Why Is the Road to Destruction Wide and the Road to Salvation Narrow? A Meditation

Archdiocese of Washington ^ | 06-24-15 | Msgr. Charles Pope

[RnMomof7]

John 14:6 Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life.No one comes to the Father except through me.

John 10:9 I am the door. By me, if any man enter in, he shall be saved: and he shall go in, and go out, and shall find pastures.

Mat 7:I3 13"Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it. 14"For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it.

Not one word about works..or earning it..

[LearsFool]

"Make every effort (strive, struggle, labor, agonize, endeavour with strenuous zeal) to enter through the narrow door, because many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able to." - Luke 13:24

[ealgeone]

That’s spot on. Only through faith in Him.

[Bryanw92]

>>Please, my FRiend, don’t reject God’s plan of salvation just because Catholicism is wrong. That would be a most tragic - and ironic - mistake.

I’m not rejecting anything except the circular reasoning of the Roman religion.

[LearsFool]

I’m relieved to hear that. I fear that some, in protesting Catholicism, unwittingly reject the truth along with the false doctrine. (Some even go so far as to oppose what the Scripture says about baptism, merely because Catholicism considers it a “sacrament”.)

A man whose religion is based upon opposition to another’s religion is a man who’s in trouble.

[Rashputin]

Not one word about works or earning it . . .

WRONG !!!

Quote the entire passage instead of pretending a single verse is a summary of the whole.

Christ Himself makes it clear what single verse, out of context, sheep suits hide, too.

Matt. 7:14 How narrow is the gate, and strait is the way that leadeth to life : and few there are that find it !
Matt. 7:15 Beware of false prophets, who come to you in the clothing of sheep, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.
Matt. 7:16 By their fruits you shall know them. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles ?
Matt. 7:17 Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit, and the evil tree bringeth forth evil fruit.
Matt. 7:18 A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can an evil tree bring forth good fruit.
Matt. 7:19 Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit, shall be cut down, and shall be cast into the fire.
Matt. 7:20 Wherefore by their fruits you shall know them.
Matt. 7:21 Not every one that saith to me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven : but he that doth the will of my Father who is in heaven, he shall enter into the kingdom of heaven.
Matt. 7:22 Many will say to me in that day : Lord, Lord, have not we prophesied in thy name, and cast out devils in thy name, and done many miracles in thy name ?
Matt. 7:23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you : depart from me, you that work iniquity.
Matt. 7:24 Every one therefore that heareth these my words, and doth them, shall be likened to a wise man that built his house upon a rock,
Matt. 7:25 And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and they beat upon that house, and it fell not, for it was founded on a rock.
Matt. 7:26 And every one that heareth these my words, and doth them not, shall be like a foolish man that built his house upon the sand,
Matt. 7:27 And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and they beat upon that house, and it fell, and great was the fall thereof.

The entire passage repeats the theme that someone has to bring forth good fruit.

[RnMomof7]

Matt. 7:21 Not every one that saith to me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven : but he that doth the will of my Father who is in heaven, he shall enter into the kingdom of heaven.
Matt. 7:22 Many will say to me in that day : Lord, Lord, have not we prophesied in thy name, and cast out devils in thy name, and done many miracles in thy name ?WORKED)
Matt. 7:23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you : depart from me, you that work iniquity.

What is the will of the Father??

John 6:For this is the will of My Father: that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have eternal life,and I will raise him up on the last day."

[Bryanw92]

>>I’m relieved to hear that. I fear that some, in protesting Catholicism, unwittingly reject the truth along with the false doctrine.

Its not just the Romans in this case. I heard the narrow path/wide path sermon all the time when I was Methodist. They tell you that salvation comes from faith and not works one week, then tell you that what you do or don’t do will send you to hell the next week. When you ask, they start spinning in circles because their official theology is salvation by faith alone, but their politics are of social justice, and that requires works so they preach works salvation to the members and sola fides to the newcomers.

But since they believe that you can “lose salvation”, then it boils down to a twisted doctrine of “faith through your free will saves you, but a lack of works (outside of the church, of course) condemns you.”

[Rashputin]

LOL, again with the single verse, out of context, sheep suit disguise.

Why not post all of John 6 ?

Including the part where Christ reiterates that His flesh and His blood are meat and drink indeed ?

Why not the portion of the same Chapter where Christ says he will raise up those who eat His flesh and drink His blood ?

Of course, folks are wise to the sheep disguise and the ravening wolves playing that single verse game aren't fooling anyone.

Here's a bit of the same chapter, those who actually care about Scripture should read the entire Chapter and then they'll see exactly how that out of context quote to which I replied is not the entire statement of His Will. Not by a long shot.

