The Called Out Ones

Unsealed ^ | 6-19-2018 | Gary

[metmom]

The enemy seeks to divide Christendom with labels: "Methodist," "Baptist," "Evangelical," "Dispensationalist." He's been extremely successful. Once you label you can then sever, isolate, and dismiss. It's a powerful, Machiavellian tactic, but in the end, it can only divide the institutional churches, not the capital 'C' Church—the mystical Body of Christ.

Which is why some of us refuse to be baited with the questions about what church we attend or what denomination we affiliate with.

For the believer, the unifying factor is faith in the finished work of Christ on the cross as taught in Scripture, by grace are you saved through faith, not of yourselves, it is the GIFT of God, not as a result of works SO THAT NO MAN CAN BOAST, not denominational affiliation or doctrine.

[TheConservativeParty]

Thanks for the ping to this article!
Will read tomorrow.

[ealgeone]

This requires a big bucket of popcorn.

[IronJack]

Ephesians 2:8-9
Romans 3:28

Among others. They do not specifically reject reason. But they do emphasize that it is by Faith that one is saved, not by any other means.

In other words, you can’t reason your way to salvation.

[Mark17]

To counter his attack, we need to use the labels that the Bible provides—believer and unbeliever

Thank God I do not belong to that false religion anymore, 😁👍 the one that brings 💀🔥 I gotta agree with that statement. There are ONLY two kinds of people in the world. Believers and unbelievers. Until one is a born again believer, one is AUTOMATICALLY in the devil’s camp. There is no fence sitting. The only thing in the middle of the road, is yellow lines, and dead skunks.

[imardmd1]

Thanks for reviewing my little supportive contribution to this thread. I am glad that the article was found and presented here. Getting it ready took a lot of work, and the poster is to be commended, IMHO.

It was an outstanding summary that shifted the apologetic basis away from "protesting" and moved the argument to the the theme of "reforming." Obviously, the intent was to highlight what the original Gospel was(="Jesus saves") as compared to some modern presentations that propagate another gospel of a different kind (="the Church saves"), so that the reader might begin to appreciate that the True Gospel is still available and shared.

[Elsie]

Everything is Counterfeit Christianity

[Elsie]

But clearly anti-Catholic and a trifle self-serving.

So be it...

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"One indeed is the universal Church of the faithful, outside which no one at all is saved, in which the priest himself is the sacrifice, Jesus Christ, whose body and blood are truly contained in the sacrament of the altar under the species of bread and wine; the bread (changed) into His body by the divine power of transubstantiation, and the wine into the blood, so that to accomplish the mystery of unity we ourselves receive from His (nature) what He Himself received from ours."

--Pope Innocent III and Lateran Council IV (A.D. 1215)

[Elsie]

But Christianity is NOT a set of rules like the Fu-Fa folks have.

[Elsie]

If you can understand why I don’t believe in all those other religions, then you’ll understand why I don’t believe in yours, either.

Using this unassailable logic; it is OBVIOUS that YOUR religion is the one to follow.

Could you please let the rest of us in on it?

[Elsie]

(If you actually read the relevant part of City of God, you might be surprised.)

It's hard to pick out what is relevant and what ain't.

[Elsie]

oh boy , more anti Catholicism....

Oh BOY!

More showing of the LOVE of Catholicism!

https://amredeemed.com/signs-of-the-end/10-torture-devices-used-by-the-catholic-church-in-the-inquisition/

[Elsie]

no, your response about ‘the fallicies’ of rome, is the typical anti catholic b.s. that is still bandied about as if it has any merit...nothing more , nothing less, and nothing else....

HMMMmmm…

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The 15 promises

(Given to St. Dominic and Blessed Alan de la Roche)

