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.
I'll bet Catholics who have no clue what the bible says think you actually know what you're talking about...No one gets justified by joining the Catholic Church...Or any church...We become the church when justification takes place...
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.
That doesn't even make any sense...You're going to share in God's divine life up to you gaining eternal life...And if you as a Catholic don't reach that lofty goal of eternal life, you still shared in God's divine 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.
We born again Christians do not receive justification at the ceremony of water baptism...We get baptized AFTER we are justified...
It is very telling that you call Catholics 'friends' of God...We born again Christians are NOT friends of God...We are sons of God (God's adopted children) and brothers and sisters of Jesus Christ...And once the paperwork was signed, there's no way God can un-adopt his children...
Joh_1:12 But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:
Rom_8:14 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.
Friends of God are not the Bride of Christ...Friends will show up at the Wedding but they will not participate with the Bride and Groom...I don't know how you or anyone could get that so wrong...
Joh 3:28 Ye yourselves bear me witness, that I said, I am not the Christ, but that I am sent before him.
Joh_3:29 He that hath the bride is the bridegroom: but the friend of the bridegroom, which standeth and heareth him, rejoiceth greatly because of the bridegroom's voice: this my joy therefore is fulfilled.
Here, John the Baptist admits that he is not the bride (the church) of the bridegroom BUT he is the friend of the bridegroom...Biblically speaking, there are no 'friends' during the church age...However, they will show up again in the future...
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”
We are to take that literally...But spiritually, no physically...Just as we are told to eat his book...
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.
The apostles were not Catholic priests...They were not Jewish Catholics...
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).
No it doesn't...You can't create a doctrine out of 9 words in the bible...That verse is future prophecy and references the period of the wrath of God upon the earth, the Great Tribulation...If they can endure to the end of the Tribulation they will be saved...
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.
Most born again Christians do not get born again at an altar call...We get born again while driving down the road, while playing golf, while sitting in front of the tv and every where you can imagine...It's clear you don't know what being born again is; or how or why it is accomplished...
Until one becomes born again, the bible will be a complete mystery to that person...They'll see a verse that mentions 'friend' of God and say, 'Oh, that's me, that's me'...Or they'll see a verse that say, 'eat Jesus'...And they'll start hunting for a fork...And they'll have to reject most of the bible because it makes no sense to them such as the Millennial reign of Jesus on earth...Or the rapture...
If regular Catholics will look around and talk to those people who quit the Catholic church and became born again Christians, they'll see those people are no longer in the dark concerning the scriptures...The bible is no longer a mystery...