I have been finding answers to many questions that I have had for many years. I want to share them so I can kind of collect my thoughts, and also to spark conversation as well as get different insight. At this time, I am not claiming what I write to be the solid truth. All I am doing is writing down some findings so I can have them all in one place and I can continue to do research on them as well as share the journey I am on. I do not expect anyone to agree with me, but I do ask for respect. If you do not have any insightful, helpful, and honest answers or questions in relation to my posts, I ask that you not say anything at all. Please comment and whatnot, for I love to learn new things and I want to be challenged! Anything I deem worthy of deleting, will be deleted. This is a beautiful journey; my journey that God has me on. God Bless you as you continue to bless me in so many ways on my walk!
The past week, I have been reading "Born Fundamentalist, Born Again Catholic" by David B. Currie. One of the many things that I thoroughly love about this book, is that the author was born and raised "Fundamentalist" and takes the reader step by step through what brought about his conversion to Catholicism. While he has answered many of my questions, he also continues to leave me with more. I am going to post what he says, as well as do continual research to see if I can validate, or so to speak, disprove his statements. If anyone has any helpful links, books or words that can clear up my questions, again, I am very open to what anyone and everyone has to say. Please, though, just give me time to sort thru everything so I can make the best decision for myself and discern where God truly is calling me.
One thing that I have heard much about lately is that we are saved by faith alone. I have heard that many people have the understanding that Catholics believe that we are saved by works alone. In my reading, I have found both to be mistakenly untrue. To quote Currie, "... we are saved by grace ... none of us would have a chance at salvation but for the grace of God" (page 111). Furthermore, he quotes the Catechism of the Catholic Church, "Since the initiative belongs to God in the order of grace, no one can merit the initial grace of forgiveness and justification" (CCC 2010). "grace is any divine assistance given to persons in order to advance them toward their supernatural destiny of fellowship with God ... Grace transforms a person's nature" (Our Sunday Visitor's Catholic Encyclopedia). "Justification prepares a Christian to meet a holy God in eternity ... Catholics teach that justification starts at a moment in time but continues throughout a Christian's life. Justification is made operative in one's life by both faith and works" (Currie 112).
After reading this, I had questions. Questions that Currie is quick to state and answer as well. "... there emerge two questions that could be answered only by going to Scripture. First, does Scripture indicated anywhere that works are essential for justification? ... Secondly, does Scripture anywhere state that 'by faith alone' we are justified?" (p. 113).
"First, Scripture does clearly and emphatically teach that works are involved in the "by" of justification. The most obvious passage is in James ... where he says that a man is 'justified by what he does:'"
'14 What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them? 15 Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. 16 If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? 17 In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.
18 But someone will say, “You have faith; I have deeds.”
Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by my deeds. 19 You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder.
20 You foolish person, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless[a]? 21 Was not our father Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? 22 You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did. 23 And the scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness,”[b] and he was called God’s friend. 24 You see that a person is considered righteous by what they do and not by faith alone.
25 In the same way, was not even Rahab the prostitute considered righteous for what she did when she gave lodging to the spies and sent them off in a different direction? 26 As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead' (James 2:14-26).
"Neither James nor the Catholic Church claims justification comes by works alone. Justification is accomplished by faith coupled with works" (p 114).
Jesus' "ideal was that of a life of good works flowing outward from a vibrant inner faith. The parables of the wise and foolish builders (Mt 7:24-27), the two sons (Mt 21:28-32), the good Samaritan (Lk 10:25-37), and others all teach a unity of faith and works for salvation ... 'Not everyone who says to me, "Lord, Lord," will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven'" (p. 115).
To Currie, it was evident that Jesus taught that justification, thus salvation, is a combination of both faith and works. But, they can only be made possible solely because of God's grace.
Just as I was beginning to wonder if Currie was ever going to touch on the second question he posed, he dove right into it. "Does Scripture anywhere state that 'by faith alone' we are justified? The long and the short of it is --no. These words are never, ever used in relation to justification anywhere by any of the New Testament authors." Currie says that some do indeed try to make this claim, so he proceeds to go into a short look at Paul's epistles.