1	Whoever shall faithfully serve me by the recitation of the Rosary, shall receive powerful graces.
2.	I promise my special protection and the greatest graces to all those who shall recite the Rosary.
3.	The Rosary shall be a powerful armor against hell, it will destroy vice, decrease sin, and defeat heresies
4.	It will cause virtue and good works to flourish; it will obtain for souls the abundant mercy of God; it will withdraw the hearts of people from the love of the world and its vanities, and will lift them to the desire of eternal things. Oh, that souls would sanctify themselves by this means.
5.	The soul which recommends itself to me by the recitation of the Rosary, shall not perish.
6.	Whoever shall recite the Rosary devoutly, applying Himself to the consideration of its Sacred Mysteries shall never be conquered by misfortune. God will not chastise Him in His justice, he shall not perish by an unprovided death; if he be just, he shall remain in the grace of God, and become worthy of eternal life.
7.	Whoever shall have a true devotion for the Rosary shall not die without the Sacraments of the Church.
8.	Those who are faithful to recite the Rosary shall have during their life and at their death the light of God and the plentitude of His graces; at the moment of death they shall participate in the merits of the Saints in Paradise.
9.	I  shall deliver from purgatory those who have been devoted to the Rosary.
10.	The faithful children of the Rosary shall merit a high degree of glory in Heaven.
11.	You shall obtain all you ask of me by the recitation of the Rosary.
12.	All those who propagate the Holy Rosary shall be aided by me in their necessities.
13.	I  have obtained from my Divine Son that all the advocates of the Rosary shall have for intercessors the entire celestial court during their life and at the hour of death
14.	All who recite the Rosary are my children, and brothers and sisters of my only Son, Jesus Christ.
15.	Devotion of my Rosary is a great sign of predestination.

 

"The Most Holy Virgin in these last times in which we live has given a new efficacy to the recitation of the Rosary to such an extent that there is no problem,

no matter how difficult it is, wheter temporal or above all spiritual, in the personal life of each one of us, of our families...that cannot be solved by the Rosary.

There is no problem, I tell you, no matter how difficult it is, that we cannot resolve by the prayer of the Holy Rosary."

Sister Lucia dos Santos

[Elsie]

In other words, you can’t reason your way to salvation.

It wasn't claimed.

I think your earlier reply confused people to believe that they cannot use 'reason' AFTER they are saved.

"Come; let us reason together..."

[metmom]

I see what you mean.

Thanks for clarifying.

[TheConservativeParty]

This is an article to be saved and read over and over, and shared with others.

Thank you!

[circlecity]

Good point metmom. Why would God give us the laws of logic and the incredible ability to reason if not to use them for his glory?

[Big Red Badger]

For later...
Thanks

[circlecity]

It's hard to pick out what is relevant and what ain't."

Not really. The first half of City of God is basically a polemic against Roman paganism. The book was begun after the fall of Rome to Alaric and many of the pagans were arguing that the conversion of Rome to Christianity had angered the pagan gods and thus the barbarians had invaded and sacked the city. Augustine was responding to this. Most people today consider this the "boring" irrelevant half. The second half of the book is devoted to Christian theology and is thus considered by many to be the "relevant" half.

[imardmd1]

This was Thomas Aquinas' big fail on theologic. As I read, he was unable to admit that man's reasoning powers were also affected by Adam's Fall. Francis Schaeffer has discussed this philosophical problem in his tract "Escape from Reason," showing that what you maintain here is true. A brief reader's comment on the "Goodreads" vendor's site (click here) is as follows:

"Schaeffer writes that man's desire for autonomous freedom began with Aquinas's theology which argued that though man fell in Eden, his intellect did not. This created a system in philosophy that argued that man's reason was autonomous--meaning free and independent of any constraint. This opened the door to later philosophers to build philosophic arguments independent of God. But the problem is that man's desire for autonomy cannot be reconciled to the constraining forces in this world. Through reason man has come to understand that nature is a deterministic force that eliminates any hope for autonomy. This realization leads to the despair of modern man who believes he is but a mere machine in a mechanistic world and any 'meaning' is ultimately absurd because it doesn't exist--it can only be imagined or hoped for--hence man has escaped from reason and is irrational. A good, short, yet profound work."

Because Roman Catholicism is captivated by Aquinas' viewpoint, they find themselves trapped in the role of the "psuchikos" (soulish) man who cannot understand the deep things of The God, because they find the simple spiritual explanations foolish. Paul says so, in teaching the Corinthians about that state of the human mind:

"But the natural man receiveth not the ^{deep (v. 10)}things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. but he that is spiritual judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged of no man" (1 Cor. 2:14-15).

In order to evaluate the deeper things of God, beyond the transmitted knowledge that bears the fruit of saving faith, one must be regenerate, born of the Spirit anew, from above.