John 6:44 No man can come to me, except the Father, who hath sent me, draw him ; and I will raise him up in the last day.
John 6:45 It is written in the prophets : And they shall all be taught of God. Every one that hath heard of the Father, and hath learned, cometh to me.
John 6:46 Not that any man hath seen the Father ; but he who is of God, he hath seen the Father.
John 6:47 Amen, amen I say unto you : He that believeth in me, hath everlasting life.
John 6:48 I am the bread of life.
John 6:49 Your fathers did eat manna in the desert, and are dead.
John 6:50 This is the bread which cometh down from heaven ; that if any man eat of it, he may not die.
John 6:51 I am the living bread which came down from heaven.
John 6:52 If any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever ; and the bread that I will give, is my flesh, for the life of the world.
John 6:53 The Jews therefore strove among themselves, saying : How can this man give us his flesh to eat ?
John 6:54 Then Jesus said to them :Amen, amen I say unto you : Except you eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, you shall not have life in you.
John 6:55 He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath everlasting life : and I will raise him up in the last day.
John 6:56 For my flesh is meat indeed : and my blood is drink indeed.
John 6:57 He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, abideth in me, and I in him.
John 6:58 As the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father ; so he that eateth me, the same also shall live by me.
John 6:59 This is the bread that came down from heaven. Not as your fathers did eat manna, and are dead. He that eateth this bread, shall live for ever.

[RnMomof7]

And that is the end of the discourse... and what did Jesus say after that ????

60 On hearing it, many of his disciples said, “This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?”

61 Aware that his disciples were grumbling about this, Jesus said to them, “Does this offend you?
62 Then what if you see the Son of Man ascend to where he was before!
63 It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing:the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.64 Yet there are some of you who do not believe.” For Jesus had known from the beginning which of them did not believe and who would betray him.
65 He went on to say, And he said, Therefore said I unto you, that no man can come unto me, except it were given unto him of my Father.
66 From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him.
67 “You do not want to leave too, do you?” Jesus asked the Twelve.,BR. 68 Simon Peter answered him “Lord, to whom shall we go? YOU HAVE THE WORDS OF ETERNAL LIFE
69 We have come to believe and to know that you are the Holy One of God.”
70 Then Jesus replied, “Have I not chosen you, the Twelve? Yet one of you is a devil!” 71 (He meant Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot, who, though one of the Twelve, was later to betray him.)

Your pope did not ask for THIS BREAD... he asked for the words of eternal life...

[Rashputin]

No dice, I see right through that sheep disguise.

Any way you frame it, slandering Christisns is slandering Christians and that's all that the wolves in sheeps clothing post, one slander of Christians after another.

There are a couple of clever wolves around with a bit better disguise, but the anti-Catholic crowd is by an large not the least bit Christian. They're just Self worshipers who having blasphemed the Holy Spirit are now blind and reaping the dianbolical results of their blasphemy.

Proof of that blindness is that someone can read what Christ Himself clearly says and totally miss the fact that those present knew Christ wasn't talking about bread or they wouldn't have abandoned Christ. So, the thinly disguised wolves follow those who abandoned Christ right out of His presence while shouting over their shoulder that they're actually following him.

Sad, very sad.

[metmom]

A man whose religion is based upon opposition to another’s religion is a man who’s in trouble.

I don't know of anyone whose religion is based o n opposing other people's religion.

I have seen that accusation lobbed at many on FR, but it's simply an accusation made by Catholics against non-Catholics in an attempt to discredit the non-Catholics.

Those who reject the false doctrine of Catholicism aren't in any danger of rejecting Biblical truth since they have the Bible to refer back to.

[NYer]

Ping!

[metmom]

Don't stop at verse 59.

Verse 63 tells exactly what Christ meant, and it wasn't physical eating.

John 6:63 It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is no help at all. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life.

The WORDS are Spirit and the WORDS are life.

The flesh is no help at all.

[caww]

.....”A man whose religion is based upon opposition to another’s religion is a man who’s in trouble.”....

Some are simply saints who are “equipped to oppose” those who are working against God’s will and his Truth......be very careful you are not getting in their way rather pray and leave them with God to direct as He does.

[caww]

...” slandering Christisns is slandering Christians”....

What makes you think they’re Christians? How do you know? If they were Christians why would they oppose God’s written word?....why would they claim that which is not supported in Scripture?...why would they bow down to images and various other practices God forbids....?

Be sure you know their status in the Lord before you call slander slander when it is something else altogther.

[Rashputin]

So, now we get down to it, the slanders are aimed at a group not at individuals hence the entire group is slandered.

Are you saying that Catholics are, by definition, not Christians?

[Rashputin]

Right, Tinkerbell, we doeth His Will without our body and in no way interact with the physical world, we just say the magic words.

Then Self and Self Alone Magic Words Salvation is your story and you're sticking to it.

So obviously what Scripture says doesn't mean much to people who rely on their magic words.

[Mark17]

Those who reject the false doctrine of Catholicism aren't in any danger of rejecting Biblical truth since they have the Bible to refer back to.

I rejected Catholicism, because the church gave me no assurance of salvation. I figured eternity was a LONG time and I did not want to go to my grave, wondering if I was going to make it to Heaven or not. That wasn't good enough for me, so I started doing the Berean thing. Now, I have assurance of salvation. 😇 Anyone can have it. If they don't, that's on them.

[LearsFool]

In FR’s Religion forum are many posts by people who will oppose only Catholicism’s errors. More than once I’ve been accused of being a Catholic merely because I quoted the Scriptures on a subject in which Catholics are right and the poster is wrong.

Giving the benefit of the doubt, I ascribe such behavior to vehement opposition to the false doctrines of Catholicism. But that won’t excuse opposition to the Scriptures.

And so, yes, I’ll get in their way, lest they lead others astray in an unthinking, moblike opposition that escapes one error only to fall into another.