Posted on 07/13/2020 7:27:43 PM PDT by metmom
"For those who disbelieve, 'the stone which the builders rejected, this became the very corner stone,' and, 'a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense'; for they stumble because they are disobedient to the word, and to this doom they were also appointed" (1 Pet. 2:7-8).
Rejecting Christ leads to spiritual damnation.
Israel was a unique nation, chosen by God to be the guardian of His Word and proclaimer of His kingdom. The Old Testament records His miraculous and providential care for her throughout the centuries, and the prophets told of One who would come as her great Deliverer. Israel eagerly awaited the promised Messiah.
But the story has a surprise ending. In the Person of Jesus Christ, the Messiah finally came and presented Himself to Israel. The religious leaders examined Him carefully, measuring Him in every way they could. But He didn't fit their blueprint. They expected a reigning political Messiah who would instantly deliver them from Roman oppression. They felt no need for a spiritual deliverer, so they rejected Him and tossed Him aside like a worthless rock.
That rejected cornerstone is precious to believers but remains a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense to unbelievers. A "stone of stumbling" was a stone on which someone tripped while walking along the road. A "rock of offense" was a rock large enough to crush a person. The point: rejecting Christ brings spiritual devastation of enormous proportions.
All who reject Christ do so because they are disobedient to the Word. Rebellion against the written Word inevitably leads to rejection of the living Word. Of such people Peter said, "To this doom they were also appointed" (v. 8). They weren't appointed to reject Christ, but to receive the judgment that their rejection demands. That's a frightening reality that should motivate you to take every opportunity to evangelize the lost.
Suggestions for Prayer
If you have family or friends who are rejecting Christ, pray for them often, asking God to grant them saving faith.
For Further Study
Read Romans 9:30-10:17, noting Israel's false standard of righteousness and Paul's prayer for her salvation.
Who did the saint tell that to???
That is so clear and simple, isn't it??? Who but a Catholic could twist that verse out of recognition???
It is clear and simple.
And very applicable.
If they died, who did this alleged saint tell?
Did he come back from the dead to tell someone?
Honestly, the nonsense Catholics believe is staggering especially in light of the fact that they disbelieve so much Scripture.
They reject the Truth of God found in the Bible, and swallow, hook, line, and sinker, every fantastic claim, fairy tale, and fabricated sermon illustration that comes down the pike.
Romans 1:20-27 For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.
Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.
For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error.
It is indeed sir. Speaking of sobering thoughts. Can you imagine someone in Hell, where the pain goes to infinity, suffering for one hundred trillion eons, and being no closer to getting out, than the first moment they entered that awful place?
Hell must continue, however, because sin continues in Hell. If they hated God on earth, it will be magnified in Hell, so suffering continues. 👎
The constant lies they use to justify their stance versus The Word of God is conniving & IMHO evil.
Most of my family is Catholic, so I’ve heard it all before.
Remember the first sin in Satan’s heart = Pride.
Jesus says over & over to humble ourselves before Him & His Word.
Puzzling isn’t it? But then again, I didn’t consider Him either, till I left that other religion. 😁🤪
Yeah, but you got saved before leaving.
Some people get saved while in it. Many get saved after having left, disillusioned with Catholicism.
Either way, once their eyes are opened, the results are the same across the board, just as we’ve seen here on FR. For the variety of backgrounds and personal histories, it’s essentially the same.
Get saved, see the truth, leave Catholicism forever and follow Jesus.
Your comment: “you’d know why Jesus gave his Apostles (not successors...there are no successors...) the authority to forgive sins or retain them...
And you would know that apostles forgiving and retaining sins has nothing to do with the church, or even the Catholic Church... “
Your ability to intelligently state your doctrine is lacking. There is no reason or logic to your comment. Your doctrine is to blame the Catholic faith for everything you can not substantiate. No where in the Bible does it state there are no successors to the Apostles - quite the contrary.
The Church that Jesus founded did not end with the death of the Apostles. As St Peter and the Apostles started to build Christ’s Church in all nations, it is reasonable that they selected successors such as Matthias and Timothy and many others to continue to build the Catholic Church.
