Christianity is a Religion

[javid]

Hi.

Christianity(& Catholicism) is our Religion and I recently read a good topic about this case:

forums.catholic-questions.org/showthread.php?t=830245

But some Heretic Protestant Preachers are saying people that Christianity is not a religion & It is just a father-child(God-human) love!

Here is a example: philippians1v21.wordpress.com/why-believe-in-jesus/why-christianity-is-not-a-religion

There are main reasons they present for their claim and I’m looking for Apologetic Answers:

1.Religions are about man trying to reach up to God. Christianity is about God reaching down to man. Religion is man trying to reach up to God. The message of Christianity is God reaching down to man.

2.Religion is about what man has to DO to be right with God. Christianity is about what God has already DONE to provide us the opportunity to be right with Him.

3.Religion says you must EARN your salvation by doing good deeds or certain acts and not doing evil. Christianity says all we need to do is BELIEVE that Christ has already paid the price for the evil we have done. Christianity says we are all evil (filled with sin) and there is nothing we can do to earn the right to be saved. Christianity says that God (in the form of Jesus Christ) stepped into our place and paid the awful price that had to be paid for us. He gave us the freegift of salvation if we choose to believe in Jesus.

You see, as the verse from Romans(3:19-25) we can’t be saved by abiding by the law (the 10 Commandments). This is a list of rules. We can’t be saved by the effort of man. The bible clearly states this.

“God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it.” ~ Eph 2:8-9

4.Through Christ we are made perfect in God’s eyes. We are forgiven from all sin; past and future. When we receive Him, He gives us his Holy Spirit that has the power to change us and make us more like Him. This is a process, but as this happens we begin to realize that we are living in the love originally required by the law. The original intention, the heart of the law, is established in our lives. Our relationships with God and others are founded in love.

5.This is the difference between religion and true Christianity. There is no checklist or list of rules that you must follow. It is ALL about your relationships, vertical and horizontal. There is no rhetoric or rituals that have to be practiced. Believe that Jesus Christ came to earth and died for your sins, accept his FREE GIFT, let God help you to love Him and love others. That’s it!

6.when you look around at the church and what has happened in history you see a lot of bad things, and some good as well. The key thing that you must understand is that historically “the church” is predominately a religious organization with man-made rules and controls. This is evil and God is not in it. Good has been done by the few that truly understand what it means to be a Christian. These look like Christ. The Bible says, “You will know them by their fruits.” It also says:
“But those who obey God’s word truly show how completely they love him. That is how we know we are living in him. Those who say they live in God should live their lives as Jesus did.” ~ 1 John 2:5-6

7.When you practice religion, your relationship with God is degraded to a mathematical formula. Do this, then do this, don’t do that, and presto. . . you are right in the eyes of God. This is TOTALLY missing the point! God wants so much more. He wants to have a real relationship with you. He wants to show his love to you and He wants you to love Him.

Commandments are either about improving our relationship with God or with other people. As Jesus Himself said:

“You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself. The entire law and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments.” ~ Matt 22:37-40

And Paul said:

“For the commandments say, “You must not commit adultery. You must not murder. You must not steal. You must not covet.” These—and other such commandments—are summed up in this one commandment: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” Love does no wrong to others, so love fulfills the requirements of God’s law.” ~ Rom 13:9-10

8.It was never intended to be a list of rules that can be relegated to a checklist or mathematical formula. Jesus showed his complete disregard for their rules when he repeatedly healed people on the Sabbath. The Pharisees considered this “work”.

9.Saint Paul said: “Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed [is] every one that hangeth on a tree:”(Galatians 3:13)

So we don’t Need the law and law is curse.

---

God Bless you.

