On Converting To Roman Catholicism

[Nehemiah6]

So, unless someone is 110% confident-- beyond even the slightest glimmer
of sensible doubt --that they are going to heaven, then of course it is impossible for them to comply with Peter's instructions seeing as they would not yet have the kind of hope about which he wrote.

Well what Peter meant by "hope" is indeed expectation or anticipation with confidence. So one could in fact have 110% confidence (hope) of going to Heaven based upon the grace of God and the finished work of Christ. Indeed it is guaranteed to those who have been saved b grace and are kept by the power of God.

 

[mailmandan]

Well what Peter meant by "hope" is indeed expectation or anticipation with confidence. So one could in fact have 110% confidence (hope) of going to Heaven based upon the grace of God and the finished work of Christ. Indeed it is guaranteed to those who have been saved b grace and are kept by the power of God.

Amen! This hope is not some wishy washy cross your fingers hope I make it kind of hope. Unlike the english word "hope," the N.T. word contains no uncertainty; it speaks of something that is certain:

Strong's #1680 elpís (from elpō, "to anticipate, welcome") – properly, expectation of what is sure (certain); hope.

If we have saving faith in Christ, then we have this hope. Faith is the substance of things HOPED for.. (Hebrews 11:1). So that being justified by His grace we would be made heirs according to the HOPE of eternal life (Titus 3:7).

 

[scoots]

God never intended for Christian's to be divided into denominations or for the church to be a 501c3 corporation! It's time for the church to leave denominations and the 501c3 behind and unite as one.

 

[WebersHome]

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Eternal life is often mistaken for immortality. The two are not the same.

Immortality is a material kind of life that has to do with a superhuman body
impervious to age, death, and putrefaction.

Eternal life, on the other hand, isn't a material kind of life; it's a spirit kind of
life; which is why it's possible for people to obtain eternal life prior to
obtaining immortality.

For example: Christ had eternal life when he was here (John 5:26, 1John
1:1-2) but according to Rom 6:9 and Rev 1:18, he didn't obtain immortality
till he rose from the dead.

Likewise Christ's believing followers won't obtain immortality until their
resurrections (Rom 8:23-25, 1Cor 15:51-53, and 1Thss 4:14-17). However;
it's possible for them to obtain eternal life now, before they pass on.

In the passages below, note the grammatical tense of the "have" verbs.
They're in the present tense; not future, indicating that believers have
eternal life right now-- no delay, and no waiting period.

● John 3:36 . . He who believes in the Son has eternal life

● John 6:47 . .Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes has eternal life.

● John 5:24 . . I assure you, those who heed my message, and trust in God
who sent me, have eternal life. They will never be condemned for their sins,
but they have already passed from death into life.

● 1John 5:13 . . I write these things to you who believe in the name of the
Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life.

The right-now possession of eternal life is very crucial because according to
God's testimony, as an expert witness in all matters pertaining to
Christianity; people lacking eternal life do not have God's son. In other
words: they are currently quite christless.

● 1John 5:11-12 . . This is what God has testified: He has given us eternal
life, and this life is in His son. So whoever has God's son has this life; and
whosoever does not have this life, does not have His son.

People that argue with God's testimony, are insinuating that He not only
doesn't know what He's talking about, but also that God is a dishonest
person of marginal integrity who can't be trusted to tell the truth.

● 1John 5:10 . .Whoever does not believe God has made him a liar by not
believing the testimony God has given about His son.

When people do that-- when they insinuate that God is dishonest --they
imply that He belongs in hell because according to Rev 21:8, hell is where all
liars are destined.

Anyway; I should think that it goes without saying that christless people are
in grave danger of the sum of all fears.

● Rom 8:9 . . If anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not
belong to Christ.

We can be sure that there are millions of christless people throughout the
world; but are there any christless Christians? Well; for starters: Roman
Catholicism-- known everywhere as the largest single denomination in the
world --currently consists of approximately 1.2 billion followers who all, to a
man, including the Pope, insist that nobody obtains eternal life till sometime
after they die and cross over to the afterlife.

