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- Status
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TNT
Guest
Letter from an ex-Protestant
This is a letter to all the pastors, evangelists, and other assorted leaders in Protestantism whom I listened to at one time:
Dear _________ :
I just want to write you to tell you that I think you should be ashamed of yourself for giving your people only half (or even less) of the truth of the Bible regarding the Christian Faith and how that Faith is lived out. As a professing follower of Christ, the TRUTH should be very important to you. But the things you have said and the way you have said them have not been truthful at all:
1. You talked about your denomination as if it went back all the way to the days that Jesus walked the earth. You act as if Jesus Himself was a Baptist/Fundamentalist/Evangelical (take yer pick). I didn’t know any better and I trusted you!
2. You never told me about the writings of the Early Fathers. You never encouraged me to examine them for myself to see what the disciples of the apostles believed. You acted as if they were all Protestants back then. I didn’t know any better, and I trusted you.
3. You taught me that the Church was taken over by a false gospel sometime in the fourth century and the Gospel all but disappeared from the earth until the Reformation. It never occurred to me to connect 2 + 2 and realize that this is exactly what the JW’s and the Mormons teach, because I thought you were telling me the truth and I trusted you!!
4. You never taught me about a covenant, even though the Bible speaks of the New Covenant and Jesus said “This is the New Covenant in my Blood”. Since we live in a covenant relationship now (like the Jews did in the Old Covenant) and since the word “covenant” appears over 280 times in the scriptures, I would think that concept would be very important for a Christian to learn about. But you never taught it at all and I trusted you!!
5. What you did tell me about was something called a “dispensation” which appears only 4 times in the scriptures and that only in the NT. But you acted like this is the way God deals with people and I trusted you!!
6. You never told me about the many and numerous translation errors in the Bible which have given rise to many of your Protestant false doctrines, such as the mistranslation of the word “aion” in Matthew 24: 3 and the mistranslation of “logizomai” in Romans 3 & 4. I though that since you went to Bible College you were profoundly smart and therefore understood these translations to be correct, so I trusted you.
7. You never once told me that the Catholic Church, which you despise, was the Body which gave us the Holy Scriptures. To hear you talk, the Bible just dropped out of thin air some day. Some of you act as if the Reformers invented the Bible after years of pagan ignorance and superstition. And I trusted you.
8. You never told me that anything orthodox I believe about the natures of Jesus, the Trinity, the divinity of Jesus the Christ, and all other understandings necessary to salvation, came from the councils of the Catholic Church. Why? Were you afraid that I would realize that perhaps the Church is not the demonic institution you have painted it to be? Or were you afraid that I would realize that any truth you Protestants have is only that which the Church defined in Her councils. But I trusted you.
9. You never once took the time to really talk about the teachings of the Catholic Church. You simply made your accusations from your pulpit and either told or inferred to everyone that ALL Catholics are going straight to hell, with the pope in the front row seat. Were you afraid or unable to defend what you Protties believe? Slander and ad hominum attacks are not a defense, but I thought so and I not only trusted you, I parroted your nonsense to all who would listen.
CONTINUED…
This is a letter to all the pastors, evangelists, and other assorted leaders in Protestantism whom I listened to at one time:
Dear _________ :
I just want to write you to tell you that I think you should be ashamed of yourself for giving your people only half (or even less) of the truth of the Bible regarding the Christian Faith and how that Faith is lived out. As a professing follower of Christ, the TRUTH should be very important to you. But the things you have said and the way you have said them have not been truthful at all:
1. You talked about your denomination as if it went back all the way to the days that Jesus walked the earth. You act as if Jesus Himself was a Baptist/Fundamentalist/Evangelical (take yer pick). I didn’t know any better and I trusted you!
2. You never told me about the writings of the Early Fathers. You never encouraged me to examine them for myself to see what the disciples of the apostles believed. You acted as if they were all Protestants back then. I didn’t know any better, and I trusted you.
3. You taught me that the Church was taken over by a false gospel sometime in the fourth century and the Gospel all but disappeared from the earth until the Reformation. It never occurred to me to connect 2 + 2 and realize that this is exactly what the JW’s and the Mormons teach, because I thought you were telling me the truth and I trusted you!!
4. You never taught me about a covenant, even though the Bible speaks of the New Covenant and Jesus said “This is the New Covenant in my Blood”. Since we live in a covenant relationship now (like the Jews did in the Old Covenant) and since the word “covenant” appears over 280 times in the scriptures, I would think that concept would be very important for a Christian to learn about. But you never taught it at all and I trusted you!!