 

[Randy_Carson]

Christ and His Church: It’s a Package Deal
By Hector Molina

Over the last few months I have been struck by the number of times Pope Francis has reminded us, both in his preaching and catechesis, of the indivisible relationship and union between Christ and his Church. On several of these instances he has quoted a passage that I have become quite familiar with over the years. It is taken from Pope Paul VI’s Apostolic Exhortation, On Evangelization in the Modern World:

There is thus a profound link between Christ, the Church and evangelization. During the period of the Church that we are living in, it is she who has the task of evangelizing. This mandate is not accomplished without her, and still less against her. It is certainly fitting to recall this fact at a moment like the present one when it happens that not without sorrow we can hear people - whom we wish to believe are well-intentioned but who are certainly misguided in their attitude - continually claiming to love Christ but without the Church, to listen to Christ but not the Church, to belong to Christ but outside the Church. The absurdity of this dichotomy is clearly evident in this phrase of the Gospel: “Anyone who rejects you rejects me.” And how can one wish to love Christ without loving the Church, if the finest witness to Christ is that of St. Paul: “Christ loved the Church and sacrificed himself for her”?

Believing Without Belonging

Pope Francis, like his venerable predecessor, has been quite deliberate in highlighting the absurdity of this false dichotomy turned trend, which modern sociologists of religion have dubbed “believing without belonging.”

In my work as an apologist, I can testify firsthand to how pervasive this false notion is among self-identifying Catholics. If I had a dollar for every time I heard someone assert how he or she is “spiritual but not religious”, or how Jesus calls us not to “religion but to relationship,” I’d be a very rich man.

This is precisely why I am delighted to see that His Holiness has repeatedly sought to challenge our presuppositions about the Church and to help believers to view her through the eyes of faith—to see the Church as Christ sees her.

The Church Comes from God, not man

To that end, the Holy Father recently stated that:

The Church is not an organization established by an agreement between a few people, but she is a work of God, born precisely from this loving design, which is gradually brought about in history. The Church is born from God’s wish to call all people to communion with him, to friendship with him, indeed, to share in his own divine life as his sons and daughters.

The Church is not a mere human institution, but is indeed a work of God, an instrument and sacrament of communion with him. She is the Bride of Christ, whose one-flesh union with her spouse makes of her a fruitful Mother.

We read in the Catechism:

CCC 796 The unity of Christ and the Church, head and members of one Body, also implies the distinction of the two within a personal relationship. This aspect is often expressed by the image of bridegroom and bride. The theme of Christ as Bridegroom of the Church was prepared for by the prophets and announced by John the Baptist. The Lord referred to himself as the “bridegroom.” The Apostle speaks of the whole Church and of each of the faithful, members of his Body, as a bride “betrothed” to Christ the Lord so as to become but one spirit with him. The Church is the spotless bride of the spotless Lamb. “Christ loved the Church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her.” He has joined her with himself in an everlasting covenant and never stops caring for her as for his own body:

This is the whole Christ, head and body, one formed from many . . . whether the head or members speak, it is Christ who speaks. He speaks in his role as the head (ex persona capitis) and in his role as body (ex persona corporis). What does this mean? “The two will become one flesh. This is a great mystery, and I am applying it to Christ and the Church.” And the Lord himself says in the Gospel: “So they are no longer two, but one flesh.” They are, in fact, two different persons, yet they are one in the conjugal union, . . . as head, he calls himself the bridegroom, as body, he calls himself “bride.”

The Church as fruitful Mother

This one flesh union between Christ and the Church has made of her a Mother - the Mother of all believers, to whom we all belong.

The Holy Father also spoke of the importance of belonging to the Church—our Mother from whom we receive our Christian faith and identity:

A Mother who gives us the faith, a Mother who gives us an identity. But the Christian identity is not an identity card: Christian identity is belonging to the Church, because all of these belonged to the Church, the Mother Church. Because it is not possible to find Jesus outside the Church. The great Paul VI said: “Wanting to live with Jesus without the Church, following Jesus outside of the Church, loving Jesus without the Church is an absurd dichotomy.” And the Mother Church that gives us Jesus, gives us our identity that is not only a seal, it is a belonging. Identity means belonging. This belonging to the Church is beautiful.

Believing is Belonging

Pope Francis endeavors to remind all Christians of what the Church has known and taught from the very beginning. Namely, that it is impossible to believe and not belong.

CCC 181 “Believing” is an ecclesial act. The Church’s faith precedes, engenders, supports and nourishes our faith. The Church is the mother of all believers. “No one can have God as Father who does not have the Church as Mother”

My sincere hope and prayer is that we would each strive to imitate our Holy Father’s example and endeavor to help our fellow believers to recognize that it is impossible for us to love Christ and not love his bride the Church. It’s a package deal.

