7 ones

[excatholic]

Eph4:4 I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called, 2 with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love, 3 endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. 4 There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling; 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism; 6 one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all. I like to refer to this as the seven ones. The word body means church and Paul says there is only one, not mine not yours but ours. It is the body of believers in Christ, and it is the church he is returning for, his bride. It is a Jewish custom for the bridegroom to go and prepare a place for the bride and groom to live. John 14:2 In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also. 4 And where I go you know, and the way you know." God is Love.

 

[jeffreedy789]

amen. quite true. here here. thanks for the reaffirming quotation from scripture.

 

[Todd_Easton]

excatholic:

Eph4:4 There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling; 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism; 6 one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.

This is the word of the Lord. Thanks be to God.

I like to refer to this as the seven ones.

This makes sense to me.

The word body means church and Paul says there is only one, not mine not yours but ours. It is the body of believers in Christ,

Actually, its not my body, your body or our body. The Bible says, “Christ is the head of the church, his body” (Eph 5:23).

The Bible goes on to describe the body of Christ in 1 Cor 12:12-30, saying:
12For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. …20As it is, there are many parts, yet one body. 21The eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you,” nor again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.” … 27Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it. 28And God has appointed in the church first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then workers of miracles, then healers, helpers, administrators, speakers in various kinds of tongues. 29Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles?"

Similarly the appointed offices in the Church are described In Ephesians 4:11-14:
“11And his gifts were that some should be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers, 12to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ; …14so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the cunning of men, by their craftiness in deceitful wiles.”

From elsewhere in the Bible we learn that those appointed to be pastors and teachers in the Church are also called bishops and presbyters [now usually called priests, for short] and those appointed to be helpers in the Church are also called deacons.

In order to help maintain unity of faith in his Church until his return, Jesus also appointed one member of his body, namely Peter, to be the steward over his house (the Church) and Jesus entrusted to Peter the keys of his kingdom and Jesus prayed for Peter that his faith would not fail and told him to strengthen his brothers, to feed and tend his sheep. Peter’s successors, the bishops of Rome (the Popes), continue even to this day to be a source of unity in Jesus’ Church.

For a Christian to say that he doesn’t need the Pope, or bishops, or priests or deacons, is like the eye saying to the hand, “I have no need you,” and puts that Christian in the dangerous position of easily being “tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the cunning of men, by their craftiness in deceitful wiles.”

 

[Katholikos]

The word body means church and Paul says there is only one, not mine not yours but ours. It is the body of believers in Christ, and it is the church he is returning for, his bride.

Whoa, Nellie.

St. Paul tells us that the *Church *

is the body of Christ. He also tells us that the Church is the Bride of Christ. He uses other similies as well. At the time he wrote, in the mid-first century, there was only one ekklesia – the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church that Jesus identified as His very Self ("Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?) when He encountered Saul (St. Paul) on the road to Damascus (Acts 9:1-9). Christ has one body, not a collection of splintered body parts; and one Bride, not a harem.

“The church is the body of believers in Christ” is Protestant-speak. You mean, I think, that an amorphous group of “true believers” from every denomination that has come into existence since the 16th century, espousing countless conflicting and competing doctrines that the Apostles did not teach, is Christ’s church – and, I presume, that the Catholic Church isn’t. Or, what do you mean?

Sorry, excatholic, but the point you wish to make escapes me. Maybe I didn’t get enough sleep last night. But what’s your message?

Peace be to you and to all who post at Catholic Answers,

JMJ Jay
Ex-Southern Baptist, ex-agnostic, ex-atheist, ecstatic to be Catholic!

 

[JimG]

“There is one Lord, one Faith, one Baptism, one God and Father of us all.” These are the same words used in the RCIA ritual when receiving new people into the one Church.

 

[kepha1]

1. How do Fundamental Christian churches, which have their own distinct theology, and often boast that they are “separated,” obey God’s command that Christians “all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment” (1 Cor. 1:10)???
2. Hebrews 13:17 says, “Obey your leaders and submit to their authority. They keep watch over you as men who must give an account. Obey them so that their work will be a joy, not a burden, for that would be of no advantage to you.”

What is the expiration date of this verse?

1. Jesus said that the unity of Christians would be objective evidence to the world that He had been sent by God (John 17:20-23). How can the world see an invisible “unity” that exists only in the hearts of believers?

 

[CARose]

The Church, the one true Church is the Mystical Body of Christ.

I can’t recall the chapter and verse, but I know that there is a passage (Timothy ?) where it says that if someone disagrees on something, first confront them directly and privately, if they still take a “wrong” position (please excuse my horrendous paraphrase, I can’t recall the chapter/verse to get it right and it’s late, I need to call it a day, but I’d like to post this quickly before logging out) bring it before two friends. If they still persist, bring the issue before the Church. If they still persist, treat them like a Tax Collector or unbeliever. With no “real” Church, consisting of any specific set of definitive truths, no earthly way of determining the correct interpretation of Scripture, how could we ever be certain we’d come before the correct “Church”.

