Why don’t Catholics believe in Bible-Only faith?

For starters, let’s look at the Bible and why it exists. Did Jesus write it and distribute copies to his apostles? No. Did he appear to them in the upper room and say, “Now that I’m resurrected, I want you to sit in this room for the next six months and write down everything I’ve taught and then hang on to that manuscript until someone invents the printing press”? No. In fact, if you look at the last verse in the book of John, you read the exact opposite: John 21:25 “There are still many other things that Jesus did, yet if they were written about in detail, I doubt there would be room enough in the entire world to hold the books to record them.” So we know, stated right in the Bible, is affirmation that the Bible doesn’t contain everything Jesus wanted passed on to us.

What needs to be understood is where the Bible originated. The Catholic Church compiled it in the 300’s to stop heretics from teaching false doctrine. For example, the Arian heresy that proclaimed Jesus did not always exist as part of God, but was created later and was subordinate to God. The bishops got together in a council and decided it was time to pull together documents to counter such heresies by creating a book/list that separated true, official writings, and rejected false documents such the false letter from “Thomas” which stated that when Jesus was a kid, he turned another kid into a toad. To accomplish this, all the writings being referenced at the time were gathered up, and the council reviewed all of them and decided which ones were divinely inspired. Why did they have the authority to decide which was truth and which were heretical? They were bishops of The Church established by Jesus, appointed as bishops by the laying on of hands which had passed from the original twelve apostles down the line to them. None of them were arbitrary self-proclaimed preachers. They were bishops chosen to be on the council. Together, they reviewed, researched and voted on what would and wouldn’t be included in the Bible, which is how the Bible came from the Catholic Church to uphold the beliefs of the Catholic Church. Therefore nothing you can point to in the Bible contradicts the Catholic Church without twisting the interpretation of a verse.

First and foremost, the Bible was compiled to support the belief that Jesus is divine, that he is our Savior, and God’s son. To clarify the Church’s understanding of Jesus’s relationship to God, the Church defined the relationship as the Trinity—three persons in one God—which is a foundational teaching for all Christians but it is NOT in the Bible. Belief in the Trinity is based on Tradition. Therefore, if you believe in the most basic belief of Christianity—the Trinity—the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit—then you are not a Bible-only believer because it’s not in there.

None of the letters in the Bible were written to be included in a book for mankind because the apostles thought Jesus would be returning before the end of their lifetime. They had no idea their words would be turned into a book that would be passed around the world for 2000 years! Only John actually sat down to write a history for posterity because he was the last of the original apostles and realized that he should record some of what he had witnessed.

None of the apostles ever said to disregard what they taught in favor of what they had written. In fact, there are repeated places where they say exactly the opposite: Do not forget what I taught you. Where the apostles refer to Scripture, they are referring to the Old Testament, which existed as Jewish scripture. The importance of the Old Testament is easy to see with simple Bible study. The Old prophesizes the New and the New reflects the Old, something Catholics see in Mass every day as the two are always tied together in daily readings. (Another blog post as there is much to discuss there! Stay tuned.)

The apostles lived in a time when everything was taught and shared by word of mouth. The average man didn’t know how to read, and if by chance they were educated, they weren’t likely to own a book because buying a book then was equivalent to buying a car nowadays, which is why early Bibles were chained to stands in churches to prevent them from being stolen. Why so expensive? Because every book was scribed by hand, a job to which many monks devoted their lives.

So how did the concept of “Bible Only / Solo Scriptura” develop? Looking at history, anyone can see that Bibles didn’t become prevalent until the 1500’s when the printing press was invented. Likewise, it’s easy to see the result of “Bible Only” churches that developed 200 years later: the protest against the Catholic Church from one protest—that of Martin Luther against the ill-conceived practice of buying indulgences, which was grasped and turned into a political move by King Henry VIII. The formation of the Anglican Church to establish King Henry VIII’s power apart from the Pope developed into a staggering 40,000+ denominations, with more being invented every day. Any Tom, Dick or Sherry can establish a church on a street corner and preach a personal interpretation as Truth.

If “Bible Only” was the perfect answer to understanding the teaching of Jesus Christ, how could there possibly be so many different Truths, each one teaching a different interpretation of the Bible and a different path to salvation?

Instead, the Catholic Church holds to three standards: The Magisterium, Tradition, and the Bible. The Magisterium guards against corruption of the doctrine handed down through the teachings of the apostles since Christ’s time by preventing personal interpretations from denigrating Tradition with a capital T (meaning Traditions in the sense of beliefs and actions passed on from the apostles down through the ages.) These Traditions include the Mass, the Eucharist, the seven sacraments instituted by Jesus, as well as many prayers and other practices. Scripture makes up the third pillar of support by offering a recording of how the magisterium and Traditions were founded and offering guidance through recorded word, but the key here is that the Bible supports the foundation of the magisterium and Tradition.

