Chris LaRock:
Isn’t wrong to trust in anything other than Jesus alone to ensure your salvation? He’s the way, the truth and the life. NOBODY can come to the Father, but by him alone.
Hi Chris -
It is not rare for God to use physical objects to produce His wishes. He uses Adam’s rib to create Eve. Moses’ staff didn’t cause the plagues of Egypt by itself. He used The Bronze Serpent to bring physical salvation to the Hebrews in the desert.
In Jesus’ time the woman who bled was cured by touching His cloak. In Acts, Peter and Paul cured people by doing things like giving them a handkerchief, or when people simply passed through Peter’s shadow.
In calling the Brown Scapular miraculous, it is not beyond God to poduce His wishes through it. And considering what I mentioned that is in the bible, why would God stop using physical objects to do His work here, even up to today?
This does not negate what you have said in your statement I quoted here, but have you considered that Jesus may have left us methods to help obtain Grace? In the ancient Tradition they are called Sacraments. Lets take for an example the Sacrament of Reconciliation.
Paul, in his 2nd letter to the Corinthians speaks about the “ministry of reconciliation”, chapter 5, vrerse 18. Unfortunately, he doesn’t describe how it is administered. However, in fact, he says Jesus gave us the ministry of reconciliation.
2 Cor 5:18 And all this is from God, who has reconciled us to himself through Christ and given us the ministry of reconciliation
BTW, ministries are performed by ministers. Priests & bishops are ministers. Paul continues by saying that Christ entrusted us, meaning men…
2 Cor 5:19 namely, God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting their trespasses against them and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation.
Finally, Paul calls himself and others “ambassadors”…
2 Cor 5:20 So we are ambassadors for Christ, as if God were appealing through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.
Put it all together and you get “We were given the ministry of reconciliation by Christ who entrusted us and made us ambassadors for Him.” Key - Christ gave it to us and it is carried out by men. Why would He want it to stop?
The fact is that we still practice the Sacrament (Ministry) of Reconciliation in the Catholic Church, as prescribed by Jesus Himself.
You, yourself practice Baptism, another physical attribute for salvation given to us by Jesus and carried out by men, so you must admit the reality of what I am saying.
Subrosa