5. What you did tell me about was something called a “dispensation” which appears only 4 times in the scriptures and that only in the NT. But you acted like this is the way God deals with people and I trusted you!!
6. You never told me about the many and numerous translation errors in the Bible which have given rise to many of your Protestant false doctrines, such as the mistranslation of the word “aion” in Matthew 24: 3 and the mistranslation of “logizomai” in Romans 3 & 4. I though that since you went to Bible College you were profoundly smart and therefore understood these translations to be correct, so I trusted you.
7. You never once told me that the Catholic Church, which you despise, was the Body which gave us the Holy Scriptures. To hear you talk, the Bible just dropped out of thin air some day. Some of you act as if the Reformers invented the Bible after years of pagan ignorance and superstition. And I trusted you.
8. You never told me that anything orthodox I believe about the natures of Jesus, the Trinity, the divinity of Jesus the Christ, and all other understandings necessary to salvation, came from the councils of the Catholic Church. Why? Were you afraid that I would realize that perhaps the Church is not the demonic institution you have painted it to be? Or were you afraid that I would realize that any truth you Protestants have is only that which the Church defined in Her councils. But I trusted you.
9. You never once took the time to really talk about the teachings of the Catholic Church. You simply made your accusations from your pulpit and either told or inferred to everyone that ALL Catholics are going straight to hell, with the pope in the front row seat. Were you afraid or unable to defend what you Protties believe? Slander and ad hominum attacks are not a defense, but I thought so and I not only trusted you, I parroted your nonsense to all who would listen.
CONTINUED…
M
MonicaC
Guest
I think that Jesus Gave a good example of Purgatory in Matthew 18: 21-35. When at the end of the story the KIng handed over the servant to the totures UNTIL he should pay back the whole debt.
Notice that the sevant will be in tormant Until his debt is repayed not forever. This gives us an idea that our debts can be repayed.
Just a thought - I really like Jesus explaination more than mans.
Notice that the sevant will be in tormant Until his debt is repayed not forever. This gives us an idea that our debts can be repayed.
Just a thought - I really like Jesus explaination more than mans.
T
TNT
Guest
FROM PREV POST…CONTINUED:
10. You told me that the Church was some sort of “invisible Church” that no one could see because it is made up of all “true believers” from everywhere and every denomination (even though you also taught that only “we” really had everything “right”). I didn’t know what I was missing. I thought I was in the Church and that I was getting every good thing God had for me because I trusted you.
You better think a long time about what you are doing and what you are teaching. It is bad enough that you make false accusations (which the Lord hates) against our Lord’s Church, but you are out there aggressively stealing His sheep from His flock which He put on earth. You seem to think think that since you “accept Jesus”, you won’t have to answer for anything at all because you are “covered by the Blood of Jesus”.
Well, I have news for you, it took me a while (too long, actually), but I finally had my eyes opened, and that is not what the Holy Scriptures teach. They teach that at the Resurrection, Jesus will judge ALL MEN (you get that? – ALL!) BY THEIR DEEDS, and based on what they have done, they will either live or die eternally!! That is what Jesus taught in John 5: 28 - 29 and guess what, that is what the Catholic Faith teaches us also, because the Catholic Faith teaches what Jesus taught!!
I would gladly sit down with you and show you what I have learned from both my own studies and Catholics who really know the Faith, but sadly, you have a severe case of “presuppositional blindness” and Evangelical deafness and wouldn’t listen anyway.
Sincerely yours,
Your former member
With thanks to “Altar Boy” for permission to publish.
Sean’s Faith Website
Of course, if Purgatory is admitted in Scripure, the protestant novelty of OSAS is false and thus a doctrine of demons. That’s the REAL reason purgatory cannot be admitted, regardless of the Scriptures. It is also the underlying reason for sucking out the Deuterocanonicals as well.
If they can deny “each will be judged by his deeds…” they can deny anything.
10. You told me that the Church was some sort of “invisible Church” that no one could see because it is made up of all “true believers” from everywhere and every denomination (even though you also taught that only “we” really had everything “right”). I didn’t know what I was missing. I thought I was in the Church and that I was getting every good thing God had for me because I trusted you.