The Word of God was initially taught through Tradition, and therefore the Bible does not supersede Tradition, but offers written proof of the validity of that Tradition. Within its very text, the Bible says that believers must look to the Church (not the Bible) for truth: 1Timothy 3:15. The Church to which Jesus refers is the one he established under Peter—the Catholic Church.

After the miracles of the loaves and fish, the crowd remained ignorant about the truth of his identity. They came back seeking another free meal. Jesus knew this:
John 26: Jesus answered them, and said: Amen, amen I say to you, you seek me, not because you have seen miracles, but because you did eat of the loaves, and were filled.
Jesus decided it was time to lay it all out for them to fully understand not only that he was God’s Son, but what they must truly do to gain heaven. He tells them they don’t just need bread, they need the everlasting bread that only he can provide:

John 6:27: Labour not for the meat which perisheth, but for that which endureth unto life everlasting, which the Son of man will give you. For him hath God, the Father, sealed.

So the crowd gets it. They figure he means that he’s going to symbolically “feed” them the secret to getting into heaven. They say:

John 6:28: They said therefore unto him: What shall we do, that we may work the works of God? [29]Jesus answered, and said to them: This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he hath sent.

“Certainly!” responds my fundamentalist friends. “Believe, and you shall have eternal life.”

The crowds still weren’t quite ready to believe that Jesus was the anointed one, though:

John 6:30: They said therefore to him: What sign therefore dost thou shew, that we may see, and may believe thee? What dost thou work? [31]Our fathers did eat manna in the desert, as it is written: He gave them bread from heaven to eat.

Okay, so they were still hungry and hoping that as long as he was going to do a miracle to prove who he was, it ought to include food. Jesus didn’t give in:

John 6:32: Then Jesus said to them: Amen, amen (Amen means Believe, and the more times a word is repeated, the stronger the emphasis/meaning.) I say to you; Moses gave you not bread from heaven, but my Father giveth you the true bread from heaven.[33] For the bread of God is that which cometh down from heaven, and giveth life to the world.
I know, I know, you’re thinking He’s talking about providing them with the Word of God, right? Well, the crowds are still thinking about dinner. Read on…

John 6:34 They said therefore unto him: Lord, give us always this bread.

So now he starts to expand what he means, slowly so that they will fully grasp it, telling them that they first have to admit they believe in Him. He is NOT saying that belief is all that is required. He is saying that the Bread of Life will do them no good if they don’t believe. He emphasizes it by saying, “Look you guys, you are here with me right now, in front of me, seeing these miracles, and yet you bozos still don’t realize I am God’s son!”:

John 6:35 And Jesus said to them: I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall not hunger: and he that believeth in me shall never thirst. [36] But I said unto you, that you also have seen me, and you believe not.

He continues, saying that if they believe, they won’t be cast out of heaven:

John 6:37 All that the Father giveth to me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me, I will not cast out.

And he summarizes the ground rules:

John 6:38: Because I came down from heaven, not to do my own will, but the will of him that sent me. [39] Now this is the will of the Father who sent me: that of all that he hath given me, I should lose nothing; but should raise it up again in the last day. [40] And this is the will of my Father that sent me: that every one who seeth the Son, and believeth in him, may have life everlasting, and I will raise him up in the last day.

Okay, so he’s told them they have to believe. Is that all they have to do? Obviously not because he tells parable after parable about repenting, about taking care of one another (Good Samaritan), about losing faith and being trampled upon (You are the salt, but if the salt goes flat…), about being cut away (you have been grafted in, but if the Father rejected the original branches, how much more will he reject you…) First he wants them to see they have to believe He is Lord, and then he will divulge the rest.

Nevertheless, the Jews weren’t ready to admit He was Lord. No one wants to believe someone they know could actually be famous, let alone be God’s son:

[41] The Jews therefore murmured at him, because he had said: I am the living bread which came down from heaven. [42] And they said: Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How then saith he, I came down from heaven?

So he repeats himself:

[43] Jesus therefore answered, and said to them: Murmur not among yourselves. [44] No man can come to me, except the Father, who hath sent me, draw him; and I will raise him up in the last day. [45] It is written in the prophets: And they shall all be taught of God. Every one that hath heard of the Father, and hath learned, cometh to me.
(Draw him– definition according to drbo.org: Not by compulsion, nor by laying the free will under any necessity, but by the strong and sweet motions of his heavenly grace. )
[46] Not that any man hath seen the Father; but he who is of God, he hath seen the Father. [47] Amen, amen I say unto you: He that believeth in me, hath everlasting life.

