BECAUSE HE LIVES THEREFORE I HAVE HOPE!!

On this Easter Sunday my heart still grieves the loss of our dear, sweet Mom who died on Easter Sunday of 2018, as well as the loss of our dear sister (Jan.25th 2021), brother (April 2022), and dear, wonderful Father (Oct. 31, 1999).
However, my heart is filled with JOY today knowing that all of my sins, guilt, and shame have been fully paid for when Jesus willingly died in my place on the cross, was buried, and gloriously arose from the dead in bodily form three days later to show that God, His Father, accepted His death in our place as FULL payment for my/our sins, guilt, and shame!! Therefore, since I have fully placed all of my trust only in all that Jesus Christ already accomplished for me and no longer trust in my own good works and effort (which are as filthy rags in the sight of a fully Holy God, Isaiah 64:6), my heart rejoices on this Easter Sunday in spite of the sorrow that I will continue to feel without my dear family members whom we have lost.

I also rejoice because I still have two dear sisters and one brother, four nieces, three nephews, as well as my sweet daughter and son and dear friends to share life with!! Because He lives, therefore I have hope –no matter what life throws at me!!

 

3 “For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance a : that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures,
4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures,
5 and that he appeared to Cephas, and then to the Twelve.
6 After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers and sisters at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep.
7 Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles,
8 and last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born.
9 For I am the least of the apostles and do not even deserve to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.
10 But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them—yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me.
11 Whether, then, it is I or they, this is what we preach, and this is what you believed.
12 But if it is preached that Christ has been raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead?
13 If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised.
14 And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith.
15 More than that, we are then found to be false witnesses about God, for we have testified about God that he raised Christ from the dead. But he did not raise him if in fact the dead are not raised.
16 For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised either.
17 And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins.
18 Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost.
19 If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied.
20 But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.
21 For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man.
22 For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive.” (1 Corinthians 15:3-22)

9 “We accept human testimony, but God’s testimony is greater because it is the testimony of God, which he has given about his Son.
10 Whoever believes in the Son of God accepts this testimony. Whoever does not believe God has made him out to be a liar, because they have not believed the testimony God has given about his Son.
11 And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.
12 Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.
13 I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life.” (1 John 5:9-13)

Dear reader, if you do not have this living hope in Jesus Christ, I pray that you will begin to read His Word (may I suggest that you start by reading through the Gospel of John so that you might come to understand God’s deep love for you first), acknowledge that you are a sinner as we all are, believe in this good news of the Biblical gospel, and receive it by fully placing your complete trust in all that Jesus Christ has already done for you! You too can be filled with this living hope because Jesus Christ will fill you with His Spirit and He will never leave you or forsake you!!

God Bless You

Mary – Living4HisGlory – Reflecting His Glory Fine Arts

https://www.instagram.com/reflectinghisgloryfinearts/

Dear reader, although I am very busy with my childcare job and my art and photography, I wanted to take a few minutes to put this post together so that you might be encouraged and have hope in spite of what you may be dealing with in life.

HE IS RISEN!! WE CAN KNOW THAT WE HAVE ETERNAL LIFE!!

The Gospel is not just the Books of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. The word Gospel means “Good News.” The Good News that we can have assurance of being forgiven for all of our sins by believing that Jesus died for our sins and arose from the dead. Jesus’ bodily resurrection from the dead showed that God the Father accepted His death as completely satisfying the wrath that God has towards us because of our rebellion/sin.

We need to turn from trying to earn God’s forgiveness by our good works and instead place our complete trust in all that Jesus Christ already accomplished for us, because that is the only way that God has provided for us to be forgiven and to have a relationship with Him; Jesus Christ is the only way to the Father. (John 14:6), the only Mediator between God and mankind (1 Timothy 2:5,6), and the only name under heaven by which we can be saved. (Acts 4:1-12) Otherwise we are rejecting God’s only way that He has provided for us to be forgiven and saved from spending eternity in hell; we are saying that Jesus died for nothing! (Galatians 2:21)

We are saved by God’s grace; His unmerited favor, and not by our good works:

“For we ourselves also were sometimes foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving divers lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, and hating one another. But after that the kindness and love of God our Saviour toward man appeared, Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost; Which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour; That being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.” (Titus 3:3-7)

When we choose to believe the Good News of the Gospel, we place our faith and trust only in all that Jesus Christ already DID, and not in our religion or what WE DO. God then fills us with His Holy Spirit and we simply obey out of our love and appreciation for all that Jesus Christ already accomplished for us.

God’s Word shows us that eternal life only comes through Jesus Christ and we can KNOW that we HAVE eternal life IF we fully believe/place our full trust only in Jesus Christ:

“If we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater: for this is the witness of God which he hath testified of his Son. He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself: he that believeth not God hath made him a liar; because he believeth not the record that God gave of his Son. And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life. These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.” (1 John 5:9-13)

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Happy Blessed Easter/Resurrection Sunday, dear readers!

Thank you very much for stopping by today!

God Bless You

~Mary Dalke – Living4HisGlory

BLESSED ARE THEY THAT MOURN

 

It is with deep sorrow that I share with you that my dear sister, who was in the hospital since November 9th of 2020, died on January 25th 2021 as our family gathered around her hospital bed expressing our love to her through our tears.

I am so very thankful for the opportunities that God gave me to share the Biblical gospel with her throughout the years since I became a Christian, especially over this previous year. As I rushed to the hospital two weeks ago after learning of her worsened condition, I shared it again with her at her bedside as I spoke into her ear, hoping and praying that in her unresponsive state, she was able to hear all that I shared with her as I reminded her of the conversations we had about the importance of placing our trust in Jesus Christ alone for the forgiveness of sins because we never know when our life will come to an end. I also urged her to place her trust in Jesus Christ alone for the forgiveness of her sins and told her if she did she would be covered with the perfection of Jesus, and much more.

I am so very thankful to my younger sister for coming up with the idea of Sisters Day after our dear Mom died back on April 1, 2018 because we were able to have many wonderful days together doing special things, which gave us sweet memories to hold on to and treasure as we grieve her loss.

I was hoping to move near her last year, but since I didn’t have a job (and still don’t), I couldn’t afford to move. However, ever since she literally died when her heart stopped in December of 2018, but God in His mercy brought her back, I began to call her every night to see how she was doing and to try and develop a closer bond with her like my two other sisters had with her because they lived very close to her for many years. My dear sister and I both shared a love for sunrises and sunsets, swans, waterfalls, flowers, and butterflies, so those things did bring us together, and I began to develop a deeper love and compassion for her because of all that she had been through in life, which makes the sorrow for her loss even deeper, now that she is gone.

Over the many years that I have been a Christian she would often ask me what I thought about certain things pertaining to spiritual matters, (such as a particular movie that had come out, or a book that she had heard about, etc.), which gave me many opportunities to give her a Biblical perspective on those things, which was a blessing to me, and I had hoped it would also get her to think about the importance of always looking at things from a Biblical perspective.

My dear sister suffered much throughout her whole life, more than most people ever do. However, for the most part, she was a joyous person whose laugh was contagious. During the many years that we gathered together as a family at our dear Mom and Dad’s house for Thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter, Mother’s and Father’s Day, birthdays, etc., there were many times when she would break out in uncontrollable laughter, and it wasn’t long before many of us joined in until our laughter turned into tears and our stomachs began to hurt from laughing so much. The good memories are what I want to hold on to, not all the suffering that she endured. She will forever be in my heart, and often in my thoughts.

I truly hope that she did place her trust in Jesus Christ alone for the forgiveness of her sins and that she is now in heaven dancing and leaping before the Lord in gratitude for all that He did for her — and for all of us — if we personally choose to make that decision instead of trusting in our own righteous deeds that are like filthy rags before a completely Holy God.(Isaiah 64:6)

Thank you very much for stopping by today.

God Bless You

~Mary Dalke – Living4HisGlory – Reflections Of His Glory Photography

Photo ‘White Rose of Mourning Matthew 5:4 22021’ taken by Mary K Dalke Reflections Of His Glory Photography. Verse added by Mary K Dalke using Pixlr X free online photo editor.

NOTE:

AS STATED IN MY ‘COMMENT POLICY,’ COMMENTS ON ALL POSTS CLOSE ONE MONTH AFTER THEY ARE PUBLISHED.

UPDATE:

A few days ago I was able to go back to trying to finish writing the last post in the series in which we have been comparing many of the teachings that can be found in the Catechism Of The Catholic Church to Scriptures in a Catholic New Testament Bible, trusting that God will open the eyes of many precious Catholics (and others) to the amazing and glorious truth of the Biblical gospel regarding all that Jesus Christ accomplished for us when He willingly entered our sin-filled world and lived the sinless, perfect life that we could never live to become the Lamb of God; the perfect sacrifice for every one of our sins –no matter how heinous it may have been!

Jesus Christ was not a “Victim” as the Catholic church refers to Him during the ‘Sacrifice of the Mass.‘ Jesus willingly went to the cross and bore all of our sins and received the full wrath of God that was intended for each one of us,and gloriously arose from the dead three days later showing that God the Father indeed accepted His once for all sacrifice as being completely sufficient to pay the debt for all of our sins –in full! This is the hope-filled life giving message of the Biblical gospel, and I pray that God will help me make that very clear in this upcoming last post in this series, that I hope to have completed by the end of this month.

COMPARING SCRIPTURES IN A CATHOLIC NEW TESTAMENT BIBLE TO TEACHINGS FOUND IN THE CATECHISM OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH – DEAR CATHOLIC, ARE YOU GOING TO BELIEVE THE WORD OF GOD, OR THE WORD OF MAN? PART 21 OF 23

SERIES INTRODUCTION

There are two very important reasons why I felt compelled to write this series of posts, and I’d like to briefly share these reasons with you now before I go any further:

1) Since I am a former Catholic who is very aware of the teachings of the Catholic Church because I attended twelve years of Catholic school, attended Catechism classes, made my First Holy Communion, was Confirmed, and faithfully attended Mass not only every Sunday for many years, but also before school began for three years (as required by the school that I attended at the time), and who came to the knowledge of who Jesus Christ truly is and what He actually accomplished for us by reading a Catholic New Testament Bible exactly like the one pictured above, I decided to write this series with the hope of reaching precious Catholics so that they can not only come to an understanding of who Jesus Christ truly is as His Word, the Bible, declares Him to be, but also so they can see by reading God’s Word that they can have complete forgiveness, lasting joy, true peace, and the assurance of salvation if they choose to believe God’s Word and place their trust in Jesus Christ alone for their salvation. Also, since many Catholics do not realize everything that the Catholic church actually teaches (as I once did not realize until after doing research and reading the CCC), I thought that it was extremely important to share this information to make Catholics aware of many things that are quite disturbing, as you will all soon become aware of as this series continues.

2) This series of posts is also being written with the intention of helping those of you who are born-again, Bible believing followers of Jesus Christ who have no idea of what the teachings of Catholicism are so that you can become aware of their teachings and be prepared to offer hope and assurance of salvation through Jesus Christ to Catholics based solely upon the truth that is recorded in God’s Word.

