i am christian, i believe Jesus came, lived an ordinary human life, died taking our place for our sins, was buried and rose from the grave on the third day defeating sin and death. i believe that salvation can NOT be earned but is, as it says in Ephesians 2 "(8)For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith�and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God� (9)not by works, so that no one can boast." i want to know what Catholics have to say about this passage...i am not trying to be a jerk, as i have been called but rather want to see what they believe. and what they have to say about this...
As a former Protestant who converted to Catholicism, I'll try my best to answer your question. I would say that I fully agree with what St. Paul is saying in this passage. And I would also say that the Catholic Church agrees with St. Paul's soteriology.
But don't take my word for it. Look at what the Church officially teaches:
"Justification has been merited for us by the Passion of Christ who offered himself on the cross as a living victim, holy and pleasing to God, and whose blood has become the instrument of atonement for the sins of all men. Justification is conferred in Baptism, the sacrament of faith. It conforms us to the righteousness of God, who makes us inwardly just by the power of his mercy. Its purpose is the glory of God and of Christ, and the gift of eternal life." (CCC 1992)
Justification, that is, the cleansing from sin and infusion of Christ's righteousness, is merited by Christ's work; not ours. It is a work of grace: we do nothing to earn it.
So, your views are actually in agreement with Rome's. We do nothing to earn our salvation. It is a free gift. However, it requires a free response, and that's where the question of merit comes in (what did I choose to do with the gift after I received it?). That's a different issue though from justification.
As for Jack Chick, I'm not going to dignify his tracts with a response. There are plenty of Catholic resources on the web that address his errors.
You can go back to just fifty years after Christ's Death and read what The Fathers of The Church believed and wrote.
The Catholic Church teaches that No One can Buy their way into Heaven. Yet you will find many, many of our Brothers and Sisters that believe the opposite. What The Catholic Church preaches is that you cannot have one without the other. If you are �Saved� and have God's Graces...then there should be Works that follow. The two go Hand � in � Hand.
Even in James you will read �...show me a man that has Faith but no works and I will show you a man who's Faith is Dead.� (paraphrasing).
Question:
�Who would you believe more...your Pastor today or someone that heard The Word either from The Apostles or a Disciple of The Apostles?�
There is so much to learn about The Catholic Church and there is so much misinformation being spread. The Bible is a book that needs a Teacher to help you with understanding, just as you need a Professor to help with the books you use in College.
Christ left the Full Deposit of Faith with The Catholic Church. That is why His Bride was able to decide which Books and Letters would go into The New Testament...by comparing them to what She already knew to be The Truth.
We are all Brothers and Sisters In Christ. It would be nice if we could return to One Voice...One Faith � which is how it was for over 1500 years.
Peace Be With You
Steve
I believe that Chick Corea was a Catholic Priest who left The Church and has made it his mission to defame Her.
Yes, there are some faults within the Catholic church but if you are looking for faults and not good things, you will find faults. That concerns every denomination. Nobody's perfect.
A sad thing is many Catholics have no idea what is written in the CCC. Some don't even know such document... well, a book, exists.
First of all, don't be afraid of Catholics, they won't pull you down into hell :) they are often great God fearing people. And if you discover in a conversation that they don't know some basic truth from the Bible, don't be to harsh with them. Revealing their mistakes can mean the end of your relationship because this religion to many people is their tradition, heritage and identity. Just be gentle, patient and respectful.
If you want to ask a specific culture-based question concerning Catholics, I can try and answer :)
There is so much to learn about The Catholic Church and there is so much misinformation being spread. The Bible is a book that needs a Teacher to help you with understanding, just as you need a Professor to help with the books you use in College.
We have a teacher, He is called the Holy Spirit.
It is great to talk and learn from one that has studied and delved deep into the scriptures but we do not necessarily "need" one.
From birth I was a Catholic. I was baptized a Catholic and I grew up in Catholic schools from graders to high school and college. Every Sunday we went to mass diligently and "performed" all the rituals and requirements of all the sacraments the Roman Catholic Church teaches. "Acts of Mercy and Charity" were dutifully followed and I even took up college studies in Theology and Apologetics about the doctrines of Catholicism. I can defend and delineate every doctrine there is from Sacraments to church letters, to the Pope's "Infallibility", yet in my heart and soul I NEVER KNEW GOD.
In 1994 I had a severe personal crisis that made me cry out to God for Him to reveal Himself to me as He did to Moses as I knew God did not create me merely to "suffer" in this world, and I knew He had a purpose and reason for me to be alive here on earth. At that time I was contemplating on suicide, but I had two children then -ages 8 and 10 - and that somehow stopped me. This moment came when I was watching an Easter TV show by titled "Christ is the Answer".
The host offered to lead a prayer asking Jesus Christ into one's heart, for all those searching for answers, who have no peace (like me), who were in despair and searching for hope - CHRIST IS THE ANSWER.
I prayed that prayer, and true to His promises, God revealed Himslef to me personally. His Holy Spirt came upon me in a torrent of warmth and comfort I could almost feel God's embrace, calling me His "child". I had an old Bible and God's Spirit led me one by one to the verses that explained His will for me and my life, and His way for me to know that WILL.
Nobody evangelized me - I read through that Bible until dawn, absorbing all the verses on SALVATION like an empty sponge absorbs water. Indeed I was that sponge absorbing the Water of Life.
The verses that God led me to were Deuteronomy 4:29
Jeremiah 29:11, Isaiah 43, and Psalm 121. I read the whole Book of John and before I was even into Bible studies, I knew the verses that explained WHY we need to be "born again". I searched for a Bible-believing Christian church and led my children to Christianity and a personal relationship with God.
Catholicism is about religion, Christianity is about God.
Church encyclicals and "letters" are taught as "additions" to the teachings of Christ (and God) in the Bible. But The Bible is the inerrant Word of God, there is no other way to know God than through the Bible. The work of salvation is a work of Christ, and the sanctification work is a work of the Holy Spirit which comes to indwell the believer ONLY at the moment of Salvation, not at Baptism or Confirmation, etc.
The only way to sift Error from Truth is through God's Word.