Your denial of the Words of the Gospel indicate your denial of Jesus. The Sacrament of Confession has been available to Catholics for the last 2000 years.
The saving grace won by Jesus is offered as a free gift to us, accessible through repentance, faith, and baptism. We turn away from our sins, we are sorry for them, and we believe in Jesus Christ and the gospel. Repentance shows our willingness to turn from things that keep us from God, and baptism renews us, filling us with the grace necessary to have faith and to live it. This belief is more than just “head knowledge.” Even the demons have that (Jas 2:19). It’s more than just believing you’re saved. Even the Pharisees had that (Jn 5:39). True, saving faith is one lived and exhibited daily: It is “faith working through love” (Gal 5:6, cf. Jas 2:1-26).
Sometimes the Church is accused of teaching “salvation by works,” but this is an empty accusation. This idea has been consistently condemned by the Church. Good works are required by God because he requires obedience to his commands (Mt 6:1-21, 1 Cor 3:8, 13-15) and promises to reward us with eternal life if we obey (Mt 25:34-40, Rom 2:6-7, Gal 6:6-10, Jas 1:12). But even our obedience is impossible without God’s grace; even our good works are God’s gift (Rom 5:5, Phil 2:13). This is the real biblical plan of salvation.
The time is coming soon when Jesus will purify His Church and the world of sinners if they do not repent and change their ways. It is predicted in the Book o Revelations Chapter 8.
Romans 4:8 linked with 1 John 3:9 is as absolute an assurance as is possible ... for it is GOD Who is in you having received the unbreakable Seal of The Holy Spirit of GOD by the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. Once born again, forever born again.
If you are trusting how well you've followed the Catholic sacramental trail to obtain eternal life ... you are on your way to Hell forevermore.
We turn away from our sins, we are sorry for them, and we believe in Jesus Christ and the gospel. Repentance shows our willingness to turn from things that keep us from God, and baptism renews us, filling us with the grace necessary to have faith and to live it. This belief is more than just “head knowledge.”
It's comical in a way to see you Catholics use the bible to your own destruction...
I remember before and just after I was saved...I would show scripture to seasoned Christians and tell them what the correct doctrine was...No one ever corrected me...They just smiled...They knew God would show me, if I was truly saved...
1Tit_2:11 For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men,
Now look...The gift of grace doesn't come to Catholics or anyone else AFTER they have found faith, been baptized and ate the wafer...Grace has come to ALL men/women before they ever become a Christian (or not)...Grace provides the free gift of salvation...Grace is a favor from God that we don't deserve...And that free gift of salvation is available to all men/women because of the grace...
Rom 3:24 Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:
Tit 3:7 That being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.
I couldn't help but comment on this one you posted...
Good works are required by God because he requires obedience to his commands (Mt 6:1-21, 1 Cor 3:8, 13-15) and promises to reward us with eternal life if we obey
1Co 3:8 Now he that planteth and he that watereth are one: and every man shall receive his own reward according to his own labour.
Heaven is not a reward...It's a free gift...This verse has nothing to do with salvation...
We can't be unborn again...It's a spiritual operation...
Romans 6:9-10 also tells us pretty much all we need to know regarding security of the saved believer and the complete falsehood of claiming that a person can lose their salvation but regain it if they repent.
V.9: “?Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead DIETH NO MORE; death hath no more dominion over him.”
V. 10: “For in that he died unto sin ONCE; but in that he liveth he liveth unto God.”
He died ONE DEATH for ALL SIN. FOREVER.
How can someone honestly believe that He died over and over every time we sin. And He lives once again every time we repent of that sin? It’s an insult to Christ’s death, God the Father’s Grace and the Holy Spirit’s work IN each believer unto the day of redemption.
Grace directly assists us in living our moral life through the divine gift of justification, first bestowed on us in Baptism when we become members of the Church.
Grace is a free and undeserved assistance God offers to us so that we may respond to his call to share in his divine life and attain eternal life.
Christ’s passion merited justification for us. We receive justification in Baptism and become friends of God. We can lose that friendship through sin and we can regain that friendship through repentance, faith and the Sacrament of Confession.