As we continue on in this series together comparing Scriptures in the Catholic New Testament to teachings found in the Catechism of the Catholic Church, we must keep these important thoughts in mind:

When it comes to our eternal destination — heaven or hell — we must be certain that we place our trust in solid truth and not in speculation or in the traditions of men. The Catholic church claims to be the “one true Church.” Therefore, it stands to reason that their teachings must line up with God’s Word and not contradict it since God does not change (Malachi 3:6, James 1:17, Hebrews 13:8), and His Word stands firm forever. (Psalm 119:89, Isaiah 40:8, 1 Peter 1:24,25) If a contradiction is found it must be rejected because God’s Word is our plumb line by which we must measure (or test) the teachings of every religion to see if it lines up or not. If it is off in one point we can be certain that it will lead us further and further away from Biblical truth and lead us into spiritual deception.

This series will cover many different subjects ranging from what does the Catholic Church teach about the Bible, Jesus Christ, the Virgin Mary, priests, the pope, sin, forgiveness of sins, salvation, prayer, and what must a Catholic believe in order to receive eternal life. Some of these teachings will shock even many Catholics when they learn what their church actually teaches!

Lord willing, I hope to share at least one post every month with you in this new series until I have covered all the most important teachings that need to be brought to your attention. The main goal that I have in writing this series is to present the Word of God to Catholics — and to every person — in order to point everyone to Jesus Christ, who is our only hope and ‘the only name under heaven given among men by which we can be saved.’ (Acts 4:12)

Dear Catholic, please take a minute now to sincerely pray; ask God to open your mind to the Scriptures and to reveal the truth to you –whatever that may be.

Because only God can reveal the truth to you, I will refrain from making any comments unless I find it completely necessary. Since God’s Word is truth I trust that He will not only give you eyes to see the truth, but also I trust that He will give you the courage to respond to His leading. However, each one of you will find yourself having to answer this question when you come to many points that I present to you in these posts after realizing that there are oftentimes extreme differences between what the Word of God says and what Catholicism teaches, and the question that you will have to answer is:

“Are you going to believe the Word of God or the word of man?”

For those of you who are not Catholic, and are taking the time to read these posts in order to learn what Catholicism actually teaches, please keep in mind that every time you see the word “church” spelled with a capital c they are referring to the Catholic church, since they believe that the “Catholic Church” alone is the “one true Church.”All of the information that I will be sharing with you I have obtained from the following sources:

1) CATECHISM OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH (pictured above) – Imprimi Potest – Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger (who later became Pope Benedict) – Interdicasterial Commission for the Catechism of the Catholic Church

2) THE WORD OF GOD – THE NEW TESTAMENT OF OUR LORD AND SAVIOR IN TODAY’S ENGLISH VERSION – SACRED HEART LEAGUE EDITION – IMPRIMATUR JOHN FRANCIS WHEALON, ARCHBISHOP OF HARTFORD, APRIL 15, 1971 SIGNED AND SEALED BY BISHOP JOSEPH B. BRUNINI, DIOCESE OF JACKSON, MISSISSIPPI

3) Occasionally when I share a Scripture with you from the Sacred Heart League (SHL) Catholic New Testament and notice that it lacks depth and clarity, I will then follow it with the same verse but in the King James Version in order to give you a better understanding of what is being said, and so that you can see what is missing from the SHL translation.

4) Very briefly in this series, when it is necessary to quote from the Old Testament, I will also be quoting from THE CATHOLIC DOUAY RHEIMS VERSION OF THE BIBLE – in which you will find the following statements:

“EXCERPT FROM ENCYCLICAL LETTER OF OUR HOLY FATHER BY DIVINE PROVIDENCE POPE LEO XIII ON THE STUDY OF HOLY SCRIPTURE:

“The God of all Providence, Who in the adorable designs of His love at first elevated the human race to the participation of the Divine nature, and afterwards delivered it from the universal guilt and ruin, restoring it to its primitive dignity, has in consequence bestowed upon man a splendid gift and safeguard–making known to him, by supernatural means, the hidden Mysteries of His divinity, His wisdom, and His mercy. For although in Divine revelations there are contained some things which are not beyond the reach of unassisted reason, and which are made the objects of such revelation in order “that all may come to know them with facility, certainty, and safety from error, yet not on this account can supernatural Revelation be said to be absolutely necessary; it is only necessary because God has ordained man to a supernatural end.” This supernatural revelation according to the belief of the universal Church, is contained both in unwritten Tradition, and in written Books, which are therefore called sacred and canonical because, “being written under the inspiration of the Holy Ghost, they have God for their author, and as such have been delivered to the Church.” (Page ix)

“Wherefore it must be recognised that the sacred writings are wrapt in a certain religious obscurity, and that no one can enter into their interior without a guide; God so disposing, as the Holy Fathers commonly teach, in order that men may investigate them with greater ardour and earnestness, and that what is attained with difficulty may sink more deeply into the mind and heart; and, most of all that they may understand that God has delivered the Holy Scriptures to the Church, and that in reading and making use of His Word, they must follow the Church as their guide and their teacher. St. Irenaeus long since laid down, that where the charismata of God were, there the truth was to be learnt, and that Holy Scripture was safely interpreted by those who had the Apostolic succession. His teaching, and that of other Holy Fathers, is taken up by the Council of the Vatican, which, in the renewing of the decree of Trent, declares its “mind” to be this–that “in things of faith and morals, belonging to the building up of Christian doctrine, that is to be considered the true sense of Holy Scripture which has been held and is held by our Holy Mother the Church whose place it is to judge of the true sense and interpretation of the Scriptures; and therefore that it is permitted to no one to interpret Holy Scripture against such sense or also against the unanimous agreement of the Fathers.” (Page xvii)

“Wherefore the first and dearest object of the Catholic commentator should be to interpret those passages which have received an authentic interpretation either by the sacred writers themselves, under the inspiration of the Holy Ghost (as in many places of the New Testament), or from the Church, under the assistance of the same Holy Spirit, whether by her solemn judgment or her ordinary and universal magisterium –to interpret those passages in that identical sense, and to prove, by all the resources of science that sound hermeneutical laws admit of no other interpretation. In the other passages, the analogy of faith should be followed, and Catholic doctrine, as authoritatively proposed by the Church, should be held as the supreme law; for seeing that the same God is the author both of the Sacred Books and of the doctrine committed to the Church, it is clearly impossible that any teaching can by legitimate means be extracted from the former, which shall in any respect be at variance with the latter. Hence it follows that all interpretation is foolish and false which either makes the sacred writers disagree one with another, or is opposed to the doctrine of the Church.” (Page xviii)

“For although the studies of non-Catholics, used with prudence, may sometimes be of use to the Catholic student, he should nevertheless, bear well in mind–as the Fathers also teach in numerous passages –that the sense of Holy Scripture can nowhere be found incorrupt outside of the Church, and cannot be expected to be found in writers who, being without the true faith, only gnaw the bark of the Sacred Scripture and never attain its pith.” (Page xix)

To read PART 1 click HERE

For PART 2 click HERE

For PART 3 click HERE

For PART 4 click HERE

For PART 5 click HERE

For PART 6 click HERE

For PART 7 click HERE

For PART 8 click HERE

For PART 9 click HERE

For PART 10 click HERE

For PART 11 click HERE

For PART 12 click HERE

For PART 13 click HERE

For PART 14 click HERE

For PART 15 click HERE

For PART 16 click HERE

For PART 17 click HERE

For PART 18 click HERE

For PART 19 click HERE

For PART 20 click HERE

[As I have mentioned in some previous posts in this series, in order to get this entire series finished in a timely manner, from now on I will be trying to keep my comments very brief and will mainly be making them in the introduction and closing sections of these posts. I will, however, continue to keep the focus on Scripture which is where it should be. I am also trying very hard (but not succeeding) to limit these posts to no more than 5000 words which makes it rather difficult sometimes. For those of you who have busy schedules and do not have the time to read lengthy posts, I will continue to highlight just some of the many troubling things in turquoise, the extremely troubling things I will highlight in red, where the Catholic church has added to Scripture with their teachings I will highlight in amethyst, and some things that are Biblical I will highlight in blue in order to quickly bring these things to your attention. Emphasis on certain words that I have put in bold print throughout this post is mine.]

INTRODUCTION TO PART 21

In PART 21 of this series we will be covering the second half of page 625 to the end of page 672 of the Catechism Of The Catholic Church (CCC). This portion of the CCC focuses more on the Sixth Commandment  as well as on the remainder of the Ten Commandments.

Once again, here is a chart that compares the ten commandments as they are presented in Catholicism compared to how they are presented to us in Scripture. Note the changes that have been made by the Catholic church (it has been said that this was done by Augustine), and which commandment was omitted (#2), and how the tenth commandment was split in two to form the 9th and the 10th commandments of the Catholic church:

Among some of the things that are discussed in this next section of the CCC are as follows: Chastity, homosexuality, fidelity, adultery, divorce, sexual abuse, theft, gambling, respect for creation, more regarding the social doctrine of the [Catholic] Church (social justice), bearing witness to the  truth, bearing false witness, lies, sacred art, and coveting someone’s goods or someone’s spouse. Since most of their teachings in this particular section of the CCC line up with Scripture I will just be highlighting some of the troubling things as well as where the Catholic church have added their teachings (based on “Tradition”) to Scripture, thus distorting — and even *nullifying *(read Mark 7:6-8,13) — the truth of God’s Word and leading precious Catholics away from Jesus instead of to Him.

Let’s begin:

Chastity and homosexuality

Para 2357

“Homosexuality refers to relations between men or between women who experience an exclusive or predominant sexual attraction towards persons of the same sex. It has taken a great variety of forms throughout the centuries and in different cultures. Its psychological genesis remains largely unexplained. Basing itself on Sacred Scripture, which presents homosexual acts as acts of grave “depravity,”(140) tradition has always declared that homosexual acts are intrinsically disordered.”(141) They are contrary to the natural law. They close the sexual act to the gift of life. They do not proceed from a genuine affective and sexual complementarity. Under no circumstances can they be approved. (140 – Cf. Gen 19:1-29; Rom 1:24-27; 1 Cor 6:10; 1 Tim 1:10)(141 – CDF, Persona humana 8).

III.  THE LOVE OF HUSBAND AND WIFE

Para 2360

Sexuality is ordered to the conjugal love of man and woman. In marriage the physical intimacy of the spouses becomes a sign and pledge of spiritual communion.

IV.  OFFENSES AGAINST THE DIGNITY OF MARRIAGE

Adultery

Para 2380

Adultery refers to marital infidelity. When two partners, of whom at least one is married to another  party, have sexual relations–even transient ones–they commit adultery. Christ condemns even adultery of mere desire.(170) The sixth commandment and the New Testament forbid adultery absolutely.(171) The prophets denounce the gravity of adultery; they see it as an image of the sin of idolatry.(172) (170 – Cf. Mt 5:27-28). (171 – Cf. Mt 5:32; 19:6; Mk 10:11; 1Cor 6:9-10). (172 – Cf. Hos 2:7; Jer 5:7; 13:27)

Para 2381

Adultery is an injustice. He who commits adultery fails in his commitment. He does injury to the sign of the covenant which the marriage bond is, transgresses the rights of the other spouse, and undermines the institution of marriage by breaking the contract on which it is based. He compromises the good of human generation and the welfare of children who need their parent’s stable union.

Divorce

Para 2382

The Lord Jesus insisted on the original intention of the Creator who willed that marriage be indissoluble.(173) He abrogates the accommodations that had slipped into the old Law.(174) (173 – Mt)(174 – Cf. Mt 19:7-9)

Para 2384

Divorce is a grave offense against the natural law. It claims to break the contract, to which the spouses freely consented, to live with each other till death. Divorce does injury to the covenant of salvation, of which sacramental marriage is the sign. Contracting a new union, even if it is recognized by civil law, adds to the gravity of the rupture; the remarried spouse is then in a situation of public and permanent adultery:

If a husband, separated from his wife, approaches another woman, he is an adulterer  because he makes that woman commit adultery; and the woman who lives with him is an adulteress, because she has drawn another’s husband to herself.(177 – St. Basil, Moralia 73, 1: PG 31, 849-852).

