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

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

[LearsFool]

Sorry, I probably should’ve included you on my reply in post #40. :-)

[caww]

Many of those who oppose Catholic errors are former catholics who came to the Lord on his terms and eventually left the catholic church for having identified these... so of course they are going to oppose them....they know them all too well, but moreso the deception which is behind them.

This should not be a surprise to any as those who often leave cults and or false religions are best positioned to see the errors which took them there in the first place....the truth sets people free from bondage and they have experienced both.

A caged animal from infancy hasn’t a clue what freedom is...it’s been caged it’s life....but once it has known freedom and continues to grow it will never re-adapt to “bondage” again.

I honestly don’t think you can get in any ones way if you’re in line with scriptures in what you believe....

[Mark17]

Many of those who oppose Catholic errors are former catholics who came to the Lord on his terms and eventually left the catholic church

That would be me. 😊🇵🇭

[caww]

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

Let's let Jesus address that when he says.....“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven”........

As for slandering....as I see it the statements opposing catholics are not intended to be malicious or injure individuals...that does not mean what is stated wouldn't do so, especially for those with high sensitivities, or those who might have a sense of conviction when the truth is revealed as so.

What I have seen is generally those who feel slandered are those who are opposing the truth.....especially when they have no argument or are unable to defend their position, if they have one at all...sometimes some simply like to get in the way.

[caww]

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

Let's let Jesus address that when he says.....“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven”........

As for slandering....as I see it the statements opposing catholics are not intended to be malicious or injure individuals...that does not mean what is stated wouldn't do so, especially for those with high sensitivities, or those who might have a sense of conviction when the truth is revealed as so.

What I have seen is generally those who feel slandered are those who are opposing the truth.....especially when they have no argument or are unable to defend their position, if they have one at all...sometimes some simply like to get in the way.

[caww]

Often catholics who have left catholic-ism are in the best position to oppose catholic teachings for they have experienced both being bound and free...they KNOW the difference very well.

You left so that tells me God saw you as one “seeking Him with all your heart” and a desire to know His Truth as he wants it be learned and heard.

I have a friend in Cal. who left the catholic church who now has home bible study with others seeking the Lord. Many who come there were introduced to cathoicism but have not found ‘it’ satisfied them....too rigid and too demanding with Masses and dictates how to believe even if they don't understand.

Good on you for answering His call on your heart mind and soul! The truth shall set you free...and you are free indeed! God never disappoints the true seeker of Him.

[Mark17]

Good on you for answering His call on your heart mind and soul! The truth shall set you free...and you are free indeed! God never disappoints the true seeker of Him.

Yes, God never disappoints. I hate to sound like a one issue rant, but I dumped the Catholic Church, because I knew I could never live up to their plan of salvation. I knew if I lived under that system, I would end up in hell fire. 🔥 So, when given the choice between deal or no deal, I chose no deal. Now, I have assurance of salvation. 😇 Ain't like grand? 😆

[LearsFool]

Sounds like this Methodist church, being unsatisfied with Jesus' goals for the church He built, decided to invent their own. If that's correct, then this is a church no disciple of Christ ought to join himself to. It's sad to see, but comes as no surprise to those who have studied His teaching in the gospels.

To their credit, it sounds (from your description) like they were at least staying within His teaching on the few/the many, the narrow path/the wide path. So often Jesus foretold that few are able to follow Him. And perhaps this church is comprised primarily of those who are unable to do so, unable to set aside their own ideas - accumulated, perhaps, over a lifetime - and let God fill their minds with His ideas through an arduous study of His revelation in the Scriptures.

When one fellow asked Jesus whether there were few who would be saved, He replied:

"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

[Salvation]

**because I quoted the Scriptures on a subject in which Catholics are right and the poster is wrong.**

Thanks, we notice.

[Rashputin]

Christ also said that those who don't eat His flesh and drink His blood have no life in them.

Sorry, but following Self and Self Alone isn't following Christ, the Holy Spirit didn't take a fifteen hundred year long vacation, and thousands of little groups claiming to have the truth don't supersede His Church.

That trash about a deliberate slander being something someone feels because they're opposing the truth may be cute for the Politically Crowd but it's an obvious canard to avoid a straight up yes or no answer.

[LearsFool]

I understand that it can take a while for a person to study his way out of error. And Catholicism is infamous for discouraging such study by making its adherents dependent on its priests (etc.) for understanding the Scriptures.

Unfortunately, many other manmade churches duplicate this dependence with their councils, conventions, synods, etc., the result being that the victim merely switches from one blind guide to another. (Is falling into one ditch preferable to another?)

Yes, those who have escaped the bondage of Catholicism are well-positioned to expose and oppose its errors. Nor am I surprised when they do so loudly and often. But if they're unwilling to see and cease from their own, are they any better off? (And yes, I've exposed errors found within "Protestantism" here on FR, and been met with stubborn resistance.)

It's simply not enough to escape one false religion. Recall what Jesus said happened to some who escaped from paganism and became converts to Judaism - a true religion corrupted by manmade doctrines:

"Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You travel over land and sea to win a single convert, and when you have succeeded, you make them twice as much a child of hell as you are." - Matt. 23:15

[LearsFool]

Don't mistake me for an ally of Catholicism. Catholicism lures people astray with a corrupted gospel.

Our aim instead ought to be to speak as Paul did:

"For we are not as the many, corrupting the word of God: but as of sincerity, but as of God, in the sight of God, speak we in Christ." - II Cor. 2:17

[Salvation]

And Paul was a Catholic apostle.

[DrewsMum]

Not even close.

[Salvation]

On whose authority?

[Bryanw92]

>>”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

Many will try and fail. In fact, almost everyone who tries will fail.

But, God had a plan. Jesus died on a cross so that he could bring you through, not because you tried but because he succeeds. He always succeeds.

[RnMomof7]

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.

I would not call Catholics Christians anymore than I would call Mormons Christians..neither trust in Christ..both trust in their own righteousness and works ...they both have a jesus that does not save

[caww]

Your post makes no sense at all in response to mine.....better to stop now.

[LearsFool]

Many will try and fail despite God's plan - which was being put into action when Jesus said this. Because, like the Jews of that time, many are trying to get into the kingdom THEIR way instead of His.

"then you will begin to say, ‘We ate and drank in Your presence, and You taught in our streets.’"

As if to say, "We know you, Jesus!" Just like people today who say, "I know Jesus!"

"But He will say, ‘I tell you I do not know you, where you are from. Depart from Me, all you workers of iniquity.’"

I guess when Jesus says to "make every effort to enter," He really means it.

[Bryanw92]

>>I guess when Jesus says to “make every effort to enter,” He really means it.

When he said that, he had not completed his work on the cross yet. Salvation does not come from our works. It comes from HIS work. Our life cannot be clean enough, but he gives us HIS perfect life to present as our own.

In modern terms, he is telling those who are making every effort, “yeah, good luck with that!” In fact, he tells the rich, young ruler just that when the man says that he’s done everything he needs to do be saved, so Jesus tells him to do one more thing—and its that one thing that he CAN’T do. Jesus isn’t driving him away. He is making him know that the man can’t save himself because he just isn’t perfect enough.