Posted on 09/14/2013 12:29:44 PM PDT by matthewrobertolson
John 3:14-18 doesn’t necessarily support the “faith alone” position.
For Protestants, John 3:14-18 might seem like the ultimate “Gotcha!” passage to use against Catholics. But if you look a little deeper, you’ll recognize that the passage does not defend the “faith alone” position and is totally in line with Catholic teaching.
The passage reads as, “‘As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up; so that whoever believes will in Him have eternal life. 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. For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him. 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.’”
That might seem a little damning to the Catholic position that good works are necessary, right? Well, in truth, it’s not.
With God, to believe means to obey. God does not desire a lukewarm, vague belief in Him, but a devoted life in His service. This is evidenced later in the chapter. John 3:36 reads as, “He who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who does not obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.”
And if one looks at verses 19-21 of the chapter, they will see that Christ said that those who “love darkness” and do “evil deeds” will not reach “the Light” (Heaven).
Sin — which, at its heart, is anything offensive to God — is a heinous, damaging thing that we must cleanse ourselves of. This cleansing is done through Christ, of course, but meriting it requires a little more than a belief in Him. It requires a repentant heart (see Luke 13:3) and, in the case of mortal sin, sacramental confession (see my video about Confession).
On top of all of this, Christ told us in John 13:15 to follow the example that He set and He also told us — in John 15:10 — that we must keep His commandments to “abide in [His] love”.
We can’t just sit back and relax non-stop, counting on our vague “faith” to save us — we have to do things! Like St. Paul wrote in Colossians 1:24, we must help the Church in “filling up what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions.”
So, when reading the Bible, remember that true belief requires obedience and good works.
(All verses are from the NASB translation.)
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Click here to watch the accompanying video.
If Christ tells us to do certain things and we don’t do them, were we ever really on the team.
I agree you just can say I’m saved and then go on your merry little way. There should be some outward evidence of an inward conversion.
However, none of those things I do saves me. Salvation is from Christ and Christ alone. Nothing we can do to add to that.
Thank you for this clear explanation of how works should accompany our faith, though they are not the basis of our faith.
I have little patience with those who seemingly glory in their arrogant, prideful attack on those outside of their own narrow, parochial understanding of Christianity.
If the Pentecostals were condemned - or the Baptists, or the Orthodox or any other legitimate church were roundly attacked, I would hope that I would defend them as well.
We live in a day when Christianity is coming under increasing attack, and it is thus all the more important that believers cease from turning our guns on each another in a destructive "circular firing squad" and support one another against the real Enemy.
Well, just WHO, in your learned opinion is the “real enemy”? Last night, you seemed to scholarly on your assessments of everything pertaining to life, today, not so much. So I AM curious if we agree on who the real enemy is.
That was a vision. Paul never met Jesus in person.
“I have little patience with those who seemingly glory in their arrogant, prideful attack on those outside of their own narrow, parochial understanding of Christianity.”
In other words, if guys like you were in charge, we would never have had a reformation to begin with, and we’d all be bedding it with Erasmus and those feeble minded humanists with their man-centered philosophies, while the Catholics would still be selling salvation for top dollar. I for one prefer sound doctrine over these evil things.
You can go join together with Pope Francis and his “Atheist Good Samaritans” marching on to their supposed heaven (but really, it’s hell) against a common enemy, walking with smug faces into the ditch as they abandon the power of the Gospel, but embrace its image. Meanwhile, I’ll stay with my God who is the true ruler of the world, and will not be intimidated by the self-righteous speeches of the ecumenists.
Wrong. Paul was caught up into paradise, in the third heaven. And given an abundance of revelations directly from Christ. (2 Cor. 12). He also saw and heard Christ on the road to Damascus. Christ spoke to him face to face, mouth to mouth and ear to ear. That is CLEAR from Scripture.
YOPIOS
Paul only speaks of “a man” not himself.