Other offenses against the dignity of marriage

Para 2388

Incest designates intimate relations between relatives or in-laws within a degree that prohibits marriage between them.(180) St. Paul stigmatizes this especially grave offense: “It is actually reported that there is immorality among you…for a man is living with his father’s wife…In the name of the Lord Jesus…you are to deliver this man to Satan for the destruction of the flesh…”(181) Incest corrupts family relationships and marks a regression toward animality. (180 – Cf. Lev 18:7-20). (181 – 1Cor 5:1, 4-5)

Para 2389

Connected to incest is any sexual abuse perpetrated by adults on children or adolescents entrusted to their care. The offense is compounded by the scandalous harm done to the physical and moral integrity of the young, who will remain scarred by it all their lives, and the violation of responsibility for their upbringing.

Para 2393

By creating the human being man and woman, God gives personal dignity equally to the one and the other. Each of them, man and woman, should acknowledge and accept his sexual identity.

Para 2400

Adultery, divorce, polygamy, and free union are grave offenses against the dignity of marriage.

III. THE SOCIAL DOCTRINE OF THE CHURCH

Para 2420

The Church makes a moral judgment about economics and social matters “when the fundamental rights of the person or the salvation of souls requires it.”(199 – GS 76 § 5).

ARTICLE 7

THE SEVENTH COMMANDMENT

Para 2427

Human work proceeds directly from persons created in the image of God and called to prolong the work of creation by subduing the earth, both with and for one another.(209) Hence work is a duty: “If any one will not work, let him not eat.”(210) Word honors the Creator’s gifts and talents received from him. It can also be redemptive. By enduring the hardship of work in union with Jesus, the carpenter of Nazareth and the one crucified on Calvary, man collaborates in a certain fashion with the Son of God in his redemptive work. He shows himself to be a disciple of Christ by carrying the cross, daily, in the work he is called to accomplish.” (211) (209 – Cf. Gen 1:28; GS 34; CA 31). (210 – 2 Thess 3:10; cf. 1 Thess 4:11). (211 – Cf. Gen 3:14-19).

Para 2442

The Church’s social teaching comprises a body of doctrine, which is articulated as the Church interprets events in the course of history, with the assistance of the Holy Spirit, in the light of the whole of what has been revealed by Jesus Christ.(201) This teaching can be more easily accepted by men of good will, the more the faithful let themselves be guided by it. (201 – Cf. SRS 1; 41).

[MY NOTE: The Word of God and the Holy Spirit are sufficient to guide us into all truth; we do not need any new teachings; the canon is closed!

“All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching the truth, rebuking error, correcting faults, and giving instruction for right living, so that the man who serves God may be fully qualified and equipped to do every kind of good work.”(2 Timothy 3:16,17 – SHLCNT)

“The Helper, the Holy Spirit whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything and make you remember all that I have told you.” (John 14:26)]

VI.  LOVE FOR THE POOR

Para 2446

St. John Chrysostom vigorously recalls this:

“Not to enable the poor to share in our goods is to steal from them and deprive them of life. The goods we possess are not ours, but theirs.”(238) The demands of justice must be satisfied first of all; that which is already due in justice is not to be offered as a gift of charity.”(239) (238 – St. John Chrysostom, Hom.in Lazaro 2, 5: PG 48, 992). (239 – AA 8 § 5)

Para 2460

The primordial value of labor stems from man himself, its author and beneficiary. By means of his labor man participates in the work of creation. Work united to Christ can be redemptive.

ARTICLE 8

THE EIGHTH COMMANDMENT

Para 2464

The eighth commandment forbids misrepresenting the truth in our relations with others. This moral prescription flows from the vocation of the holy people to bear witness to their God who is the truth and wills the truth. Offenses against the truth express by word or deed a refusal to commit oneself to moral uprightness: they are fundamental infidelities to God and, in this sense, they undermine the foundation of the covenant.

I.  LIVING IN THE TRUTH

Para 2465

The Old Testament attests that God is the source of all truth. His Word is truth. His Law is truth. His “faithfulness endures to all generations.”(254) Since God is “true,” the members of his people are called to live in the truth.(255) (254 – Ps 119:90; cf. Prov 8:7; 2 Sam 7:28; Ps 119:142; Lk 1:50). (255 – Rom 3:4; cf. Ps 119:30).

II. TO BEAR WITNESS TO THE TRUTH

Para 2471

Before Pilate, Christ proclaims that he “has come into the world, to bear witness to the truth.”(265) The Christian is not to “be ashamed then of testifying to our Lord.”(266) (265 – Jn 18:37). (266 – 2 Tim 1:8).

III. OFFENSES AGAINST TRUTH

Para 2476

False witness and perjury. When it is made publicly, a statement contrary to the truth takes on a particular gravity. In court it becomes false witness.(275) When it is under oath, it is perjury. Acts such as these contribute to condemnation of the innocent, exoneration of the guilty, or the increased punishment of the accused.(276) They gravely compromise the exercise of justice and the fairness of judicial decisions. (275 – Cf. Prov 19:9). (276 – Cf. Prov 18:5).

Para 2484

The gravity of a lie is measured against the nature of the truth it deforms, the circumstances, the intentions of the one who lies, and the harm suffered by its victims. If a lie in itself only constitutes a venial sin, it becomes mortal when it does grave injury to the virtues of justice and charity.

Para 2486

Since it violates the virtue of truthfulness, a lie does real violence to another. It affects his ability to know, which is a condition of every judgment and decision. It contains the seed of discord and all consequent evils. Lying is destructive of society; it undermines trust among men and tears apart the fabric of social relationships.

VI.  TRUTH, BEAUTY, AND SACRED ART

Para 2500

The practice of goodness is accompanied by spontaneous spiritual joy and moral beauty. Likewise, truth carries with it the joy and splendor of spiritual beauty. Truth is beautiful in itself. Truth in words, the rational expression of the knowledge of created and uncreated reality, is necessary to man, who is endowed with intellect. But truth can also find other complementary forms of human expression, above all when it is a matter of evoking what is beyond words: the depths of the human heart, the exaltation of the soul, the mystery of God. Even before revealing himself to man in words of truth, God reveals himself to him through the universal language of creation, the work of his Word, of his wisdom: the order and harmony of the cosmos–which both the child and the scientist discover–“from the greatness and beauty of created things comes a corresponding perception of their Creator, “for the author of beauty created them.”(289) (289 – Wisdom 13:3,5).

Para 2502

Sacred art is true and beautiful when its form corresponds to its particular vocation: evoking and glorifying, in faith and adoration, the transcendent mystery of God–the surpassing invisible beauty of truth and love visible in Christ who “reflects the glory of God and bears the very stamp of his nature,” in whom “the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily.”(296) This spiritual beauty of God is reflected in the most holy Virgin Mother of God, the angels, and saints. Genuine sacred art draws man to adoration, to prayer, and to the love of God, Creator and Savior, the Holy One and Sanctifier. (296 – Heb 1:3; Col 2:9).

NOTE: When we turn to art and images in order to experience God through our emotions, this leads to desiring unbiblical, mystical, spiritual experiences as ways to come to know God and will lead us astray! (Lord willing, I will be writing some posts in 2021 regarding the focus on mysticism in Catholic teachings). God has given us His very Word in which He has revealed Himself to us, and He also gave us His only begotten Son through whom He revealed Himself to us! We have been given all that we need in order to come to know Him! We just need to set aside some time to study His Word in order to know Him and His Word better so that we will not be deceived by the many false teachings that have permeated so many churches these days!

ARTICLE 9

THE NINTH COMMANDMENT

You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his manservant or his maidservant, or his ox, or his ass, or anything that is your neighbor’s.(298)

Every one who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.”(299) (298 – Ex 20:17). (299 – Mt 5:28).

Para 2514

St. John distinguishes three kinds of covetousness or concupiscence: lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes, and pride of life.”(300) In the Catholic catechetical tradition, the ninth commandment forbids carnal concupiscence; the tenth forbids coveting another’s goods. (300 – Cf. 1 Jn 2:16).

I. PURIFICATION OF THE HEART

Para 2517

The heart is the seat of moral personality: “Out of the heart comes evil thoughts, murder, adultery, fornication…”(304) (304 – Mt 15:19).

II. THE BATTLE FOR PURITY

Para 2520

Baptism confers on its recipient the grace of purification from all sins. But the baptized must continue to struggle against concupiscence of the flesh and disordered desires. With God’s grace he will prevail.

NOTE: The Catholic church may teach that baptism gives grace to purify one from sin, but the Word of God clearly says that it is the blood of Jesus Christ alone that purifies us from sin and provides salvation for us:

“When Christ went through the tent and entered once and for all into the Most Holy Place, he did not take the blood of goats and calves to offer as sacrifice, rather, he took his own blood and obtained eternal salvation for us. The blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of the burnt calf are sprinkled on the people who are ritually unclean, and makes them clean by taking away their ritual impurity. Since this is true, how much more is accomplished by the blood of Christ! Through the eternal Spirit he offered himself as a perfect sacrifice to God. His blood will make our consciences clean from useless works, so that we may serve the living God.” (Hebrews 9:12-14)

“Indeed, according to the Law, almost everything is made clean by blood; and sins are forgiven only if blood is poured out.” (Hebrews 9:22 – SHLCNT)

“Now this is the message that we have heard from his Son and announce to you: God is light and there is no darkness at all in him. If, then, we say that we have fellowship with him, yet at the same time live in the darkness, we are lying both in our words and in our actions. But if we live in the light–just as he is in the light–then we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, makes us clean from every sin.” (1 John 1:7)

Let’s continue on:

Para 2527

The Good News of Christ continually renews the life and culture of fallen man; it combats and removes the error and evil which flows from the ever-present attraction of sin. It never ceases to purify and elevate the morality of peoples. It takes the spiritual qualities and endowments of every age and nation, and with supernatural riches it causes them to blossom, as it were, from within; it fortifies, completes, and restores them in Christ.”(315) (315 – GS 58 § 4).

ARTICLE 10

THE TENTH COMMANDMENT

Para 2534

The tenth commandment unfolds and completes the ninth, which is concerned with concupiscence of the flesh. It forbids coveting the goods of another, as the root of theft, robbery, and fraud, which the seventh commandment forbids. “Lust of the eyes” leads to the violence and injustice forbidden by the fifth commandment.(318) Avarice, like fornication, originates in the idolatry prohibited by the first three prescriptions of the Law.(319) The tenth commandment concerns the intentions of the heart; with the ninth, it summarizes all the precepts of the Law. (318 – Cf. 1 Jn 2:16; Mic 2:2). (319 – Cf. Wisdom 14:12)

Para 2538

The tenth commandment requires that envy be banished from the human heart. When the prophet Nathan wanted to spur King David to repentance, he told him a story about the poor man who had only  one ewe lamb that he treated like his own daughter and the rich man who, despite the great number of his flocks, envied the poor man and ended by stealing his lamb. Envy can lead to the worst crimes.(323) “Through the devil’s envy death entered the world.” (324) (323 – Cf. Gen 4:3-7; 1 Kings 21:1-29). (324 – Wisdom 2:24)

III.  POVERTY OF HEART

Para 2544

Jesus enjoins his disciples to prefer him to everything and everyone, and bids them “renounce all that [they have]” for his sake and that of the Gospel.(334) Shortly before his passion he gave them the example of the poor widow of Jerusalem who, out of her poverty, gave all that she had to live on.(335) The precept of detachment from riches is obligatory for entrance into the Kingdom of heaven. (334 – Lk 14:33; cf. Mk 8:35). (335 – Lk 21:4).

