Deeper Truth Blog: The Catholic Defender: "IF"

Monday, September 9, 2013

The Catholic Defender: "IF"

Have you ever had anyone ask you, "Are you saved" or "Are you Born Again"? Why do they subject themselves to the sin of "presumption" by believing in "Once Saved Always Saved"?

A common scripture that I often hear quoted to justify their belief is coming from 1 John 5:13 which states, "I write these things to you so that you may KNOW that you have ETERNAL life, you who BELIEVE in the name of the Son of God."

Taking this at first glance, that is an important scripture especially of hope for any Christian. So, why can't I fully know that my faith is secure and guard against the sin of "presumption.".

In a similar way, I've spoken with people who basically believe that they are good people, that they do not feel endangered by hell because they are "good" people. I think that when you really take a good look at each person, holes develop that blows people out of the water.

To make a good examination of Conscience, the Ten Commandments are a good tool to take good self inventory. What is the first Commandment?

1. "I the Lord, am your God. You shall not have other gods besides me." Are there times in our life especially recently where we might of missed Mass because of any reason outside of health or mission? If I missed Mass because of my own fault, that is a Mortal sin and needs to be confessed.

2. "You shall not take the name of the Lord, your God in vain." Have we spoken the name of God in vain, many people do this subconsciously and might not be aware of it. It can be a bad habit.

3. "Remember to keep holy the Sabbath day (the Lord's Day)." Like the first Commandment, did we miss Mass, did we not honor the Lord and teach our families to follow the Lord? Families should be able to have fun, do things together, but we should always include the Lord in our plans.

4. "Honor your Father and your Mother." This is a very important Commandment, do we simply place our Parents in a Senior Citizens home and forget them? Do we not honor our parents, even after they made serious mistakes? Some things we can only give to God if we cannot handle this.

5. "You shall not kill." This is important because we not only kill by murdering someone, but when we use hateful speech, when you hate your brother, this is a serious sin if out of control. We must show love to all people in our Christian walk.

6. "You shall not commit adultery." Acting on adultery is clear, but the Lord is clear that if you have lust for someone, you have committed adultery in your heart. Pornography is a serious sin that falls under this Commandment.

7. "You shall not steal." This Commandment is more than taking what does not belong to you, this also falls under taking other peoples pride, destroying a persons self image or self worth. We are to lift people up and encourage people.

8. "You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor." This is very important because you can ruin people because of your jealousy, because of your trying to get a head, you run somebody down through lying about people.

9. "You shall not covet your neighbor's wife." This is closely related to the Commandment on adultery, if people were to honor and respect this Commandment of God, we would save many marriages. Save many families by reducing the opportunity to sin. To avoid the near occasions of sin.

10. "You shall not covet anything that belongs to your neighbor." We see this a lot in the business world, people trying to get a head and if anyone stands in their way, especially a position, they want what does not belong to them so much they plot schemes to feed their passion. People might want someones property, their possessions, their money and if they do not have self control, they can break this Commandment.

Consider looking at this from your own perspectives, I just touched the surface as this can go much deeper. My point is that if we do not think we need to go to confession, we should humble ourselves and seek greater self inventory. Where can we grow closer to the Lord, what might be preventing you from growing closer to the Lord?

Lets go back to the original question about 1 John 5:13, "I write these things to you so that you may KNOW that you have ETERNAL life, you who BELIEVE in the name of the Son of God." How is this different? Can we be saved simply by the blood of Christ?

What our friends are not looking at in their basic beliefs is that John writes this scripture towards the end of his letter. If you read through the whole letter, you will discover something easily missed. Consider the following:

1 John 1:6 states, "If we say, 'We have fellowship with him,' while we continue to walk in darkness, we lie and do not act in truth."

1 John 1:8 states, "If we say, 'We are without sin,' we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us."

1 John 1:10 states, "If we say, 'We have not sinned,' we make him a liar, and his word is not in us."

1 John 2:15 states, "If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him."

1 John 3:17 states, "If someone who has worldly means sees a brother in need and refused him compassion, how can the love of God remain in him?"

1 John 4:20 states, "If anyone says, 'I love God,' but hates his brother, he is a liar; for whoever does not love a brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen."

Much of this letter of St. John discusses and explains all these "If's" and makes it clear the importance of following Christ in all these matters. So, at the end of the day, if you are perfectly following all those "If's" you can know you have eternal life!

How many of us follow all those "if's" perfectly? It is a great way to check our inventory to see if we are following the Lord as we should. We can have perfect trust in Jesus and His Word, that we can be assured of, and "if" we are following and living out our faith exercising the grace Jesus offers us, we can be confident, but not to the point of presumption.