2 Corinthians 12
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1 I must boast; there is nothing to be gained by it, but I will go on to visions and revelations of the Lord. 2 I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven — whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows. 3 And I know that this man was caught up into Paradise — whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows — 4 and he heard things that cannot be told, which man may not utter. 5 On behalf of this man I will boast, but on my own behalf I will not boast, except of my weaknesses.
GOOD LORD, Salvation, are you calling God a LIAR? He SAYS it! You are too much. You will deny what God SAYS if it doesn’t match with your predetermined RCC script. You do so at your own peril. Keep on trashing everything He says that isn’t located in Matt.-John and James. The odds of God forgetting what you’ve said are nil. But who knows, perhaps your priest will put in a good word for you../s
...he was speaking of himself...read 12:7. *sigh*
I doubt you will read these few lines, but they make it clear that this describes what Paul says in his letter to Corinth.Saul was the name he was given by his birth family.
Paul (Paulus) was the name we see writing the letters to the Gentiles, his mission field. Jesus changed that man on the Damascus road into a "new man". Paul never boasted about his own work as much as used his life as an illustration to point at Christ.
Acts 9: 9 Meanwhile, Saul was still breathing out murderous threats against the Lord’s disciples. He went to the high priest 2 and asked him for letters to the synagogues in Damascus, so that if he found any there who belonged to the Way, whether men or women, he might take them as prisoners to Jerusalem. 3 As he neared Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. 4 He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?”
5 “Who are you, Lord?” Saul asked.
“I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,” he replied. 6 “Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.”
7 The men traveling with Saul stood there speechless; they heard the sound but did not see anyone. 8 Saul got up from the ground, but when he opened his eyes he could see nothing. So they led him by the hand into Damascus. 9 For three days he was blind, and did not eat or drink anything.
I already posted those lines.
Paul does not SAY that “THE MAN” was him.
Please don’t curse on Religion Forum threads.
Paul does not say that “THE MAN” was him.
It’s stunning isn’t it? I suppose there is none so blind.
Sorry, tjd1454, but I cannot support an institution that is such an abomination. Even if agreed about faith and works, there is so much more pagan influence and unsound doctrine in the Catholic church that it cannot even be considered true Christianity.
The only godly thing I can do for them is to share the true gospel of Christ and pray He leads them out of it. I would do the same thing for any other institution not considered true Christianity such as Mormonism, Jehovah’s Witness, Oneness Pentecostals, Word of Faith/Prosperity people, Muslims, Hindus, and Buddhists.
I owe allegiance to no one except Jesus and I am not called to support others who labor under false doctrine and man-made religions.
And yours isn't?
YOU, as all Catholics, as EVERYBODY in the world, has their own personal interpretation of Scripture.
In accepting another's version, it becomes YOURS, even though it happens to be the same as someone else's
What happened is that you read someone else's interpretation and agreed with it, meaning that you arrived at an interpretation yourself.
There is simply no way to not own your interpretation of Scripture. If you agree with it, it is by default yours. It's just that someone else did all the heavy lifting of interpreting and you sat back and read it, and then agreed.
So....YOPIOS backatcha.....
I tell ya’ CB, sometimes I just want to...I don’t know what, I’ve run out of options here, but I want to do something. Let me know if you have any coping ideas you want to share. I’m desperate here..
John 12:40 He hath blinded their eyes, and hardened their heart; that they should not see with their eyes, nor understand with their heart, and be converted, and I should heal them
Understand that it’s not those whose eyes have been blinded that we are here for. Understand there is nothing we can do to change minds if God isn’t calling them. We see the craftiness of Satan on a daily basis with the twisting of scripture. The changing of a word or two or the implication of a different meaning for a word is the way of the enemty. Satan is sly that way.
It’s only going to get worse as Satan knows he has little time left. Pray that those who read these posts are those who God is calling and that they will see the truth rather than believe the lie. Faint not.
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