How many times have you been corrected on this MD? 50? More? Either you are incredibly dense or you prefer to cling to your own notion of what the Catholic faith is. No one is saved apart from Grace. Period. We all agree.
I do not agree with this Catholic statement. The Apostolic message is not, “
no one is saved APART FROM grace,” but “
For BY GRACE you have been saved THROUGH FAITH…,”
“
Apart from grace” to the Catholic mind means the enabling power of the Holy Spirit to
assist Catholics in the
process of their salvation. Catholics are not taught that they are “
under grace” but that they are in need of grace to aid them in not breaking the Ten Commandments by which they can be eternally condemned according to its doctrine of “
mortal sin.” That grave sin which destroys the “
initial” righteousness"
infused" into their soul upon ritual (water) Baptism.
Hence, the Catholic is actually “
under law” for condemnation - not “
under grace.” So, neither Paul nor I agree.
Although we are FREELY GIVEN access to eternal life, we must also accept it and live in it.
It is not taught in the Scriptures that the believer is “
freely given access” to eternal life. But is
gifted eternal life in Christ Jesus:Rom 6:23 “For the wages of sin is death (
all sinned, in Adam,
in Adam all die),
but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
John 3:36 “He who
believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who does not obey (the equivalent of belief, see Jn. 14:1) the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.”
John 5:24 “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me,
has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life.”
John 6:47 "Truly, truly, I say to you,
he who believes has eternal life."Your doctrine that the gift is eternal but one’s possession of it is not is pure sophistry.
That requires SOME effort on our parts.
It requires belief on man’s part. In unbelief men insist that God reward them salvation based on at least “some effort” of their own.
The fact that it does does not obviate the reality that we are still entirely dependent upon God’s grace for salvation.
You mean God’s “grace” to
enable you to exercise the proper “effort” in order to merit your salvation. That’s not the “reality” of Divine grace (unmerited, undeserved favor). The grace by which HE SAVES through faith.
Grace alone is necessary and sufficient; our works alone are necessary YET INSUFFICIENT.
Sophistry.Rom 11:6 "
But if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works, otherwise grace is no longer grace."Hence, works are not only unnecessary for salvation, but altogether INEFFICIENT, and God’s sovereign grace through Christ, altogether SUFFICIENT.
You constantly shoot yourself in the foot with this argument anyhow. According to your logic above, "How is grace still grace if it requires faith?
Grace doesn’t “require” faith. God Himself saves the sinner according to His sovereign grace (
unmerited, undeserved favor) upon the sinner’s faith in Christ alone.
Faith in God’s testimony (Word) concerning the redemptive work of the Son on our behalf
honors Him. And the believer’s complete rest in the
sufficiency of that
finished work then becomes the basis and catalyst of true worship (Jn. 4:23).