Yes! Believe in Jesus as Lord and Savior, and you shall have everlasting life… but He didn’t STOP there…

[48] I am the bread of life. [49] Your fathers did eat manna in the desert, and are dead. [50] This is the bread which cometh down from heaven; that if any man eat of it, he may not die.

That’s where some Christians will say He’s just speaking symbolically; Jesus doesn’t really mean what he’s saying. Jesus begs to differ. He’s said it once. Next, He repeats himself. (Remember, if something is repeated three times, it means Huge Emphasis on what is being said, as is the case with Holy Holy Holy.)

[51] I am the living bread which came down from heaven. [52] If any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever; and the bread that I will give, is my flesh, for the life of the world.

Of course those people stood there with their jaws dropping and their tongues wagging—who did this guy think he was? He couldn’t really mean what he was saying:
[53] The Jews therefore strove among themselves, saying: How can this man give us his flesh to eat?

If Jesus didn’t really mean it literally, he would have corrected them at this point, like he corrected the apostles in Mat 16:5-12 and John 4:31-35. But he didn’t stop their murmuring by saying they were misinterpreting him. Quite the opposite. He repeats his announcement a third time:

[54] Then Jesus said to them: Amen, amen I say unto you: Except you eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, you shall not have life in you.

And then repeats it:

[55] He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath everlasting life: and I will raise him up in the last day.

And then more explicitly:

[56] For my flesh is meat indeed: and my blood is drink indeed.

And then says it again!

[57] He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, abideth in me, and I in him.

And again!

[58] As the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father; so he that eateth me, the same also shall live by me.

And again!

[59] This is the bread that came down from heaven…

And again!

…Not as your fathers did eat manna, and are dead. He that eateth this bread, shall live for ever.

So if THREE times means “this is really important,” what do you suppose three times three indicates?

Well, it was just too much for those people. They left. The disciples left and didn’t return because they just couldn’t accept it. And even the apostles sat looking at him like he was nuts:

[68] Then Jesus said to the twelve: Will you also go away?

Simon Peter speaks (because, of course, he was the head apostle, given the keys, and proclaimed by Jesus to be the head of the Church on earth):

[69] And Simon Peter answered him: Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life. [70] And we have believed and have known, that thou art the Christ, the Son of God.

I’m betting even Peter was saying that with a bit of wide-eyed glassiness, like What have I gotten myself into?

Now let’s back up to clarify something.

[62] But Jesus, knowing in himself, that his disciples murmured at this, said to them: Doth this scandalize you? [63] If then you shall see the Son of man ascend up where he was before? [64] It is the spirit that quickeneth: the flesh profiteth nothing. The words that I have spoken to you, are spirit and life. [65] But there are some of you that believe not. For Jesus knew from the beginning, who they were that did not believe, and who he was, that would betray him.

Here Jesus explains that they aren’t going to strip his flesh from his body in some grotesque manner, but rather it would be through an act of heaven that a piece of ordinary bread would become his flesh and blood through transubstantiation, which he showed them later at the Last Supper and again in the upper room when he rose from the dead. He is saying flesh by itself is worth nothing; it is the spirit that gives it life, and it is that spirit we must receive during Communion. The important point here is that it is not ordinary bread passed around symbolically a couple times a year or once a month. It is bread and wine that is consecrated as He taught them to consecrate it that brings about transubstantiation so that it is his body and blood. Give us this day our daily bread ain’t talking about our breakfast toast.

So where are you now? Would Jesus lie? Could Jesus lie? Did Jesus lie? I mean, really, if you don’t believe what Jesus says, are you a Christian?! Do you remain like the multitude? Unbelieving, unaccepting of what he said? Are you calling Jesus a liar? They couldn’t accept what they had to do. They turned away from him, all of the people, and all his disciples. They said it was too hard a thing to believe.

We at the Catholic Church, as handed down by the apostles through the laying on of hands to every pope, bishop and priest in the history of the Church, celebrate the Eucharist—the true Body of Christ—every single day of the year. Through the miracle of words He taught to His apostles, we have the Eucharist. Come join us.

I was going to talk about confession today, but I decided to look at Once Saved, Always Saved once more to see what Jesus says about it. Jesus repeatedly offered parables to explain where he stood on things:

The Ten Virgins Matthew 25:1-13 which tells of ten virgins who are waiting for the bridegroom to arrive. This is not The Bachelor reality show where a bridegroom is going to choose one of the virgins (uh, well, one of the girls) to marry. In this scripture, the virgins represent Christians. The bridegroom is Jesus Christ (see John 3:29 where John the Baptist calls Jesus the Bridegroom. The bridegroom is marrying his bride, the Church, accomplished through his mission, Last Supper and crucifixion and resurrection.) In the parable, half the virgins (Christians) let their lamp oil run out (their faith has run dry), and they are locked out of the Kingdom of Heaven for not being prepared at the time they were called to heaven.

