All we need is Jesus

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earthlypilgram

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In conversation with a cousin who has started their own “Church” and states all we need is Jesus:

“I read your post and I noticed you have a lot of passion for the Catholic Church and that’s good but I would like to say that Jesus is everything we need He is our rock our guide our love our forgiveness our Savior our Lord it’s all about Him I’m not minimizing anything any religion I’m saying I’m thankful to have a loving God who loves me unconditionally!!”

This to me has undertones of “faith alone” and “personal relationship” theology common in protestantism. My knee-jerk reaction is to go full out Micheal Vorris on them but I’m not blessed with the gift of articulating a response I believe that could plant that seed in them and bring them back to the fullness if truth. Can anyone help, guide, provide pointers for me in constructing a reply to this “all we need is Jesus” belief? Not so much a “taste me sword you heretical heathen” but something a bit more compassionate, thoughtful and rooted in truth?
Thank you.
 
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This all comes down to the fundamental division between Catholics and Protestants. Authority.

Maybe get a copy of “Common Ground” video and study guide. If he is local, ask him to come watch it with you. Distant, send him a copy and do a study together.

http://ninevehscrossing.com/CommonGround/CGOrder.php

This has been aired on TBN as well as EWTN.

Or you could be snarky and ask why start a church if ALL you need is Jesus.
 
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earthlypilgram said:
I would like to say that Jesus is everything we need He is our rock our guide our love our forgiveness our Savior our Lord it’s all about Him
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I guess I might be tempted to respond to him, “hey, you know that guy that you say is ‘everything’ to you? The one who you say ‘it’s all about Him’? Yeah, well… He founded a Church and set up its leadership and asked that we ‘all be one’. So… are you sure you’re all about Him, if you’re doing something He didn’t intend?”
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Such poor souls are often guided by their egos - the fruits of the reformation. Just mention that is not how Christ founded His Church.

No words will convince or convict - that is the job of the Holy Spirit.

Then simply pray, daily or each time you call them to mind.
 
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First, I would agree with the person and acknowledge that they are correct in the means by which they are saved. We are in fact, saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ, and that we are saved by faith apart from works. That part of what they are saying is true. However, the question then becomes, saved for what purpose, or saved to what purpose might be a better way of wording it. I would go to Ephesians 2, which I am certain they will agree with and walk them through it. We are dead in our trespasses and sins in which we once walked. However, as your friend says, God, being rich in mercy, even when we were dead in our trespasses and sins, made us alive together - in Christ - and raised us up - with Christ - to be seated in the heavenly places - with Christ. It is by this grace that we are saved through faith, and yes, it is not a result of works. However, here’s where things get really cool. We were saved for a purpose, and that purpose is for the good works which God has prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. Now check the next section of the passage. We have been brought near by the blood of Christ, he has reconciled us all to one another, we are now fellow saints with one another, and he is building us all into a holy temple. When you look at the verbs there it is all applying to the group, not the individual. Just as Israel was called to be a community who worships the one true God, so are we called into community with one another in Jesus Christ. If you really want to take your time, start with Ephesians 1 which really introduces the communal nature of this epistle.
 
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adf417 said:
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thebible:
Well all we need is Christ since He died for us.
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Does this mean we dont need the bible?

Peace!!!
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Actually, yes. As a strict point of fact, we don’t need the Bible. The Bible didn’t exist for the first 300 years of Christianity, and it spread just fine during that period of time.

The Bible is certainly wonderful. It’s an amazing guide, teaches us a great deal about the faith, and is now accessible by anyone. All of those are great things. But they are not necessary, as the first three centuries of Christianity can show us.
 
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Tell him you totally agree and this is why you love being a Catholic and going to Mass because you can find the real physical Jesus in person right there every day of the week ready to join with you.
 
earthlypilgram said:
“I read your post and I noticed you have a lot of passion for the Catholic Church and that’s good but I would like to say that Jesus is everything we need He is our rock our guide our love our forgiveness our Savior our Lord it’s all about Him I’m not minimizing anything any religion I’m saying I’m thankful to have a loving God who loves me unconditionally!!”
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Personally I would want clarification on what he means by this.

If I was able to read your original post it would be much easier to see what he was trying to say here.

I find it’s best to deal with these situations by asking questions.

Ask what he mans by “that’s good but”? Is he trying to say that by being a part of the Catholic Church it’s not possible to make Jesus our everything?

Ask him to define what he means by “everything”? Does this mean everything we want or everything Jesus wants?

Ask him what he means by guide? Is Jesus our guide who guides us where we want to go or where He wants us to go? From my reading of scripture it sure seem Jesus already founded a Church to guide us where He wants us to go.

Ask Him what is “all about Him”? Just look up all of the Truly, Truly sayings in John. Are those all about Jesus and we should obey them or are they just symbolic and not necessary?

Finally I would ask him what he means by…I’m thankful to have a loving God who loves me unconditionally? Some people think these means they can do whatever they want and God will always love them and wants nothing from us in return. Sure there is nothing we can do to earn our salvation, but there sure is a heck of a lot we can do to lose our salvation. Unconditional love doesn’t give us a pass on loving God and Loving neighbor.

God Bless
 
Which Christ?

Chalcedonian Christ?

Nestorian Christ?

Arian Christ?
 
Excellent reply. “Christ alone” sounds wonderful and very simple.

But…how do we understand that when we dig a little deeper. Who is Christ? What is Christ?
 
Prots take for granted all the centuries of debate and argument that went into forming the basis of most of their theology.
 
The Church’s theology to the relationship between the soul and Christ is much greater than anything I heard from any denominations.
 
Inaccurate. Apparently you haven’t read many of the reformation documents such as The Augsberg Confession which frequently refers the theologians that came before them.
 
The original rebels may have, I’m speaking of current, average, every day church goers of Protestant denominations. Most of them couldn’t even tell you who Luther or Zwingli were.
 
What about the communion of saints? Mary and the saints are already in Heaven and it pleases the Lord to help us on earth through their intercession. They are our helpers. We don’t mold Jesus into our will but accept his will with humility.
 
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