So, really, what is the point of this? Can we have confidence and trust in the Lord? Yes, we can, but we must have humility before God with a humble heart and know that God is Judge. We place ourselves humbly before God with a spirit of repentance. We know that Jesus is true to his word, but we must live the life of grace and co-operate with His grace to stay in the state of grace.

We must make full use of the Confessional for the things we fall short, we are a work in progress and so we have a healthy respect and love for God. We must recognize that we are sinners fully dependent on the Mercy of God's grace.

I'll give a quick example how we can be personally misguided in our own life. I was on Fort Hood just leaving the parking lot after eating at Popeye's Chicken. I was waiting to turn left on Battalion Avenue when I pulled into the mid lane allowing a car driving a bit faster than I anticipated to pass. I simply allowed the car to pass on by before I pulled out into the lane.

I got maybe 15 feet before I saw the blue lights as an MP car wanted to stop me. As I pulled into a nearby parking lot, I was trailed by this MP car. I was thinking to myself, "What in the world could I have done wrong?" I allowed a car to pass which was the right thing to do, I was ready to defend myself when the MP came to the window.

The MP asked for my License and insurance and as I did so, I asked what I did to be stopped, thinking I was fully in the right. Then the MP stated that where I turned left, there was a "no left turn" sign posted at the drive in parking lot. I did not see this sign.

Now I sat there realizing that I was in the wrong and I was caught read handed. I sat there thinking that I had a ticket coming and I couldn't say anything about it. About 5 minutes later, the MP came back to my window and gave me my license and insurance paper back. I was given a warning being shown mercy and advised not to turn left at this parking lot or this portion of the street.

I left thanking them for their help and that I would look for that sign next time. I left thankful that I was shown mercy. That is the way it is with all of us at some point in our lives. We might genuinely think we are doing OK, but in reality, we are dead in sin. We need to take advantage of God's grace and be aware of the sin of presumption. We shouldn't take anything for granted, we might find ourselves totally in the wrong. God bless you all.

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The Pillar and foundation of the truth (1 Timothy 3:15)

The purpose of Deeper Truth is to provide a defense for the one fully true church of Christ. It is not designed to attack or hurt others.

We will speak boldly. We will not whitewash the truth.

Yes, we do believe that there is only 1 truth and the only place on earth where it can be found whole, complete, and uncorrupted is the Roman Catholic Church. Yes, we do feel that we can prove that case.

We can prove it historically, supernaturally, logically, practically and Biblically. And we will, make no mistake about that.

We believe that science and observation and reason are sufficient proofs of the existence of God. We also believe that reason and logic alone are sufficient causes for any human being to suspect that that God would have revealed Himself to us in some fashion. Further, we believe that He has and the historical, practical and supernatural proofs are beyond overwhelming that God has revealed, and continues to reveal, His will to us exclusively through the Roman Catholic Church, which He founded when He lived among us in the historical person of Jesus Christ.

We believe that anyone who has totally given Himself to the whole and objective search for truth cannot help but be drawn towards the light of what the Apostle Paul called the Pillar and Foundation of all truth, that is the Catholic Church.
A mere 77 years after the death and Resurrection of Jesus Christ, when some of the young witnesses would still have been alive, St. Ignatius of Antioch said; “Where Christ is, there is His Catholic Church”.

Truer words were never spoken.

For those of you chomping at the bit to discuss (or dare you dream, refute) Catholic teaching, don’t worry, you will get your chance.

Here is what constitutes debate to me. You do not ignore my questions or evidences and simply move on to more questions and or accusations. You do not make accusations, purported as factual, without sufficient original evidence.

That means that you do not make an accusation about what Catholics believe, do or have done or will do without providing an original, verifiable source that can be instantly accessed by any listener of the program.

If you characterize debate as an endless stream of unsupported accusations, you have come to the wrong place.

Here are some examples of what would constitute proof;

If you charge, as fact, that Catholics believe a particular thing, I will expect you to provide a link to an official Catholic source, citing it as a defined doctrine. Sources could include the Catechism of the Catholic Church or a document from a council. Links to anti- Catholic or non-Catholic sources that quote teachings out of context are insufficient.

I will gladly debate you on anything the Catholic Church actually has defined and teaches but I won’t waste my time arguing about what Dave Hunt or Jack Chick falsely claims that we teach.