"It is important to keep in mind that Paul uses the word 'works' in a very different way from either James or the Catholic Church. Generally, when Paul uses the word, he is using it to refer to Jewish obligational 'works of the law' (referenced Rom 4:9-15 and Rom 3:28) ... James, Jesus and the Catholic Church agree that works must be tied to faith for the faith to be effectual and that both the faith and the works are solely the result of God's grace" (p. 116-17).
He does quote Eph 2:8-10; "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith --and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God --not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works."
"Paul is not pitting works against faith ... The verse says that we are saved by grace; that even the faith we have is a gracious gift; and that the works we do are nothing to boast of because they too are a gracious gift --"God's workmanship" in us" (p 118).
Currie also states that the Reformers tampered with verse 8 to make it read "saved by faith alone." He claims that the word "alone" cannot be found anywhere in the Greek, nor in the context, nor is the idea conveyed anywhere is the Bible. This guy is also one who checks the validity of the Bible with the Bible --which as I continue with future posts it will clearly be seen.
About Titus 3:5 Currie says "Paul here is noting the motivation behind God's decision to provide for our salvation ... It was pure mercy that caused Him to pour out His grace on us ... Catholics do not believe that our works are innately valuable. The same could be said of our faith. If either is valuable to God, it is only because he graciously decided to make it so. They are meritorious only because by grace God has connected them to the work of Christ and the Cross. 'Grace ... ensures the supernatural quality of our acts and consequently their merit before God and before men' (CCC 2011). Even our ability to do works is a result of God's grace working through us. This is what Augustine meant when he said, 'All our good merits are wrought through grace, so that God, in crowning our merits, is crowing nothing but His gifts.' Our responsibility is to cooperate with God: 'Do not put out the Spirit's fire'" (I Th 5:19). (p. 118-19).
Furthermore, "We are saved by grace, justified by faith and works. Separate the faith from the works, and it dies. We can take no credit for our salvation, because both the faith and the works are a result of God's grace being operative in our lives. God has ordained that this is the method by which we merit salvation. He might have ordained a different way instead, but Scripture teaches us he did it this way. This emphasis on justification by faith and works makes a tremendous practical difference ... Entrance to heaven is preceded by a judgment: a judgment of what we have done in our lives. The criterion in every judgment scene in the New Testament is works: 'Not everyone who says to me, "Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father' (Mt 7:21; see also Jn 5, Mt 23, Rev 22, and I Cor 3)" (p. 122).
"Because Catholic theology makes the will the predominant aspect of the soul, obedience through works takes on more importance. A Catholic youngster may not have all the right answers at the tip of his tongue, but he should have been taught to help someone in need. At the judgment Jesus will then say, 'I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me'" (Mt 25:40).
So, in essence, anyone who is striving to "live the Christian life" is already practicing that we are saved by faith and works. For, if we just believed in Christ and accepted in our hears, but did not try to live a life holy and pleasing to God, then that would be faith alone. We have the faith, but are not doing what God wills for us. Works do not mean that there is this huge rule book that we must do to get to heaven; it basically just means living out our lives and acting in accordance with the most perfect will that Our Father has for us!
** The italics in the quotes is NOT my own emphasis, but instead that added by the author David B. Currie.
Tuesday, January 10, 2012
God's Will be done on earth, as it is in Heaven
What would life look like if I were the only one who influenced my own self? Where would I be if I only had myself to rely on? Who would I be if I were left to fend for myself without the input, advice, discipline and rules that have been set in place that have already had such a huge impact on whom I am today?
Many of us have people in our life who we look up to, who we love, and who we don't want to hurt. We have those people in our lives who have guided us, mentored us, given advice, and have all around been such a blessing to have in our life.
But does there come a point when we get so attached to these lovely people that we fail to here God's call for us? Do we long to keep the circle of friends that we have and let fear of loosing them prevent us from walking the walk that God wants to lead us down? Does our family have such expectations of us that we only make choices that we feel they want us to make instead of asking God if we are following His will for our life?
Yes, there are definitely times when God's Will for our life does involve us keeping our loved ones near, continuing on in our circle of friends, and even making choices that our parents want us to make.
