Philippians 2:12 work out your salvation with fear and trembling

2 Peter 1:10 Therefore brethren strive even more by good works to make your calling and election sure.

St Matthew 12:36 But I tell you , that of every idle word men speak, they shall give account on the day of judgement.

Romans 2:6 ...the just judgement of God, who will render to every man according to his works.

I St Peter 4:8 But above all things have a constant mutual charity among yourselves; for charity covers a multitude of sins.

St James 2:17,18 So faith too, unless it has works, is dead in itself.

I St Peter 3:20,21 In that ark a few, that is eight souls were saved through water. It's counterpart, Baptism, now saves you also

Acts 19:11,12 And God worked more than the usual miracles by the hand of Paul; so that even handkerchiefs and aprons were carried from his body to the sick, and the diseases left them and the evil spirits went out.

Lawrence,
there use to be a wonderful little apologetic booklet published by Catholic Truth Society of London.
I had all the scriptural references to everything the Catholic Church believes.
It was indeed an amazing tool for evangelization.
Maybe Catholic Answers or someone else should publish it again.
Stephanos I

Dear Lawrence,

To your good list I add:

Saint Matthew 25:31-46 (The Last Judgment. A reminder for all of us).

and:

Saint John 6:53. Thereupon Jesus said to them, "Let me solemnly assure you, if you do not eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you".
(Reading the entire sixth chapter of John, is best for context).

These scripture passage and others helped bring me back to the Catholic Church from Evangelical Protestantism.

Christ is our peace.

Regards,

Paul

Lawrence,

Most evangelicals hold the belief of "sola scriptura." That is that the bible is the Word of God and only basis for faith. They point mainly to the bible as the infallible Word of God almost as if God sat right down and wrote it Himself. And unfortunately many different denominations and sects have developed as a result of various interpretations of the sciptures.

However, if one points them to John 1:1f. "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." it is clear that the Word is not the written word, but God himself. Jesus Christ.

We recognize the bible as the inspired Word of God written by men. The Word is God himself. We do not worship the bible so when scholars point out inconsistantcies and redactions it does not dismay, but only enhances our faith. We have the Church to guide us along these lines.

Our Catholic faith is based on scriptures AND tradition. Tradition has been given bad press by evangelicals. It simply means "that which is passed on." and much has been passed on not only by the authors of scriptures, but by the other apostles, early church fathers, saints, and others who lived and died in and for the faith.

Porter

Paul

The 6th chapter of the Gospel of St John so clearly illustrates the Divine realty that the Eucharist is the true body and blood of Jesus Christ. Sadly it also points out the difficulty many would have in believing Christ's own words.

Some other passages to continue.

1 Corinthians 13:13 So there abide faith, hope and charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity.

St Luke 1:35 (spoken by the Angel Gabriel to Mary) ..the power of the Most High shall overshadow thee; The Greek word for overshadow, episkiasei, is the same word used to describe the cloud in the Transfiguaration.

Particularly suited to those who subscribe to the heretical doctrines of Calvinism.

Unconditional Election. See St Peter 1:10 in the first post, and Apocalypse 3:5 I will not blot his name out of the book of life,

Limited Atonement. I Timothy 2:3-7 This is good and agreeable in the sight of God our Saviour, who wishes all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth . For there is one God, and one Mediator between God and men, himself man, Christ Jesus, who gave himself a ransom for all,. . St Peter 3:9 The Lord does not delay in his promises, but for your sake is long-suffering, not wishing that any should perish but that all should turn to repentance.

Irresistable Grace. St Luke 13:34 How often would I have gathered thy children togather, as a hen gathers her young under her wings, but thou wouldst not ! Acts 7:51 "Stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ear, you always oppose the Holy Spirit; as your fathers did, so you do also.

Dear Lawrence,

Thank you for making the point about St. John Chapter 6. Not everyone can accept Christ's teaching about the "bread of life".
It is a difficult, nearly impossible, to believe that one can eat Christ's flesh and drink his blood. God makes this belief possible with the gift of faith and his tremendous love for mankind.

Christ is our peace,

Paul

The entire book of Acts demonstrates how the apostles lived. It is a summary of their meeting together in counsel to discuss and form church teaching in a conciliar way. Clearly, Christ established a Church of PEOPLE who he intended to be the authority for teaching scripture and all other doctrines. Sola scriptura is clearly a very late notion with no basis in scripture itself, which creates many deviations and multiplies denominations without a teaching Church. Please, evangelicals, pray on this truth.

He is truly risen. I like this topic.