 

[rcwitness]

Religion is our love for God. It is our proffession of faith and our obedience to it. It is our humble request for God to increase our faith, hope and charity. It is out of His goodness that we have our religion. We did not create it, but He gave us His commands, personally in Jesus Christ. The Sacraments are the heart of these commands. All of them are connected to His life giving Body and Blood.

Religion is finding our work in Him. It is His work, and we need His strength to accomplish it, yet we cooperate our wills in order to do so. However much we cooperate with His will is the measure of our love.

You are recognizing the way in which the devil wants to divide, and water down the Spirit of the genuine Christian. The genuine Christian should not be offended that we strive to teach what true religion should be about and based on, yet there is a spirit that wants to throw out the baby with the bath water.

Peace bw/u
Michael

 

[JRKH]

Others will provide better responses, but just a couple of thoughts…

2.Religion is about what man has to DO to be right with God. Christianity is about what God has already DONE to provide us the opportunity to be right with Him.

This statement and much that follows is self contradictory.
Look at what is said here…God has done something that provides us with an opportunity to be right with him. In order for us to take advantage of the opportunity we must DO something.

The rest of the points are just a recapitulation of the old “works based salvation” arguments that we have repeatedly debunked here at CAF.

Peace
James

 

[rcwitness]

Others will provide better responses, but just a couple of thoughts…

This statement and much that follows is self contradictory.
Look at what is said here…God has done something that provides us with an opportunity to be right with him. In order for us to take advantage of the opportunity we must DO something.

The rest of the points are just a recapitulation of the old “works based salvation” arguments that we have repeatedly debunked here at CAF.

Peace
James

Yes

I feel like whoever made this accussation knew they needed to put that word “opportunity” in there, but reluctantly. even hoping it would be overseen.

 

[pnewton]

1.Religions are about man trying to reach up to God. Christianity is about God reaching down to man. Religion is man trying to reach up to God. The message of Christianity is God reaching down to man.

I would just go with this one and laugh the rest off. Come on. Really? A preacher is a poor communicator, and deficient in logic, if he thinks it is acceptable to completely dump the definition of a word and pull one out of his hat in order to make some point. Look up in any dictionary and you will find the primary definition of a religion as a set of beliefs about a Supreme Being. If this same preacher has any faith or belief in God, he is, by definition, religious. Period. For a person to reject all religion, he must also, by definition, reject any belief in or about God.

The argument that you are really dealing with is one against organized religion. Of course, those saying this simply cannot be honest with the term. If they were, then they would have to admit they were promoting dis-organized religion, something of which St. Paul spoke clearly against in First Corinthians. Anyone with even a modicum of understanding of early church history knows that there was organization from the onset of the Church.

Semantic arguments suck logic from the conversation.

 

[the]

oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/religion

 

[javid]

Thanks. I’m looking for answers!

 

[javid]

Hello!

No body wants answer?!

 

[Incomplete]

Hello!

No body wants answer?!

You have received answers. Whoever you are quoting from has a wrong idea of what religion is. If the posters who have already told you that didn’t answer your question, maybe you should re-state the question.

 

[JRKH]

Hello!

No body wants answer?!

Maybe I missed it - but did you actually ask a question in your OP?? I looked again and did not see one…

What is it that you want an answer to?

Peace
James

 

[javid]

Maybe I missed it - but did you actually ask a question in your OP?? I looked again and did not see one…

What is it that you want an answer to?

Peace
James

I quoted 9 reasons protestants present to prove that Christinity is not a religion! I need some good answers for them!

I must repeat this in all threads: “I believe in Catholicism but I have the right to ask!”

There are 9 questions! just they don’t have “?”, But I said:

There(I meant these!) are main reasons they present for their claim and I’m looking for Apologetic Answers:

I just got a brief answer for second one!

 

[JRKH]

I quoted 9 reasons protestants present to prove that Christinity is not a religion! I need some good answers for them!

I must repeat this in all threads: “I believe in Catholicism but I have the right to ask!”

