Posted on 07/01/2015 7:13:05 AM PDT by RnMomof7
Recently there has been a surge in prominent Evangelicals calling for unity with Roman Catholicism. In one sense there seems to be strong foundational similarities that would justify these calls to unity. Catholics are baptized in the name of the Trinity. God’s revealed word in the Bible -- setting aside their addition of the Apocryphal books, for argument’s sake -- is foundational to their worldview. Catholics love Christ and believe that he died on the cross and rose again to provide grace for sinners.
Obviously there are theological differences associated with the specific teachings of each one of these perceived similarities, and I do not want to minimize the importance of these differences. But for argument‘s sake, at least on the surface, there is some common ground.
There is also a strong agreement in ethical standards. Both Roman Catholics and Evangelicals ground morality on God’s holy nature as revealed in the law of God. This means that on the hot button moral issues of the day; the murder of the unborn, human sexuality, the sanctity of marriage there is solidarity between Roman Catholic and Evangelical ethics because they are coming from the same source. Again, this seems to justify a call to some sense of unity.
Are these good enough reasons to publically stump for visible unity with Roman Catholics? That question is beyond the scope of this post. But there is a more fundamental question that must be answered first. That question serves as the dividing line between followers of Christ and the world, which separates biblical Christianity from every other worldview; does Rome possess and preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ?
The author of the book of Hebrews in chapter 10 contrasts the gospel with that which is but a shadow of the gospel. He argues:
"And every priest stands daily at his service, offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, waiting from that time until his enemies should be made a footstool for his feet. For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified." -- Heb 10:11–14
The argument being presented here makes it clear that Christ’s singular sacrifice, his death on the cross, perfects those for whom it is made for. This is the gospel. It is contrasted with the shadow of the gospel in which sacrifices were repeatedly made year after year because though they symbolized the atoning and perfecting sacrifice of Christ, they never themselves perfected those for whom they were made. The gospel of Jesus Christ perfects and any other religious strategies cannot.
This principle is directly applicable to the question of Roman Catholicism and the gospel of God. Roman Catholic worship centers on the mass. The mass is a series of liturgical practices that culminates in the Eucharist which according to paragraph 1068 of the Catholic of the Catholic Church (hereafter CCC) is a divine sacrifice. Paragraph 1367 of CCC calls the Eucharist a “truly propitiatory” sacrifice. This sacrifice is performed repeatedly in the life of a Catholic.
The reason the Eucharist is performed repeatedly is because even though it is claimed to be a propitiatory sacrifice that can make reparation for sins (CCC, 1414), it is a sacrifice that never perfects anyone. According to the Catholic message grace is something that you get from God by performing certain acts. First, God gives you the grace for faith in Jesus (CCC, 2000). Second, when you are baptized God graciously erases the sin of Adam from your record (CCC 1257). From that point on you get more grace by doing things like participating in the sacraments, including the Eucharist. The problem is that when you commit sins, you lose some of the grace you have gained and now need more lest your grace be found wanting at final judgment. This forces the Catholic into a position where they need to return day after day, week after week, and year after year to a priest who serves to repeatedly re-present the same sacrifice which never perfects those for whom it is made, since it only offers grace to cover some sin.
This is not the gospel.
Roman Catholics need the gospel for the same reason we all need it. We are all sinners with such a messed up and low view of how holy holiness really is that we think somehow through our own efforts we can attain it. If we just had enough time and willpower we could somehow have our good deeds outweigh our bad, and this will please God just enough for me to be acceptable to him. This is a satanic lie. A satanic lie that to some degree or another we have all bought into at some point in our life.
But the truth is glorious. God is good and God is holy. He is more good and more holy than we can possibly imagine. God is so good and so holy that anything less than absolute perfection is unacceptable in his presence. It is because of God’s awesome goodness and awesome holiness that in his wisdom he has offered us grace, through faith in Christ. A good and holy sacrifice that absolutely without question completely perfects everyone for whom it is made.
Well of course not! I’m curious, where in the post proclaiming the Gospel Good News would you derive that question?
Watch out; for those words have OTHER meanings!
I believe you are outstanding in your field, cornfield that is, and I always thought you were a Foghorn Leghorn kind of guy, so you should understand.
There once was a chicken named Foghorn
Who was also known as Leghorn
Old Foghorn done had his fill
As the chickenhawk bit him till
The hawk wished he'd never been born.
And you Catholics still have nothing newer than the Douay Rheims; Right?
And you Catholics still have nothing newer than the Douay Rheims; Right?