You better think a long time about what you are doing and what you are teaching. It is bad enough that you make false accusations (which the Lord hates) against our Lord’s Church, but you are out there aggressively stealing His sheep from His flock which He put on earth. You seem to think think that since you “accept Jesus”, you won’t have to answer for anything at all because you are “covered by the Blood of Jesus”.
Well, I have news for you, it took me a while (too long, actually), but I finally had my eyes opened, and that is not what the Holy Scriptures teach. They teach that at the Resurrection, Jesus will judge ALL MEN (you get that? – ALL!) BY THEIR DEEDS, and based on what they have done, they will either live or die eternally!! That is what Jesus taught in John 5: 28 - 29 and guess what, that is what the Catholic Faith teaches us also, because the Catholic Faith teaches what Jesus taught!!
I would gladly sit down with you and show you what I have learned from both my own studies and Catholics who really know the Faith, but sadly, you have a severe case of “presuppositional blindness” and Evangelical deafness and wouldn’t listen anyway.
Sincerely yours,
Your former member
With thanks to “Altar Boy” for permission to publish.
Sean’s Faith Website
Of course, if Purgatory is admitted in Scripure, the protestant novelty of OSAS is false and thus a doctrine of demons. That’s the REAL reason purgatory cannot be admitted, regardless of the Scriptures. It is also the underlying reason for sucking out the Deuterocanonicals as well.
If they can deny “each will be judged by his deeds…” they can deny anything.
R
Richard_Hurtz
Guest
I had heard from some Catholic family members that Purgatory was “closed”. In fact, I even heard a priest on the radio say that the only reason that the Church created Purgatory was to sell Indulgences. Is this not true? No one in my parish mentions Purgatory. What’s the story?
Thanks,
Richard
Thanks,
Richard
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TNT
Guest
The story is that yur in a non-catholic parish. WAKE UP!
THE SIGN OUT FRONT MEANS NOTHING.
MANY PRIESTS HAVE THE THEOLOGICAL EDUCATION OF A 6-YR OLD PROTESTANT.AND SOME A 10-YR OLD BUDDIST.
DO SOME STUDIES ON YOUR OWN!
PURGATORY GOES ALL THE WAY BACK THROUGH THE OT.
To destroy a Religion, you must first sever its traditions.
K
kaycee
Guest
Church Militant:
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TNT
Guest
THANK YOU FOR YOUR INFALLIBLITY IN THE FIELD OF INTEPRETATION. I JUST LOVE: “INFALLIBLITY=WHAT I THINK AND SO YOU SHOULD TOO” OF “JOHNNY COME-LATELYS”
What good is yur so-called bible if:
"Nobody knows who the “spirits in prison” are. The passage may just mean that Christ told the souls in Hell about what He had accomplished at Calvary, which could have saved them if only they had believed."
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Richard_Hurtz
Guest
How do these people become priests?
Let me be clear, I have never heard anyone in my parish deny Purgatory. I have just never heard anyone mention it in 4 years.
Should I approach the Monsignor?
Blessings
Richard
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kaycee
Guest
I sincerely doubt that, since Roman apologists can only find 5 or 6 verses that are used to infer purgatory. Please cite anyone in the first 200 years of the church who believed in a suffering purgatory.
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RyanL
Guest
5 or 6 verses? Here’s over 30. Enjoy.
Are you arguing for a minimalist / reductionist theory of salvation? Because your list is shorter does that make you right? What kind of system is that? How about “God saves all”? Isn’t that even shorter than yours? The Unitarians believe it, and call it “bible-based”…
Could it also be that your list is shorter because there are implicit assumptions that fill volumes underlying your “simple gospel”? Why do you think the Apostles were so incompetant that they couldn’t pass on your “simple gospel”?
God Bless,
RyanL
P.S.
Pre 200 A.D. Purgatory…
“And after the exhibition, Tryphaena again receives her. For her daughter Falconilla had died, and said to her in a dream: Mother, thou shaft have this stranger Thecla in my place, in order that she may pray concerning me, and that I may be transferred to the place of the just.” Acts of Paul and Thecla (A.D. 160).
Are you arguing for a minimalist / reductionist theory of salvation? Because your list is shorter does that make you right? What kind of system is that? How about “God saves all”? Isn’t that even shorter than yours? The Unitarians believe it, and call it “bible-based”…
Could it also be that your list is shorter because there are implicit assumptions that fill volumes underlying your “simple gospel”? Why do you think the Apostles were so incompetant that they couldn’t pass on your “simple gospel”?