There are 9 questions! just they don’t have “?”, But I said:

I just got a brief answer for second one!

OK - - Yes indeed you have the right to ask…I’ll see what I can do about a more complte answer to the points…

However - I feel that I need to clarify something here. “Protestants” is too broad a term to apply as you have here. Some protestants believe that Christianity is not a religion but these would be a minority of protestants. Most protestants see “religion” as an acceptable concept for their faith tradition.

Peace
James

 

[JRKH]

1.Religions are about man trying to reach up to God. Christianity is about God reaching down to man. Religion is man trying to reach up to God. The message of Christianity is God reaching down to man.

The last sentence is correct, the message of Christianity (or at least part of it) is God reaching down to man. The rest is a crude attempt to redefine terms and to falsely separate two terms that are simply not mutually exclusive.
“Christianity” is the belief in Christ - being a disciple of Christ. “Religion” - a codified set of beliefs - relates more to how we express that discipleship…

2.Religion is about what man has to DO to be right with God. Christianity is about what God has already DONE to provide us the opportunity to be right with Him.

OK - I addressed this one in my earlier posting- that this statement is self contradictory. Again - it is tries to make things opposites that are actually complimentary.

3.Religion says you must EARN your salvation by doing good deeds or certain acts and not doing evil. Christianity says all we need to do is BELIEVE that Christ has already paid the price for the evil we have done. Christianity says we are all evil (filled with sin) and there is nothing we can do to earn the right to be saved. Christianity says that God (in the form of Jesus Christ) stepped into our place and paid the awful price that had to be paid for us. He gave us the freegift of salvation if we choose to believe in Jesus.

You see, as the verse from Romans(3:19-25) we can’t be saved by abiding by the law (the 10 Commandments). This is a list of rules. We can’t be saved by the effort of man. The bible clearly states this.

“God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it.” ~ Eph 2:8-9

I bolded the first sentence above to highlight that this is a straw-man argument. I know of no Christian faith tradition (religion) that teaches one can earn salvation through good deeds apart from faith in Christ. So - here the person is arguing against something that does not exist.

In the second sentence it says “All we have to do is believe that Christ has already the price…”
But there is a great deal that is packed into that “all we have to do is believe”…
Note in James 2:14-18, where he speaks about how we are not saved by faith alone.
Look at Mt 25:31-46 and note what the people are judged on…
Yes - we must believe in Christ’s atoning sacrifice…but that believe and our response to it - entails a great deal.

4.Through Christ we are made perfect in God’s eyes. We are forgiven from all sin; past and future. When we receive Him, He gives us his Holy Spirit that has the power to change us and make us more like Him. This is a process, but as this happens we begin to realize that we are living in the love originally required by the law. The original intention, the heart of the law, is established in our lives. Our relationships with God and others are founded in love.

This contains both error and sound teaching. The main problem lies in the second sentence. We are not forgiven for “future sins” since we cannot be truly repentant for sins we have not committed yet.
The rest of the point is actually fairly accurate.
Holiness IS a process built upon the working of the Holy Spirit within us and this holiness matures to the degree that we recognize at love (agape) is at the core of our faith.

5.This is the difference between religion and true Christianity. There is no checklist or list of rules that you must follow. It is ALL about your relationships, vertical and horizontal. There is no rhetoric or rituals that have to be practiced. Believe that Jesus Christ came to earth and died for your sins, accept his FREE GIFT, let God help you to love Him and love others. That’s it!

Again - this is self contradictory…He says there are no rules to follow…yet Christ gave us rules…Repent and be baptized…Do this in remembrance of me…Love others as I have loved you…tell it to and listen to the Church…
He says that it is all based on love - which is quite true…and so are the “rules” that we choose to live by (the religious tradition)…

It’s just a further attempt to separate two things that are, or should be, complimentary.

6.when you look around at the church and what has happened in history you see a lot of bad things, and some good as well. The key thing that you must understand is that historically “the church” is predominately a religious organization with man-made rules and controls. This is evil and God is not in it. Good has been done by the few that truly understand what it means to be a Christian. These look like Christ. The Bible says, “You will know them by their fruits.” It also says:
“But those who obey God’s word truly show how completely they love him. That is how we know we are living in him. Those who say they live in God should live their lives as Jesus did.” ~ 1 John 2:5-6

Jesus, in Mt 18:17 tells us to tell it to the Church and to listen to the Church…Likewise in Mt 16:17-19 Jesus says that He will build a Church, a community…
So why does this man say that God is not in the Church?