And you DO know what 'authorized' means; Right?
http://www.kjvbibles.com/kjpreface.htm
And all the councils and synods and Magisterium enclaves had nothing but unanimity/consensus in each and all of their decisions; right?
That was last year.
This year it’s soybeans.
Do whatever the church tells you.
You know, Elsie, not even Douay Rheimes has that translation.
Peace,
Rich
And you Catholics still have nothing newer than the Douay Rheims; Right?
Actually, the current version of the Bible is the New American Bible, Revised Edition. This is after issuing the New American Bible in 1970, the second edition in 1986, and the third edition in 1991. And for the record, none of them say “She shall strike at your head.”
Well of course not! I’m curious, where in the post proclaiming the Gospel Good News would you derive that question?
After I mentioned the great commandment and sinning against the first commandment, you wrote that you are really sorry if I feel I am sinning against the law.
Do not the commandments make up the law, or are you referring to some other law apart from the commandments?
Matthew 22: 37And He said to him, "'YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND.' 38"This is the great and foremost commandment. 39"The second is like it, 'YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.'
Please note that Jesus spoke these words to Jews, before He had instituted the new covenant seal with His blood. Obeying the commandments does not get one Born from Above. The broken and contrite spirit in repentence comes to, and Believing on the One God sent to be Savior and Lord causes the 'born from above' phenomenon. THEN, with His Life placed in you by The Holy Spirit of Promise, you lvae God the Father and this leads to learning how and where and when and by what spirit, you love your neighbor as yourself. This learning process is a transformation process of being 'raised up in the Way that we should go' by the Power of the adopting Spirit of the Family.
When asked to say which is the greatest commandment, Jesus replied:
Matthew 22: 37And He said to him, “’YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND.’ 38”This is the great and foremost commandment. 39”The second is like it, ‘YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.’
If we do not observe this commandment, if we do not love God, or do not love our neighbor, do we sin?
1 Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death. For what the law was powerless to do because it was weakened by the flesh, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.Those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on what the flesh desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace. The mind governed by the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so. Those who are in the realm of the flesh cannot please God.
Once born from above you are no longer living according to the laws of sin and death. Do you fail to be the perfect child of His family? Of course, we still have the Adamic inheritance. But we learn to walk not after that flesh, by allowing His life in us to teach us the Way that we should go.
Roman 8:9 You, however, are not in the realm of the flesh but are in the realm of the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, they do not belong to Christ. But if Christ is in you, then even though your body is subject to death because of sin, the Spirit gives life because of righteousness. 1And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of his Spirit who lives in you.12 Therefore, brothers and sisters, we have an obligation—but it is not to the flesh, to live according to it. For if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live
Do you fail to be the perfect child of His family?
When I fail to be the perfect child of His family, is that a sin?
Sin is falling short of the righteousness of God. While you and I are still in this body, since it is under the law of sin and death, we still sin. But we have an advocate, Jesus Christ The Righteous who intercedes for us constantly as we confess our falling short.
By this you may know that God dwells in you, that you are shamefully aware of your sinful nature and mortified by it, so you bring it to your Loving Lord to be cleansed of it every time the Holy Spirit reveals to you a falling short.
Your spirit is alive now, by the power of God's spark of Life in you, if you are in Christ. ONLY God can put His Life in you, and only into the cleansed spirit by the Blood of His Son will He then place His righteousness in you.
The presence of that Righteousness is most precious because it is the shekinah which reveals the falling short, that we may bring it to Him for His dealing with it. We are already in His family.
When we sin, we do not suddenly become unborn from His family. That is the astonishing thing about this New Covenant in Christ's blood. It cleanses us from all unrighteousness AND allows God, not a priest, to put His life in us. He loves us so much that He wants us to have Hid life in our spirits, not for our glory but because it glorifies His Son who died for us and rose again to bring God Life into us.
By this you may know that God dwells in you, that you are shamefully aware of your sinful nature and mortified by it, so you bring it to your Loving Lord to be cleansed of it every time the Holy Spirit reveals to you a falling short.
Sometimes it takes me awhile, but I think I understand what you are saying. I was focusing too much on Romans 7 and not enough on the beginning of Romans 8.
If we are in God and covered by the blood of Christ, we are mortified by our sin and almost immediately bring it to our Lord, saying we are sorry and asking His forgiveness. And our loving Lord says, come to me, and I will give you rest, and he cleanses us.
Or something like that.
Peace,
Rich
Well, yeah, that would be the case.
The requirement to be saved is to believe. We believe and confess. We come to love God because He saved us. He doesn't save us because we love Him. And He doesn't require us to love Him before He saves us.
Yes.
Welcome to the human race.
Yes.
Welcome to the human race.
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