What happens when we feel that God is calling us down a path that we fear will separate us from our friends and tear us apart from our family? How do we answer God's call when it is so contradictory to how we were raised and totally goes against what other people feel is right for us?
It is certainly not easy, and I definitely do not claim to know the answer(s).
And what about those paths we walk down that we look back on and see that God probably did not take us down them, but we instead chose to go down them, or were misguided down them, but God was still awesome and used it to teach us a valuable lesson?
The past 2 years I have walked down a path that I have no idea how to explain. I would say that God did not guide me down it, but at the same time I don't want to say that I was misguided either. And on top of all that, I cannot say that I intentionally chose that path either. So, regardless of how I ended up wandering that path, God used it and has taught me things that I never ever would have thought I would learn.
I remember growing up, my mom would tell me that the choices that I made under her roof were between her, me and God, and that when I grew up and moved out, it would be just between me and God. When I moved out, I was literally lost. There were many decisions that I made and now look back on and wish that I was not so stupid, naive, selfish, stubborn, just to name a few. I also look back on those choices and see that God has used each and every one of them to teach me a lesson. All of these lessons needed to be learned, and I have no idea if, when or how I would have learned them had it not been for all I went through. So, I can say that I would take certain things back, but when I see where I am today, I see just how much all of that has shaped me into whom I am today and seeing that I cannot take back the past, there is no point in wishing for a redo.
Once I moved out of my mom's house, I continued to strive to be everything I thought she wanted me to be. I continue with the practices she taught me. I continue living within the lifestyle that I grew up with. I tried and tried and tried in vain to please her. I did what *I* thought she wanted. That wore me out. I was on my own and my choices were now between me and God. Yet I still felt there was a hold over me. I still felt that I needed to carry on with the practices and traditions and everything of how I was raised. I longed to belong.
Eventually, I gave up. I began doing what I wanted to do, which was practically the complete opposite of how I was raised (okay, probably not t h a t dramatic!).
One thing I could not let go of at first was Catholicism. I wanted to hold on so tight- but not because I felt that that is where I belonged, but because I wanted to let my mom know that I was still practicing. Eventually, I could not do that anymore. I ended up taking a path over the past year and half that took me from a non-denominational church to a Baptist church and back to Catholicism. I took something special and unique from each church and each one had their own way of enriching me on my journey. I received many talks from various people- family and friends- regarding each different church. I heard good things and bad things about them all. It was all in my hands- so to speak. The decision was left to me now.
But it really was not left to me. For I strive every day to surrender my life to God. I strive every day to do the Will of my Father in Heaven. So thus, I began a quest for the truth. I remember asking why we did certain things when I was growing up. The answer: just because. Why do I want to continue with a tradition that is done "just because?" I could not and cannot do that. Just recently I have begun researching. I have been digging for the truth. I have been finding answers to so many questions I had growing up.
This quest is no longer to please anyone. I am not staying Catholic to make anyone happy. I am not staying with a non-denominational church to make anyone happy. I am not staying at a Baptist church to make anyone happy. No. I am on a mission to find exactly where God wants me to be. I have been for seven months. Hence why I found myself at these different churches.
I have a passion to find the truth. I have a hunger and thirst for knowledge. I cannot please everyone. I cannot put someone else's desires and wants above where God is calling me.
I continue to search for the truth. "Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you." I have been asking God to reveal the truth to me. I forever want to seek the truth. I knock when I come upon a closed door ... The Lord is working ever so wonderful in my life. I am ever so thankful. God has placed certain people in my life for a reason. He will keep them as long as He wants them in my life. We will go our separate ways when He knows our time together has been fulfilled.
So, wherever you are in life, hand your life over to the Lord. Seek to find the truth. Pray for a hunger and a thirst to be constantly searching and learning. There will be people who are disappointed by choices made; but ultimately, the choices that are made are not to please earthly people, but instead to do God's Will here on earth. Even when it is hard and causes division. For many months I was divided from certain friends and family. Many have since come to accept where the Lord has called me; others, God will continue to work in their hearts and only He knows the future.
“This, then, is how you should pray:
“‘Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
10 your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
11 Give us today our daily bread.
12 And forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
13 And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one.
Many of us have people in our life who we look up to, who we love, and who we don't want to hurt. We have those people in our lives who have guided us, mentored us, given advice, and have all around been such a blessing to have in our life.