IV.  “I WANT TO SEE GOD”

Para 2550

On this way of perfection, the Spirit and the Bride call whoever hears them” to perfect communion with God:

There will true glory be, where no one will be praised by mistake or flattery, true honor will not be refused to the worthy, nor granted to the unworthy; likewise, no one unworthy will pretend to be worthy, where only those who are worthy will be admitted. There true peace will reign, where no one will experience opposition either from self or others. God himself will be virtue’s reward; he gives virtue and has promised to give himself as the best and greatest reward that could exist… “I shall be their God and they will be my people…” This is also the meaning of the Apostle’s words: “So that God may be all in all.” God himself will be the goal of our desires, we shall contemplate him without end, love him without surfeit, praise him without weariness. This gift, this state, this act, like eternal life itself, will assuredly be common to all.”(345 – St. Augustine, De civ. Dei 22, 30: PL 41, 801-802; cf. Lev 26:12; cf. 1 Cor 15:28).

Para 2556

Detachment from riches is necessary for entering the Kingdom of heaven. “Blessed are the poor in spirit.”

CLOSING COMMENTS

Once again, if you read through this entire post you will probably agree with me when I say: Yes, Catholicism does indeed teach many moral and Biblical things. However, I hope that by now you are beginning to realize that it’s when they add their own teachings to Scripture that are derived from Tradition and the supposed infallible teachings of popes in matters of faith and morals when they speak “ex cathedra” (from the chair ), do they begin to deviate from the Biblical gospel and render it powerless to save! Any teaching that does not line up with the truth of God’s Word should be rejected! Catholics are taught to place their trust in the Catholic church and the sacramental system of the Catholic church — especially the Sacrifice of the Mass — to save them. However, our only hope for the forgiveness of sins and an eternity spent in heaven and not in the fires of hell, is found in placing one’s trust in:

Jesus Christ’s sinless life that He lived in our place, His willingness to die on the cross in our place taking upon Himself the full wrath of God that we deserve for our sins, His burial, and His glorious resurrection from the dead in bodily form three days later, as being completely sufficient to save us! Anything else is “another gospel” that has no power whatsoever to save us from sin and from the wrath of God.

So, dear Catholic, once again I must present you with this extremely important question that you must answer before God:

“Are you going to believe the Word of God (His infallible Word, the Bible) or the word of man?” (Tradition and teachings of the Catholic church, many of which do not line up with Scripture).

Dear reader, whether you are a Catholic, a Mormon, one of many Jehovah’s Witnesses — or whatever religion or spiritual belief you may have — I strongly urge you to test what you are being taught against what the Word of God has to say to see if what you are being taught is true or not, because your eternal destiny truly does depend upon in whom and in what you place your trust in.

RELATED SCRIPTURES

“You shall not add to the word that I speak to you, neither shall you take away from it: keep the commandments of the Lord your God which I command you. “(Deuteronomy 4:2 – Douay-Rheims Catholic Bible)

“What I command thee, that only do thou to the Lord: neither add any thing, nor diminish.” (Deuteronomy  12:32 – Douay-Rheims Catholic Bible)

“I solemnly urge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge all men, living and dead: because of his coming and of his Kingdom, I command you to preach the message, to insist upon telling it, whether the time is right or not; to convince, reproach, and encourage, teaching with all patience. The time will come when men will not listen to the true teaching, but will follow their own desires, and will collect for themselves more and more teachers who will tell them what they are itching to hear. They will turn away from listening to the truth and give their attention to legends.”(2 Timothy 4:1-4)

“I am jealous for you just as God is; you are like a pure virgin whom I have promised in marriage to one man only, who is Christ. I am afraid that your minds will be corrupted and that you will abandon your full and pure devotion to Christ–in the same way that Eve was deceived by the snake’s clever lies. For you gladly tolerate anyone who comes to you and preaches a different Jesus, not the one we preached; and you accept a spirit and a gospel completely different from the Spirit and the gospel you received from us!” (2 Corinthians 11:2-4 – SHLCNT)

“I am surprised at you! In no time at all you are deserting the one who called you by the grace of Christ, and are going to another gospel. Actually there is no “other gospel,” but I say it because there are some people who are upsetting you and trying to change the gospel of Christ. But even if we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel that is different from the one we preached to you, may he be condemned to hell! We have said it before, and now I say it again: if anyone preaches to you a gospel that is different from the one you accepted, may he be condemned to hell!” (Galatians 1:6-9)

“He that believeth in the Son, hath life everlasting; but he that believeth not the Son, shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him “(John 3:36 – Douay-Rheims Catholic Bible)

NOTE: Please keep in mind that the Word of God also says that the demons believe and they know who Jesus is, and they tremble, but they will not be saved! (Read James 2:19, Matthew 8:28,29, Mark 1:24, Luke 4:34, ) True Biblical belief means: to commit to; to rely upon; to trust in completely.(Read John 6:28,29, Acts 16:31, )

Let’s continue on with more related Scriptures:

“I, John, solemnly warn everyone who hears the prophetic words of this book: if anyone adds anything to them, God will add to his punishment the plagues described in this book. And if anyone takes away anything from the prophetic words of this book, God will take away from his share of the fruit of the tree of life, and his share of the Holy City, which are described in this book.”(Revelation 22:18,19 – SHLCNT)

“For I testify to every one that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book: If any man shall add to these things, God shall add unto him the plagues written in this book. And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from these things that are written in this book.” (Revelation 22:18,19 Douay-Rheims Catholic Version)

[NOTE 1: I added the Douay-Rheims translation of this verse, as well, because I found it troubling that the Sacred Heart League Catholic version had changed the words book of life to the tree of life, and wanted to bring that to your attention.]

[NOTE 2: Although this very strong warning is specifically written regarding adding to or taking away from God’s Word in the Book of Revelation, it should still fill anyone who is even considering the idea of adding to or taking away from any part of God’s Word with a deep and healthy fear of God and fear for their eternal destination!]

I will end with these final Bible verses that show the exclusivity of Christianity and Jesus Christ as being our only Savior and Mediator between God and mankind, and only name that we can call upon (not the virgin Mary, not any saint, not any pope, not any church or religious organization), and how He is our only hope in order to presently have complete assurance of salvation because these teachings come from the infallible Word of God:

“Jesus answered him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life; no one goes to the Father except by me.” (John 14:6)

“Salvation is to be found through him alone; for there is no one else in all the world, whose name God has given to men, by whom we can be saved.” (Acts 4:12 – SHLCNT)

“For there is one God, and one who brings God and men together, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself to redeem all men.”(1 Timothy 2:5,6 – SHLCNT)

“He that believeth in the Son, hath life everlasting; but he that believeth not the Son, shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.” (John 3:36 – Douay-Rheims Catholic Bible)

“We believe the witness that men give; the witness that God gives is much stronger, and this is the witness that God has given about his Son. So whoever believes in the Son of God has this witness in his heart; but whoever does not believe God has made a liar out of him, because he has not believed what God has said as a witness about his Son. This, then, is the witness: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. Whoever has the Son has this life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life. I write you this so that you may know that you have eternal life–you that believe in the name of the Son of God.” (1 John 5:9-13 – SHLCNT)

Thank you very much for stopping by today.

God Bless You

~Mary Dalke – Living4HisGlory

MAY GOD’S PEACE BE YOURS THIS CHRISTMAS SEASON – MERRY CHRISTMAS FROM LIVING4HISGLORY

The holiday season can be quite stressful and emotionally overwhelming for some of us as we reflect back on what was or what could have been, unfulfilled longings of our heart, regrets, sorrow due to the loss of precious loved ones, and the list could go on and on.

You may be one of many who have come to the conclusion that Christmas is basically a pagan holiday and you don’t want any part of it. Whether you choose to celebrate Christmas or not, I pray that you will make the most of this holiday season. As Christians we are always to be ready to proclaim the good news of the Biblical gospel and how true hope can be found in Jesus Christ, and this season presents us with many opportunities to do so by writing meaningful messages in Christmas cards, inviting a friend or family member to church for a Christmas play or a Christmas service where the gospel will be presented, and visiting with friends and family who have not yet come to realize the joy, peace, and freedom that can be found in Jesus Christ. What good is it if we know the truth and yet choose to remain silent and withdraw from those who need to hear it just because we have personally become convinced that Christmas is rooted in paganism and choose not to celebrate it?

No matter what day Jesus Christ was actually born on, the truth is that Jesus Christ chose to submit to His Father’s plan and willingly came into our sin-filled world. He was fully God yet fully human. Born of a virgin, born to live the perfect sinless life that we could never live so that He would become our substitute; Jesus willingly died in our place, taking upon Himself our sins, guilt, and shame, and the full wrath of God that we deserve for our sins. We are guilty, but Jesus Christ was sinless and innocent, and yet out of love and obedience and because sin must be dealt with, Jesus Christ took our punishment so that God’s wrath against sin would  be satisfied.

I pray that this Christmas music will be soothing to your soul and that you would take time to reflect upon the truth that is presented in the Scriptures that I posted for you below.  Christmas is not about a baby in a manger, but rather it is about a God who loves us so much that He would go to such an extent as to send His one and only Son — Jesus Christ, God in the flesh, the second person in the Trinity — to die in our place so that our sin debt would be paid in full and a way would be made for us to have a relationship with Him. That, my dear reader, is true and amazing love that I pray you will not reject!

God’s gift of love through His one and only Son, Jesus Christ, is the greatest gift that you could ever hope to receive! If you have never placed your trust in Jesus Christ alone for your forgiveness for sins, receive Jesus Christ, God’s greatest gift, today!

