This is beautiful, with your permission I may use it with my Sunday School Class… but… All true Christians are suppose to be “Christ-like” this is what the word “Christian” means. When the world sees us… it should not really see us… but Christ… The window is a beautiful illustration of this. Thank you.
Hello submittedjoy,
What you’re describing here is a “mediator.” And Scripture explicitly states that for the church:1 Tim 2:5 "…there is one God, {and} one mediator also between God and men, {the} man Christ Jesus,"Under the Law God provided a priesthood through which Israel could approach Him through human representation. But the church, this side of the cross, has Christ Himself, our “High Priest,” our “one Mediator” who ever lives to Advocate and make intercession for us:Heb 7:23-25 “The {former} priests, on the one hand, existed in greater numbers because they were prevented by death from continuing, but Jesus, on the other hand, because He continues forever, holds His priesthood permanently. Therefore He is able also to save forever those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.”
But you see, you (Catholicism) completely miss the whole point of the New Covenant in Christ. The day of the system of flawed, human priestly mediators ended, it’s over:Heb 7:28 "For the Law appoints men as high priests who are weak, but the word of the oath, which came after the Law, {appoints} a Son, made perfect forever."Every true believer has the right to go directly to and through his perfect Mediator.**Heb 4:16 ** “Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”
But that “cracked” and “dirty” window has been completely removed and replaced with an open door policy in Christ - our one, perfect Mediator. :extrahappy:
This is very Catholic of you to say! I did not know that you were so familiar with Catholic Theology!
Actually, I think it is you who have missed the whole point of Catholicism! Evidently you do not know that what you have written comes from the Catholic Church (Scripture).
Indeed, the Perfect is come! More good Catholic theology!
Amen! The only point that you seem to have missed is that Jesus has shared HIs priestly ministry with us, and that He calls some to join with Him in His role as mediator.
If indeed I have presented through the Scriptures Catholic theology, then don’t contradict it.1 Tim 2:5 “…there is one God, {and} one mediator also between God and men, {the} man Christ Jesus,” Embrace it by removing all those “dirty” and “cracked” windows and replace them with the Door provided for us:John 10:9 “I am the door; if anyone enters through Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture.”
It is because of our baptism that we share in the priesthood of all believers, and of course we should all image Christ to others. The priest is more so in that he can actually speak Christ’s words to us (My body and blood; I absolve you of your sins), because he has been given this gift by Christ Himself, through the laying on of hands that goes all the way back to St. Peter himself, from when Jesus ordained him to be the chief shepherd of the Church. (See John 21:15-19.)
No, Jimmy, I haven’t but I shall look it up! Thanks for the advise. Blessings
Where does your church claim that this is done by Divine Revelation? Is this supposedly revealed to the pope or something like that?
Where do we see abosolution being given by the Baptist or in the Acts passage?
Jesus gave the power to forgive and retain sins quite explicitly. What more do you need?
When Jesus said this there were no priest or bishops there. Secondly in those passages on the Baptist and Acts where do we see someone giving absolution?
Who cares if absolution was in those passages or not? I don’t understand why that’s important to you. You must think something has to be explicitly discussed in order to be permitted. I don’t.
No, Divine Revelation is God’s disclosure about Himself to mankind. It began in the Garden of Eden, and has continued until the final revelation in Jesus Christ. Most of the time, such revelation defies human reason, like the burning bush, for example.
Absolution is a pronouncement that sins are forgiven. Do you think that God did not forgive the sins of those who came to John for the Baptism of Repentance? Do you think that God did not forgive the sins of those who confessed them publicly?
On the contrary, Jesus had already commissioned the Apostles in their priestly duties during the time of their preparation. He had taught them to do baptism, preaching, annointing/healing the sick, hearing confessions, etc. The bishops are the successors to the Apostles, and the Apostles passed on the their duties to them. I wonder what you think “absolution” means?
Well, we see it differently, ja4. We see that God gave to “men” the power to forgive sins, then empowered the Apostles to forgive them. Scripture also instructs us to “confess your sins to one another, that you may be healed”. Would one not wish to make this confession to the person who had been given the authority on earth to forgive sins? This is the main problem with psychotherapy today. People go to the therapist to confess their sins, but such persons have not been empowered by God to forgive sins! Forgiveness is obtained directly from God through Christ. Jesus set it up so that His representatives could transfer the grace of His forgiveness in a personal way.
I’m pointing out to you and others that a priest hearing confessions and giving absolution is not a biblical practice. The apostles never taught such a thing. Rather forgiveness of sins can be obtained directly from God through Christ. See I John 1:9
Don’t you claim that your church continues to recieve something like revelations in its development of doctrine theory? The proclaimation of the assumption of Mary in the 1950’s would be an example of this.
Do you consider protestant churches true churches?
This didn’t originate from Pope Benedict XVI, but it has his approval. Read here.
No. The public revelation ceased with the death of the last Apostle. There do continue to be revelations, but they are private, given to individuals. Developlment of doctrine has to do with the improved understanding over time of what Jesus revealed. There are some things that were not ready to be made clear, or understood, and the clarity did not come until later.
No, this is not “new” revelation. This is contained in the beliefs of the Church since the time of the Apostles. The reason it was “proclaimed” was to put to rest doubts and confusion about what was believed. Same as the proclamation of the canon. The books that are considered inspired have been agreed upon by the Church since the early years, but it became necessary to spell it out due to heresies that emerged. The same applies to the Trinity, which was believed and taught by the Apostles, but had to be defined and the doctrine developed due to heresies that emerged.
Scripture is plain that there is only One Body, One Faith, One Lord. There is only One Church. All who are validly baptized are members of the One Church.
Yes. This is based on the NT, which says that Jesus only built one church. Not “churches”. The Catholic Church teaches that there is no salvation outside the Church because there is only One Church.
Ok, I think I see where you are coming from.
The only way i could change my mind is by facts. You evidently don’t need to facts to support your beliefs but rely on your authority whether there are facts or not.
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If what you say is true what am i to make of Romans 10:9-10 which says-