Posted on 01/03/2019 8:02:07 AM PST by Salvation
Most of us are familiar with this famous passage from the Gospel of John: For God so loved the world that he gave us his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in him might not perish but might have everlasting life (John 3:16). For many people it serves as a kind of mini-gospel.
There is something of that same quality in St. Paul’s beautiful summary of salvation and of the gospel message: For we were, by nature, children of wrath, like the others. But God, who is rich in mercy, on account of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our sins, gave us life in Christ. It is by this grace that you are saved (Ephesians 2:3-5).
There is a compact beauty to this text from Ephesians. It paints a beautiful picture of the love of God the Father for us despite our terrible condition: we are children of wrath and are dead in our sins. The breakthrough begins with two simple words: “But God ….” From there, love comes to the rescue.
Let’s examine some of the teachings in this mini-gospel, this summary of salvation.
The Condition of our Salvation – Salvation presupposes there is something from which we must be saved. This brief text lists two fundamental conditions from which we must be snatched and saved: disaffection and death.
Disaffection – The text says, By nature, we were children of wrath. The word wrath seems to be a synonym for anger, but in the New Testament it points to an ongoing state of aversion to or disaffection with the holiness of God. Wrath speaks to our inability to endure the holiness of God in our present sinful state. Only the grace of God can adequately prepare us to endure the day of his coming and stand when he appears (Malachi 3:2).
The Greek word translated here as “wrath” is orgḗ, and it speaks to a settled anger or aversion arising from an ongoing or fixed opposition; it is different from a sudden outburst of anger. Wrath is a disposition that steadfastly opposes or recoils from someone or something that cannot be endured.
Experientially, “wrath” speaks to the utter incompatibility of the Lord’s holiness and our current condition. To speak of the wrath of God does not mean that God is angry. Rather, it speaks to our inability to endure the light of His truth and heat of His love. It is like a man who emerges from a dark room into the bright sunshine and finds the light of day too harsh to handle. The problem is not with the sunlight; it is internal to the man, who has become accustomed to the darkness. Nevertheless, he continues to protest that it is the light that is harsh. This is our human condition without grace. We simply cannot endure the light and heat of God, who is like a blazing sun of love and truth. Only Jesus Christ, by His grace, can prepare us to enter into the full presence of God.
Before Christ, we were children of wrath, like the rest. Even to the great and holy Moses, God had to say, You cannot see my face, for no one can see me and live (Ex 33:20). Only Jesus can enable us to see the Father’s beautiful face.
Death – The text says that we were dead in our sins. Thus, this problem was not going to go away through any action of ours. A few more spiritual push-ups or alms for the poor were not going to be enough—or even possible—because we were dead in our sins. Dead people cannot do anything but lie there and be acted upon by others. It doesn’t get more serious than being dead in our sins. Only God, who is life and existence Himself, can resolve this for us.
The Cause of our Salvation – The text speaks to the primary cause of our salvation: But God, who is rich in mercy, on account of the great love with which he loved us ….
To love is to will the good of the other. We who are human almost always have imperfect love. We love others, but we also expect to get something in return. If we don’t think we are getting enough back, we easily become resentful and may begin to withhold our love. God’s love, however, is perfect and gratuitous. All that God got back in return for loving us was the cross!
This is the beauty of the text: we are saved by God on account of the great love with which He loved us.
Why does God love us? Because God is love and that is what love does—it loves. Love is more than an emotion, something we feel—it is willing the good of the other. Loving does not always involve affirmation; at times it will involve rebuke and correction. Sin and error are never the good that God wills for us. Thus, even when he must punish us or allow us to endure tribulations, it is only for our greater good, that we come to wisdom, repentance, goodness, and truth.
Love and richness in mercy are also connected in this passage. Even our imperfect love for others brings forth an understanding and a compassion that makes us more patient and more willing to presume good faith on the part of those we love. Due to our imperfections, our mercy can err by excess or defect. We may grow overly angry with those we love and be more severe with them because the blows they inflict upon us are more painful. On the other hand, sometimes we are overly merciful to those we love, becoming too tolerant and overlooking serious issues. Thus, imperfect love and imperfect mercy are often our lot.
Of course, God is perfect love. While He is rich in mercy, His mercy is His willingness to suffer on our behalf, but not in a way that harms us or inhibits our freedom. That is why one of the great evils of our time is the preaching of mercy detached from necessary repentance. Repentance is the key that unlocks mercy. It is the door we freely open to God, admitting our need for mercy and allowing Him to apply its healing affects. His rich mercy is freely offered, not imposed.