If you charge, as purported fact, that a belief the church actually does have violates scripture or Christian teaching in some way, be prepared to not only support your arguments but to contest mine. I will debate via Scripture, history, tradition, practicality and logic. If you insist that the debate can only be on Scripture alone because you allege that Scripture is the only authority, I will insist that you provide scripture explicitly establishing that only the written word of God, as contained in a specific canon of books, can be accepted to the exclusion of all else.

Good luck.

If you charge, for example, that Catholic sexual abuse proves that the Catholic church cannot be the true church of God, I will expect you to provide empirical evidence that the rate of sexual abuse among Catholic priests is higher than ministers of other faiths or of the public at large.

The purpose of this show is to show you the truth. I will do so by basis of empirical evidence. If you truly want to see the truth, I can provide it. If you are simply unwilling to see the truth, I cannot help you.

That being said, we know that there are good people in all faiths and that many people of good will are genuinely confused about what Catholics believe and why they believe it.

I will start by giving you 30 basic precepts of what Catholics believe, as a foundation for us to build on. I will then explain exactly how this show will work.

1. We believe that by nature, science and reason alone, God has put sufficient light in every man to realize that the formation and expansion of life cannot possibly be by chance or random action. We believe that science, observation and simple human reason makes it impossible for anyone to truly doubt the existence of an intelligent designer. We believe that anyone who denies such a basic and undeniable fact, does so by force of pride or rebellion, not by force of intellect.

2. We believe that, hard-wired, by the creator, into every human being is a basic knowledge of right and wrong, good and evil. Man can choose to suppress this knowledge but he that will cause an intrinsic rebellion within him. Among this basic knowledge is the truth that murder, stealing, lying, violence, rape and homosexuality are disordered and objectively evil. Again, we believe anyone denying this knowledge isn’t doing so out of an intellectually arrived at position but out of rebellion or pain or pride. This knowledge is as basic as the knowledge that we need to breath, eat, drink, sleep, avoid pain and fight or flee danger. It is instinctive.

3. We believe that each person has in him an irresistible longing for God that battles against an unruly and unreasonable concupiscence. Concupiscence is man’s innate selfish desire. We Catholics define this concupiscence as original sin. Fully giving oneself over to the longing for God will lead to salvation. The most perfect completion of this being in the Catholic Church. A lifetime spent resisting this urge for God, in exchange for the longings of the flesh will lead to a lifetime of misery and-eventually- to an eternity of unimaginable suffering.

4. We believe this God has revealed Himself to us in very specific ways and through very specific people. These people include Prophets, Saints, Apostles and Old Testament Kings. The ways include Miracles and Signs, Sacred Scripture, public and private revelation, sacred tradition and the teachers He has appointed throughout the ages from Abraham to the current Magisterium of today’s Roman Catholic Church.

5. Because of #4, We believe anyone who claims to speak for God has an obligation to demonstrate credentials. We can do so in ways that no other church or religious entity on earth could even dare to claim.

6. We believe this God has been revealed as a singular God who exists in 3 persons, the second of which also took on humanity. We believe this one triune God and only this one triune God is worthy of worship. Anyone who tells you that Catholics worship anyone but the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit is lying to you. It’s just that simple.

7. We believe that this God gave us a moral law that will never pass away and that every single person will face the judgment of God based on the moral law.

8. We believe that Jesus Christ is the fulfillment of the Mosaic law.

9. We believe that Jesus Christ, by His life, suffering, death and Resurrection redeemed the world.

10. We believe the graces secured at Calvary are sufficient for the removal of all sin.

11. We believe that salvation is by Christ alone.

12. We believe that salvation is by grace alone.

13. We believe that man must participate in his own salvation and that no man or woman has ever been saved, or ever will be saved by faith alone. That the Bible clearly refutes the doctrine of Salvation by Faith alone is clear almost to the point of excess. Anybody who tells you that man is saved by faith alone is simply repeating a man-made lie, whether or not they may actually believe it.

14. We believe that Jesus Christ created a church that is the Pillar and Foundation of all truth, just as the Bible states. That we have an infallible Bible (and we do) is only because an infallible church gave it to us. That church-and only that Church- is fully and completely entrusted by God with the Scriptures and the Truths of Religion. Everyone else is guessing, to greater or less success, all falling short of the fullness of the truth of Catholicism. In fact…..

15. We believe that, in truth, there is only one true church. Catholic means Universal and we affirm that every single baptized Christian is a member-knowing or unknowing, willing or unwilling- of the Catholic Church and accountable, to the extent of the light of faith within them, to her teachings.

16. We affirm the infallibility and inspiration of Scripture and that all Scripture is useful for reproof, teaching and training in holiness. Nevertheless, we reject the notion of Sola Scriptura and hold the notion of practical sufficiency and the SELF interpretation of Scripture to be self-refuting, untenable nonsense.

