Mention of Judas is conspicuously irrelevant - he would be relevant only if his salvation had been mentioned; but John 6.69 ff. calls him a “son of perdition”. To mention him in this connection only shows that RCs have not the foggiest notion of what they are trying to refute; in consequence, they succeed only in making themselves look foolish in the eyes of those who do know what the doctrine means. What is the point of that
? Why should they be impressed by seeing their belief caricatured for the hundredth time ? This is a billion miles from the method of Aquinas
- he at least bothered to find out what he was refuting: why are Catholics unable to imitate him in this ?
So much for ecumenical dialogue.
We will simply disagree here. OSAS, as it is most commonly expressed, is in no way caricatured by me or most others that criticize it. Your views are considerably more nuanced and sophisticated than the typical proponents of OSAS.
Now for Judas and the issue of his being a son of perdition etc.
Non-Catholic theology says that a person is saved by faith alone, and OSAS believers consistently say that “works” have absolutely nothing to do with salvation. The real question concerning Judas then boils down to one of “belief.”
Let’s see what scripture says about Judas.
First please refer back to my earlier post for John 17 and comments.
It is important to make no mistake about Judas and his position as an apostle. Judas, as one of the disciples, “believed” at the marriage feast of Cana[Jn 2:11]. Judas is present when Peter makes his public confession of faith and Jesus is revealed as the son of God[Matt 16:15-18]. Like the rest of the twelve, Judas has healed the sick and cast out demons while preaching that the kingdom of heaven is at hand. Judas has done these things by the power of the Holy Spirit[Matt 6:8-13, Mark 3:14-19 and Mark 6:13]. Judas was also present when Jesus gave the apostles as a group the “power to bind and loose” in Matthew 18:18. Judas believed and is one of the saved
until he **“betrayed” **Jesus.
Judas is even referred to as “elect.”(Gk,eklegomai - Strong’s word # 1586 – Lk 6:13, Jn 6:70; cf. Mk 13:20, Jn 13:18, 15:16,19, Acts 1:2), and then falls away and is damned.
In Matthew 14 we are told that Jesus tells the disciples* to get into the boat and to cross to the other side of the sea. Jesus then walks on the water and Peter joins him and begins to sink beneath the waves as his faith falters. Jesus then helps Peter stay afloat and then they both get back into the boat. Once in the boat scripture tells us the following:
Matthew 14:33
“And those in the boat worshiped him, saying, ‘Truly you are the Son of God.’”
Judas worshiped Jesus and declared his faith by stating that Jesus was truly the son of God. Judas was a believer but he “became” a betrayer.[Luke 6:16]
In Matthew 19:28 we also read this:
"Jesus said to them, “Truly, I say to you, in the new world, when the Son of man shall sit on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.”
Obviously at that point in time, Judas was among the twelve and was going to be sitting on a throne with the rest of the twelve in heaven judging the twelve tribes of Israel. In the end that was not to be…Judas betrayed Jesus.
Jesus calls the apostles his friends. This includes Judas. He even individually refers to Judas as “friend” at the betrayal. Likewise we read this in Jn 13:18 in reference to Judas:
Jesus says
: " I am not speaking of you all; I know whom I have chosen; it is that the scripture may be fulfilled, ‘He who ate my bread has lifted his heel against me.’"
This reference to the fulfillment of scripture leads us to Psalm 41:9 which says:
“Even my bosom friend in whom I trusted, who ate of my bread, has lifted his heel against me.”
Judas is referred to as a bosom friend. Judas “had” equal standing with the apostles which he traded for thirty pieces of silver.
Once Judas betrayed, Jesus, he still could have properly repented and been restored to salvation. Unfortunately, even though Judas repented before the chief priest and the elders in returning the thirty pieces of silver, he did not have a godly grief of repentance. His repentance was the “worldly repentance” that Paul says “leads to death as opposed to a godly grief that produces a repentance that leads to salvation.”[See 2 Cor 7:10]” This is the difference between the repentance of Peter after denying Jesus and the worldly repentance of Judas after the betrayal. Jesus even tells Peter that Satan wished to sift him like wheat but that He[Jesus] had prayed for him so that Peter’s “faith would not fail” and that when He[Peter] turned back to Jesus, that he was to strengthen his brothers.[See Luke 22:32] Peter and Judas both had free will and made their choices. God’s grace was there for them. Peter repented with a godly grief, Judas repented with a worldly grief.
Both Peter and Judas were believers, both had cast out demons and healed the sick by way of the Holy Spirit, and both were given power to bind and loose. Moreover, both were under the protection of Jesus and were given to Jesus by the Father. Neither Peter nor Judas was snatched from the hand of Jesus or the Father. Peter denied Jesus and temporarily chose to leave that protection, but he freely repented with a godly grief, whereas Judas freely chose to betray Jesus and in his own weakness chose a worldly grief that leads to death.
cont. on next post.*
