, we groan, being burdened—not that we would be unclothed, but that we would be further clothed, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who has given us the Spirit as a guarantee. So we are always of good courage. We know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord, for we walk by faith, not by sight. Yes, we are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord.
Much like the Letter to the Gentiles found in Acts 15; this verse will NOT be enough for some folks.
HMMMmmm...
Seems like I just read this; somewhere...
Ephesians 4:30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.
Colossians 1:13-14 He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
2 Corinthians 1:21-22 And it is God who establishes us with you in Christ, and has anointed us, and who has also put his seal on us and given us his Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee.
Don't you foolish PROTESTants KNOW that these words were penned AFTER the event??
Oh... Wait....
but if you insist on standing outside of One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church and cling to your cults, your soul will be ruined.
So, someone who group up Roman Catholic, but switched to the EO church is damned?
I “imagine” it would be just exactly what scripture says it is “obeying”.
“By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed” (Heb. 11:8).
Say what? Works are NOT faith. There are plenty of folks who do good works and have faith only in those works. They put their faith in those works. That’s not the faith that saves.
It’s the faith in Jesus that saves. The works are a result of faith.
Here’s a perfect example of someone who did good works who did not have faith in Jesus alone for salvation.
"If in coming face to face with God we accept Him in our lives, then we are converting. We become a better Hindu, a better Muslim, a better Catholic, a better whatever we are. ... What God is in your mind you must accept" (from Mother Teresa: Her People and Her Work , by Desmond Doig, p. 156, as quoted by Dave Hunt, Global Peace and the Rise of Antichrist , p. 149).
She did many wonderful works but it is evidenced by what she said that she did not believe Jesus to be the only way to salvation.
No..
RUINED!
EO is Eastern Orthodox? They are still Catholic, at least essentially. We have the same beliefs. God will decide, but I can understand such a switch; it is not an apostasy like the Protestants’.
The idea that the works are somehow a byproduct of faith is unscriptural and plain false. Obedience to the commandment is already works; for example if Abraham believed that God would give him inheritance the other side of the desert, but then did not go: that would be an example of dead faith, such as the Protestant faith. Catholic faith is, well, catholic: it is a single state of grace in intellectual assent, emotional attachment to Christ and His saints, obedience to His Word and works of love toward God and His children.
So you're gonna go with that, eh? You're gonna stick with the 'the Catholic Church has command of God's Spirit and she decides to whom God must give His Grace.' I think Jesus addressed that attitude to the Pharisees ... pray that you do not cause anyone, ANY ONE to stumble because of your haughty aires.
Thank you again for this beautiful scripture that points to the glory and beauty of the Catholic faith. No, Protestant castrated underfaith is very different form what the Holy Scripture describes, sorry. Nor do I see the Protestant communities of faith being lead anywhere by any divine power, given that half of them have gone completely over to the dark side already, and others are soon to follow.
no point to it - there are half-wits here who pretend scripture is important to them, but then they believe some preacher boy who tells them “Mary could have been a thrice married woman with 14 kids prior to the birth of Jesus and it still would have been Jesus” Brilliant’ scripture is so important to them that fulfilling prophecy in scripture is meaningless to them. These are people who worship at the church of George Orwell, but don’t understand from which side he was writing
As a whole, the Protestant movement descends into apostasy, I believe, when it becomes virulently anti-Catholic, for that is a willful denial of Christ and the Holy Scripture that contradicts the basic tenets of Protestantism.
On the other hand, there is a concept of “invincible” ignorance, such as, for example, when someone brought up with the Protestant superstitions simply has nowhere to go to learn the Catholic faith. Imagine for example a child growing up in the 19c. Sweden, — how can we judge him if he ends up Lutheran?
This problem for you has been exacerbated by the ubiquity of the Internet, because today no “pastor” can keep the truth from his flock. People either remain Protestant because they knowingly reject Christ or at least reject the opportunity to learn. I cannot judge any individual, but God will. Time to convert, folks, and hurry.
If people have questions, we should give them answers; you never know who reads these threads and on whom they leave a mark.
That's the upside of these threads. The truth will out.
How silly. True faith is always followed by works. Abraham had faith and proved it by what he did. Actions always follow faith. I someone didn’t have faith that a business would succeed he would never start. When a person has saving faith in Jesus the indwelling of the Holy Spirit will prompt that person to act on that faith.
James said “Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works.
James obviously believed that faith came first and true faith produced works.
>>that would be an example of dead faith, such as the Protestant faith.<<
How ridiculous. To insinuate that all Protestants have dead faith and don’t have the fruits or work that results from true faith. I could also give you an example of works that had no faith that Jesus was the only way to salvation.
"If in coming face to face with God we accept Him in our lives, then we are converting. We become a better Hindu, a better Muslim, a better Catholic, a better whatever we are. ... What God is in your mind you must accept" (from Mother Teresa: Her People and Her Work , by Desmond Doig, p. 156, as quoted by Dave Hunt, Global Peace and the Rise of Antichrist , p. 149).
Lot’s of good works from that lady but obviously had no faith that Jesus was the only way to salvation.
Give an example. Given the RCC says it transcends scripture this could be interesting.
dang - you make all the sense in the world - bless you for fightin’ the good fight the right way
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