New Evangelization

[guanophore]

Douay-Rheims
Douay-Rheims Catholic Bible
[1] Now I make known unto you, brethren, the gospel which I preached to you, which also you have received, and wherein you stand; [2] By which also you are saved,** if you hold fast after what manner I preached unto you**, unless you have believed in vain. [3] For I delivered unto you first of all, which I also received: how that Christ died for our sins, according to the scriptures: [4] And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day, according to the scriptures:
QC

I think you may have a blind spot, QC, that makes you unable to “see” this part of the passage. What Paul preached was a way of life (called The Way) in the NT of discipline, virtue, and avoidance of sins. He taught this "manner’ or way of life because he knew that the failure to “hold fast” would cause the faithful to lose their state of grace, and fall into damnation.

Not at all.  No one can "earn" his salvation [Eph. 2:8,9].

It is very Catholic of you to say this.

Believing is not a work it is showing faith in a God “who can not lie.” There is only one name given to men under heaven by which we must be saved - The LORD Jesus Christ [Acts 4:12]. He told His Jewish followers, “I am the Way, the Truth and the Life, no man cometh unto the Father, but by Me” [John 14:6].
QC

Yes, this is true, but that does not change the fact that faith is a work.

John 6:28-30
28 Then they said to him, “What must we do to perform the works of God?” 29 Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.”

Now granted, we cannot participate in this work of God without His grace, but neither is grace effective in our souls without it. Look in any concordance for the phrase “according to your faith”. You will find that much of Jesus’ work in the lives of people depended upon the exercise of faith. It is our contribution toward the grace that saves us. We choose to place our faith in Him.

Inre to James - we must be careful to "rightly divide the Word of Thruth."  To whom is James writing?  The 12 tribes scattered abroad - Israel.  James was written very early during the period covered by the book of Acts.  He is writing to the Jews of the dispersion.  They were still under the Law of Moses at this time.

Yes, we must rightly divide, or properly understand and apply the Word of Truth. This duty was given to the Church, and continues to this day.

However you are a little off with regard to the book of James. Yes, it was written dirung that time period, but it is written not to the 12 tribes of the diaspora but to Messianic Jews that were contained within that population. They were no longer under the Mosaic Law, but under grace. You were misinformed.

This myth is a common ploy used to discount that works are part of the Gospel preached by the Apostles. Within the Apostolic instructions for holy living we find this:

James 5:13-16
Are any among you suffering? They should pray. Are any cheerful? They should sing songs of praise. 14 Are any among you sick? They should **call for the elders of the church **and have them pray over them, anointing them with oil in the name of the Lord. 15 The prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise them up; and anyone who has committed sins will be forgiven. 16 Therefore confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another, so that you may be healed.

Jews did not have “elders of the Church”! They had elders of synagogues. called rulers.

Notice James 2:2 “assembly” is sungogue - synagogue. Compare Paul writing to the church in Romans 4:4,5 and Ephesians 2:8,9.

Yes, Messianic Jews continued attending synagogue until they were ejected after 70 AD when the Temple was destroyed, followed by persecution of Christians by Romans following the burning of Rome. It behooved the Jews to separate themselves from Christians so as not to suffer the same blame. Prior to that, Christianity was considered a “sect of the Jews”.

It is true, of course, that we are saved “unto good works” [Ephesians 2:10], but not by good works. So faith in the Lord Jesus Christ saves us and we are then His ambassadors [2 Cor. 5:16-21] and as such we are to preach the word of reconciliation.

It is very Catholic of you to say this!

BTW, the moment we believe on the Lord Jesus Christ we are both saved and sealed by the Holy Spirit until the day of redemtpion of our body [Ephesians 1:13; 4:30].
Grace and Peace to you my friend,
QC

You will also not find this idea in the NT, since it is a modern evangelical innovation that did not exist in Christendom prior to the Reformation. A tradition of man, imposed upon the Holy Scriptures.