Cont…

 

[JRKH]

7.When you practice religion, your relationship with God is degraded to a mathematical formula. Do this, then do this, don’t do that, and presto. . . you are right in the eyes of God. This is TOTALLY missing the point! God wants so much more. He wants to have a real relationship with you. He wants to show his love to you and He wants you to love Him.

Commandments are either about improving our relationship with God or with other people. As Jesus Himself said:

“You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself. The entire law and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments.” ~ Matt 22:37-40

And Paul said:

“For the commandments say, “You must not commit adultery. You must not murder. You must not steal. You must not covet.” These—and other such commandments—are summed up in this one commandment: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” Love does no wrong to others, so love fulfills the requirements of God’s law.” ~ Rom 13:9-10

This argues a somewhat valid point…that some people can be “religious” without being people of true faith. However - I doubt that many people actually “Degrade” their relationship with God by the practice of religion. Rather - for most people religious practices actually help their relationship. It depends on where the person is starting from.

We are called to a loving relationship with our Savior and we should seek this through love of neighbor.

8.It was never intended to be a list of rules that can be relegated to a checklist or mathematical formula. Jesus showed his complete disregard for their rules when he repeatedly healed people on the Sabbath. The Pharisees considered this “work”.

This is just more straw-man arguing. No Christian tradition that I know of teaches this sort of legalism.

9.Saint Paul said: “Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed [is] every one that hangeth on a tree:”(Galatians 3:13)

So we don’t Need the law and law is curse.

Quotes out of context tsk tsk…Let’s look at the broader passage…
6Thus Abraham “believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness.”
7So you see that it is men of faith who are the sons of Abraham.
8And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, “In you shall all the nations be blessed.”
9So then, those who are men of faith are blessed with Abraham who had faith.
**10For all who rely on works of the law are under a curse; for it is written, “Cursed be every one who does not abide by all things written in the book of the law, and do them.” **
11Now it is evident that no man is justified before God by the law; for “He who through faith is righteous shall live”;
12but the law does not rest on faith, for “He who does them shall live by them.”
13Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us–for it is written, “Cursed be every one who hangs on a tree” –
14that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.
Note in verse 10 (bolded) that there is a specific curse reference by Paul.
This is the curse that is then referred to in verse 13. The curse that was written into the law.
The Law itself is not necessarily a curse for the law is based upon love.

Yes we are freed from many of the formal restrictions of The Law - this is made evident in Acts 15 - but the “curse” is not on the law as a whole…

Not complete answers by any means…but hope they help a bit…

Peace
James

 

[javid]

Thanks for Answers.

8.It was never intended to be a list of rules that can be relegated to a checklist or mathematical formula. Jesus showed his complete disregard for their rules when he repeatedly healed people on the Sabbath. The Pharisees considered this “work”.

This is just more straw-man arguing. No Christian tradition that I know of teaches this sort of legalism.

I think he meant we don’t need practice the law as followers of Jesus, because he didn’t practice it as the head of Christianity.

 

[Jon_S_1]

Thanks for Answers.

I think he meant we don’t need practice the law as followers of Jesus, because he didn’t practice it as the head of Christianity.

What ? Jesus practiced the law. It is clearly demonstrated in scripture. You are right we do not need to because Christ fulfilled it but while he was here he practiced the law.

 

[Jon_S_1]

I don’t want to give the impression some people are lost causes because they aren’t, but someone making these types of arguments is a long way from being able to receive the truths of the Catholic Church. So plant some seeds with him, don’t let him derail your faith, and pray for him. That said here are some seeds to plant;

1.Religions are about man trying to reach up to God. Christianity is about God reaching down to man.

This person appears to have a problem with “Organized Religion” not religion in general. His belief that “Christianity is God reaching down to man” is in fact a sort of religion even if that is all he believed. I am sure his beliefs are many and hopefully somewhat organized and as such he is religious.