God Bless,
RyanL
P.S.
Pre 200 A.D. Purgatory…
“And after the exhibition, Tryphaena again receives her. For her daughter Falconilla had died, and said to her in a dream: Mother, thou shaft have this stranger Thecla in my place, in order that she may pray concerning me, and that I may be transferred to the place of the just.” Acts of Paul and Thecla (A.D. 160).
"Abercius by name, I am a disciple of the chaste shepherd...He taught me…faithful writings...These words, I, Abercius, standing by, ordered to be inscribed. In truth, I was in the course of my seventy-second year. Let him who understands and believes this pray for Abercius." *Inscription of Abercius (A.D. 190). *
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TNT
Guest
FINALLY, WHERE IS THE CERTITUDE THAT ALL WRITINGS OF CHURCH FATHERS ARE PRESERVED? OR THE APOSTLES FOR THAT MATTER…NO WHERE.
**Eccl. 12: 14 **”For God shall bring every work into judgment, **with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil. **2 Cor.5: 10 For all of us must appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each may receive recompense for what has been done in the body, whether good or evil. Isaiah describes the glorious future setting of the church in glory under the metaphor of the daughters of Zion, but first coming through the judgment by “the spirit of burning”.
**Isa.4. 4 **When the Lord shall have washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion, and shall have purged the blood of Jerusalem from the midst **thereof by the spirit of judgment, and by the spirit of burning.**The prophet Malachi under the same metaphor of refiners fire, that purifies the sons of Levi, in preparation for the church age, **as a fire of intense heat able to purge that of gold and silver. **
**Mal. 3:2-3: **”But who may abide the day of his coming? and who shall stand when he appeareth? for he is like a refiner’s fire, and like fullers’ soap: And he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver: and he shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the LORD an offering in righteousness.”The writer of Hebrew supplies us a picture of God, as a consuming fire (Heb. 12:28) in the context of the chastening of Lord (Heb.12:5 ff)
Heb. 12: 28-29: “Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us give thanks, by which we offer to God an acceptable worship with reverence and awe; for indeed **our God is a consuming fire.
**
Code:
Tertullian comes right out and says in *The Crown* 3:3, dated A.D. **211**, "We offer sacrifices for the dead on their birthday anniversaries".Cyprian of Carthage writes in A.D. 253:
It is one thing to stand for pardon, another thing to attain to glory; it is one thing, when cast into prison, not to go out thence until one has paid the uttermost farthing; another thing at once to receive the wages of faith and courage. It is one thing, tortured by long suffering for sins, to be cleansed and long purged by fire; another to have purged all sins by suffering. It is one thing, in fine, to be in suspense till the sentence of God at the day of judgment; another to be at once crowned by the Lord.
That’s about 15-20 years BEFORE the word TRINITY" is was used as far as preserved writings we have… And 115 years before your NT 27 books defined, including Hebrews.
Then there’s that Jesus guy again, you know the one you site in Jn 3:16:
Matthew 5: 24-26:
Leave there thy gift before the** altar**, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift. Agree with thine adversary quickly, whiles thou art in the way with him; lest at any time the adversary deliver thee to the judge, and the judge deliver thee to the officer, and thou be cast into prison. Verily I say unto thee, Thou shalt by no means come out thence, till thou hast paid the uttermost farthing.
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TNT
Guest
Jn 3: 14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert, so must the Son of man be lifted up: 15 That whosoever believeth in him, may not perish; but may have life everlasting. 16 For God so loved the world, as to give his only begotten Son; that whosoever believeth in him, may not perish, but** may** have life everlasting.
Gotta be more to it for :
James 2:19 Thou believest that there is one God. Thou dost well: the devils also believe and tremble.
Of course you may have thrown old Jimmy into the stove.
LIKE I SAID, THE REAL REASON YOU CAN’T ADMIT PURGATORY IS THAT THE WHOLE OSAS HOUSE OF CARDS COLLAPSES.
Gotta be more to it for :
James 2:19 Thou believest that there is one God. Thou dost well: the devils also believe and tremble.
Of course you may have thrown old Jimmy into the stove.
LIKE I SAID, THE REAL REASON YOU CAN’T ADMIT PURGATORY IS THAT THE WHOLE OSAS HOUSE OF CARDS COLLAPSES.
