Having A Personsal Relationship With Jesus Christ

[whatisthetruth]

bump

whatisthetruth,

I’ve had all the questions and enjoy answering them and asking questions of my own. Discussions on faith and salvation are always opportunities. When a non-Catholic asks me these questions, I now thank God. I assume it to be His grace at work, and that my job is to evangelize my would be evangelizer. It’s all good.

I absolutely agree Pax and thank you for your answers.

As you know we may disagree on issues

However, here is something we all can agree on.

**For eternity, we all will spend in

Heaven

or

Hell**

and

No body wants to go to hell

but there sure is confusion on how to get to heaven.

I have received a combination of responses on salvation
should I die a non catholic.

Catholics have told me all of the following possibilities,

A I have NO HOPE
B I have HOPE
C ONLY GOD KNOWS

Catholics as a whole are not giving me a consistant answer that will not be disputed by even with another Catholic

Truth

 

[mercygate]

. . . As a catholic, I was so into my self back in those days, it scares me to think about how I ever got by. . . . truth

From your contributions to these forums, people might wonder whether anything has changed.

 

[Gabriel_of_12]

Catholics have told me all of the following possibilities,

A I have NO HOPE Those that have come to the knowledge of truth and reject it

B I have HOPE Those that have been baptized and are outside the Church do to their own ignorance, have hope for eternal salvation. When they come to the knowledge of Jesus Christ, they repent and are saved.

C ONLY GOD KNOWS of the aborted infants, those who did not get a chance to hear the Gospel proclaimed to them, and those who are not baptized yet, who live an uprightly life towards others, living the christian values unknowingly, God is merciful.

Catholics as a whole are not giving me a consistant answer that will not be disputed by even with another Catholic

Truth

I hope this helps, Catholic

 

[whatisthetruth]

Hi YADA

I am hoping that you sincerely want answers to your questions …

I sure do thank you

If I sound skeptical …well … that is due to your repeated references to checking out your tag line

I do not blame you for being skeptical and I understand why you are.

**How else can I illustrate the real me? **
That is why I referred my signature letter.

just to say in short…“Trust me”…probably will not work here

Agree??

the power point is very beautiful and the message is sweet …

oops I thought you were referring to my signature letter, not the “dash”

However, thank you, I loved it too. May God bless you mightily.

However, it does not replace the relationship with our Lord, Jesus …

What does? Nothing I am aware of

and how any person feels about the way I livemy dash … it means nothing if I am not in right relationship with Jesus

AMEN

… if I turn away from the Gospel call and the faith to which I am called … what have I? …

If you stayed like that to your grave, in due respect, you may have lived the good life on earth, but eternity will be hell

To answer your question YADA,

… are you really just here to sell products from “walk the talk”?

I am sorry if you feel I am here to sell products.

The reason for the references, with all the misunderstandings today between Catholics and “protestants”, I guess in a way I am using whatever resource God gives me to illustrate to some of you that I am not all that you believe I am.

For our struggle is not against flesh

and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Ephesians 6:12

My fear is that there are folks here who do not believe, because I am “Protestant”, I can love Jesus as much as you love Jesus.

That is one of the main reasons for my signature letter
Did you read my signature letter too?

And to the question “Are you saved?”

I answer that I have been redeemed and I [like St. Paul] am working out my salvation with fear and trembling … and no that does not mean that I beliee I can “work” my way to heaven … it means that I believe scripture when it says that "faith without works is dead" and while Jesus freely gave His life for me … I have to **accept that gift **[and **accept it every day … I must **pick up my cross daily **and **unite myself with Christ **…

AMEN

Thank you so much for your answers YADA
Isn’t it amazing that we have similiar core beliefs in Jesus Christ?

Pax, I am glad you are here … perhaps you will learn more about your early faith and be able to more fully understand what a beautiful gift to the world the Chruch is, lovingly put in place by Jesus to be a channel of grace and a source of strength to His people

Yada, when you asked above,

are you really just here to sell products

There is another reason why I am here.
I believe I answered the call of God.
I am convinced of it.
I was meant to see you last note to PAX,

lovingly put in place by Jesus to be a channel of grace and a source of strength to His people

May I add… and to the people who have yet to know and believe in Jesus.
This is my heart, passion, desire to serve God.
I hope you saw that in my signature letter.

I believe it is yours and every elses desire to bring God’s love to the lost world.

The Super Bowl was won with team unity.

