Posted on 01/04/2019 8:20:14 AM PST by Salvation
Monsignor Pope Ping!
How can this be a Catholic Caucus? Pope, Charles correctly identifies a short coming of Protestants.
He works in an Archdiocese that has been run by liars for decades.
It shouldn’t be a Caucus thread. I’ve reported it to the Moderator as an abuse.
Salvation Freepmailed me that he has asked for the title to be changed.
So, since he is surrounded by sinners, he must, therefore, also be a sinner. Or do you not believe in the saving power of Our Lord?
“The Protestant tradition erred in dividing faith and works. In the 16th century, Protestants claimed that we are saved by “faith alone.” Faith is never alone. It always brings effects with it.”
That isn’t the case. The Roman Catholic Church has, very sadly, missed the point. Because it ignores Ephesians 2 and many other verses, it argues that Protestants ignore James 2 and other verses. And then for all intents and purposes it negates and ignores Ephesians 2 and all verses about being saved by faith not by works.
No, Protestants don’t ignore any of it. We accept them both as true. We are NOT saved by works. But we know if we are saved, if we have truly been reconciled to God and converted to His way and His will for us, then we will do works. And that is the only way to reconcile both types of verses. There is no other way to accept them.
We are told by Jesus Himself that apart from Him, the vine, we can do nothing. And anything done outside f faith is sin. And that the Christian works we do are done by Christ living inside of us. So it’s a matter of being truly converted and born again.
The closely-related issue to the “faith versus works” question is whom do we credit for our salvation? Does the Lord alone save us, or do we get some of the credit? Because Protestants believe that the Lord alone saves us and gets the credit, and our works don’t count anything towards that, then we have to accept what Ephesians 2 and other verses say about us being saved by grace alone, through faith, which is not of ourselves, but a gift to us, so no man may boast.
So here is another way of looking at this as well.
God is light, the Bible teaches us. Can any of us claim to be an original source of light, like God is? Who else besides God can be an ORIGINATOR of light? Any light that we have in us, does any of it come originally from us, or does it ALL come from God? I know what I believe.
The song is in Old Castilian, as far as I can tell. It diverges significantly from the contemporary Mexican that is the standard for my congregation!
I’m sure Msgr. Pope would agree that he is a sinner. However, that does not mean that his commentary is wrong in important ways.
The Roman Catholic tradition erred in making SALVATION dependent on faith and works - a change from the ancient and Biblical understanding that we are justified and made righteous by the grace of God through faith and not our works. This doesn't mean that works have no place in our lives. As Mr. Pope said, genuine faith is not alone but WILL be evident in a changed life because of the indwelling AND sealing by the Holy Spirit. If our works of righteousness, though, are made a condition of salvation - as Catholicism and some other faiths do - then it is no more by grace because grace would no longer BE grace (see Romans 11:6).
It took long enough, didn’t it?!
Peter gave an altar call in Acts and a lot of folks responded.
When we profess faith in Christ....if He's not our Lord and Savior and it's not personal....then what kind of salvation is it?? Cold and aloof??
Jesus died on the Cross for my sins....that's pretty personal to me.
But I think this speaks to a greater problem in Roman Catholicism.....a distance between the lay Roman Catholic and God.
This is why I believe Roman Catholics think they have to go through Mary or some other mediator....they don't believe they can actually approach the throne of Grace or that God won't hear/answer their prayers.
The NT is clear...We can know for certain that we have eternal life and that He does hear and will answer our prayers.
13These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life. 14This is the confidence which we have before Him, that, if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. 15And if we know that He hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests which we have asked from Him. 1 John 5:13 NASB
For it is by grace you have been saved through faith, and this not from yourselves; it is the gift of God, not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance as our way of life. (Ephesians 2:8-10)
But I've been noticing a trend among a number of threads labeled as caucus threads by Roman Catholics that aren't due to mentioning other religions.
I ask that Roman Catholics scrutinize their threads more closely or perhaps before a thread is able to be labeled a caucus thread it is reviewed by a mod.
Where do you find Catholicism making "our works of righteousness a condition of salvation"? If, as you said, genuine faith is not alone but will be evident in a changed life" then it follows that a faith NOT evident in a changed life is not genuine, and, as James writes, "such a faith has no power to save". And if you see that, then you agree with us far more than with Luther.
Justification in the Catholic view is fundamentally adoption through grace. You can't earn it at all, ever, period. It can only be given by God as a gift.
So does the Protestant Bible have the Letter of James in it?
I really don’t understand how protestants don’t believe the Letter of James.
As a former Roman Catholic I can attest to that being the case. That's why when I read a passage from the Gospel of John, I knew immediately that I had not been taught THE truth about salvation. In John 10:27-30 Jesus says:
The Holy Spirit opened my eyes and heart to understand that Jesus gives us eternal life and we will never perish or be plucked from His hands. I believed and trusted in Him that day and my life has not been the same since. It never even once occurred to me that I could go out and sin all I wanted because I was saved. I knew that faith in Christ changed me from the inside, from my very spirit and soul, and I wanted to live my life in a way that was pleasing to God, honored Him and brought Him glory - not in order to be saved but because I WAS saved by His amazing grace. I thank Him every day!
should have put this in the caucus because you know the “SINNING IS OKAY” brigade will have a field day....
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