 

SCRIPTURES FOR YOU TO REFLECT UPON

“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through Him might be saved. He that believeth on Him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God.” (John 3:16-21)

“And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped Him in swaddling clothes, and laid Him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn. And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.” (Luke 2:7-14)

“In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him. Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us, and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.” (1 John 4:9,10)

“But God commendeth His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, being now justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him. For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. And not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement. Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned: (For until the law sin was in the world: but sin is not imputed when there is no law. Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam’s transgression, who is the figure of him that was to come. But not as the offense, so also is the free gift. For if through the offense of one many be dead, much more the grace of God, and the gift by grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many. And not as it was by one that sinned, so is the gift: for the judgment was by one to condemnation, but the free gift is of many offenses unto justification. For if by one man’s offense death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ.) Therefore as by the offense of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life. For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous.” (Romans 5:8-19)

Jesus is the only way to God, and the only name we can call upon in order to be saved:

“Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by Me.” (John 14:6)

“Be it known unto you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye crucified, whom God raised from the dead, even by Him doth this man stand here before you whole. This is the stone which was set at nought of you builders, which is become the head of the corner. Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.” (Acts 4:10-12)

We cannot find Jesus or forgiveness through any religion or by our good works or through any thing we may do:

“But because of His great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with Him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages He might show the incomparable riches of His grace, expressed in His kindness to us in Christ Jesus. For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” (Ephesians 2:4-10)

“I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!” (Galatians 2:21)

“Then they asked Him, “What must we do to do the works God requires?” Jesus answered, “The work of God is this: to believe in the one He has sent.” (John 6:28,29)

But keep in mind that even the demons believe; they know who Jesus is:

“What do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are–the Holy One of God!” (Mark 1:24)

Only by believing in Him and receiving Jesus by placing your trust only in all that He accomplished for us through His sinless life, His death in your place on the cross, His burial, and glorious resurrection from the dead on the third day for your forgiveness for sins is the only way a person can become a child of God: (Verse 12)

1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
2 The same was in the beginning with God.
3 All things were made by Him; and without Him was not any thing made that was made.
4 In Him was life; and the life was the light of men.
5 And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.
6 There was a man sent from God, whose name was John.
7 The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men through him might believe.
8 He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light.
9 That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world.
10 He was in the world, and the world was made by Him, and the world knew Him not.
11 He came unto His own, and His own received Him not.
12 But as many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name:
13 Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
14 And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.” (John 1:1-14)

Jesus Christ is our only hope; our only Mediator:

“I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people— for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself as a ransom for all people.” (1 Timothy 2:1-6)

You can have assurance of eternal life:

“We accept human testimony, but God’s testimony is greater because it is the testimony of God, which He has given about His Son. Whoever believes in the Son of God accepts this testimony. Whoever does not believe God has made Him out to be a liar, because they have not believed the testimony God has given about His Son. And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life. I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life.” (1 John 5:9-13)

The simple but powerful gospel message that is meant for all who will choose to believe and receive it:

Thank you very much for stopping by today.

God Bless You

~Mary Dalke – Living4HisGlory

 

YOU MAY ALSO BE INTERESTED IN READING:

BEYOND THE MANGER TO THE CROSS – DECEMBER 2009

FOR GOD SO LOVED HE GAVE – DECEMBER 2010

CHRISTMAS – HOLDING ON TO HOPE – DECEMBER 2011

LET’S NOT FORGET THAT JESUS IS THE REASON FOR THE SEASON – DECEMBER 2012

A PERFECT PEACE – DECEMBER 2013

CHRISTMAS BLESSINGS TO ALL AND A FEW THOUGHTS – DECEMBER 25, 2014

CHRISTMAS REFLECTIONS – DECEMBER 31, 2014

UPDATE:

My daughter and son will be here visiting for the next week, so I will not be posting anything until January.

COMPARING SCRIPTURES IN THE CATHOLIC NEW TESTAMENT BIBLE TO TEACHINGS FOUND IN THE CATECHISM OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH – DEAR CATHOLIC, ARE YOU GOING TO BELIEVE THE WORD OF GOD, OR THE WORD OF MAN? PART 9

INTRODUCTION

There are two very important reasons why I felt compelled to write this series of posts, and I’d like to briefly share these reasons with you now before I go any further:

1) Since I am a former Catholic who is very aware of the teachings of the Catholic Church because I attended twelve years of Catholic school, attended Catechism classes, made my First Holy Communion, was Confirmed, and faithfully attended Mass not only every Sunday for many years, but also before school began for three years (as required by the school that I attended at the time), and who came to the knowledge of who Jesus Christ truly is and what He actually accomplished for us by reading a Catholic New Testament Bible exactly like the one pictured above, I decided to write this series with the hope of reaching precious Catholics so that they can not only come to an understanding of who Jesus Christ truly is as His Word, the Bible, declares Him to be, but also so they can see by reading God’s Word that they can have complete forgiveness, lasting joy, true peace, and the assurance of salvation if they choose to believe God’s Word and place their trust in Jesus Christ alone for their salvation. Also, since many Catholics do not realize everything that the Catholic church actually teaches (as I once did not realize until after doing research and reading the CCC), I thought that it was extremely important to share this information to make Catholics aware of many things that are quite disturbing, as you will all soon become aware of as this series continues.

2) This series of posts is also being written with the intention of helping those of you who are born-again, Bible believing followers of Jesus Christ who have no idea of what the teachings of Catholicism are so that you can become aware of their teachings and be prepared to offer hope and assurance of salvation through Jesus Christ to Catholics based solely upon the truth that is recorded in God’s Word.

As we continue on in this series together comparing Scriptures in the Catholic New Testament to teachings found in the Catechism of the Catholic Church, we must keep these important thoughts in mind:

When it comes to our eternal destination — heaven or hell — we must be certain that we place our trust in solid truth and not in speculation or in the traditions of men. The Catholic church claims to be the “one true Church.” Therefore, it stands to reason that their teachings must line up with God’s Word and not contradict it since God does not change (Malachi 3:6, James 1:17, Hebrews 13:8), and His Word stands firm forever. (Psalm 119:89, Isaiah 40:8, 1 Peter 1:24,25) If a contradiction is found it must be rejected because God’s Word is our plumb line by which we must measure (or test) the teachings of every religion to see if it lines up or not. If it is off in one point we can be certain that it will lead us further and further away from Biblical truth and lead us into spiritual deception.

This series will cover many different subjects ranging from what does the Catholic Church teach about the Bible, Jesus Christ, the Virgin Mary, priests, the pope, sin, forgiveness of sins, salvation, prayer, and what must a Catholic believe in order to receive eternal life. Some of these teachings will shock even many Catholics when they learn what their church actually teaches!
Lord willing, I hope to share at least one post every month with you in this new series until I have covered all the most important teachings that need to be brought to your attention. The main goal that I have in writing this series is to present the Word of God to Catholics — and to every person — in order to point everyone to Jesus Christ, who is our only hope and ‘the only name under heaven given among men by which we can be saved.’ (Acts 4:12)

Dear Catholic, please take a minute now to sincerely pray; ask God to open your mind to the Scriptures and to reveal the truth to you –whatever that may be.

Because only God can reveal the truth to you, I will refrain from making any comments unless I find it completely necessary. Since God’s Word is truth I trust that He will not only give you eyes to see the truth, but also I trust that He will give you the courage to respond to His leading. However, each one of you will find yourself having to answer this question when you come to many points that I present to you in these posts after realizing that there are oftentimes extreme differences between what the Word of God says and what Catholicism teaches, and the question that you will have to answer is:

“Are you going to believe the Word of God, or the word of man?”

Please keep in mind, as you are carefully reading all of the statements made from the following Catholic sources, that every time you see the word “church” spelled with a capital c they are referring to the Catholic church, since they believe that the “Catholic Church” alone is the “one true Church.”All of the information that I will be sharing with you I have obtained from the following sources:

1) CATECHISM OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH (pictured above) – Imprimi Potest – Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger (who later became Pope Benedict) – Interdicasterial Commission for the Catechism of the Catholic Church

2) THE WORD OF GOD – THE NEW TESTAMENT OF OUR LORD AND SAVIOR IN TODAY’S ENGLISH VERSION – SACRED HEART LEAGUE EDITION – IMPRIMATUR JOHN FRANCIS WHEALON, ARCHBISHOP OF HARTFORD, APRIL 15, 1971 SIGNED AND SEALED BY BISHOP JOSEPH B. BRUNINI, DIOCESE OF JACKSON, MISSISSIPPI

3) Occasionally when I share a Scripture with you from the Sacred Heart League (SHL) Catholic New Testament and notice that it lacks depth and clarity, I will then follow it with the same verse but in the King James Version in order to give you a better understanding of what is being said, and so that you can see what is missing from the SHL translation.

4) Very briefly in this series, I will also be quoting from THE CATHOLIC DOUAY RHEIMS VERSION OF THE BIBLE – in which you will find the following statements:

“EXCERPT FROM ENCYCLICAL LETTER OF OUR HOLY FATHER BY DIVINE PROVIDENCE POPE LEO XIII ON THE STUDY OF HOLY SCRIPTURE:

“The God of all Providence, Who in the adorable designs of His love at first elevated the human race to the participation of the Divine nature, and afterwards delivered it from the universal guilt and ruin, restoring it to its primitive dignity, has in consequence bestowed upon man a splendid gift and safeguard–making known to him, by supernatural means, the hidden Mysteries of His divinity, His wisdom, and His mercy. For although in Divine revelations there are contained some things which are not beyond the reach of unassisted reason, and which are made the objects of such revelation in order “that all may come to know them with facility, certainty, and safety from error, yet not on this account can supernatural Revelation be said to be absolutely necessary; it is only necessary because God has ordained man to a supernatural end.” This supernatural revelation according to the belief of the universal Church, is contained both in unwritten Tradition, and in written Books, which are therefore called sacred and canonical because, “being written under the inspiration of the Holy Ghost, they have God for their author, and as such have been delivered to the Church.” (Page ix)

“Wherefore it must be recognised that the sacred writings are wrapt in a certain religious obscurity, and that no one can enter into their interior without a guide; God so disposing, as the Holy Fathers commonly teach, in order that men may investigate them with greater ardour and earnestness, and that what is attained with difficulty may sink more deeply into the mind and heart; and, most of all that they may understand that God has delivered the Holy Scriptures to the Church, and that in reading and making use of His Word, they must follow the Church as their guide and their teacher. St. Irenaeus long since laid down, that where the charismata of God were, there the truth was to be learnt, and that Holy Scripture was safely interpreted by those who had the Apostolic succession. His teaching, and that of other Holy Fathers, is taken up by the Council of the Vatican, which, in the renewing of the decree of Trent, declares its “mind” to be this–that “in things of faith and morals, belonging to the building up of Christian doctrine, that is to be considered the true sense of Holy Scripture which has been held and is held by our Holy Mother the Church whose place it is to judge of the true sense and interpretation of the Scriptures; and therefore that it is permitted to no one to interpret Holy Scripture against such sense or also against the unanimous agreement of the Fathers.” (Page xvii)

“Wherefore the first and dearest object of the Catholic commentator should be to interpret those passages which have received an authentic interpretation either by the sacred writers themselves, under the inspiration of the Holy Ghost (as in many places of the New Testament), or from the Church, under the assistance of the same Holy Spirit, whether by her solemn judgment or her ordinary and universal magisterium –to interpret those passages in that identical sense, and to prove, by all the resources of science that sound hermeneutical laws admit of no other interpretation. In the other passages, the analogy of faith should be followed, and Catholic doctrine, as authoritatively proposed by the Church, should be held as the supreme law; for seeing that the same God is the author both of the Sacred Books and of the doctrine committed to the Church, it is clearly impossible that any teaching can by legitimate means be extracted from the former, which shall in any respect be at variance with the latter. Hence it follows that all interpretation is foolish and false which either makes the sacred writers disagree one with another, or is opposed to the doctrine of the Church.” (Page xviii)

“For although the studies of non-Catholics, used with prudence, may sometimes be of use to the Catholic student, he should nevertheless, bear well in mind–as the Fathers also teach in numerous passages –that the sense of Holy Scripture can nowhere be found incorrupt outside of the Church, and cannot be expected to be found in writers who, being without the true faith, only gnaw the bark of the Sacred Scripture and never attain its pith.” (Page xix)

To read PART 1 click HERE

For PART 2 click HERE

For PART 3 click HERE

For PART 4 click HERE

For PART 5 click HERE

For PART 6 click HERE

For PART 7 click HERE

For PART 8 click HERE

INTRODUCTION TO PART 9

In Part 9 we will be covering the very end of page 276 and going through to the end of page 299 which will finally bring us to the end of PART 1 of the Catechism Of The Catholic Church’s 756 pages. The topics that are covered in this section will be baptism, forgiveness of sins, purgatory, death, judgment, and resurrection.