But does there come a point when we get so attached to these lovely people that we fail to here God's call for us? Do we long to keep the circle of friends that we have and let fear of loosing them prevent us from walking the walk that God wants to lead us down? Does our family have such expectations of us that we only make choices that we feel they want us to make instead of asking God if we are following His will for our life?
Yes, there are definitely times when God's Will for our life does involve us keeping our loved ones near, continuing on in our circle of friends, and even making choices that our parents want us to make.
What happens when we feel that God is calling us down a path that we fear will separate us from our friends and tear us apart from our family? How do we answer God's call when it is so contradictory to how we were raised and totally goes against what other people feel is right for us?
It is certainly not easy, and I definitely do not claim to know the answer(s).
And what about those paths we walk down that we look back on and see that God probably did not take us down them, but we instead chose to go down them, or were misguided down them, but God was still awesome and used it to teach us a valuable lesson?
The past 2 years I have walked down a path that I have no idea how to explain. I would say that God did not guide me down it, but at the same time I don't want to say that I was misguided either. And on top of all that, I cannot say that I intentionally chose that path either. So, regardless of how I ended up wandering that path, God used it and has taught me things that I never ever would have thought I would learn.
I remember growing up, my mom would tell me that the choices that I made under her roof were between her, me and God, and that when I grew up and moved out, it would be just between me and God. When I moved out, I was literally lost. There were many decisions that I made and now look back on and wish that I was not so stupid, naive, selfish, stubborn, just to name a few. I also look back on those choices and see that God has used each and every one of them to teach me a lesson. All of these lessons needed to be learned, and I have no idea if, when or how I would have learned them had it not been for all I went through. So, I can say that I would take certain things back, but when I see where I am today, I see just how much all of that has shaped me into whom I am today and seeing that I cannot take back the past, there is no point in wishing for a redo.
Once I moved out of my mom's house, I continued to strive to be everything I thought she wanted me to be. I continue with the practices she taught me. I continue living within the lifestyle that I grew up with. I tried and tried and tried in vain to please her. I did what *I* thought she wanted. That wore me out. I was on my own and my choices were now between me and God. Yet I still felt there was a hold over me. I still felt that I needed to carry on with the practices and traditions and everything of how I was raised. I longed to belong.
Eventually, I gave up. I began doing what I wanted to do, which was practically the complete opposite of how I was raised (okay, probably not t h a t dramatic!).
One thing I could not let go of at first was Catholicism. I wanted to hold on so tight- but not because I felt that that is where I belonged, but because I wanted to let my mom know that I was still practicing. Eventually, I could not do that anymore. I ended up taking a path over the past year and half that took me from a non-denominational church to a Baptist church and back to Catholicism. I took something special and unique from each church and each one had their own way of enriching me on my journey. I received many talks from various people- family and friends- regarding each different church. I heard good things and bad things about them all. It was all in my hands- so to speak. The decision was left to me now.
But it really was not left to me. For I strive every day to surrender my life to God. I strive every day to do the Will of my Father in Heaven. So thus, I began a quest for the truth. I remember asking why we did certain things when I was growing up. The answer: just because. Why do I want to continue with a tradition that is done "just because?" I could not and cannot do that. Just recently I have begun researching. I have been digging for the truth. I have been finding answers to so many questions I had growing up.
This quest is no longer to please anyone. I am not staying Catholic to make anyone happy. I am not staying with a non-denominational church to make anyone happy. I am not staying at a Baptist church to make anyone happy. No. I am on a mission to find exactly where God wants me to be. I have been for seven months. Hence why I found myself at these different churches.
I have a passion to find the truth. I have a hunger and thirst for knowledge. I cannot please everyone. I cannot put someone else's desires and wants above where God is calling me.
I continue to search for the truth. "Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you." I have been asking God to reveal the truth to me. I forever want to seek the truth. I knock when I come upon a closed door ... The Lord is working ever so wonderful in my life. I am ever so thankful. God has placed certain people in my life for a reason. He will keep them as long as He wants them in my life. We will go our separate ways when He knows our time together has been fulfilled.