I believe the lost world to the lost world, my favorite song,

“They Will Know We Are Christians By Our Love”

Lets work as a team of Christianity as ONE and put our differences aside.

Let’s go out to the highways and byways, armed with the “Armour of God” (Ephesians 6:13-18) gifted with the “fruit of the spirit”, (Galations 5:22,23) in God’s love, peace and truth against Satan, whose temptations have a stronghold on the lost souls of the world, so God can devinely intercede realeasing the chains of bondage, setting them free and when the final day comes, welcome all His children home to His Kingdom in Heaven

And they shall know the truth, and the truth shall make them free

.
John 8:32

Is this a dream which can come true?
Let’s stop battling against each other,
Let’s start the real battle that is yet to be won.
I believe that is what Jesus wants us as Christians to do.

I am game. How about you?

God bless

truth

 

[CalmDownWisWins]

…

Catholics have told me all of the following possibilities,

A I have NO HOPE
B I have HOPE
C ONLY GOD KNOWS

Catholics as a whole are not giving me a consistant answer that will not be disputed by even with another Catholic

Truth

I would not accept anything this person has to say as meaningful.

His last statement here is, at the very least, disingenuous. He has recieved what he needs from this community to understand that he is mistaken when he says this (that we tell him “different things” when we have not done so).

He is here merely to “spread his personal revelation” that we Christians (regardless of “denomination”) should accept the false unity of “not worrying about the details” so that he can feel important for having proclaimed that “salve of the protestant world” which they apply to themselves.

This guy is utterly bulletproof, which I don’t mind, but he is also not interested in coming to any conclusion that we can mutually agree upon other than, “Gee, you’re right Whatis!”.

Best to you all.

 

[whatisthetruth]

From your contributions to these forums, people might wonder whether anything has changed.

Sorry you think that Mercy.
From being here I learned a lot about myself, all of you,
but from my last post, and my signature letter, I hope and pray my heart’s desire shines through.

I admit, I have a challenge in expressing myself so people understand me.

You are a lot better in that area than I am;

God bless

truth

 

[Lukelion]

I direct them to this site. socrates58.blogspot.com/2006/01/how-do-catholics-hear-gospel-gary.html

Here’s the highlights:
"What about accepting Jesus Christ and their personal Lord and Savior? She retorted. They may be saying all this stuff, but they don’t make a personal act of acceptance. What she didn’t know was that I deliberately didn’t mention the last “step” of her “gospel.”

I explained that if Catholics don’t believe what they are praying, they ought not to be publicly proclaiming it. Since we can’t read the dispositions of other people’s hearts, we ought not to judge whether they truly believe what they are saying. Next, I pointed out the last step - where Catholics are accepting Jesus into their hearts. Right before communion the priest holds up the host (which is now the body, blood, soul and divinity of Our Lord under the appearances of bread and wine) and prays:

This is the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. Happy are those who are called to his supper.

And the congregation responds,

Lord, I am not worthy to receive you, but only say the word and I shall be healed.

I looked straight into the lady’s eyes and said, It is here that all those who are prepared to receive Jesus Christ walk up to the front of the church but they don’t just believing in Christ or merely asking Jesus into their hearts. They don’t? She asked. No, I answered, they receive that same Christ who died on the cross on Calvary into their mouth and into their stomachs — body, blood, soul and divinity — and become one with him in an unspeakable way. Now that’s accepting Christ!"

 

[whatisthetruth]

Thank you Gabriel, your response helped,

I have to ask you though, when you made the point to A

A I have NO HOPE Those that have come to the knowledge of truth and reject it

Since I went to Catholic church for 30 years and I “reject” the need to come back to the Roman Catholic church,

Does that fall into the “Those that have come to the knowledge of truth and reject it” category you stated in chose “A”?

And if so,

Do you believe then, I am choosing hell as my destiny, with no hope for eternal life in heaven, as per the Catholic churches teachings?,

Thank you

Truth

 

[Gabriel_of_12]

Thank you Gabriel, your response helped,

I have to ask you though, when you made the point to A

Since I went to Catholic church for 30 years and I “reject” the need to come back to the Roman Catholic church,

Does that fall into the “Those that have come to the knowledge of truth and reject it” category you stated in chose “A”?