Well; that can mean but one thing, and one thing only: seeing as how those
1.2 billion souls are currently lacking eternal life, then according to God's
expert testimony they are currently christless, and they will pass on christless.
You can safely apply that rule to any, and all, denominations, religions, and/or
spiritual ideologies insisting that eternal life cannot be obtained prior to passing.

/

 

[Katy-follower]

I lost hope in Roman Catholicism back in 1968. I really can't imagine how
anyone could ever be a good enough Catholic to make it into heaven; it's
just too hard.

That's great news!

There are also many who, after hearing the gospel, will say "how can it be that easy," because they truly believe they must do something, in addition to Jesus' work on the cross, and they just can't believe that salvation is a free gift.

Salvation isn't a reward for the righteous. It's a gift for the guilty.


I'm reminded of this scripture...


1 Cor 1:18-31:

"For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written: “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, And bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent.” Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the disputer of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? For since, in the wisdom of God, the world through wisdom did not know God, it pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe. For Jews request a sign, and Greeks seek after wisdom; but we preach Christ crucified, to the Jews a stumbling block and to the Greeks foolishness, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.

For you see your calling, brethren, that not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called. But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty; and the base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen, and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are, that no flesh should glory in His presence. But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God—and righteousness and sanctification and redemption— that, as it is written, “He who glories, let him glory in the Lord.”

 

[WebersHome]

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The incident below is sometimes appropriated to interpret Matt 7:1-5

● John 8:1-6a . .Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. At dawn he appeared
again in the Temple courts, where all the people gathered around him, and
he sat down to teach them. The teachers of the law and the Pharisees
brought in a woman caught in adultery.

. . .They made her stand before the group and said to Jesus; Rabbi, this
woman was caught in the act of adultery. In the law, Moses commanded us
to stone such women. Now what do you say?

. . .They were using this question as a trap, in order to have a basis for
accusing him.

That scene took place outdoors because only specific Levites are permitted
to enter the structural portion of the Temple facility. The acreage adjoining
the structure served as a sort of sacred town square, where just about
anybody with the moxie and the wherewithal could set up a soap box
yeshiva to teach and/or preach, and vendors such as money changers and
livestock and fowl dealers could set up for business.

In those days, when Jews spoke of "God's house" the term always included
the courtyard as well as the structure, and the whole precinct was enclosed
inside a very large retaining wall.

Gentiles are often unaware of the Levitical restrictions controlling the
structure's entry and typically think of it as a church. But the rank and file
did their worship outside; not inside. Their closest approach was the Altar,
which was situated at the foot of steps leading up to a portico.

Christ wasn't a member of the Sanhedrin. So his Jewish opponents didn't
bring the woman to him for legal proceedings. This incident was wholly an
entrapment staged only to see where Christ stood regarding the rules about
adultery stated in the covenant that Moses' people agreed upon with God as
per Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy; but as the woman's
accusers were to soon find out, Christ was a stickler for due process.

First off: the covenant mandates that adulterers be put to death-- both the
man and the woman --no excuses and no exceptions.

● Lev 20:10 . . And the man that commits adultery with another man's wife,
even he that commits adultery with his neighbor's wife, the adulterer and
the adulteress shall surely be put to death.

However, the covenant requires the testimony of a minimum of at least two
witnesses in capital cases.

● Deut 17:6-7 . . At the mouth of two witnesses, or three witnesses, shall he
that is worthy of death be put to death; but at the mouth of one witness he
shall not be put to death. The hands of the witnesses shall be first upon him
to put him to death, and afterward the hands of all the people. So thou shalt
put the evil away from among you.

As it turned out; every one of the witnesses against the woman disqualified
themselves.

● John 8:6-9 . . Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his
finger. When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to
them: He among you without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at
her.

. . . Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground. At this, those who
heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus
was left, with the woman still standing there.

Consequently; the accusation was dropped.