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MonicaC
Guest
Hello Richard,
You state that since the parish you attened does not talk about purgartory that that mean the story is closed. Well, just because some priest don’t talk about some very important issues does that mean they are closed? I was going to a parish that never mentioned the evils of abortion, since the priest never talked to the congration about it does that leave the people to believe that now the church teaches it is okay? No, it is our duty to learn and educate ourselfs, don’t forget that priest are human and therefor excetible to sin just like you and me.
Yes Purgatrory is still taught and will always be taught because it is true. If not why would Our Lord not have said so.
Monica
C
Church_Militant
Guest
Obviously, the message is that blaspheming the Holy Spirit is an eternal sin. Many people believe, as I do, that this sin must be a rejection of Christ, since that’s the only sin that would keep us from accepting forgiveness for every other sin. Just because Matthew 12:32 mentions that a sin won’t be forgiven in the afterlife, that doesn’t mean that people have an opportunity to have sins forgiven through Purgatory. The Catholic Church teaches that Purgatory is for the atonement of sins that are already forgiven, so the passage isn’t even relevant.Mark 3:28 Amen I say to you, that all sins shall be forgiven unto the sons of men, and the blasphemies wherewith they shall blaspheme: 29 But he that shall blaspheme against the Holy Ghost, shall never have forgiveness, but shall be guilty of an everlasting sin.
Luke 12:10 And whosoever speaketh a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him: but to him that shall blaspheme against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven.
There’s the actual passages you site and since they do not contradict the plain sense of the passage that I cited, your proof texting fails.
Since Paul writes that even a person without any good works can be saved (1 Corinthians 3:15), as long as he’s resting on the foundation of Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 3:11), the passage actually contradicts Catholic teaching about salvation and works rather than supporting Catholic teaching about Purgatory. This of course is nothing more than your own interpretation of this passage. If it says a man will be saved “yet as through fire”, does that not clearly imply that the man has passed through those flames of purification. No one is alleging that the person is burned any more than one would allege that one is drowned when one is purified in bathing (or even being baptized for that matter). There is no contradiction of Catholic teaching here, (though you would attempt to mislead some of us by asserting so). You are twisting the passage to attempt to fit your theology…and it fails again.
So you say…Yet these passages do not fit your interpretation and the point is that purgatory is implied in much teh same way as the implied doctrines of te Trinity and Incarnation are (and have been) believed by Christians
And as I have shown, you do far worse.
This is no answer since there are no “historical and doctrinal errors” in the Deuterocanonical books of the OT any more than any of the other OT books of the Bible and Catholics do not accept the canonicity of any “apocryphal” books of either the OT or NT eras. Have you read them? I have and the cases made against them are fallacious. (Open a new thread if you wish to discuss them or do a search on the ma(name removed by moderator)age library for info on that.)
Purgatory is indeed Biblical. In fact it’s more Biblical than Sola Scriptura and Sola Fide.
C
Church_Militant
Guest
in the first 200 years of the church who believed in a suffering purgatory.Here ya go: From The Roots of Purgatory
The Acts of Paul and Thecla
“And after the exhibition, Tryphaena again received her [Thecla]. For her daughter Falconilla had died, and said to her in a dream: ‘Mother, you shall have this stranger Thecla in my place, in order that she may pray concerning me, and that I may be transferred to the place of the righteous’” (Acts of Paul and Thecla [A.D. 160]).
Abercius
“The citizen of a prominent city, I erected this while I lived, that I might have a resting place for my body. Abercius is my name, a disciple of the chaste Shepherd who feeds his sheep on the mountains and in the fields, who has great eyes surveying everywhere, who taught me the faithful writings of life. Standing by, I, Abercius, ordered this to be inscribed: Truly, I was in my seventy-second year. May everyone who is in accord with this and who understands it pray for Abercius” (Epitaph of Abercius [A.D. 190]).