The Lost Sheep Luke 15:3-5 Then he addressed this parable to them: “Who among you, if he has a hundred sheep and loses one of them does not leave the ninety-nine in the wasteland and follow the lost one until he finds it? And when he finds it, he puts it on his shoulders in jubilation. Again, it is obvious that we can become lost sheep—the sheep was part of his flock and was lost, not a sheep he happened upon. We are blessed that God in his mercy will search us out, but if the sheep had not returned, he would have been lost forever.

The Lost Coin  Luke 15:8-10 Or what woman having ten silver pieces and loses one does not light a lamp and sweep the house in a diligent search until she has retrieved what she lost? And when she finds it, she calls in her friends and neighbors to say, “Rejoice with me! I have found the silver piece I lost.” I tell you, there will be the same kind of joy before the angels of God over one repentant sinner.” Why? Because if he doesn’t repent, there will be “wailing and grinding of teeth” as Jesus states throughout his discourses, and the apostles travel all over to deliver that same message. (If it only took an initial belief, why would Paul have written back to towns to admonish them for their continued sin?)

The Prodigal Son Luke 15:11-31 tells of two sons, both belonging to the Father. One leaves and lives a life of evil, but finally returns and the Father celebrates. The son who has been there all along is jealous. The Father says, “My son, you are with me always, and everything I have is yours. But we had to celebrate and rejoice! This brother of yours was dead and has come back to life. He was lost, and is found.” There is no other way to interpret this scripture except exactly as Jesus intended, which is that they represent two Christians. One kept faith, one lost it—he was dead to God the Father—but finally returned. This is not to show that you don’t have to do anything, but rather that God in his mercy will welcome you back if you choose to return. That is not Once Saved, Always Saved but rather Always Welcome In to the Kingdom of Heaven if you remain with God in spirit, mind and deed.

Salt Goes Flat: Mat 5:13 You are the salt of the earth, but what if the salt goes flat? How can you restore its flavor? Then it is good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot. The salt—his favored ones, his children, Christians! And you go flat—lose your faith, wander away, become lifeless to Him. Does he let you in anyway? NO!

In short, it’s nice to think we can accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior and never have to worry about falling from grace, but his parables say otherwise.

Mark 13:13 and Matthew 24:13 He who ENDURES TO THE END shall be saved.

God bless you on your journey to salvation.

Catholic Stance: Yes, Jesus died for our sins, and his death opened the gates of heaven to us, but that did not provide us with leeway to sin. What His death and resurrection did was opened us to salvation, to saving grace.  Let me explain:

Step back and look at the overall New Testament—not a line pulled here and there, but the New Testament as a whole. It is a lesson on repentance, not just one repentance while in the process of being saved, but an on-going daily requirement. If we weren’t required to constantly repent, why would the Lord’s Prayer/Our Father say: “Forgive us our debts/trespasses/sins as we forgive our debtors/those who trespass/sin against us.” Clearly, we will only be forgiven to the same extent to which we forgive others, and if the need to ask forgiveness was only a one-time thing, Jesus would not have told us to recite those words whenever we pray to God (Mat 6:9-13).

Our sins are not hidden from God. They are constantly visible, and we must be constantly vigilant lest he call us when we are unprepared. You have read those parables, haven’t you? Matthew 25:1-12 “Then shall the kingdom of heaven be like to ten virgins, who taking their lamps went out to meet the bridegroom and the bride. And five of them were foolish, and five wise. But the five foolish, having taken their lamps, did not take oil with them: But the wise took oil in their vessels with the lamps. And the bridegroom tarrying, they all slumbered and slept. And at midnight there was a cry made: Behold the bridegroom cometh, go ye forth to meet him. Then all those virgins arose and trimmed their lamps. And the foolish said to the wise: Give us of your oil, for our lamps are gone out. The wise answered, saying: Lest perhaps there be not enough for us and for you, go ye rather to them that sell, and buy for yourselves. Now whilst they went to buy, the bridegroom came: and they that were ready, went in with him to the marriage, and the door was shut. But at last come also the other virgins, saying: Lord, Lord, open to us. But he answering said: Amen I say to you, I know you not. Watch ye therefore, because you know not the day nor the hour.” (drbo.org)

Why would “the day or the hour” matter if all our sins are forgiven in one proclamation without ever a need for further examination of conscience, avoidance of sin, or repentance? Why would Jesus and the apostles have preached constantly about sin if it wasn’t so important? Why would Jesus have not said, “Hey, just say you believe and it’s all good ‘cause nothing you ever do will ever matter again?” That’s not what he said. And that’s not what the apostles said. If it only took Once to be Always Saved, Paul would not have continually written back to places he’d been to address the messages he was getting about continued sin. He would have waved goodbye and said, “You’re all good! Just keep on getting it, guys. Don’t matter what you do now. You done been saved!”