17. We hold the teaching authority of the Church, the Sacred tradition of the fathers, and Holy Scripture to all be necessary parts of the Church.

18. We do not believe that any of the members of the Catholic Church are Impeccable, Omniscient, Omnipresent, Divine, Eternal or, in any way, shape, manner or form equal with God. This includes past, present and future members of the Catholic Church. We believe that all members of the Church had to be saved from the stain of original sin by God’s Sanctifying Grace.

19. We believe that Mary was saved by Sanctifying grace from her Mother’s womb, as was John the Baptist. We believe we can prove this scripturally.

20. We do not believe that Mary is God. Anyone who tells you that Catholics worship Mary is a liar. We do believe that She is the MOTHER of God and to deny this is to deny the Incarnation. We also believe that She fulfills the Biblical roles of the Queen Mother, The Ark of the Covenant, the Mother of Christians, the Woman clothed with the Sun and a co-mediatrix, co-redemtrix and advocate that in no manner contradicts 1 Timothy 2:5.

21. We believe that Jesus gave the Catholic clergy the power to anoint, to bind and loose, to preach and interpret Scripture and to forgive sins.

22. We believe that not one soul is saved by any other name than Jesus, even those saved who never heard His name.

23. We believe that not one soul that is saved is not saved by the merits Jesus gives through His Catholic Church, even those who don’t come to fully understand and accept it.

24. We believe that Jesus meant what He said in the 6th chapter of John’s Gospel and that each consecrated host contains the body, blood, soul and divinity of Jesus Christ.

25. We believe that only the full canon of Scripture as defined by the Catholic Church, 73 books, constitutes a complete Bible and only one carrying an Imprimatur is free from doctrinal error.

26. We reject the doctrine of the Rapture and believe that Christians will have to endure the great tribulation.

27. We reject a strictly futurist view of books like John’s Revelation.
The prophecies concerning the great harlot in Revelation 17-18, for instance, refer to the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD.

28. We reject the assertion that the Israel of today’s world is the Israel of Scripture and find the assertion absurd and untenable. The Church is the new Israel. The Jewish Israel of Scripture is gone, dead, kaput…no more. There is no more temple and will never be. There are no more prophets nor will ever be, no more sacrifice, no more kings, no more Jerusalem. The city is Babylon and a Spiritual Sodom. Revelation 11:8.

29. We reject the doctrine that only Catholics can be saved. God will save who He will. That someone cannot reach the fullness of truth, through their honest efforts, will not be held against him. Those who knowingly reject the truth will perish in their sin and be damned. God will judge all by their works- PERIOD.

30. We do not believe that lying in defense of one’s beliefs, as anti-catholics do, is a virtue but a violation of the commandments of God.

We trust that these subjects and more will make for lively, spirited and- we hope- civil debate.

Remember the word I spoke to you, 'No slave is greater than his master.' If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will also keep yours.
~ John 15:20

See that ye all follow the bishop, even as Jesus Christ does the Father, and the presbytery as ye would the apostles; and reverence the deacons, as being the institution(17) of God. Let no man do anything connected with the Church without the bishop. Let that be deemed a proper(18) Eucharist, which is[administered] either
See that ye all follow the bishop, even as Christ Jesus does the Father, and the presbytery as ye would the apostles. Do ye also reverence the deacons, as those that carry out[through their office] the appointment of God. Let no man do anything connected with the Church without the bishop. Let that be deemed a proper(18) Eucharist, which is[administered] either by the bishop, or by one to whom he has entrusted it. Wherever the bishop shall appear, there let the multitude[of the people] also be;

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by the bishop, or by one to whom he has entrusted it. Wherever the bishop shall appear, there let the multitude[of the people] also be; even as, wherever Jesus Christ is, there is the Catholic Church. It is not lawful without the bishop either to baptize or to celebrate a love-feast; but whatsoever he shall approve of, that is also pleasing to God, so that everything that is done may be secure and valid.(2) even as where Christ is, there does all the heavenly host stand by, waiting upon Him as the Chief Captain of the Lord's might, and the Governor of every intelligent nature. It is not lawful without the bishop either to baptize, or to offer, or to present sacrifice, or to celebrate a love-feast.(1) But that which seems good to him, is also well-pleasing to God, that everything ye do may be secure and valid.

~Saint Ignatius of Antioch, letter to the Smyrnaeans, chapter VIII (AD 110)

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Monday, September 9, 2013

The Catholic Defender: "IF"

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