Ask
a CatholicResponse to comment [from a Catholic]: "Jesus had brothers?"
Yes. Here is what J. Vernon McGee had to say about Jesus' brothers: "Both James and Jude were half brothers of the Lord Jesus, and James was the writer of the epistle which bears his name. He was mentioned by the apostle Paul as one of the pillars in the church at Jerusalem."
Response to comment [from a Catholic]: "They who are predestinated to life are likewise predestinated to all those means which are indispensably necessary in order to their meetness for, entrance upon, and enjoyment of that life, such as repentance, faith, sanctification, and perseverance in these to the end."
If you are witnessing to a non-elect, can you say, "Come to Christ. He has done this for you..." Since the Holy Spirit knows that he/she is a non-elect, does he somehow guide and steer you in the direction toward the more desirable elects like a mouse through a maze? Does the Holy Spirit diminish the believer's enthusiasm when approaching the non-elects (Ps 37:4)? How does it work in practice?
I imagine a bratty child saying to his sibling, "Look what father has done for me...but it's not for you. You don't have the right stuff." How indulgent the father must have been toward his child. It seems he raised him wrong.
Response to comment [from a Catholic]: The first thing to note is that we do not know for sure who is or is not among the predestined. I don't know if I am witnessing to a non-elect and thus I preach the gospel indiscriminately..."
We are fallen creatures. Can we get our theology wrong? Peter did. He played the hypocrite (Ga 2:13) and Paul rebuked him (Ga 2:11).
Response to comment [from a Catholic]: "Catholic theology does not downplay the assurance of salvation."
Mother Theresa said that no one can know for sure. Yet, a Christian is assured that he/she can know with certainty (1 Jn 5:13).
"...[I]f someone really does believe, desires eternal life above all else, and is motivated in all things by the love of God and love of neighbors for God's sake..."
The gospel includes repentance of sin--turning away from something and turning toward someone.
"...[Desiring] eternal life above all else...We do not simply go from not believing one moment to believing the next, after which everything is settled. We must persist in faith."
Desiring eternal life does not give you eternal life. I am sure Satan would desire never to be thrown into the lake of fire (Re 20:10). When we are born again scripture says that we pass from death to life (1 Jn 3:14). There is a big difference between religion and relationship. No church membership will get a person into heaven. Each much come individually.
"God's grace is communicated to the elect as well as to those who God already knows will be lost."
Common grace is given to all men (e.g. the air we breathe; the sun that warms us) for a time. We must seek to know God (Jer 29:13).
"Catholic evangelism (if you're even willing to call it evangelism) is primarily a matter of educating and encouraging those who express interest in Catholicism on their own accord, rather than asking random people if they've found Jesus as if they had never heard of Jesus before and weren't already at least to some extent aware of the fact that evil abounds and they cannot save themselves."
I grew up in the Catholic Church and was approached by an evangelical once on a plane. He asked me if I knew Jesus to which I replied "Well of course I do." and under my breathe "...are you stupid? Who hasn't heard of Jesus. Geez." Then I pushed my nose into a book to avoid him. I had no idea what he meant at the time. I wish I would have heard what he had to say because I spent the next 20 years of my life in sin and depravity. I was a church member, active, pious--all that but I was a sinner headed to hell.
If I could do it all over again or if I could change the past, I would have listened to that man. I will have to apologize to him in heaven one day. Most of the Catholics that I know have no idea what a personal, intimate relationship with the living Lord Jesus means. I learned that everything I had been taught was wrong. It was not the gospel of Jesus Christ that I was taught. Catholics teach a different gospel, a different Jesus than the Jesus of the Bible and a different way of salvation.
"[W]e have to persist in...belief in order to get to heaven."
We are saved by faith not works (Ep 2:8). It is a matter of timing. First, we are justified, then we are sanctified. We work because we are saved not the other way around. Once we are justified we work. Work before that time is of the flesh and irrelevant.
"[W]e can know with certainty and be assured by God’s promise that we shall have eternal life if we fight the good fight..."
The apostle John does not say we can know if...you do this...if you do that...if you follow this...if you follow that. The apostle John says, when we come by faith (a gift not of our own doing) we can know we are saved--period (1 Jn 5:13). No man or church (1 Ti 2:5) can require anything of you when you are saved. It is Christ who purifies (1 Jn 1:7). Christ is the head of the church not a man (Eph 5:23).
"Religion by itself does not exclude relationship."
God gave one religion to the world--Judaism. Christ came to fulfilled the law which man could not keep. In Christ we are no longer under law but grace (Ga 2:14).
"[Catholics] have access to the very means by which the Lord comes and literally dwells in them and they in him."
Any church that claims exclusivity is false. Christ claims exclusivity (Jn 14:6). The church is an organic body of believers worldwide.
"It is by the Holy Eucharist...that you [have] access to as a Catholic, that our relationship with the Lord is most visibly manifested..."
God is not contained in
a wafer. Scripture makes it clear that God could never be contained--not in an
ark, not in a wafer (1 Ki 8:27). We are not to worship images or idols (e.g.
Eucharist). We are to worship the living and true God.