● John 8:10-11 . . Jesus said to her: Woman, where are they? Does no one
condemn you? And she said: No one, sir. And Jesus said: Neither do I
condemn you

You see; even if Christ had been a legitimate witness, he couldn't testify
against her because the covenant requires a minimum of two witnesses in
capital cases.

Q: Isn't Christ supposed to be God; therefore knowing all things and seeing
all things? Why couldn't Christ prosecute the woman in that capacity?

A: The Word of John 1:1-2 and John 1:14 laid his divine status aside when
he came to earth as a human being (Phil 2:6-7) viz: he was here as John Q
Citizen and as such wasn't authorized to govern.

● Luke 12:13-14 . . Someone in the crowd said to him: Teacher, tell my
brother to divide the inheritance with me. Jesus replied: Man, who appointed
me a judge or an arbiter between you?

NOTE: It's fun to speculate about what Christ wrote on the ground in the
incident of the woman taken in adultery. Well, as for me; I suspect it was
the names of girlfriends that the woman's accusers had on the side that they
thought nobody knew about. Hence when Christ said "let him who is without
sin cast the first stone" he wasn't talking about sin in general; no, he talking
about the same sin; viz: adultery.

/

 

[James37]

There is a reason that Jesus condemned organized religion...........the reason is obvious!

Where in the Bible died Jesus condemn organized religion?

 

[Nehemiah6]

Where in the Bible died Jesus condemn organized religion?

Since everything in the Old Covenant could be termed "organized religion" Christ could not condemn it. He gave Israel its tabernacle, temple, Levitical priesthood, sacrifices, feasts & festivals, etc. What Christ condemned was (1) the hypocrisy of the religious leaders, (2) the distortion of the Law of Moses by the scribes, lawyers, and Pharisees, (3) the attempt to be justified by the works of the Law rather than by faith, and (4) focus on the minutiae of the Law while neglecting the weightier matters of the Law -- truth, justice, and mercy.

Today the term "organized religion" generally applies to the traditionalist Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches, as well as the mainline denominations. The idea being that organized religion fails to emphasize the Gospel and salvation by grace through faith. The focus is on the sacraments and "Holy Tradition".

 

[WebersHome]

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One of Christ's characteristics, in which I have complete confidence, is that
he is conscientious about making his Father happy; thus he stated:

"The one who sent me is with me. He has not left me alone, because I
always do what is pleasing to Him." (John 8:29)

Were Christ to fail in any way, any way at all, pleasing the one who sent
him. then it would be dishonest of Christ to claim to "always" please Him.
Christ might be able to claim pleasing the one who sent him a high
percentage of the time, but certainly not always.

Here is the will of the one who sent him.

"This is the will of the one who sent me; that I should not lose anything of
what He gave me." (John 6:39)

The one who sent Christ has given him sheep (John 10:27-30). Were Jesus
to lose one single head of those sheep-- even just one --he would fail to
always please the one who sent him.

Regarding those sheep, Jesus stated:

"I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch
them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than
all; no one can snatch them out of my Father's hand." (John 10:28-29)

It has actually been posited that the sheep are an exception. In other words;
it's been posited that the sheep of their own free will can take themselves
out of Jesus' hand. But of course they can't because God's free will trumps
the sheep's free will.

"This is the will of the one who sent me; that I should not lose anything of
what He gave me." (John 6:39)

The posit is a vote of no-confidence in the good shepherd's determination to
succeed at pleasing the one who sent him; and reveals a belief that the
sheep have enough strength and cunning to overpower their shepherd and
run off.

Were the good shepherd only human, then I would be inclined to agree with
the posit that his sheep might get past him and run off. But the Bible
teaches that Christ is not only human, but also the divine architect of the
entire cosmos with all of its forms of life, matter, and energy. So then, the
good shepherd has at his disposal all the powers and abilities of the supreme
being to utilize in keeping the sheep right where he wants them to be.

Surely no one in a right mind would dare to suggest that sheep have
sufficient powers and abilities of their own at their disposal to overcome
Christ. Were that the case, the sheep would have no need of his services;
the sheep could shepherd themselves.