I would point out, that God himself, set up an organized religion for the Israelites. Complete with Temples, Rituals, Festivals, Sacrifices, Altars, Incense, Candles, Priests, Rules, etc… God is unchanging and as such these things can never be seen as wrong. God tells us how to worship him.

The New Testament does not abolish everything. It fulfills it , Jesus was a Jew, circumcised, preached in the temple, observed the Sabbath, Studied the Law, and Observed Religious Festivals. He was in fact VERY religious, as were the apostles. Jesus had a problem with empty religion, people that trade ritual for love of God. Religion is meant to bring us closer to God, and so people that do it emptily are the greatest of hypocrites. Catholics readily agree with Protestants on this, the problem with protestants is they tend to throw babies out with bathwater and if they see some empty people practicing empty ritual, then they throw it all out, ignoring that Christ did ritual and the Apostles did ritual, and the great Saints did ritual, and today there are millions of Catholics devoting their lives to God in practice of religion.

2.Religion is about what man has to DO to be right with God. Christianity is about what God has already DONE to provide us the opportunity to be right with Him.

Religion and Christianity are the same thing. They go hand in hand, and as was stated before, you cannot have one without the other. It was organized religion that gave the protestant a holy book called the Bible. Both Jewish Religion for the Old Testament and the Catholic Christian Religion for the New Testament. The only reason a Canon of Scripture was declared was so that a proper liturgy with proper readings were read in church on Sunday mornings.

3.Religion says you must EARN your salvation by doing good deeds or certain acts and not doing evil. Christianity says all we need to do is BELIEVE that Christ has already paid the price for the evil we have done…

“God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it.” ~ Eph 2:8-9

This is complete lunacy. There is not a Christian religion, protestant or catholic, or orthodox that I am aware of that teaches you are saved by works. It certainly is not the Catholic position.

His verse of Eph 2:8-9 is completely mistranslated. It is so bad, it took me a while to find the version. Apparently it is the “Easy to Read” translation. Here is what a good translation says (Note that they add belief into their translation to fit their doctrine).

For by grace you have been saved through faith; and [h]that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; 9 not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. 10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.

Please note he left out verse ten which talks about good works. Further, nowhere does Jesus or anyone else say just believe and you will be saved. No you must have Faith, and without love there is no Faith. Love is an action, love is works, and as 1 Cor 13 says, “the greatest of these is love”. Jesus says over and over that it is righteous actions that someone with true faith will have. James 2:24, says “You are justified by works and not faith alone”.

As far as belief alone goes ask him to explain this; Matt 7

“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. 22 Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many [n]miracles?’ 23 And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.’

These people believed in Jesus and called him Lord and did Miracles in his name, but Jesus Cast them out because they “practiced lawlessness” Which means their works did not back up their suppossed faith.

Have him explain James 2:18-22

Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by my deeds. 19 You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder.

Even the demons “believe” in Jesus. Are they saved?

Thats about all I have time for now, I know you got some other answers as well. You need to understand that this person is operating with a bad man made translation that is designed with verses that are changed to accomodate a preconcieved doctrine (very religious). That this person is picking and choosing verses, and that this person does not read his whole bible, especially the gospels.

Go to my blog post here: findingthecatholicchurch.blogspot.com/2013/03/are-catholics-christians-response-to.html

And go through all of the Scriptures on there and ask him to explain how works are not a part of faith, and further ask him to take note of how little “belief” is talked about in comparison to Faith and Works.

Peace,

Jon

 

[rcwitness]

Romans 3:31

“Do we then overthrow the Law by this faith? By no means! On the contrary, we uphold the Law.”

Jusus fulfilled the Law of the old Covenant more perfectly than even necessary. This gave us a higher Law to rest on. One which can only be accomplished through faith and reliance on Him.

 

[javid]

What ? Jesus practiced the law. It is clearly demonstrated in scripture. … while he was here he practiced the law.

But Lord Jesus worked on Saturday and didn’t stone the Adulterous.

You are right we do not need to because Christ fulfilled it.

What you mean “law”? Do you mean the orders of what to do and what not to do?