God told us “ be Holy because I am Holy” “Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink my blood, you have no life in you”
Jesus said to the Apostles, “Whoever listens to you listens to me”. We need to listen to the Church in matters of faith and morals as Christ authorized in the Bible.
Scripture teaches that one’s final salvation depends on the state of the soul at death. As Jesus himself tells us, “He who endures to the end will be saved” (Matt. 24:13; cf. 25:31–46). One who dies in the state of friendship with God (the state of grace) will go to heaven. The one who dies in a state of enmity and rebellion against God (the state of mortal sin) will go to hell.
It is our choice whether we accept God and live according to God’s will or reject God by our sinfulness.
Why would God give us free will and not expect us to show our love for Him and our neighbor by staying friends with Him and living a Holy life?
I don’t believe that just because someone says they are born again in an altar call if they reject God’s Truth, His Church and the Sacraments he provided for our salvation will go to Heaven. Christ warned the path is rocky and the gate narrow.
“Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling” (Phil 2:12)
I realize that many will not really listen to the Word of God and understand His Word but will adapt their own meaning to their wants.
In the religion of catholiciism you take that passage to mean God expects you to work in order to obtain salvation. And that is an error so great your carnal mind cannot fathom the true meaning ... which is that it is GOD WHO is in the born again spirit, so HE is there to RENEW YOUR MIND AND CHANGE YOUR BEHAVIOR from/through HIS abiding PRESENCE in the born again SPIRIT ( Romans 12:2 ).
If the born again do not take HIS leadership Paul warns us of the fear and trembling which GOD aims at us so we WILL take His leadership. If it not a fearful thing to your sinful soul that the very Creator of the Universe IS ABIDING IN YOUR born again spirit then it is unlikely that He is abiding there YET.
Your anathema religion portrays GOD as threatening to stop abiding in the born again spirit. You blaspheme HIS GRACE by making it CONDITIONAL.
In your catholic blindness you fail to connect scripture that tells us EXPLICITLY that once born again it is GOD WHO abides in the newborn spirit ( 1 John 3:9 ) and that means that spirit of the born again CANNOT COMMIT SIN. It is the behavior mechanism (the soul of mind emotions and will) which authors our sins. The Word of God SEPARATES the spirit from the sin practicing soul/behavior mechanism ( Hebrews 4:12 )
GOD in the born again spirit authors righteousness because the righteousness of Jesus Christ has been IMPUTED to the newborn spirit ( Romans 4:22-24 ). God is therefore the PARENT of the newborn spirit. There is ONLY ONE work GOD Requires, that you believe/trust in Whom He has sent for your salvation, Jesus Christ the Righteous ( John 6:28&29 ).
Your religion teaches what is anathema to GOD's Gospel of Grace. Grace, by The Word of God, separates the spirit from the sinful soul and cleanses it so GOD then abides there. There is no try, no work for your salvation, GOD is the author of HIS GRACE. You do not earn Grace or eat divinity into your spirit. That is a blasphemous ritual which violates God's command against eating the blood of a creature. Your carnal mind does not grasp the spiritual ingestion by faith because your blasphemous religion is based in doing to obtain ... and God never told you to do any more than BELIEVE in Whom He sent. You either bow your sinful head and just accept HIS GRACE, or you try to obtain eternal life by doing, doing, doing the catholiciism ritual sacramental trail which satan urges you to follow.
IF you do the ONE WORK GOD REQUIRES, THEN GOD does the parenting as you yield to HIS parenting ... and if you rebel against HIS parenting of your newborn spirit, you will experience the 'fear and trembling' Paul wrote of.
That’s exactly what happened to me. I got saved, first. I stayed in the Catholic Church for about a month, as I was reading the scriptures. I began to think either the Bible is correct, or the Catholic Church is correct, but certainly not both. So, I left the church permanently, never to return. 🤗 It’s been more than a few decades, since I left. I have yet to regret it. 👍 I don’t need any questions answered, so I can come back. I am comfortable with that. 😁 Now, I an no longer going here. 🔥
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