Let’s begin:

ARTICLE 10:

“I BELIEVE IN THE FORGIVENESS OF SINS”

(Part Two of the Catechism will deal explicitly with the forgiveness of sins through Baptism, the sacrament of Penance, and the other sacraments, especially the Eucharist. Here it will suffice to suggest some basic facts briefly.)

Para 980

It is through the sacrament of Penance that the baptized can be reconciled with God and with the Church:

Penance has rightly been called by the holy Fathers “a laborious kind of baptism.” This sacrament of Penance is necessary for salvation for those who have fallen after Baptism, just as Baptism is necessary for salvation for those who have not yet been reborn.

II. THE POWER OF THE KEYS

Para 981

[The Church] has received the keys of the Kingdom of heaven so that, in her, sins may be forgiven through Christ’s blood and the Holy Spirit’s action. In this Church, the soul dead through sin comes back to life in order to live with Christ, whose grace has saved us.

Para 982 There is no offense, however serious, that the Church cannot forgive. “There is no one, however wicked and guilty, who may not confidently hope for forgiveness provided his repentance is honest.” Christ who died for all men desires that in his Church the gates of forgiveness should always be open to anyone who turns away from sin.

Para 983

Catechesis strives to awaken and nourish in the faithful faith in the incomparable greatness of the risen Christ’s gift to his Church: the mission and the power to forgive sins through the ministry of the apostles and their successors:

Priests have received from God a power that he has given neither to angels nor to archangels…God above confirms what priests do here below.

Were there no forgiveness in the Church, there would be no hope of life to come or eternal liberation. Let us thank God who has given his Church such a gift.

Para 987

“In the forgiveness of sins, both priests and sacraments are instruments which our Lord Jesus Christ, the only author and liberal giver of salvation, wills to use in order to efface our sins and give us the grace of justification.” Roman Catechism, 1, 11, 6).

I. CHRIST’S RESURRECTION AND OURS

Para 993

The Pharisees and many of the Lord’s contemporaries hoped for the resurrection. Jesus teaches it firmly. To the Sadducees who deny it he answers, “Is not this why you are wrong, that you know neither the scriptures nor the power of God?” Faith in the resurrection rests on faith in God who “is not God of the dead, but of the living.” (541 – Mark 12:27)

Para 994

But there is more. Jesus links faith in the resurrection to his own person: “I am the Resurrection and the life.” (542 – John 11:25) It is Jesus himself who on the last day will raise up those who have believed in him, who have eaten his body and drunk his blood. (543 – Cf. John 5:24-25; 6:40,54)

How do the dead rise?

Para 997

What is “rising”? In death, the separation of the soul from the body, the human body decays and the soul goes to meet God, while awaiting its reunion with its glorified body. God, in his almighty  power, will definitely grant incorruptible life to our bodies by reuniting them with our souls, through the  power of Jesus’ Resurrection.

Para 1000

This “how” exceeds our imagination and understanding; it is accessible only to faith. Yet our participation in the Eucharist already gives us a foretaste of Christ’s transfiguration of our bodies: Just as bread that comes from the earth, after God’s blessing has been invoked upon it, is no longer ordinary bread, but Eucharist, formed of two things, the one earthly and the other heavenly; so to our bodies, which partake of the Eucharist, are no longer corruptible, but possess the hope of resurrection. (554 – St. Irenaeus, Adv. haeres, 4, 18, 4-5 PG 7/1, 1028,1029)

Para 1003

United with Christ by Baptism, believers already truly participate in the heavenly life of the risen Christ, but this life remains “hidden with Christ in God.” (558 – Colossians 3:3) The Father has already “raised us up with him, and made us sit with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus.” (559 – Eph. 2:6) Nourished with his body in the Eucharist, we already belong to the Body of Christ. When we rise on the last day we “also will appear with him in glory.” (560 – Colossians 3:4)

Para 1014

The Church encourages us to prepare ourselves for the hour of our  death. In the ancient litany of the saints, for instance, she has us pray: “From a sudden and unforeseen death, deliver us, O Lord”; to ask the Mother of God to intercede for us “at the hour of our death” in the Hail Mary; and to entrust ourselves to St. Joseph, the patron of a happy death.

Praised are you, my Lord, for our sister bodily Death, from whom no living man can escape. Woe on those who will die in mortal sin! Blessed are they who will be found in your most holy will, for the second death will not harm them. (588 – St. Francis of Assisi, Canticles of the Creatures).

I. THE PARTICULAR JUDGMENT

Para 1022

Each man receives his eternal retribution in his immortal soul at the very moment of his death, in a particular judgment that refers his life to Christ: either entrance into the blessedness of heaven–through a purification or immediately, –or immediate and everlasting damnation. (592) (Cf. Council of Lyons II (1274): DS 857-858; Council of Florence (1439): DS 1304-1306; Council of Trent (1563): DS 1820. (593) Cf. Benedict XII, Benedictus Deus (1336): DS 1000-1001; John XXII, Ne super his (1334): DS 990. (594) Cf. Benedict XII, Benedictus Deus (1336). DS 1002.

II. HEAVEN

Para 1023

Those who die in God’s grace and friendship and are perfectly purified live for ever with Christ. They are like God for ever, for they “see him as he is,” face to face. (596 – 1 Jn. 3:2; cf. 1 Cor 13:12; Rev. 22:4)

III. THE FINAL PURIFICATION, OR PURGATORY

Para 1030

All who die in God’s grace and friendship, but still imperfectly purified, are indeed assured of their eternal salvation; but after death they undergo purification, so as to achieve the holiness necessary to enter the joy of heaven.

Para 1031

The Church gives the name Purgatory to this final purification of the elect, which is entirely different from the punishment of the damned. The Church formulated her doctrine of faith on Purgatory especially at the Councils of Florence and Trent. The Tradition of the Church, by reference to certain texts of Scripture, speaks of a cleansing fire: (605) (Cf. 1 Corin. 3:15, 1 Peter 1:7)

As for certain lesser faults, we must believe that, before the Final Judgment, there is a purifying fire. He who is truth says that whoever utters blasphemy against the Holy Spirit will be pardoned neither in this age nor in the age to come. From this sentence we understand that certain offenses can be forgiven in this age, but certain others in the age to come. (606) (St. Gregory the Great, Dial. 4, 39; PL 77, 396)

My Note: There is no purifying fire after death and there is no need for it. According to God’s Word Jesus Christ’s once for all sacrifice was sufficient to purify us from all sin. If we choose to place our trust completely in all that Jesus Christ accomplished for us and not in our own efforts/good works to try and earn God’s forgiveness, we will then be covered in His righteous and stand before Him blameless. Consider these Scriptures:

“He [Jesus Christ] shines with the brightness of God’s glory; he is the exact likeness of God’s own being, and sustains the universe with his powerful word. After he had made men clean from their sins he sat down in heaven at the right side of God, the Supreme Power.” (Hebrews 1:3 – Sacred Heart League Catholic New Testament)

“Who being the brightness of his glory, and the figure of his substance, and upholding all things by the word of his power, making purgation of sins, sitteth on the right hand of the majesty on high.” (Hebrews 1:3 – Douay Rheims)

“Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high.” (Hebrews 1:3 – King James Version)

“God’s divine power has given us everything we need to live a godly life through our knowledge of the one who called us to share his own glory  and goodness. In this way he has given us the very great and precious gifts he promised, so that by means of these gifts you may escape from the destructive lust that is in the world, and come to share the divine nature. For this very reason do your very best to add goodness to your faith; to your goodness add knowledge; to your knowledge add self-control; to your self-control add endurance; to your endurance add godliness; to your godliness add brotherly love; and to your brotherly love add love. These are the qualities you need, and if you have them in abundance they will make you active and effective in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But whoever does not have them is so shortsighted that he cannot see, and has forgotten that his past sins have been washed away.” (2 Peter 1:3-9 – Sacred Heart League)

“As all things of his divine power which appertain to life and godliness are given us through the knowledge of him who hath called us by his own proper glory and virtue. By whom he hath given us most great and precious promises: that by these you may be made partakers of the divine nature: flying the corruption of that concupiscence which is in the world. And you, employing all care, minister in your faith, virtue: And in virtue, knowledge: And in knowledge, abstinence: and in abstinence, patience: and in patience, godliness: And in godliness, love of brotherhood: and in love of brotherhood, charity. For if these things be with you and abound, they will make you to be neither empty nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. For he that hath not these things with him is blind and groping, having forgotten that he was purged from his old sins. (2 Peter 1:3-9 – Douay Rheims)

“According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue: Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge; And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness; And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity. For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But he that lacketh these things is blind, and cannot see afar off, and hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins.” (2 Peter 1:3-9 King James Version)

“The Jewish Law is not a full and faithful model of the real things. It is only a faint outline of the good things to come. The same sacrifices are offered forever, year after year. How can the Law, then, by means of these sacrifices, make perfect the people who come to God? If the people worshiping God had been made really clean from their sins, they would not feel guilty of sin any more, and all sacrifices would stop. As it is, however, the sacrifices serve to remind people  of their sins year after year. For the blood of bulls and goats can never take sins away. For this reason, when Christ was about to come into the world, he said to God: “You do not want sacrifices and offerings, but you have prepared a body for me. You are not pleased with animals burned whole on the altar, or with sacrifices to take away sins. Then I said, ‘Here I am, God, to do what you want me to, just as it is written of me in the book of the Law.'” First he said, “You neither want nor are you pleased with sacrifices and offerings, or animals burned on the altar and the sacrifices to take away sins.” He said this even though all these sacrifices are offered according to the Law. Then he said, “Here I am, God, to do what you want me to do.” So God does away with all the old sacrifices and puts the sacrifice of Christ in their place. Because Jesus Christ did what God wanted me to do, we are all made clean from sin by the offering that he made of his own body, once and for all. Every Jewish priest stands and performs his services every day and offers the same sacrifices many times. But these sacrifices can never take away sins. Christ, however, offered one sacrifice for sins, an offering that is good forever, and then sat down at the right side of God.” (Sacred Heart League – Hebrews 10:1-12)

“For the law, having a shadow of the good things to come, not the very image of the things, by the selfsame sacrifices which they offer continually every year, can never make the comers thereunto perfect. For then they would have ceased to be offered: because the worshippers once cleansed should have no conscience of sin any longer. But in them there is made a commemoration of sins every year: For it is impossible that with the blood of oxen and goats sin should be taken away. Wherefore, when he cometh into the world he saith: Sacrifice and oblation thou wouldest not: but a body thou hast fitted to me. Holocausts for sin did not please thee. Then said I: Behold I come: in the head of the book it is written of me: that I should do thy will, O God. In saying before, Sacrifices, and oblations, and holocausts for sin thou wouldest not, neither are they pleasing to thee, which are offered according to the law. ‘Then said I: Behold, I come to do thy will, O God: He taketh away the first, that he may establish that which followeth. In the which will, we are sanctified by the oblation of the body of Jesus Christ once. And every priest indeed standeth daily ministering and often offering the same sacrifices which can never take away sins. But this man, offering one sacrifice for sins, for ever sitteth on the right hand of God.” (Hebrews 10:1-12 – Douay Rheims)”

“For the law having a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with those sacrifices which they offered year by year continually make the comers thereunto perfect. For then would they not have ceased to be offered? because that the worshippers once purged should have had no more conscience of sins. But in those sacrifices there is a remembrance again made of sins every year. For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins. Wherefore when he cometh into the world, he saith, Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, but a body hast thou prepared me: In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin thou hast had no pleasure. Then said I, Lo, I come (in the volume of the book it is written of me,) to do thy will, O God. Above when he said, Sacrifice and offering and burnt offerings and offering for sin thou wouldest not, neither hadst pleasure therein; which are offered by the law; Then said he, Lo, I come to do thy will, O God. He taketh away the first, that he may establish the second. By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. And every priest standeth daily ministering and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins: But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God;” (Hebrews 10:1-12 – KJV)

[Note: Emphasis on portions of Scripture using bold print and italics are mine.]

