“And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” Mat 6:18
“I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now. Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come.” John 16:12-13
“But if I tarry long, that thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and foundation of the truth.” 1Tim 3:15
Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age." Mat 28:18-20
Fortunately, we have Christ’s promise that heresies will never prevail against the Church. They will arise, endure sometimes for centuries, like Protestantism, but we can be confident in Christ’s promise that the Church will always teach the Truth.
And so it all centers around (as you would have us believe) the notion that the Roman Catholic Church is the only real church and all others are heresy. However the reality that stands out in the article posted is that the truth lies in centering on "Jesus Christ" rather than on something else such as in your case, the "Roman Catholic Church". In other words I look to Christ for the truth, not to a church ruled by men, many of whom over the centuries have been of decidedly questionalble morals and standards. I pray directly to "our Father Who art in heaven " as Jesus taught us to pray, rather than to saints designated by men, or to Mary who Jesus never deified. My life, my hopes, my faith all center around "Jesus Christ " not a "church ".
I am saying this not to start a battle over Catholic vs Protestant ....... But to point out what the article made so clear, that we get to the truth when Biblical interpretation is centered in Christ Himself and what He did on the Cross.
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“Fortunately, we have Christ’s promise that heresies will never prevail against the Church. “
Since this article is about biblical study, I suggest you study the verse you posted, which does not say what you claim.
We already know that the 'church' is not the apostles, or magisterium as your religion calls them...
Act_8:1 And Saul was consenting unto his death. And at that time there was a great persecution against the church which was at Jerusalem; and they were all scattered abroad throughout the regions of Judaea and Samaria, except the apostles.
Act_15:4 And when they were come to Jerusalem, they were received of the church, and of the apostles and elders, and they declared all things that God had done with them.
So we see from the scriptures the apostles and the Catholic religion's false apostolic succession is NOT the church...
Paul says he has written so the people (the church) will know how to carry on in the body of Christ...
Well low and behold then, it is not the body, the church which is the pillar and ground of the truth...
It is the HEAD of the body which is the pillar and ground of the truth; GOD...
It is not surprising that your religion constantly tries to steal the glory of God as its own but what is always surprising is that so many of you repeat these perversions of scripture...
And right after the bible tells you 3 verses before that:
1Ti 3:12 Let the deacons be the husbands of one wife, ruling their children and their own houses well.
Husbands...Of one wife...With children...Own houses...
This is not optional...
The bible certainly is an inconvenient book for your religion...
It wasn’t a “church” it was “ecclesia” and it certainly wasn’t the Catholic Church. In no way would God institute a “church” that incorporates paganism.
Fortunately, we have the Word of God that we can read for ourselves and with which the indwelling Holy Spirit illuminates the truth to those who are diligently seeking it. For example, "gates" don't DO anything but keep stuff in or keep stuff out. When gates "prevail", it means they succeeded in their function. But, we know that the gospel is able to penetrate those gates and get souls out. This is far from the false interpretation that heresies will never prevail against the Roman Catholic church - because there HAVE been many instances of just that happening. The Holy Spirit, however, WILL never fail to guide God's people into all truth - those that are willing to search for it with all their hearts and it is found in the Divinely- revealed Scriptures.