But even were the sheep to somehow manage to escape Christ's hand, they
would still have his Father's hand to contend with; and good luck getting
away from Almighty God!

Now, seeing as how the good shepherd has all the powers of the supreme
being at his disposal to keep the sheep where he wants them, then it shouldn't
take too much more to persuade the sheep that it's okay to fully trust in this
next statement of his.

I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved." (John 10:9)

Were Christ a so-so shepherd; then he wouldn't dare say "will be" saved;
no, he'd have to tone it down a bit and say "can be" saved. That would leave
him some room for error. But when Christ says "will be" he's claiming a
0.0% failure rate. That's how confident Christ is that he will lose
nothing of what his Father has given him.

"Upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of the netherworld shall
not prevail against it." (Matt 16:18)

/

 

[Musicus]

God never intended for Christian's to be divided into denominations or for the church to be a 501c3 corporation! It's time for the church to leave denominations and the 501c3 behind and unite as one.

God never intended that anyone should perish either, but that's humans for ya. And what's wrong with tax breaks if the Gov't offers?

 

[Nehemiah6]

God never intended for Christian's to be divided into denominations or for the church to be a 501c3 corporation! It's time for the church to leave denominations and the 501c3 behind and unite as one.

Unity can only be achieved on the basis of Bible truth. And because many denominations have abandoned Bible truth, there cannot be true unity.

 

[WebersHome]

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The Ten Commandments are part of a covenanted law (Ex 34:28, Deut
4:13, Deut 10:4)

That's very serious because the covenanted law is enforced by a curse for
non compliance. (Deut 27:26, Gal 3:10)

Now; according to Deut 4:2, Deut 5:29-30, Deut 27:26, and Jas 2:10; the
covenanted law can't be cherry-picked; viz: it's all or nothing at all

This means religions teaching that compliance with the Ten Commandments
is essential to obtain heaven, have placed their followers under the
jurisdiction of the covenanted law and of course subject to the law's
covenanted curse for non compliance.

The tragic news is: every Roman Catholic who sincerely believes they have
to comply with the Ten Commandments in order to obtain heaven are in
very grave danger of missing out. Note the grammatical tense of the
verbiage in the passages below.

"Cursed is the man who does not uphold the words of this law by carrying
them out." (Deut 27:26)

"All who rely on observing the law are under a curse, for it is written:
Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the
book of the law." (Gal 3:10)

The grammatical tense of "cursed is" is present tense rather than future,
indicating that the very moment a Roman Catholic breaks one of the
Ten Commandments; they are instantly slammed with a curse-- no delay,
and no waiting period. And should they fail to obtain absolution for that
sin, they will take its curse with them when they pass away.

/

 

[zeroturbulence]

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I was baptized an infant into the Roman Catholic system and continued on
to complete First Holy Communion and Confirmation.

Roman Catholicism is a difficult religion. In order for its followers to obtain a
passing grade they have to consistently comply with everything in the
Catechism, plus all of Rome's traditions, and every Bull, every Holy Day of
Obligation, every Encyclical plus all of the Sermon On The Mount and
everything taught in the epistles of Paul, Peter, James, Jude, and John;
along with every ruling of Rome's Church Councils including Nicaea 1 & 2,
Constantinople 1 & 2 & 3, Ephesus, Chalcedon, Lateran 1 & 2 & 3 & 4 & 5,
Lyons 1 & 2, Vienne, Constance, Florence, Trent, and Vaticans 1 & 2.

On top of all that; should a Catholic leave this life in a state of mortal sin,
they go straight to Hell with no stopover in a purgatory. All their years as a
Catholic, no matter how many nor how faithful, will count for naught.

/

That is not true. I'm catholic. If it were true, they would never be able to admit kids into the church during their confirmation and they do all the time. I was one of them.

 

[WebersHome]

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The passing grade about which I wrote in post #1 is relative to the event
spoken of in Rev 20:11-15.

/