Here’s the thing: most people who argue Once Saved, Always Saved also say that if someone commits a grave sin, they weren’t really saved because saved people wouldn’t do such a thing. Well, I disagree. Maybe we’d like to think we wouldn’t, but we are human. Peter was right there with Jesus, his right-hand man, and the very first to realize—through divine revelation—that Jesus was the Son of God, and he denied Jesus three times, which is a Grave/Mortal sin: Mat 10:3 “But he that shall deny me before men, I will also deny him before my Father who is in heaven.” Thankfully, Peter realized his sin. His contrition was obvious to all: He wept. If Peter, right there at Jesus’s side and the first to proclaim him Lord with his lips, managed to commit a GRAVE sin, so can any of us. That doesn’t mean we’re not saved! On the contrary, it means we can lose our salvation through sin, but we can regain it any minute of any day through repentance!

In fact, Catholics are expected to do an examination of conscience every night when they go to bed, followed by the Act of Contrition: Oh my God, I am heartily sorry for having offended Thee, and I detest all my sins because of Thy just punishments, but most of all because they offend Thee my Lord, who art all good and deserving of all my love. I firmly resolve, with the help of Thy grace, to sin no more, and to avoid the near occasion of sin again. Amen.

Living free of venial (minor) sins is next to impossible because we are failed humans, but we must strive every day to eradicate them from our lives. If we are knowingly living in mortal/deadly sin, we are in grave danger. We must stop, confess, and seek forgiveness. If a person is living in mortal sin and doesn’t repent before death, judgment will follow, Christian or not. What that judgment will be is only known to God because when all is said and done, we don’t know what God in his mercy will do, but the Bible clearly states over and over again that anyone who commits mortal sin and doesn’t repent will be throw into hell. The passages that mention this judgment do not show partiality because of someone being Christian.

This begs the question: What exactly is a mortal sin? Here’s a link to a site that discusses Mortal Sin: http://www.saintaquinas.com/mortal_sin.html  To be a mortal sin, the sin must be grave; the offender must know it is a grave sin, and have deliberately committed it. (CCC 1857–1859)

The point here is that a person can be a true Christian, (“saved”) and still lose their salvation if they die without repenting over mortal/deadly sin! And it troubles me when non-Catholics lead people astray about it.

We are all offered salvation, but as Catholics we know from all the historic documents of the Church Fathers dating back to 70 AD, and from the Bible, and from Tradition passed on by the apostles to our bishops and priests today and recorded in the Catechism, the only assurance of heaven is to examine our lives on a daily basis, to live according to Jesus’s example, and to seek forgiveness for our sins.

What is assured is that we can turn to God at any moment of any day and He will take us back.

NEXT POST: Seeking forgiveness–Confession!

Yes, that’s the question that came back from my last post… How do Catholics know if they’ve done enough Good Works? Do you get the feeling this fundamentalist didn’t really read what I posted? I really don’t want to go the route of debating, but I am going to answer this question in terms of Catholic belief vs. Fundamentalist belief.

Catholic Stance: It’s not a certain number of works; it’s doing as Jesus instructed us during the Sermon on the Mount, as He specified in the Beatitudes and Parables. It is doing whatever works we are called to do because that goes hand in hand with faith. One isn’t separate from the other. (Have I said that enough times?) If you have faith, you are called to do works. For Good Works, everyone’s calling is different. I felt a calling to post Catholic truths, to teach at Youth Group, to write Catholic novels. I do not have the courage or fortitude to travel to some poverty-stricken third-world country to educate children. But some people do. God has laid different talents for each of us.

Let me say again: Grace is a free gift from God, and we choose to accept that grace and salvation through faith, or reject God and turn away. If we choose the path of faith, we still have Freewill, which means we may fall off the wagon, get led off the path, or sit down in depression and refuse to look up. If we do that, we will be judged accordingly. If, however, we live our lives the way Jesus instructed, we will find our reward in heaven. Are we truly children of God who answer his calling and do things out of love and charity because Jesus has changed us into people who understand his message of Love? Or have we turned away from God and allowed sin and greed to take His place? Faith must be reflected in the essence of who we are and how we live our lives.

