Well Nancy, my grandmother was Catholic. And although I know she loved me, she always insisted that I’d go to hell if I wasn’t an official Catholic. Never mind that I told her that I believed in the virgin birth of Jesus, that he died on the cross for us, and that he arose on the 3rd day to our justification and is seated at the right hand of the Father, making intercession for us. Never mind that in addition to believing I strive to “work out my salvation” and bear good fruit. She always said that I’d have to work to get into heaven and that grace was not enough to save me. And that if I did not participate in all the obligations that the Church sets down, I could never go to heaven. But I’m telling you, that is not what God’s word says. I do believe and I do serve Him as Lord and Savior. His grace is sufficient.
That may not be what you’ve been TOLD God’s word says, but you seem to have been misled. Sitting back on relying on grace to lift you into heaven is not what the New Testament teaches.
Luke 14:13-14
But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed. Although they cannot repay you, you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.
1 Tim 6:18-19
They are to do good, to be rich in good deeds, liberal and generous, thus laying up for themselves a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of the life which is life indeed.
Rom. 2:6-7
God will give to each person according to what he has done. To those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honor and immortality, he will give eternal life.
Matthew 5.23:
But I tell you that anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgement. Again, anyone who says to his brother, Raca, is answerable to the Sanhedrin. But anyone who says “You fool!” will be in danger of the fire of hell. "
Matthew 7
21 "Not every one who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ 23 And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you evildoers.’ 24 “Every one then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house upon the rock; 25 and the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat upon that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. 26 And every one who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house upon the sand; 27 and the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell; and great was the fall of it.”
Matthew 18;.
32 Then his lord summoned him and said to him, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you besought me; 33 and should not you have had mercy on your fellow servant, as I had mercy on you?’ 34 And in anger his lord delivered him to the jailers, till he should pay all his debt. 35 So also my heavenly Father will do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother from your heart."
Matthew 25 :
31 “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory.
32 “All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.
33 “He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.
34 “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world.
35 ‘For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in,
36 ‘I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’
37 “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink?
38 ‘When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you?
39 ‘When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’
40 “The King will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.’
41 “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.
42 ‘For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink,
43 ‘I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’
44 “They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’
45 “He will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’
46 “Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”
They don’t teach that way. They teach the truth. The bible can be inturperated differntly and that is why people are always after the Cathoilcs If any people are persucated it is the Cathoilcs because of their faith and prayers and beliefs. These people are of God and are a true church,i usto think the same but i stuck around and found out better,honest there are people here who know the scriptures and can explain everything you want to know.You just learned a differnt way and in this process learned to condem while you were learning. What Catholic has done you wrong? What catholic has condemed you? What Catholic has picketed your Church? What catholic has made fun of you? I know we are not perfect but we strive for the goal as Paul said, because he knew he was not perfect to.The Spirit is willing but the flesh is week! And i’ll bet you he prayed for forgiveness to:thumbsup: Love of Christ Nancy
It can be very empowering to feel one is hated - it makes one feel special, & allows one to claim the kudos of having the words of Jesus fulfilled in one’s own experience,* and* of being like the Apostles. And it’s a brilliant way of ignoring the real reason one is hated - i.e. for being a world-class jerk. This fishing for being hated follows the logic of the person who says: “Great poets are persecuted - I’m persecuted - therefore, I must be a great poet”.