As the Parable of the Prodigal Son teaches, if we take one step by God’s grace, the Father takes two steps and starts running toward us. Yes, our Heavenly Father loves us and is rich in mercy, rejoicing in our return and summoning the angels and saints in Heaven to the celebratory feast!
Here, then, is the cause of our salvation: God’s great love for us and the richness of His mercy. We have but to say yes by turning the key of repentance and opening the door of our heart to His rich, necessary, freely-offered mercy.
The Cure of our Salvation – The text says that God gave us life in Christ. It is by this grace that you are saved.
We who were dead in our sins and who were children of wrath like the rest are brought back to life in Christ. Notice that it is in Christ that we are saved. That is to say, Jesus does not act upon us in a merely extrinsic way. Rather, He takes us to Himself and makes us members of His Body. He is the Life as well as the Way and the Truth. He incorporates us, makes us members of His body, so that we live in Him and through Him.
So, the Father gives us life in Christ not just by Christ. To be saved and no longer be dead in our sins, to live, is to be in union with Him. This is more than a juridical act, more than an imputed righteousness; it is a saving relationship and incorporation into Christ’s Body. Christ’s Body is no mere abstraction or allegory; it is the Church. The Church is the Body of Christ. It is the living, active presence of Christ in the world (see Eph 5:23, Col 1:18, Eph 1:23, Eph 4:12, 1 Cor 12:22ff, inter al).
It by this grace that we are saved, but by what grace? By the grace of a life-changing transformative relationship with Jesus Christ. The grace by which we are saved is Christ Himself and our incorporation into Him. It our remaining with Him through the relationship that is the grace of faith. He saves us by the rebirth and washing of baptism, strengthens us in the Sacrament of Confirmation, feeds us with His Body and Blood in Holy Communion, and heals our wounds in the Sacraments of Confession and Anointing of the Sick.
Here, then, is a kind of mini-Gospel or a summary of our salvation from St. Paul. It is beautiful and compact, worthy of a framed copy in a special place—or better yet, hanging on your refrigerator door.
Monsignor Pope Ping!
Chatholic Curious Ping
Christ died for all yall, but sum yall going to hell anyways cause you ain’t accepted Him yet.
We accept Jesus daily if we attend Daily Mass. You may want to check your facts.
I see that differently. (Southern Baptist)
Accepting Jesus is a one time event that occurs when you accept the promise of John 3:16 and put your faith in Jesus for forgiveness of your sins.
Attending Mass is not necessarily indicative of a person’s faith. Their faith could be in their own works, including the work of attending mass, instead of the redemptive work of Jesus on the cross.
Once you accept Jesus, the Holy Spirit goes to work in your life to transform you into the likeness of Christ. That may take a while, in fact, I doubt any finish it in this life.
Sin after that acceptance is covered by Jesus’s blood. However God chastises those whom he loves. But we have the spirit of adoption. We have no fear of being fired like a servant as children of God. But Chastisement certainly is possible.
Bearing fruit (works) is evidence of one’s faith. However, it’s possible for a Christian (One who has accepted Jesus) to be wrapped up in the cares of this world so that he doesn’t bear fruit. (The carnal Christian). Yet he is saved, as one running from a house on fire.
“We accept Jesus daily if we attend Daily Mass. ”
This is a very clear statement, typically made by someone who doesn’t understand the Gospel of Grace, one not saved, and one who has no assurance of salvation.
It is also, for those reasons, a sad statement, typically made by one who is sincere, but despite striving to “do things”, misses the whole point of Christ’s death and path to eternal life.
One who misses His truth, goes through life always running on a Hamster Wheel of false works and rituals, never knowing if they are saved, hoping, but never coming to entrust themself to Him alone, and entering into His rest.
Instead of salvation, deep and abiding peace, assurance of salvation, and His unconditional love and acceptance, they are left with just the squeak of the spinning Hamster Wheel to remind them they never know what their eternal future holds.
For any that find themselves in this difficult situation, please read my profile or pm me to learn what Christ declares concerning how to know you are going to heaven.
As the priest wrote it, catholociism belives you eat and drink, literally, the diety. THAT is how deeply paganism has inveigled the catholic religion ... And that paganism empowers the nicolaitan priesthood. What did Jesus say about that in The Revelation of John?
So we have plenty of protestants commenting on the words of a Catholic priest, but no comments at all on the post a couple of days ago about 41 million babies killed by abortion. I guess being anti Catholic is more important than the murder of a few million babies.
By the way, the bible says that ‘this is my body’, not a pagan document. It also says that if you don’t eat my body, drink my blood you have no life in you, do you consider the bible a pagan document?