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Para 1032

This teaching is also based on the practice of prayers for the dead, already mentioned in Sacred Scripture: “Therefore [Judas Maccabeus] made atonement for the dead, that they might be delivered from their sin.” (607) (2 Macc. 12:46) From the beginning the Church has honored the memory of the dead and offered prayers in suffrage for them, above all the Eucharistic sacrifice, so that, thus purified, they may attain the beatific vision of God. (608) (Cf. Council of Lyons II (1274): DS 856. The Church also commends almsgiving, indulgences, and works of penance undertaken on behalf of the dead: Let us help and commemorate them. If Job’s sons were purified by their father’s sacrifice, why would we doubt that our offerings for the dead bring them some consolation? Let us not hesitate to help those who have died and to offer our prayers for them. (609) St. John Chrysostom, Hom. in 1 Cor. 41, 5: PG 61, 361; cf. Job 1:5.

[My Note: So here you see that Catholicism’s teaching on purgatory is based — in part — on verses from 2 Maccabees which is a book regarding the history of the Jews in the first century. 2 Maccabees was not deemed fit to be included in the Canon of Scripture.]

IV. HELL

Para 1033

To die in mortal sin without repenting and accepting God’s merciful love means remaining separated from him for ever by our own free choice. This state of definitive self-exclusion from communion with God and the blessed is called “hell.”

My Note: I must stop at this point and bring your attention to what God’s Word has to say about sin. All sin separates us from God who is completely holy. The Catholic church teaches that there are two types of sins –mortal and venial. Catholicism classifies mortal sins as being horrific things such as murder, and venial sins are considered lesser sins, which they say are sins such as telling lies. However, look at what God’s Word has to say about sin and those who tell lies:

“But the cowards, the traitors, and the perverts, the murderers and the immoral, those who practice magic and those who worship idols, and all liars–the place for them is the lake burning with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.” (Revelation 21:8 – Sacred Heart League Catholic New Testament)

“But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, they shall have their portion in the pool burning with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.” (Revelation 21:8 – Douay Rheims Bible)

My Note: Sin — no matter how seemingly harmless or unspeakably horrific it may be — separates us from a completely holy God. If a person dies trusting in their own attempts at trying to be “good enough” to be accepted by God into heaven and chooses not to place their complete trust in Jesus Christ’s substitutionary death in our place on the cross, His burial, and His glorious bodily resurrection from the dead as being sufficient to pay the debt for all of our sins and guilt in full, we will be eternally separated from Him and cast into the lake of fire that was not created for man, but for the devil and his angels, according to God’s Holy Word. (Matthew 25:41) (See directly below).

Para 1034

Jesus often speaks of “Ghenna,” of the “unquenchable fire” reserved for those  who to the end of their lives refuse to believe and be converted, where both soul and body can be lost. (612 – Cf. Matt. 5:22,29; 10:28; 13:42, 50; Mk. 9:43-48) Jesus solemnly proclaims that “he will send his angels, and they will gather…all evil doers, and throw them into the furnace of fire,” (613 – Matt. 13:41-42) and that he will pronounce the condemnation: “Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire!” (614 – Matt. 25:41)

[My Note: Sadly, the rest of verse 41 of Matthew 25 has been left out; Matthew 25:41 in the Sacred Heart League Catholic New Testament reads as follows: “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Away from me, you that are under God’s curse! Away to the eternal fire which has been prepared for the Devil and his angels!’

Para 1053

“We believe that the multitude of those gathered around Jesus and Mary in Paradise forms the Church of heaven, where in eternal blessedness they see God as he is and where they are also, to various degrees, associated with the holy angels in the divine governance exercised by Christ in glory, by interceding for us and helping our weakness by their fraternal concern.” (Pope Paul VI, CPG 29)

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IN CLOSING:

Sadly, many of the teachings in Catholicism focus on death and induce fear and dependency on the Catholic church for salvation in their people. Being a former Catholic I can honestly say that since I was filled with a lot of fear and had no joy or peace through what I learned. Their is no hope or assurance of salvation that can be found in what Catholicism teaches. If a Catholic would dare to say that they are sure that they will be going to heaven after they die it is actually considered to be a sin of presumption.

So many more thoughts could be added to this post, but I have already exceeded five thousand words, so I must focus on trying to finally bring this post to an end.

Dear Catholic, I pray that you will begin to see the errors in what Catholicism teaches as the truth of God’s Word reveals the glorious good news of the Biblical gospel to you.

To those of you who are Bible believing Christians by choosing to place your trust only in all that Jesus Christ has already accomplished for us, I pray that you will have compassion and love for the precious Catholics in your lives. I pray that you will take time and patience with them as you pray and ask the Holy Spirit to guide you as you seek to share the glorious good news of the Biblical gospel with them, focusing on Jesus Christ and not on the errors in their teachings –unless the Holy Spirit leads you to do so with certain people. Many teachings in Catholicism hold precious Catholics in bondage by making them think that they need to depend on the Catholic church, priests, the pope, the sacraments, the Virgin Mary, and the “Eucharist” for their salvation. Many do not yet realize the simplicity and the truly good news of the Biblical gospel that proclaims all the glory and splendor of all that Jesus Christ truly accomplished by His “once for all” sacrifice that need never be repeated again!

Lord willing, at some point I hope to write separate posts regarding the Sacrifice of the Mass and the Eucharist as well as one that will focus on the virgin Mary, and another one that will focus on the pope. I was going to add in depth information about these topics in this post, but it will take much more time in order to do that and this post is already quite lengthy!

Thank you very much for stopping by today.

God Bless You

~Mary Dalke/Living4HisGlory

RELATED SCRIPTURES

“Happy are those whose wrongs God has forgiven, whose sins he has covered over! Happy is the man whose sins the Lord will not keep account of!” (Romans 4:7,8)

“He [Jesus Christ] was given over to die because of our sins, and was raised to life to put us right with God.” (Romans 4:25) (Insertion done by me).

“In the past you were spiritually dead because of your disobedience and sins. At that time you followed the world’s evil way; you obeyed the ruler of the spiritual powers in space, the spirit who now controls the people who disobey God. Actually all of us were like them, and lived according to our natural desires and did whatever suited the wishes of our own bodies and minds. Like everyone else, we too were naturally bound to suffer God’s wrath. But God’s mercy is so abundant, and his love for us is so great, that why we were spiritually dead in our disobedience he brought us to life with Christ. It is by God’s grace that you have been saved. In our union with Christ Jesus he raised us up with him to rule with him in the heavenly world. He did this to demonstrate for all time to come the extraordinary greatness of his grace in the love he showed us in Christ Jesus. For it is by God’s grace that you have been saved, through faith. It is not your own doing, but God’s gift. There is nothing here to boast of, since it is not the result of your own efforts. God is our Maker, and in our union with Christ Jesus he has created us for a life of good works which he has already prepared for us to do.” (Ephesians 2:1-10)

“But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us. It was not because of any good works that we ourselves have done, but because of his own mercy that he saved us through the washing by which the Holy Spirit gives us new birth and new life. God poured out the Holy Spirit abundantly on us, through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that by his grace we might be put right with God and come into possession of the eternal life we hope for. This is a true saying.” (Titus 3:4-7)

“We believe the witness that men give; the witness that God gives is much stronger, and this is the witness that God has given about his Son. So whoever believes in the Son of God has this witness in his heart; but whoever does not believe God has made a liar out of him, because he has not believed what God has said  as a witness about his Son. This, then, is the witness: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. Whoever has the Son has this life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.” (1 John 5:9-12)

[Note: Emphasis on portions of certain Scriptures in this post using bold print and italics, are mine.]

 

 

MISSING MY DAD ON THIS FATHER’S DAY, AND ALWAYS

My Dad was a hard working man who always spoke kindly and gently to us. He showed us what marriage is supposed to be like; loving our Mom in word and in deed, and treating her with respect all the days of his life. Although he worked many hours each day and came home very late, he always planned special vacations for all of us during the summer and we enjoyed spending that time with him –and with our sweet Mom.

Treasure your Dad — and your Mom — because the day may come suddenly when he — and/or she — will no longer be with you. Live in such a way that when that day does come, you will not live with regrets of loving, caring words that you should have said but didn’t, and days you could have spent with them, but chose not to.

For those of you who may have been abused by your dad, whether it may have been verbally, physically, sexually, or by neglect, I am deeply, deeply sorry! Please be assured that you have a Heavenly Father who longs to love you in ways that you should have been loved by your earthly Dad: guiding your steps with love and correction, giving you wisdom through His Word, the Bible, to help you make right choices that bring blessings and not regrets, comforting you in the midst of trials and heartache, giving you peace in the midst of the storms of life, and in so many other ways.

Coming to Jesus Christ, who was and is God in the flesh, is the only way for you to come to the Father. Placing our trust in the only way that God has provided for us to remove the barrier of sin that separates us from Him is the only way that we can have a relationship with Him. It is through believing that Jesus Christ lived the perfect, sinless life that you and I could never live, that He died in your place and in mine on the cross not only taking upon Himself God’s full wrath intended for me and for you because of our sins, but also He took upon Himself our guilt, shame, and sorrow. He was buried, but gloriously arose from the dead three days later in bodily form showing that God accepted His death as full payment for our sins and guilt –no matter how evil of a life we may have lived! Making this choice is the only way for you to come to the Father and enable you to have healing, comfort, and an everlasting relationship with Him that will begin on this earth and continue on throughout eternity. It is a choice that each one of us must make before we take our final breath, or we will be eternally separated from His love in a place of fire and continual torment, defined very clearly in God’s Word as a place called hell. Hell was never created for man, but only for the devil and his angels. Only those who choose to love their sins and refuse to love the truth and so be saved will be the only ones who end up in hell.

This is the most important message that I could ever share with you, and I pray that you will take it seriously. Because no matter what your beliefs presently are, the day will definitely come, dear reader, when you will find out that what I have shared with you, which comes directly from God’s Word, is indeed true! God determined the means by which you can be saved and have a relationship with Him — through Jesus Christ alone — but it is your choice alone that determines where you will spend eternity.

 

Thank you very much for stopping by today.

God Bless You

~Mary Dalke/Living4HisGlory

UPDATE:

The new post that I started writing and was hoping to have finished by yesterday (which will focus on how mysticism is entering many churches these days), will be coming within the next few days –Lord willing. This post will also be a specific warning and “heads up” for those of you who are still attending Harvest Bible Chapel Rolling Meadows, the church that I attended for 14 1/2 years.

SERMON SUNDAY – WHAT HAPPENED WHEN JESUS CHRIST WAS ON THE CROSS?

