What is the Catholic teaching on 1 Cor. 1:8?

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Thank you. We believe “the righteousness of Christ and His sacrifice” finally makes righteousness available to man, the right and only authentic way, by reconciling us with God, establishing communion (that relationship being the very essence of man’s justice, with separation from God being the essence of the unjust and disordered state known as Original Sin, sometimes known as the “death of the soul”) with Him through whom all righteousness flows. In this way we may receive the “righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith” (Phil 3:9). Man was never created to be a sinner after all-and God’s plan has never included leaving him to be one by suddenly ignoring man’s injustice- but rather to restore real justice to man, the righteousness that man was made for. This fulfills the New Covenant prophecy of Jer 31:33:
"I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people."

And occurs as we come to know Him, in a new and direct manner: Jer 31:34:
"No longer will they teach their neighbor, or say to one another, ‘Know the LORD,’ because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest," declares the LORD."

Because:
"Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent." John 17:3

Even if that intimate knowledge isn’t fully realized until the next life:
"For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known." 1 Cor 13:12

And this is all because God’s plans have never involved merely saving a portion of some otherwise worthless wretches, almost as an afterthought perhaps, but rather to bring His beloved creation into a perfection that He has in mind. And our participation, and increasing participation is part and parcel of this perfecting. All because He wants it that way. So Christ has done more for us, by lifting us out of our mire, of our sin, and bringing us up into the light whereby we gain the righteousness intended for us and can begin “leg II” of our journey so to speak, the “journey to perfection” as the church teaches God placed His creation on from the beginning. There’s a huge purpose and plan behind all of this IOW, that we can hardly only begin to imagine.
 
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Julius_Caesar said:
Many non Protestants would disagree, not to talk of Apostolic Christians.
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There is no doubt that many would disagree. I’m simply explaining what I find as teachings of many of the “famous” Non-Catholic theologians such as Jonathan Edwards, Charles Spurgeon, John Bunyan and, more recently, RC Spoul.
 
Julius_Caesar said:
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lanman87:
And while we do those things, we do them not in order to “be saved” or even to maintain a salvation that we have previously received, but because we have “been saved” and those are the means of grace that God uses to grow our faith into maturity, spread His Gospel on the Earth, and most importantly, bring Glory to God.
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Many non Protestants would disagree, not to talk of Apostolic Christians.
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I appreciate the way Basil of Caesarea, a 4th century bishop, put it:
"If we turn away from evil out of fear of punishment, we are in the position of slaves. If we pursue the enticement of wages, . . . we resemble mercenaries. Finally if we obey for the sake of the good itself and out of love for him who commands . . . we are in the position of children."
 
Salvation does not depend on either faith or charity but on faith and charity. It is not enough to believe, even with a faith that moves mountains or works miracles. We must also have charity, which is based on faith indeed but goes beyond faith to reach out to the One in whom we believe, and from this love for God reaches out to all whom his providence places, though casually, into our lives.

Fr. John A. Hardon S.J.
 
Benny12 said:
Judaism does not teach physical Christian baptism.

So why did jesus say you are a teacher of Israel and don’t know these things
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I’m not sure if I understand this question. Nicodemus didn’t know of man’s need to even be born again to begin with.
 
Probably not, and he wouldn’t know about spiritual rebirth either. Either way Jesus challenged him to understand his own faith more deeply.
 
Not much that I can think of-but certainly there were changes pointed to in the Old Testament. Either way I doubt that most Pharisees et al would have a kind of imminent expectation of something different coming down the pike.
 
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Yes, and are baptized as a necessary expression and public profession of that faith. Ezekiel speaks in a very general way-as does Jeremiah.
 
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Benny12 said:
The Old Testament does not teach physical Christian Baptism
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It doesn’t teach many things with any kind of specificity- including baptism for any reason for that matter-which is why most Jews thought, for example, that their messiah would vanquish their physical enemies and why there was division among them over whether angels and an afterlife existed at all. We need Jesus to fill in lots of stuff, and to initiate in this new covenant, however he structures it. I mean it’s not as if Ezekiel mentioned the partaking of Jesus’ body and blood either for that matter.
 
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Who’s to say it’s not Baptism??? I mean the physical can certainly both represent and effect the spiritual-just as the incarnation, itself, did, if that’s what God wants. We’re physical/spiritual beings after all-who more easily comprehend and respond well to physical actions.
 
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I doubt he would’ve responded about rebirth at all-which he didn’t according to the narrative. Certainly the Jews had no scenario worked out as to how God was going to effect any of this. This all seems to be a grasping at straws in any case to tell you the truth.
 
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Water and Spirit. Plain to everyone else until 500 years ago.
 
no-but He’d already been baptized himself and certainly commanded his disciples to do it.
 
Yes, and yet there were plenty of Reformers who accepted the RCC position on baptism-and continued with the sacrament.
 
Jesus answered, “Very truly, I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit.
John 3:5 NRSV-CI
 
Where is the word Trinity?

The phrase water and Spirit refers to baptism.
 
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Compare with the passage from Titus.

But “when the kindness of God our Savior and his love for mankind appeared, he saved us not by works of righteousness that we have done but on the basis of his mercy, through the washing of the new birth and the renewing of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us in full measure through Jesus Christ our Savior.
Titus 3:4‭-‬6 NET
 
I will sprinkle clean water on you. Bath of regeneration. Water and Spirit.
 
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