The Martyrdom of Perpetua and Felicity
“[T]hat very night, this was shown to me in a vision: I [Perpetua] saw Dinocrates going out from a gloomy place, where also there were several others, and he was parched and very thirsty, with a filthy countenance and pallid color, and the wound on his face which he had when he died. This Dinocrates had been my brother after the flesh, seven years of age, who died miserably with disease. . . . For him I had made my prayer, and between him and me there was a large interval, so that neither of us could approach to the other . . . and * knew that my brother was in suffering. But I trusted that my prayer would bring help to his suffering; and I prayed for him every day until we passed over into the prison of the camp, for we were to fight in the camp-show. Then . . . I made my prayer for my brother day and night, groaning and weeping that he might be granted to me. Then, on the day on which we remained in fetters, this was shown to me: I saw that the place which I had formerly observed to be in gloom was now bright; and Dinocrates, with a clean body well clad, was finding refreshment. . . . [And] he went away from the water to play joyously, after the manner of children, and I awoke. Then I understood that he was translated from the place of punishment” (The Martyrdom of Perpetua and Felicity 2:3–4 [A.D. 202]). *
Might also wanna carefully read: Purgatory
Also that was a really nice list that you used to attempt to pull this thread off topic. And therefore a cheapshot…
Pax tecum,
T
TNT
Guest
D
Della
Guest
I guess no one, except one person really gets it. So, I’ll say it once again: The Bible is not a proof-text. It is the witness to Christ and his Church. It was never meant to be used to throw verses in each other’s faces saying: “See! See! See! It says thus and so right HERE!!!” Indeed, we are most explicitly told not to wrangle over words but to be one in faith.
The whole problem Protestants have with purgatory and any other teaching of the Church they don’t want to believe is they can find Bible verses that seem to back up their positions and ignore those that don’t. No amount of citing of verses will convince people who know they can turn the tables and cite verses too.
Catholics are not people of the book, like Protestants and Muslims, we are People of the Word, Jesus Christ, who founded his Church and promised to guide it into all truth by the power of the Holy Spirit. The question of purgatory, like all such issues Protestants reject, are a matter of believing in the authority of the Catholic Church to teach them with the Bible as support, NOT PROOF of them. Unless and until we all agree to that, we will get nowhere.
The whole problem Protestants have with purgatory and any other teaching of the Church they don’t want to believe is they can find Bible verses that seem to back up their positions and ignore those that don’t. No amount of citing of verses will convince people who know they can turn the tables and cite verses too.
Catholics are not people of the book, like Protestants and Muslims, we are People of the Word, Jesus Christ, who founded his Church and promised to guide it into all truth by the power of the Holy Spirit. The question of purgatory, like all such issues Protestants reject, are a matter of believing in the authority of the Catholic Church to teach them with the Bible as support, NOT PROOF of them. Unless and until we all agree to that, we will get nowhere.
K
kaycee
Guest
1 John 5:11 And the testimony is this, that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. 12 He who has the Son has the life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have the life. 13 **These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life. **
I believe (mental ascent) in Abraham Linclon, but I believe (trust, Make Lord) in Christs perfect sacrafice to save me. You dont understand the difference in the 2 types of “belief”?
Not sure your what your point is. Dont you believe that those in purgatory are saved?
“Jesus bore our sins in His body, paid the penalty for them, and died. He said, “It is finished.” In Greek, the phrase, “It is finished” is one word, tetelestai. In ancient Greek papyri texts that were receipts for taxes, when a debt was paid in full, the word tetelestai, was written on the document. This meant that the debt had been paid in full. In other words, Jesus had finished the work of atonement. But not only atonement (to make amends, to make right), but also of propitiation (turning away God’s wrath). He had fully paid the debt invoked by the sinner. There was nothing more to be done… It was finished.
Yet, the doctrine of Purgatory, in effect, is saying that we must suffer in purgatory for sins not ‘covered by baptism’ and not covered by the cross. It is to say that the work of Christ is not finished and that there are things we must do to complete the sacrificial, cleansing work of Christ. This amounts to earning heaven by our good works, albeit, a work of suffering. Additionally, the doctrine of Purgatory implies that a person must atone for his own sins. It implies that the person must do more than what the Law of God requires of him. This is called supererogation.
When Jesus said, “It is finished,” all that was necessary in the atonement was concluded and all in Christ were justified. We cannot complete or add to Christ’s work through our suffering. Purgatory is not only unnecessary, but it contradicts God’s word.” Mathew Slick
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RyanL
Guest
Hmmph. Too bad no one told the writers of the New Testament…
Romans 4:25
Who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification.
If it was finished on the cross, what difference does the resurection make?
Colossians 1:24
Who now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up that which is lacking in the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body’s sake, which is the church:
If we cannot add to the work of Christ in any sense, what does this verse mean?
Perhaps you should read The Fourth Cup, so that you might better understand what was finished.
God Bless,
RyanL
P.S.
You didn’t respond about the Apostles being so incompetant that they couldn’t pass along your “simple gospel”. Why do you have such a low opinion of them?
- Status