The Roman Catholic Church teaches that they can call Jesus down from heaven to
sacrifice him all over again. They cannot (Jn 19:30). A believer's relationship
with the Lord is not manifested by a celebration of his death. It is blasphemy.
The mass glories Satan not Jesus.
Hypocrites seek visibility (Mt 6:5). Believers seek Christ.
"[H]ow do we have the Son? 'He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood..."
Obviously this was not meant to be taken literally. Jesus was right before his followers when he said this (Jn 6:56). In the Upper Room he was saying that he was going to give his life for them. Blood is the symbol of life. “For the life of the flesh is in the blood” (Lev. 17:11). Every Jews knew that cannibalism was forbidden. They did not understand Jesus to mean what the Catholic Church teaches.
[Lk 22:19]
J. Vernon McGee said of this passage: "For centuries the Passover feast had looked forward to the Lord’s coming and His death. Now He is in the shadow of the cross, and this is the last Passover. The Passover feast has now been fulfilled. We gather about the Lord’s Table and search our hearts. What we do at this Table is in [ἀνάμνησις] remembrance of Him (emphasis added)."
"Now that is a true relationship."
That is dead ritual.
[SD: The gospel includes repentance of sin--turning away from something and turning toward someone.] "Careful! Around here that kind of talk will get you labeled an enemy of Christ who denies his finished work on the cross. Though not by me.
I'm sorry, I would agree that when you change the gospel of grace into one of works it makes such a person an enemy of Christ (Ga 1:8).
"[Satan] would rather go into the lake of fire than serve God. Satan can't repent of this decision because he won't."
Satan has been around for a long time. I do not doubt that he is committed to wickedness.
"He knew exactly what he was doing and what the consequences would be when he first rebelled against God."
I would not give him that much credit. Satan may have been newly created when he rebelled against God. Henry M. Morris said: "The 'host of heaven' mentioned in Genesis 2:1 refers primarily to the stars (Deuteronomy 4:19; Nehemiah 9:6; Jeremiah 33:22; etc.), but may well refer also to the angels (1 Kings 22:19; 2 Chronicles 18:18; Luke 2:13; etc.), whose sphere of residence and reference may possibly be the stars (Morris, Henry M.: The Genesis Record : A Scientific and Devotional Commentary on the Book of Beginnings)."
"[H]umans can also turn away from God and lose faith in his promises though they once believed."
Scripture reveals belief to be more than just knowing the facts: that Jesus was God's preeminent son, he was born a virgin, died and rose again. Even the demons know this and shudder (Jas 2:19). Biblical belief means believing in all that Jesus said and did (Jn 8:31), trusting him and turning to him with a repentant heart (Mic 6:8). When a person is born again, he is indwelled with the Holy Spirit and has all he needs for living the Christian life. No one falls from grace. People compromise.
Response to comment [from a Catholic]: "James 2:24...As Paul says, we are saved by grace. Grace enables us to follow Jesus. This does not excuse us from doing God's will."
"Paul spoke about the root of faith (Eph 2:8). James spoke about the fruit of faith (Jas 2:17-18) [Adrienne Rogers]." Once we are saved, our works matter. We would not wish to be excused from Christian work like a school child wishes to be excused from class. This is what James is saying. Christian work is a labor of love. We want to do the will of the father. When we are no longer told that we have to go to church, it's funny how we want to go to church. Legalism is rooted in ritualism not faith.
"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."
If you are doing God's will, it is the best indication that you are a saved person. If you are not doing God's will or if you do not want to do God's will, it is the best indication that you are not a saved person. Works matter because they reveal who you are. Works also help others to identify the righteous from the wicked (e.g. the saints from the ain'ts). If a person believes that the source of his salvation is his works, then he has the heart of idolatry (worship of self). If he believes that God's grace is the source of his salvation, then he has the heart of worship. If a person wants to reflect his own glorify (pointing to his own works), then he goes the way of Cain which lead to death (Jud 1:11). If a person want to reflect God's glory (pointing to Christ), then he goes the way which leads to life (Jn 14:6). There is only one gospel--that of justification by faith by Christ alone.
Response to comment [from a Catholic]: "Salvation occurs through a process, not a one time event. Salvation is made possible through grace, by faith and endurance in obeying Jesus. As Paul explicitly tells us, the prize comes at the end of the race. We have not yet attained it."
We are sealed into the kingdom when we are born again (Re 7:4). A blind man was healed by Jesus. It took a while for his eyes to adjust to his new vision but no lengthy process of works (Jn 9:25). The thief on the cross did not have the opportunity to work. He simply believed (Lk 23:42). Saul of Tarsus needed a change of heart for all his piousness and was justified (Ac 9:4). Paul spent the rest of his life pursuing Christ. Phil 3:12 reveals Paul's heart to know Christ more. Perfection is the goal which we will not reach in this lifetime. He presses toward the upward call. He does not argue for a work-based faith.
We are to stop sitting on the fence (Jas 4:8) and choose Christ (Jos 24:15) today (Lk 19:9). We are indwelled once. We are infilled again and again. Catholics preach works and a long arduous process. Christians preach Christ.