**You say you left the Catholic Church, I assume you were baptized by the Catholic Church. That indeluable sign + (the blessed Trinity name of God) that is marked on your soul, no one can remove it, God gave instructions, that not even the angels can harm you, Rev.7:3, you are a child of God. SO LONG AS YOU LIVE THERE IS HOPE FOR YOU. If you fall into sin, repent,confess your sins and God will forgive you.

Now if you come to his accurate knowledge of knowing Jesus intimately as a bride knows her husband, and reject Jesus as your savior., and live a life in mortal sin, unrepented you subject yourself to the wrath of God, (NO ONE MAKES THAT DESCISION But YOU) It is here where you reject Jesus, reject His body the Church and all his teachings, upon knowing and understanding them.

This is the only sin that God will not forgive when you sin against the Holy Spirit. Fall from Grace if you will like Satan did. The only difference is the evil one has an eternal self will,he cant repent, we have self will in time for repentance should we fall from God’s grace’s.**

And if so,

Do you believe then, I am choosing hell as my destiny, with no hope for eternal life in heaven, as per the Catholic churches teachings?,

**What you just stated is NOT CATHOLIC CHURCHES TEACHINGS. It is the will of God and his holy Mother Church that all be saved.

To answer your question, No, I hope and believe you do not choose hell to be your destiny. The Catholic church cannot choose that for you, nor has she ever taught that anyone is in hell, or is** going to hell, nor will the Catholic church ever teach such a Lie as you have just stated. I can tell by your last statement that your not sure who the body of Christ is on earth. See, there is time to get to know Jesus in a more intimate, personal, share in his divinity, live by his saving Grace.

Seek ye the kingdom of God. Because one is called does not mean he or she is going to the promise land, ask Moses

 

[whatisthetruth]

Thank you Gabriel,

The Catholic church cannot choose that for you, nor has she ever taught that anyone is in hell, or is going to hell, nor will the Catholic church ever teach such a Lie as you have just stated.

I** can tell by your last statement **that your not sure who the body of Christ is on earth.

What statement just so I know?

See, there is time to get to know Jesus in a more intimate, personal, share in his divinity, live by his saving Grace.

one final question and this is a good time to ask since you said this.

Do you believe it is possible for a Christian to know Jesus just as intimately, personally, and to share in his divinity, and live by his saving Grace outside the Catholic Church, as much as you do?

thank you’

truth?

 

[Claire_from_DE]

I know your questions were posed to Gabriel but I would like to respond to the last one. Someone who absolutely follows Jesus but has never been led to consider the claims of the Catholic church (I think Billy Graham would be an example) might well have a closer relationship with Jesus than I do because his response was so wholehearted. But if he had been Catholic, his relationship with Jesus would have been even closer than it was because of receiving Him in the Eucharist.

 

[MariaG]

My fear is that there are folks here who do not believe, because I am “Protestant”, I can love Jesus as much as you love Jesus.

And there may be some Catholics here who fear that since you did not know and love Christ while in the Catholic Church, that you believe Catholics cannot even know Jesus at all much less love Him since we are Catholic. That Catholics are not even Christians.

God Bless,
Maria

 

[dessert]

Truth, that is an interesting question because I was on the other end of the stick once, and now I say yes I have a relationship with all three in the trinity, I am not just a Jesus only. It can lead to more discussion and hopefully fruitful conclusions. I feel closer to Jesus which most don’t understand, but it just takes patience.
Blessings

 

[Righteousone]

Hi all,

As a Catholic for the first thirty years of my life, I **never heard **any priest exclaim the need to accept Jesus Christ into my heart as my personal Lord and Saviour nor did I hear anyone in my church used the phrase “I have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ as my Lord and Saviour of my life.”

I remember when I was in my early 20’s, I would be approached by strangers outside my church and asking me,
"do you have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ?"

I also rememeber feeling insulted and wondering if these people have nothing else better to do than to ask me questions about my personal life and religious beliefs.

I am embarassed to say, the words they used in the question were English but the reason of thier question was foreign to me.

In this thread, I would appreciate any feedback you can give me on the questions I posted. I appreciate your time in answering.

Please understand my intent on asking the questions is to understand through the eyes, mind, heart of a Catholic what I did not understand when I was Catholic.

I encourage anyone to read my signature letter if there is any doubt as my intent on being here.

Here are the questions

1. Has anyone ever approached you and asked you questions liked the ones which was asked of me as a Catholic.
   Some more questions I was asked are below
2. If so, what do you feel was thier reason for approaching you?
3. How did you usually respond?
4. What do you believe a person means when you hear someone say that,
   they have accepted Jesus into thier heart as thier personal Lord and Saviour of thier life?

