Posted on 09/13/2016 7:31:07 AM PDT by Salvation
A lot to consider here.
Monsignor Pope Ping!
I think in some form or another, I went through each step. Does that mean I am damned? I now fear consequences, even though I repented of my sins and asked for forgiveness. I am thoroughly embarrassed how I behaved for a good amount of my life.
Wow!
I am consistently bowled over by the perspicacity and sagacity of the early Fathers of the Church.
St. Bernard lived in the 11th Century!
How far our culture has fallen!
Looks to me like we’ve reached 28, then gotten out a shovel and started digging deeper.
One of your best posts, very timely for us.
Its timelessness is apparent, as if St. Bernard wrote it for today.
You’re in good company!
But, just remember: if OUR goodness is needed for salvation, we are ALL doomed to be damned!
But, praise be to God, it is Christ’s perfect goodness—expressed through His
willingness to takes the “sins of the world upon Himself—that saves us from condemnation before God.
Faith clings to this truth, even as our own imperfect nature prevents us from perfect obedience to the commands oF God.
Again, grace is a gift GIVEN—not earned!!! And it is by grace we have been saved, through faith—not our own works!!
So, the best way to feed faith is to fill ourselves with “bread” of God’s word, and Jesus’—who tells us:
“The words I speak to you are spirit, and they are life”!!!!!
Thank you for this. “Salvation” indeed!
WOW... What a slippery slope!!!
Thanks for sharing.
“There comes that rash leap, so dishonorable, so disgraceful, so full of ignominy and confusion; a leap from the heights into the abyss, from the courtyard to the dung heap, from the throne to the sewer, from heaven to the mud, from the cloister to the world, from paradise to hell.”
and to think it all started from a little white lie....!!!
Thank you for your response.
Sometimes, I feel guilt, and I think that in itself it is a sin. It expresses distrust in Jesus’s promises to forgive. In fact, I think such guilt is from Satan, and he wants me to feel unworthy of God’s love.
I well know of what you speak.
Satan HATES knowing that his acts have been defeated at the cross, and he tries hard to get us to forget it is God’s love revealed in the shedding of His own Son’s precious blood that takes away our sins—and the sins of the world.
Best remedey is turning to His STRONG WORD, which—again—IS “Spirit and life”!
8See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, according to the tradition of men, according to the elementary principles of the world, rather than according to Christ.
9For in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form,
10and in Him you have been made complete, and He is the head over all rule and authority;
11and in Him you were also circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, in the removal of the body of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ;
12having been buried with Him in baptism, in which you were also raised up with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead.
13When you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our transgressions,
14having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us, which was hostile to us; and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross.
Colossians 2:6-13 NASB
For the Christian, there is in Christ forgiveness for all of your sins...past, present and future if we confess those to Him.
I hope these words provide you with comfort.
Please freepmail me if you have any questions or would like to discuss further.
Wonderful, thought-provoking essay. He breaks it down so well. Thanks, Sal.
I am thinking about the excellent homily Father gave last Sunday based on the parable of the Prodigal Son. Father reminded us that God loves us extravagantly. He forgives us not for what we have or have not done but because of Who He is.
I think you are on to something about the devil’s wanting us to continue to feel guilt in sins of which we have previously repented. He has reasons for wanting us to doubt God’s love and forgiveness.
Where I get hung up on, is that in some sins in the old testament require the death penalty, murder, adultery, homo-sex, cursing your parents, etc, but in the New Testament we can be forgiven of them. That is one source of my doubt.
May I suggest 2 Corinthians Chapter 3?
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