Subject: "Once Saved Always Saved" |
Bible Note: Hi Lisa, I too enjoy studying church history, and I agree with your evaluation of many/most popes. As to purgatory, Islam also teaches of a purgatory. From what I've read Mohammad got that through Catholic teachings of his day. From what I understand, Mohammad's mother was a devout Catholic. As to the sacrament of Reconciliation. The Catholic Church usually uses... Matthew 16:19 "And I will give you keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven." and also... Matthew 18:18 "Assuredly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven." ... to say that priests are to either "bind" or "loose" because the RCC claims that their priesthood is descended from the apostle Peter. There is a problem with that. Peter was not a priest. In fact he refers to himself as a "fellow elder" (1Peter 5:1) and states in the following verses in chapter 5, that an elder (someone who has become wise in the faith through years of experience) is to "shepherd" the flock only as overseers and examples, and not as "lords over" the flock. But more to the point, reconciliation means "to make friendly again; to make consistent or compatible". If I confess my sins to you after having offended God or others... how will that reconcile me to the Father or the person I offended? It won't. Matthew 18:15-20 "Moreover if your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone. If he hears you, you have gained your brother. But if he will not hear you, take with you one or two more, that by the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established. And if he refuses to hear them, tell it to the church. But if he refuses even to hear the church, let him be to you like a heathen and a tax collector. Assuredly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. Again! I say to you that if two of you agree on earth concerning anything that they ask, it will be done for them by My Father in heaven. For where two or three are gathered in My Name, I am there in the midst of them." Matthew 18:21-22 "Then Peter came to Him and said, 'Lord, how many times shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? Up to seven times?'" Jesus said to him, 'I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven." (Rreference Luke 17:1-4). The direction for "binding" and "loosing" (forgiving and not forgiving) is not only for the elders, but it is a command from Jesus on how all of us are to deal with someone who offends us... and in reverse if we are the offender. So according to God's Word, we are to confess (actually "repent of") our sins to God, and to the person we have offended. Catholics may not perceive baptism, and communion, (or reconciliation), as rungs on the ladder to heaven, but the church teaches that they are necessary to salvation. In fact I remember "my" priest from years back saying that anyone who was NOT baptized would NOT go to heaven, and that's why it was so important to get babies baptized right away. And information from my family and friends... it's still being taught in the RCC. The Bible says in 1Peter 3:21 "there is an antitype which now saves us, namely baptism (not the removal of the filth of the flesh, but THE ANSWER OF A GOOD CONSCIENCE TOWARD GOD), through the resurrection of Jesus Christ..." (caps are mine) Most babies do not have a good conscience toward God -- just for the record. It seems that the only people the apostles and other elders baptized were those who had heard the Word and believed. The priest also taught that anyone who DID receive communion on a weekly basis (after infant baptism) would go to heaven no matter what else they did or did not do! Nothing matterd except the "act of taking communion". He and I went round and round on that... I used the Bible as my reference and he used church doctrine as his authority. It seems to me that the Bible teaches we are to have communion using the broken bread (as a sign of Christ's broken body), and wine (as a sign of His shed blood -- the blood of the new covenant) in remembrance of Christ's ultimate sacrifice for our sin. See 1Cor. 11:23-26. And we are also warned not to partake of that communion in an unworthy manner (1Cor. 11:27-34). If you weren't taught all these strange things, that's really a wonderful blessing for you! |