So, wherever you are in life, hand your life over to the Lord. Seek to find the truth. Pray for a hunger and a thirst to be constantly searching and learning. There will be people who are disappointed by choices made; but ultimately, the choices that are made are not to please earthly people, but instead to do God's Will here on earth. Even when it is hard and causes division. For many months I was divided from certain friends and family. Many have since come to accept where the Lord has called me; others, God will continue to work in their hearts and only He knows the future.
“This, then, is how you should pray:
“‘Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
10 your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
11 Give us today our daily bread.
12 And forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
13 And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one.
Tuesday, January 3, 2012
Late night rant
Tonight I am tired of pretending that everything is okay. Tired of feeling as though I am only pretending to be strong. Tired of feeling as though I am only putting on a brave face and living life as though nothing is wrong. Tired of the constant falling down only to quickly pick myself up before someone notices I've fallen. Maybe all of this comes from pride?
Tired of constantly feeling as though there is a struggle with religion. Tired of trying to figure out right from wrong. Tired of the division among people. The fighting and trying to please others. Tired of living in a broken world riddled with such rampant raging sin where society not only allows such immoralities but broadcasts them across the television, the radios and the internet. Tired of standing out by being different and feeling alone in proclaiming the risen lord of all.
Sometimes when I experience complete joy, I pray the Lord takes me from this earth before I fall prey to sin and offend Him again and again and again... I long to be right with God. I want to ultimately reach heaven. I want to believe. I want faith. I want hope. I want life everlasting. But more then I want it for myself, God wants it for me. So much more then I want it.... He wants it for all of us. amen.
Monday, January 2, 2012
If you have to start somewhere, why not here?
Resolutions ... New Years Resolutions. You know ... those little promises that are made to oneself on December 31st and claim that they "take effect" the following day: January 1.
Listening to the radio today, I heard that by the end of January 35% of people have already given up on their resolution. Then the question was asked: Are you one of those 35%?
Personally, I have never actually made a resolution. I have never understood why January 1 should be a huge day for making and living out potentially life changing life style habits. If you're gunna do something why not now? If you have to start somewhere, why not here? Yes, it is a new year, new beginnings, new starts, etc., but cannot today be a day of new, too?
As I begin 2012 my main goals are to continue to strengthen my relationship with God! To continue to grow closer to Him! To continue to strive to be Christlike and have the light of Christ shine within so I can be a source of light to others pointing wholeheartedly to Him who made me! Just to name a few. 2012 is going to be an amazing year. My life is in God's hands. My God is in control. My God is guiding me. Not to say it will be easy, for I have already learned that almost anything worth having in this life is going to take some work to obtain (for God is just working on perfecting everything about it!). But as long as it all lines up with God's perfect will for my life, I will have what my heart truly wants and have the strength to get through the hard times to achieve the ultimate end result of something beautiful!
My main goal this year besides what is stated above is to get CPR certified.
I pray that God is with y'all this year and that He blesses all you and your family so very richly indeed! Be blessed!
Listening to the radio today, I heard that by the end of January 35% of people have already given up on their resolution. Then the question was asked: Are you one of those 35%?
Personally, I have never actually made a resolution. I have never understood why January 1 should be a huge day for making and living out potentially life changing life style habits. If you're gunna do something why not now? If you have to start somewhere, why not here? Yes, it is a new year, new beginnings, new starts, etc., but cannot today be a day of new, too?
As I begin 2012 my main goals are to continue to strengthen my relationship with God! To continue to grow closer to Him! To continue to strive to be Christlike and have the light of Christ shine within so I can be a source of light to others pointing wholeheartedly to Him who made me! Just to name a few. 2012 is going to be an amazing year. My life is in God's hands. My God is in control. My God is guiding me. Not to say it will be easy, for I have already learned that almost anything worth having in this life is going to take some work to obtain (for God is just working on perfecting everything about it!). But as long as it all lines up with God's perfect will for my life, I will have what my heart truly wants and have the strength to get through the hard times to achieve the ultimate end result of something beautiful!
My main goal this year besides what is stated above is to get CPR certified.
I pray that God is with y'all this year and that He blesses all you and your family so very richly indeed! Be blessed!
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