Let’s look to the Bible to see what it says. There are lots of verses stating faith leads to salvation, but they are followed with many passages about what you must do with that faith. There is only ONE place that says “By Faith Alone,” which I posted the other day: James 2:24 “You must see that a person is justified (saved) by his works and NOT BY FAITH ALONE.

How about that—the only place the Bible says “faith alone” is to say it’s NOT faith alone.

Don’t you wish you could just send a text message up to Jesus and ask Him straight out: Tell me, Jesus, is it just faith alone? What must I do to get to heaven? Well, lucky for you, someone asked him that!

(Luke 10:25) A lawyer asks Jesus, “Teacher, what must I do to inherit everlasting life?” And Jesus answers, “Nothing. Just say you believe”—NOT!!!! Right then, if the ONLY thing required was a statement of faith, isn’t that what Jesus would have answered? Wouldn’t he??? But that is NOT what Jesus said. Instead he said, “What is written in the law? How do you read it?” The lawyer replied, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself.” Jesus said, “You have answered correctly. Do this and you shall live.” The lawyer then asks Jesus to define who his neighbor is, and Jesus explains through the Parable of the Good Samaritan that “his neighbor” is all of humanity. So, right there from the Lord’s mouth is not a profession of “Just say you believe,” but rather, “Love one another; take care of one another; do charitable works… You must LIVE your life for the Lord and give him your ALL, not just say a believer’s prayer. (And as a side note, saying a believer’s prayer would actually be a WORK, wouldn’t it? Or maybe it’s a Tradition—But that would be against solo scriptura.)

Faith is a way of living. Jesus further exemplifies this with the Sermon on the Mount, first with the Beatitudes, which are all about how we must live our lives, and then saying He did not come to abolish the laws but to fulfill them, and then to say that our holiness must surpass that of the scribes and Pharisees or we will not enter the Kingdom of Heaven. (Mat 5). Wow—he didn’t sit in front of that huge crowd and say, “Look folks, all it takes is saying you believe in me and it’s a done deal; you’ve got a Free Pass in to heaven!”

Now let’s look at a few more verses. In parentheses I have my thoughts as if I were considering becoming a Fundamentalist.

Later, Jesus adds to that saying (Mat 16:24) “If a man wishes to come to me, he must deny his very self, take up his cross, and begin to follow in in my footsteps. (Hmm… Deny himself? Deny himself of what? And take up a cross? A cross means pain and suffering. I thought all I had to do was say ‘I believe!’ Silly Jesus, he couldn’t have meant that.) Whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. (“Lose my life for his sake? But what about just saying I believe and then doing what I want? Sin doesn’t matter; why would I have to lose my life?”) What profit would a man show if he were to gain the whole world and destroy himself in the process (“Get rich and have it all, but lose his soul… how would that be possible if it doesn’t matter what a person does? Can’t you be ruler of the world, rich and greedy, but be okay as long as you BELIEVE?”) What can a man offer in exchange for his very self? The Son of Man will come with his Father’s glory accompanied by his angels. When he does, he will repay each man according to his conduct. (WHAT? You said I only had to say that Believer’s prayer! Nothing else matters! No Good Works! And my sins are supposed to be hidden from God’s eyes now, right? So what CONDUCT is He talking about?)

And of course there is the one spot where faith is rated. 1Cor 13:13 “There are in the end three things that last: faith, hope and love (charity), and the greatest of these is love.”
WHAT? Love/Charity is more important than FAITH? Yup, that’s what it says. Faith is just the beginning. It’s what gets you into the Christian Club, but every club has rules, and if you don’t obey the rules, you’re gunna get kicked out by the Big Guy upstairs.

If it was just Faith Alone, the Bible would be ONE Sentence, not books and books about how to live our lives. It would say, “Say you believe, and voila, you’re in the door.”
I think in their hearts, most fundamentalists really know that it’s not just Faith Alone; it’s just a good way to make the whole faith thing sound so simple and appealing that they keep professing it even though almost any of them will then admit that if a person isn’t living their life for God, they probably aren’t really saved. There is LESS assurance in that, in my opinion, than in the Catholic stance, and here’s why: because WORKS has two sides: Good Works and Sin, with Good works being offered up as a constant demonstration of Love, while the opposite, which is Sin, must be abolished, or at the very least repented not just once, but daily.

That is where we really part ways with most Fundamentalists. They think there is no consequence for sin. We know from every book in the Bible that there are consequences for sin. In fact there is more discussion about SIN in the Bible than anything else. If sin/conduct doesn’t matter after that initial repenting, why is there so much about it in the Bible?