Perhaps if Roman Catholics would support pro-life presidential candidates more we might not be having this problem.
The Roman Catholic vote has been for the GOP candidate only four times since 1952.
| Yr | D | R | ||
| 1952 | 56% | 44% | ||
| 1956 | 51% | 49% | ||
| 1960 | 78% | 22% | Kennedy | |
| 1964 | 76% | 24% | LBJ | |
| 1968 | 59% | 33% | ||
| 1972 | 48% | 52% | ||
| 1976 | 57% | 41% | Carter | |
| 1980 | 46% | 47% | ||
| 1984 | 39% | 61% | ||
| 1988 | 51% | 49% | ||
| 1992 | 47% | 35% | Clinton | |
| 1996 | 55% | 35% | Clinton | |
| 2000 | 52% | 46% | ||
| 2004 | 52% | 48% | ||
| 2008 | 53% | 47% | Obama | |
| 2012 | 56% | 44% | Obama | |
| 2016 | 45% | 52% |
If read in context, the Bible is clear on this topic.
| Matthew 26:26-29 | Mark 14:22-24 | Luke 22:14-20 | John 13:21-26 | 1 Corinthians 11:23-26 |
| 26While they were eating, Jesus took some bread, and after a blessing, He broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, “Take, eat; this is My body.” 27And when He had taken a cup and given thanks, He gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you; 28for this is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for forgiveness of sins. 29“But I say to you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in My Father’s kingdom.” |
22While they were eating, He took some bread, and after a blessing He broke it, and gave it to them, and said, “Take it; this is My body.” 23And when He had taken a cup and given thanks, He gave it to them, and they all drank from it. 24And He said to them, “This is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many. 25“Truly I say to you, I will never again drink of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God.”. |
14When the hour had come, He reclined at the table, and the apostles with Him. 15And He said to them, “I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer; 16for I say to you, I shall never again eat it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.” 17And when He had taken a cup and given thanks, He said, “Take this and share it among yourselves; 18for I say to you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine from now on until the kingdom of God comes.”19And when He had taken some bread and given thanks, He broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is My body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me.” 20And in the same way He took the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This cup which is poured out for you is the new covenant in My blood. |
21When Jesus had said this, He became troubled in spirit, and testified and said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, that one of you will betray Me.” 22The disciples began looking at one another, at a loss to know of which one He was speaking.23There was reclining on Jesus’ bosom one of His disciples, whom Jesus loved. 24So Simon Peter gestured to him, and said to him, “Tell us who it is of whom He is speaking.” 25He, leaning back thus on Jesus’ bosom, said to Him, “Lord, who is it?” 26Jesus then answered, “That is the one for whom I shall dip the morsel and give it to him.” So when He had dipped the morsel, He took and gave it to Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot. |
23For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus in the night in which He was betrayed took bread; 24and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, “This is My body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of Me.” 25In the same way He took the cup also after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood; do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.” 26For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes. |
Key Phrases/words:
Poured out: In the OT the blood sacrifice was never consumed; it was always poured out. We further have the drink offering which was poured out before God as a sacrifice (Ex 29:40, Numbers 15:4-5).
29.11 ἀνάμνησις, εως f: (derivative of ἀναμιμνῄσκω ‘to cause to remember,’ 29.10) the means for causing someone to remember—‘means of remembering, reminder.’ ἀλλ’ ἐν αὐταῖς ἀνάμνησις ἁμαρτιῶν κατ’ ἐνιαυτόν ‘but in those (sacrifices) there is a yearly reminder of sins’ or ‘… that people have sinned’ He 10:3. Louw, J. P., & Nida, E. A. (1996). Greek-English lexicon of the New Testament: based on semantic domains (electronic ed. of the 2nd edition., Vol. 1, p. 347). New York: United Bible Societies.
Perhaps if Roman Catholics would support pro-life presidential candidates more we might not be having this problem.
Speak for yourself.I do support them. By the way, what is a Roman Catholic, I just see Catholic churches in my area?
So Jesus told them to pour it out or to drink it? What I see says DRINK
Poor soul, Jesus called the contents fruit of the vine, but that of course would not support your nicolaitan preisthoods’ claims ...
Speak for yourself.I do support them.
Good....we need more of ya'll to vote for gop candidates.
By the way, what is a Roman Catholic, I just see Catholic churches in my area?
Not knowing where your area is I offer these examples of Roman Catholic churches.
Reading is fundamental.
You already have! I’m not trolling protestant threads!
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