And in this reality, how can we possible explain 1 Tim 3:15 “…the household of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and the bulwark of the truth.” (RSV, 1952 translation for Churches of Christ in USA) or "…“the household of God, which is the church of the living God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and foundation of truth.” (NAB, 1970 Catholic Translation)

It’s not that the scripture is the pillar and bulwarks (bulwarks are the protective walls around a city) or even the pillar and foundation of the Truth, rather the Church is where one finds the truth. How can this be found in the various denominations of Protestantism?

Only in Catholicism do you find a Church which claims infallible teaching and a clear line of Apostolic succession leading back to Christ, and the unbroken chain of authority necessary to demonstrate that authority throughout the ages, against which the gates of Hell have not prevailed.

CARose

 

[Katholikos]

I can’t recall the chapter and verse, but I know that there is a passage (Timothy ?) where it says that if someone disagrees on something, first confront them directly and privately, if they still take a “wrong” position (please excuse my horrendous paraphrase, I can’t recall the chapter/verse to get it right and it’s late, I need to call it a day, but I’d like to post this quickly before logging out) bring it before two friends. If they still persist, bring the issue before the Church. If they still persist, treat them like a Tax Collector or unbeliever. With no “real” Church, consisting of any specific set of definitive truths, no earthly way of determining the correct interpretation of Scripture, how could we ever be certain we’d come before the correct “Church”.

It’s Matthew 18:15-18. Right on, brother! Other Protestants define the church as the "invisible church of ‘true believers.’ " The same argument applies. How could one obey Christ and “tell it to the [invisible] church”?

 

[Convert97]

There he goes again. The verse quoted by ex-Catholic tells us there is one faith etc. I agree. Then why did he leave it?

 

[uniChristian]

kepha1:

1. How do Fundamental Christian churches, which have their own distinct theology, and often boast that they are “separated,” obey God’s command that Christians “all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment” (1 Cor. 1:10)???
2. Hebrews 13:17 says, “Obey your leaders and submit to their authority. They keep watch over you as men who must give an account. Obey them so that their work will be a joy, not a burden, for that would be of no advantage to you.”

What is the expiration date of this verse?

1. Jesus said that the unity of Christians would be objective evidence to the world that He had been sent by God (John 17:20-23). How can the world see an invisible “unity” that exists only in the hearts of believers?

I am not a Roman Catholic and I obey my leader, his name is Jesus not John Paul II.

 

[jimmy]

uniChristian:

I am not a Roman Catholic and I obey my leader, his name is Jesus not John Paul II.

Since you obey Jesus you should obey the pope also since Christ gave his authority to Peter and that has been handed down to the current pope.

Read Isaiah22 and Matt16. The keys to the kingdom are passed down through succession. Read Ignatius, he talks about following the bishops in everything they do. Ignatius was the disciple of the apostle John and he wrote around the year 100AD. Here are links to three epistles of Ignatius.

catholicfirst.com/thefaith/churchfathers/volume01/ignatius02.cfm

catholicfirst.com/thefaith/churchfathers/volume01/ignatius03.cfm

catholicfirst.com/thefaith/churchfathers/volume01/ignatius01.cfm

Read Irenaeus book 3 “Against Heresies” chapter 3. He traces all the bishops of Rome back to the apostles and says that all churches should obey the church of Rome because of its preeminent authority. He wrote in about 175AD. Here is the link.

catholicfirst.com/thefaith/churchfathers/volume01/irenaeus05.cfm

Here is a link to volume 1 of the church fathers. They offer a great view of what the first century church thought of the way the church should be run.

catholicfirst.com/thefaith/churchfathers/volume01/volume01.cfm

 

[uniChristian]

jimmy:

Since you obey Jesus you should obey the pope also since Christ gave his authority to Peter and that has been handed down to the current pope.

Read Isaiah22 and Matt16. The keys to the kingdom are passed down through succession. Read Ignatius, he talks about following the bishops in everything they do. Ignatius was the disciple of the apostle John and he wrote around the year 100AD. Here are links to three epistles of Ignatius.

catholicfirst.com/thefaith/churchfathers/volume01/ignatius02.cfm

catholicfirst.com/thefaith/churchfathers/volume01/ignatius03.cfm

catholicfirst.com/thefaith/churchfathers/volume01/ignatius01.cfm

Read Irenaeus book 3 “Against Heresies” chapter 3. He traces all the bishops of Rome back to the apostles and says that all churches should obey the church of Rome because of its preeminent authority. He wrote in about 175AD. Here is the link.

catholicfirst.com/thefaith/churchfathers/volume01/irenaeus05.cfm

Here is a link to volume 1 of the church fathers. They offer a great view of what the first century church thought of the way the church should be run.

catholicfirst.com/thefaith/churchfathers/volume01/volume01.cfm

Im just a guest here so I won’t argue with you peace.

 

[jimmy]

uniChristian:
Im just a guest here so I won’t argue with you peace.
The point of these threads are to argue about the points. Even though you are a guest it is fine for you to argue the points.