Accepting faith is only stepping in the door. It’s like being a student. If you rarely show up for class, don’t do the assignments, and constantly break the rules, what are the chances that you’re going to graduate? Calling yourself a student doesn’t mean you’ll get the diploma. Faith and Works go hand in hand. And works includes staying out of detention and not getting suspended… in other words, avoidance of sin.

And that’s what I’ll talk about next post.

Today’s post is a continuation of my last Catholic post because someone did the typical FALSE argument of saying Catholics think they must earn their way into heaven. Let’s set this record straight…
Catholic perspective: Grace is a free gift from God. Jesus Christ is our Lord and Savior. Jesus died on the cross for our sins. Catholics believe in the Holy Trinity, and “accept Jesus as their Lord and Savior.” When someone believes in God, in the Trinity, in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, they take to heart all that Jesus taught through his Apostles: that we must live our lives as He instructed, because that is how we live our faith. In other words, put our money where our mouth is, so to speak. Don’t talk the talk; walk the walk.

In wanting to argue with us, non-Catholics separate works and faith to attack us, (asking why we think we have to earn our way to heaven) and then put them back together saying you aren’t really saved if you don’t do works. What they misunderstand is that is Exactly what we say…. Faith and works aren’t separate things; Christians who hold Jesus in their heart will strive to live as Jesus instructed, which means “whatsoever you do for the least of my people, that you do unto me.” Faith and works are not two separate tickets into heaven; they are one. If you truly have faith, you do works. Faith without works is dead.

James 2: 14-26 (14)What shall it profit, my brethren, if a man say he hath faith, but hath not works? Shall faith be able to save him? (15) And if a brother or sister be naked, and want daily food: (16) And one of you say to them: Go in peace, be ye warmed and filled; yet give them not those things that are necessary for the body, what shall it profit?(17) So faith also, if it have not works, is dead in itself. (18) But some man will say: Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without works; and I will shew thee, by works, my faith.(19) Thou believest that there is one God. Thou dost well: the devils also believe and tremble. (20) But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead? (21) Was not Abraham our father justified by works, offering up Isaac his son upon the altar? (22) Seest thou, that faith did co-operate with his works; and by works faith was made perfect? (23)And the scripture was fulfilled, saying: Abraham believed God, and it was reputed to him to justice, and he was called the friend of God.(24) Do you see that by works a man is justified; and not by faith only? (25) And in like manner also Rahab the harlot, was not she justified by works, receiving the messengers, and sending them out another way? (26) For even as the body without the spirit is dead; so also faith without works is dead.
So whether you are Catholic or Bible-Only, the Bible clearly states Faith Alone will not save you. It is both: faith lived through works.

Furthermore, if your faith is dead, you will be cut from the vine (Romans 11: 13-23). You will no longer be “saved.” Belief in the Holy Trinity opens us to God’s grace, but does not forever protect us from hell. Catholics know from over 250 scripture verses that if we fall into mortal sin and don’t repent, we are doomed. Yes, we all sin, but we must continually repent for that sin. We aren’t forever protected/hidden or any other term you choose to use.

Matthew 5: 13 You are the salt of the earth. (Speaking of one of the “saved.”) But what if the salt goes flat? (Lost your faith/Not living your faith) How can you restore its flavor? Then it is good for nothing but to be cast out, and to be trampled underfoot. (That would be ‘Cast out of the kingdom.’)

How about just a few more examples from Matthew:
Matthew 7: 21 Not every one that saith to me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven: but he that doth the will of my Father who is in heaven, he shall enter into the kingdom of heaven. [22] Many will say to me in that day: Lord, Lord, have not we prophesied in thy name, and cast out devils in thy name, and done many miracles in thy name? [23]And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, you that work iniquity.

Matthew 18: 34-35 [34]And his lord being angry, delivered him to the torturers until he paid all the debt. [35] So also shall my heavenly Father do to you, if you forgive not every one his brother from your hearts.

And ALL of Matthew chapter 25 in the parables of The Virgins, The Silver Pieces, and The Last Judgment. How many times does he have to say it? These will go off to eternal punishment, and the just to eternal life. Just saying “Lord, Lord,” will not get you into heaven.

I’ve heard the fundamentalist argument: “If a person is truly saved, they won’t break the commandments; they will repent and live their life for the Lord.” What if they proclaim Jesus as their Savior but they don’t live well? What if they proclaim Jesus as their Savior and they sin without repenting, without trying to conquer that sin? Do you then say they weren’t really saved? So then, where is the assurance? Where is that “saved” guarantee?