Now I fully understand why I could never see eye to eye with evangelicals.

I was thinking about that today while at work. Some people almost need a narrow focus to accept any truths.

Here's an excellent concise rebuttal to the primary errors of Calvinism http://www.bringyou.to/apologetics/num21.htm

If there's any allegedly Christian sect that holds a more depressing interpretation of Scripture than the Calvinists I don't know who it is. I can't think of many things more blasphemous than the belief that Christ died for my sins, but he may not have died for the sins of that man or woman over there, who he predestined from all eternity to everlasting damnation. May every follower of the teachings of John Calvin find the truth and mercy of Our Saviour Jesus Christ, and may only their doctrines be consigned to hell where they came from.

bump

The best verse I have found is John 666 .

Those who reject the Eucharist are followers of the antichrist? Umm.... Jesus did say that the devil could come as a Angel of Light .

Could the Protestant Churches be a tool of the AntiChrist? I don't know but it is an interesting question considering the recent news:
Presbyterians Approve \'Gender-Neutral\' Worship

I have two questions:
1)Pani Rose-does "bump" mean you want to keep the topic near the top of the list?
2) I have read and reread John 6 and I keep coming back to this one verse, John 6:63 "The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you are spirit and they are life." (NIV, which is almost identical to the New King James)Or from the NAB: "It is the spirit that gives life, while the flesh is of no avail. The words I have spoken to you are spirit and life."

Jesus says "the flesh counts for nothing" How does this relate to His statement that we must eat His flesh? How does the Church understand His words?
Respectfully,
Michele

Lawrence
Are you suggesting that every person in the world will be saved? Are you arguing against predestination or against the idea that some will not be saved and will be cast into Hell?
Michele

I have had problems with the idea that all you have to do is recite a few words off the back of atract, and VOILA!you are saved. it is nothing but the sin of presumption (the same sin that got Satan booted out of Heaven). too often does it lead to the idea that you can do as you please after you are saved, and God will just wink at it, and you'll get your crown. I can't help but think of the late Mr. Ley of Enron infame. he was a Christian and did as he pleased, but I guess he is laughing his way down the streets of gold, if what he was taught is true.I do hope I am wrong here.
as far as predestination is concerned: there is scarce a believer in that doctrine who does not consider himself to be one of the elect.
I do not consider the Protestants to be the tool of the Antichrist. there are many sincere Protestants who hold to a faith in Christ, and who have borne the fruit of the Spirit in their lives, and we will be seeing them in Heaven.
on the other hand, we have in our midst those who believe that one can work their way into Heaven, say the right number of prayers,do the right number of good deeds, etc. that too is presumption.just how much is enough? in the final analysis, it is the grace of God through Christ Jesus, and our reliance on Him as Lord and Saviour in our lives that will motivate us to love Him and serve Him, and that leads to salvation.
Much Love,
Jonn

I do believe that conversion to Christ is essential and sometimes it happens in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye. A person can be changed, utterly and completely, by contact with the living God. To borrow a Western example, St. Augustine had a conversion experience like this. But it is also true that his conversion did not come out of the blue-he believed for many years but did not choose to live a Christian life. He knew the truth, but he did not allow it to penetrate his being and change his behaviour. Conversion without repentance is meaningless. Conversion without real change is questionable at best. If you say you're a Christian but you live like a pagan and feel little or no discomfort with the sin in your life, you are a fool and have little hope of heaven. You can stand on "once saved, always saved" but it won't bear your weight unless you are living a life in submission to God. So, can a person be saved by saying a prayer, knowing the "four spiritual laws", going forward at Promise Keepers? Yes, they can. Can they pray a prayer and walk back into a life of sin and expect to get to heaven? No, they can't. Some people may have been deceived over the years by those who are so anxious to make converts, to get someone to "pray the prayer" that they don't care what happens afterwards. Some people have been given such poor teaching that all they know is that they have a heavy burden to "save the lost" and don't know any other way than to pressure a non-believer to pray the prayer. The Evangelical churches have largely repented for this kind of tactic, but it certainly still happens. I would never associate myself with a church(or ecclesial body) that does not stir up the believer to love and good works, that does not attempt to equip the believer for every good work and that does not seriously exhort the believer to follow Christ ever more closely. We may be wrong in other ways, but it is unjust to say that true Evangelicals teach that you can do whatever you want as long as you profess faith in Christ. That is not Christianity of any sort.
Michele
ps As the old Rich Mullins song says: "Faith without works, baby, it just ain't happening, it's about as useful as a screen door on a submarine"