I remember respectfully replying, “I am Catholic, of course I do” or something similiar to that and not ask them “why do you ask?”, only because I felt thier was something else behind thier question and I did not want to take the time with them to understand the reason they approached me.

I would then say something like a respectful “have a good day” and walk away.

As a catholic, I was so into my self back in those days, it scares me to think about how I ever got by.

I also remember people asking me following,
I included my answer which I remember thinking of or actually saying to them.

Q. “Have you been born again?”
A. “What are you talking about?” or “How can someone be born twice?”

Q. “Are you saved?”
A. “Saved from what?”

Thank you all and

God bless you,

truth

Because (again), the word “personal” IS NOT in the bible, it stems from Martin Luther in the 1500’s. It is he who made it up.

 

[whatisthetruth]

And there may be some Catholics here who fear that since you did not know and love Christ while in the Catholic Church, that you believe Catholics cannot even know Jesus at all much less love Him since we are Catholic. That Catholics are not even Christians.

God Bless,
Maria

I fear a lot more than some Catholics

If those Catholics took the time to look at my signature letter they would know exactly how I feel.

My fear is that thier are a lot of Catholics who believe **I can not love Jesus **as much as they do because I am not Catholic today, and I speak on behalf of my nmon Catholic brothers and Sisters

To that you say…

thank you

Truth

 

[CalmDownWisWins]

My fear is that thier are a lot of Catholics who believe I can not love Jesus as much as they do because I am not Catholic today, and I speak on behalf of my nmon Catholic brothers and Sisters

To that you say…

You love what you know, with however much “heart” as you can, but if you know less of that which others know more, you are always loving less than you could.

We want you to love as much as you can AND to love as much of your beloved as you might!

As long as you know less of Whom you love, you can not love them as much as you should, and we are here to try to show you how to know more than you can from the “place” where you are.

 

[Singinbeauty]

What is more personal than your belief in Christ? This is something I do not understand. Do you not feel that you have a relationship with Christ? I know I do. How could you not when you talk to Him everyday? When He and He alone knows every dark corner of my life yet loves me anyways…

What is more personal than that?

 

[MariaG]

I fear a lot more than some Catholics

If those Catholics took the time to look at my signature letter they would know exactly how I feel.

My fear is that thier are a lot of Catholics who believe **I can not love Jesus **as much as they do because I am not Catholic today, and I speak on behalf of my nmon Catholic brothers and Sisters

To that you say…

thank you

Truth

Although I did in fact take the time to look at your signature, I know many do not do so because they don’t care to go to unknown sites/links. It has nothing to do with taking the time or caring. It is not wishing to be exposed to unknown viruses, bad sites etc. There have been many who come here speaking words of love and personal relationship only to link us to the most hateful anti-Catholic sites filled with terrible lies about the Catholic Church.

However, it truly should not matter to you what people think about your walk with Christ. As well as the fact that many here at this site, walked the very same path you are taking.

Many here, truly do understand, and although we don’t doubt your love for the Lord, can truly say from experience, that the Love we have for Christ now is tenfold since coming back to the Catholic Church. Something that we could never of believed or even imagined before returning. We can only speak of our personal experience and don’t couch it in terms of loving less, but of loving more.

I know that it can be hurtful when others do not understand. But that is when we should remind ourselves that the servant is never greater than the master.

I would ask you, again however, why it disturbs you that you never heard the words about having a personal relationship with Christ in those words while in the Catholic Church?

God Bless,
Maria

 

[MariaG]

What is more personal than your belief in Christ? This is something I do not understand. Do you not feel that you have a relationship with Christ? I know I do. How could you not when you talk to Him everyday? When He and He alone knows every dark corner of my life yet loves me anyways…

What is more personal than that?

To accept Christ not only into your heart but into your heart, mind, body and soul.

There is absolutely nothing more personal than the Real Presence of Christ when coupled with a deep and abiding Love for the Lord.

Respectfully, Your sister in Christ,
Maria

 

[Singinbeauty]

To accept Christ not only into your heart but into your heart, mind, body and soul.

There is absolutely nothing more personal than the Real Presence of Christ.

Respectfully, Your sister in Christ,
Maria

Who says that protestants don’t also accept Christ into our very heart, mind, body and souls? It is pretty presumptuous to think that catholics have the hold on this.