Catholic Stance: There is no guarantee merely on a statement of faith. The only guarantee is that God gives you a new opportunity every minute of every day to turn to him, proclaim belief, and show Him that you mean it. People lose faith. People fall into sin. And they have the Freewill to do so, and the Freewill to turn back to Faith. We don’t believe “Once saved, always saved.” That creates a false sense of bravado that daily life will make no difference in whether or not a person will get to heaven. To think that actions and sins have no consequence, is a grave error, as stated in all the verses above, and the other hundreds of verses in the bible.

The bottom line: Jesus died so that the Kingdom of Heaven would be open to us. However, we must live our lives for Christ on a daily basis, and pray that God judges us worthy of His Kingdom.

That is why Catholics say We work daily toward our salvation with fear and trembling.… NOT because we think we earn our way into heaven, but because we are human, and it takes vigilance to keep the devil off our backs, to turn from temptation, to seek forgiveness for our sins, and to live as Christ instructed.

May God be with you in the coming week.

I will be back with my regular blog, and responses to previous questions, next week when my life is back to normal schedule.

http://www.catholicwritersconference.com/

Stay tuned… I’ll be back with many more Catholic Truths in a couple weeks.

I’m going to step straight into the biggest thing that Fundamentalists try to challenge Catholics with, which is how a person gains salvation. It’s essential to understand this upfront as the basis for all other knowledge of the faith.

What a Catholic must do to get to heaven is:
* Get baptized, even infants, to remove Original Sin.

* Live our lives for Christ (but we don’t normally use that Fundamentalist terminology to express it.)

* Obey the Ten Commandments

* Participate in the sacraments as instructed by Jesus Christ.

We can not just raise up our hands and say “I accept Jesus as my Lord and Savior!” We do in fact say that at every single Mass by saying The Creed (previously posted), but saying it is not the end-all to getting in those pearly gates. If all Jesus wanted us to do was holler out his name one time and then go on our merry way, he wouldn’t have spent most of his time on earth preaching against sin…. but more on that later.

The important thing to understand in this post is the necessity of the first step, baptism, because Everyone is born with Original Sin put on us by Adam.

Romans 5:14
But death reigned from Adam unto Moses, even over them also who have not sinned after the similitude of the transgression of Adam, who is a figure of him who was to come.

1 Corinthians 15:22
And as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all shall be made alive.

Original Sin condemned us all, but because of the New Covenant, it is removed through Baptism, as well as all sins we have committed up to the point of Baptism:
Acts 2:38 But Peter said to them: Do penance, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ, for the remission of your sins: and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.

Please read those words three times very slowly and carefully because many Christians believe that baptism is only a symbol of becoming Christian rather than a sacrament that removes sin. That is not what Peter says. He say Baptism removes sin.

Next post: Baptism of Infants–oh, the discussions that seems to raise!

I have never understood why Catholics are challenged on this. Of course Jesus is our Lord and Savior. The Catholic Church offers Mass every day, (not just on Sunday and Wednesdays), and Jesus is the focus of every Mass! The Mass joins the Church to heaven in the celebration of the Eucharist…. all too much to discuss in this post today because I’m on a tight schedule for the next week and have to keep my posting to a minimum, but all topics that I will go into in detail in the coming months, so stay tuned.

What I will share with you today is one of the many, many prayers we say that reflect our devout worship of Jesus as our Savior.  It’s one of those “repetitious” prayers (many Catholics say this devotion on a daily basis) that Protestants tend to scandalize without even knowing what it is we pray. As you can see, it most assuredly glorifies Jesus and surrenders our lives into his hands.

Act of Consecration to the Sacred Heart

O Sacred Heart of Jesus, to Thee I consecrate and offer up my person and my life, my actions, trials, and sufferings, that my entire being may henceforth only be employed in loving, honoring and glorifying Thee. This is my irrevocable will, to belong entirely to Thee, and to do all for Thy love, renouncing with my whole heart all that can displease Thee.

I take Thee, O Sacred Heart, for the sole object of my love, the protection of my life, the pledge of my salvation, the remedy of my frailty and inconstancy, the reparation for all the defects of my life, and my secure refuge at the hour of my death. Be Thou, O Most Merciful Heart, my justification before God Thy Father, and screen me from His anger which I have so justly merited. I fear all from my own weakness and malice, but placing my entire confidence in Thee, O Heart of Love, I hope all from Thine infinite Goodness. Annihilate in me all that can displease or resist Thee. Imprint Thy pure love so deeply in my heart that I may never forget Thee or be separated from Thee.
I beseech Thee, through Thine infinite Goodness, grant that my name be engraved upon Thy Heart, for in this I place all my happiness and all my glory, to live and to die as one of Thy devoted servants.

Amen.

(St. Margaret Mary Alacoque)