Last month many of us attended a Good Friday service and celebrated the glorious Resurrection of Jesus Christ on that following Sunday. During those services some of you may have been told by the preacher that “Jesus Christ became sin for us when He was on the cross,”  and that, “He was forsaken by God the Father at that point.” Some of you might have even been told: “Jesus died spiritually when God, His Father, turned His back on Him when He was on the cross,” and that “it was at that point that Jesus Christ died spiritually,” and that “it was His spiritual death — not His physical death — that paid for our sins.” If you were told any or all of those things in the messages you heard last month — or at any time in the past — then I urge you to please take the time to listen to the following messages by Pastor Tyler Leigeb and Jim Floyd of Billings Bible Church, (when time allows) that refute those teachings using many passages of Scripture. Because no matter how many years that a pastor or teacher has been preaching or teaching, if what he says does not line up with the truth of God’s Word, the teaching is to be rejected as error. These teachings are false because they take away from the sufficiency of Jesus Christ’s “once for all” “perfect sacrifice” and the gloriously good news of the Biblical gospel and because they contradict the inerrant Word of God.

Do not be deceived! Never forget the many warnings in Scripture about false teachers in the last days and that some will even arise from among us! (Acts 20) We must read verses of Scripture in context and compare Scripture with Scripture to avoid being led to believe something that simply is not true!

Although I already warned you about this “Jesus died spiritually” (JDS) false teaching in my post entitled, HOW DISCERNING ARE YOU? REFUTING THE HERETICAL TEACHING THAT ‘JESUS DIED SPIRITUALLY’,  I saw the need to write this new post because I am coming to realize more and more just how many pastors and teachers are presenting this false teaching –including a pastor that I have truly appreciated listening to for the past two years or so:

On April 24th I heard Pastor Marc Monte present some of these errors in his message entitled, “God Forsaken By God” (linked to below). After listening to his whole message, sadly I had to add him to my “mark and avoid” list. This, in part, is what you can hear Marc Monte say at the following link between the 18:34-24:00 minute marks:

Jesus being forsaken by God was part of our redemption:

“…in that moment Jesus suffered the forsaking of God, the loneliness of God, and that completed his sufferings for my redemption. there would be no complete payment for my sin without this dimension of suffering. It represents, many say, spiritual death.” – Pastor Marc Monte, Faith Baptist Church, Avon, Indiana.

SOURCE – GOD FORSAKEN OF GOD – MARC MONTE

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And now, for your encouragement and in order to help you learn to discern truth from error (as I have learned to do regarding this heretical teaching), I present to you the latest teachings of Pastor Tyler and Jim Floyd on this topic. As always, be a Berean and continue to “examine the Scriptures daily to see if what is being said (and done by those who preach and teach God’s Word) is true (Acts 17:11),” and reject it if it does not line up with Scripture.

 

GOOD FRIDAY MESSAGE – PASTOR TYLER LEIGEB – BILLINGS BIBLE CHURCH

EASTER SUNDAY – SUNDAY SCHOOL – JIM FLOYD

EASTER SUNDAY MESSAGE – PASTOR TYLER LEIGEB

 SOME SCRIPTURES FOR YOU TO REFLECT UPON:

“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord, Jesus Christ. In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil, or fade–kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time.” (1 Peter 1:3) (NIV)

“Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.” (1 Peter 1:18,19) (KJV)

“For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit.” (1 Peter 3:18)

“God made him who had no sin to be sin [offering] for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” (2 Corinthians 5:21) (NIV)

“For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the Scriptures.” (1 Corinthians 15:3,4) (KJV)

“But you know that he appeared so that he might take away our sins. And in him is no sin.” (1 John 3:5) (NIV)

“Concerning his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, which was made of the seed of David according to the flesh; And declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead.” (Romans 1:3,4) (KJV)

“To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved. In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace.” (Ephesians 1:6,7) (KJV)

“Therefore he is also able to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them. For such an high priest became us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens; Who needeth not daily, as those high priests, to offer up sacrifice, first for his own sins, and then for the people’s: for this he did once, when he offered up himself.” (Hebrews 7:25-27) (KJV)

“Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us. For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh: How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot  to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God.” (Hebrews 9:12-14) (KJV)

“And almost all things are by the law purged with blood and without shedding of blood is no remission. It was necessary, then, for the copies of the heavenly things to be purified with these sacrifices, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. For Christ did not enter a sanctuary made with human hands that was only a copy of the true one; he entered heaven itself, now to appear for us in God’s presence. Nor did he enter heaven to offer himself again and again, the way the high priest enters the Most Holy Place every year with blood that is not his own. Otherwise Christ would have had to suffer many times since the creation of the world. But he has appeared once for all at the culmination of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of himself. Just as people are destined to die once, and after that to face judgment, so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him.” (KJV) (Hebrews 9:22-28)

 “Wherefore when he cometh into the world, he saith, Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, but a body hast thou prepared me:

In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin thou hast had no pleasure.

Then said I, Lo, I come (in the volume of the book it is written of me,) to do thy will, O God.

Above when he said, Sacrifice and offering and burnt offerings and offering for sin thou wouldest not, neither hadst pleasure therein; which are offered by the law;

Then said he, Lo, I come to do thy will, O God. He taketh away the first, that he may establish the second.

By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.

And every priest standeth daily ministering and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins:

But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God;

From henceforth expecting till his enemies be made his footstool.

For by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified.

Whereof the Holy Ghost also is a witness to us: for after that he had said before,

This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, saith the Lord, I will put my laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them;

And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more.

Now where remission of these is, there is no more offering for sin.” (Hebrews 10:5-18) (KJV)

“Therefore I declare to you today that I am innocent of the blood of all men. For I have not hesitated to proclaim to you the whole will of God. Keep watch over yourselves and all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Be shepherds of the church of God, which he bought with his own blood. I know that after I leave, savage wolves will come in among you and will not spare the flock. Even from your own number men will arise and distort the truth in order to draw away disciples after them. So be on your guard. Remember that for three years I never stopped warning each of you night and day with tears.” (Acts 20:26-31)

(Source for KJV Scriptures – biblehub.com)

Other Scriptures taken from The Holy Bible New International Version® 1973, 1978, 1984 International Bible Society.  Used by permission of Zondervan.  All rights reserved.

Thank you very much for stopping by today.

God Bless You

~Mary Dalke/Living4HisGlory

Photo by Mary K Dalke – Reflections Of His Glory Photography

Scripture added by Mary K Dalke on Pixlr

UPDATE:

My family and I had a garage sale this weekend to try and sell more of our wonderful Mom and Dad’s  treasures that still remain from the estate sales we had last year. So, Lord willing, I am hoping to finally have a new post for you at the end of this week or early next week. It will be the next installment in the series that I started quite a while ago in which I began comparing the teachings found in the Catechism of the Catholic Church to a Catholic New Testament Bible hoping and praying that God will use it to open the eyes of many more precious Catholics so that they come to see the joyously good news of the Biblical gospel; Jesus Christ paid the debt for all of our sins in full and we can stand before Him completely forgiven —if we choose to place our trust in all that Jesus Christ accomplished for us through His sinless life, His propitiatory sacrifice on the cross, His death, burial, and glorious resurrection from the dead.

LEARN TO DISCERN – ONE OF CATHOLICISM’S TROUBLING TEACHINGS – THERE IS NO SALVATION OUTSIDE THE [CATHOLIC] CHURCH

For those of you who are unaware of some of the troubling teachings that can be found in Catholicism, I’d like to share the following two part Playlist with you. In these two videos you will see actual quotes made by former popes and those canonized as saints in the Catholic church regarding Catholicim’s teaching, “Outside the Church there is no salvation.” My prayer is not only that you will come to understand why I see the extreme importance of continuing the series in which I began comparing the teachings found in the Catechism Of The Catholic Church against the Word of God, the Bible, but also my prayer is that you will become aware of the extreme importance of reading and studying God’s Word for yourself so that you will not be led astray by those who teach things that are based on the traditions and philosophies of men and contradict the truth of God’s Word.

There are some religions that use fear tactics to control those in their belief system by teaching that they are the “one true Church.” This induces fear in many people to the extent that they dare not even question a teaching or ever consider leaving their church for fear of losing their salvation. Among the religious groups who teach that they are the “one true Church” are The Watchtower Bible And Tract Society/Jehovah’s Witnesses, the Church of Jesus Christ Latter Day Saints/Mormons, and, yes. Roman Catholicism –the Catholic church.

There are many former Catholics (myself included) who can attest to how some of the teachings in Catholicism only produced  fear, and peace and assurance of salvation was nowhere to be found in their teachings. The Church that Jesus Christ spoke of in the gospels is not an organization, institution, or a specific religion. It is the called out ones (ecclesia); people who have chosen to believe the true Biblical gospel that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God as the apostle Peter proclaimed by a revelation from God. Upon this solid truth — this rock — Jesus Christ would build His church:

^{13 “}When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?”

¹⁴ They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”

¹⁵ “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?”

¹⁶ Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”

¹⁷ Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven.

¹⁸ And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.” (Matthew 16:13-23)

(SOURCE – biblegateway.com)

Jesus Christ, God in the flesh, is the Rock upon which the Church would be built, not Peter, as Catholicism teaches. Consider these Scriptures:

“I will proclaim the name of the LORD. O praise the greatness of our God! He is the Rock, his works are perfect, and all his ways are just. You deserted the Rock who fathered you; you forgot the God who gave you birth.” “For their rock is not like our Rock, as even our enemies concede.”(Deuteronomy 32:3, 4,18, 31)

“There is no one holy like the LORD; there is no one besides you; there is no Rock like our God.” (1 Samuel 2:2)

“He said, “The LORD is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield and the horn of my salvation. He is my stronghold, my refuge and my savior–from violent men you save me. I call to the LORD, who is worthy of praise, and I am saved from my enemies.” (2 Sam 22:2-4)

“For who is God besides the LORD? And who is the Rock except our God?” (2 Samuel 22:32)

“The LORD lives! Praise be to my Rock! Exalted be God, the Rock, my Savior!” (2 Samuel 22:47)

“The LORD is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge. He is my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.” (Psalm 18:2)

“For who is God besides the LORD? And who is the Rock except our God?”(Psalm 18:31)

“The LORD lives! Praise be to my Rock! Exalted be God my Savior! He is the God who avenges me, who subdues nations under me, who saves me from my enemies.” (Psalm 18:46-48a)

“In you, O LORD, I have taken refuge; let me never be put to shame; deliver me in your righteousness. Turn your ear to me, come quickly to my rescue; be my rock of refuge, a strong fortress to save me. Since you are my rock and my fortress, for the sake of your name lead and guide me. Free me from the trap that is set for me, for you are my refuge.” (Psalm 31:1-4)

“My soul finds rest in God alone; my salvation comes from him. He alone is my rock and my salvation; he is my fortress, I will never be shaken. Find rest, O my soul, in God alone; my hope comes from him. He alone is my rock and my salvation; he is my fortress, I will not be shaken. My salvation and my honor depend on God; he is my mighty rock, my refuge. Trust in him at all times, O people; pour out your hearts to him, for God is our refuge.”(Psalm 62:2,5-8)

“In spite of all this, they kept on sinning; in spite of his wonders, they did not believe. So he ended their days in futility and their years in terror. Whenever God slew them, they would seek him; they eagerly turned to him again. They remembered that God was their Rock, that God Most High was their Redeemer.”(Psalm 78:32-35)

“He will call out to me, “You are my Father, my God, the Rock my Savior.” (Psalm 89:26)

“For I do not want you to be ignorant of the fact, brothers, that our forefathers were all under the cloud and that they all passed through the sea. They were all baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea. They all ate the same spiritual food and drank the same spiritual drink; for they drank from the spiritual rock that accompanied them, and that rock was Christ.” (1 Corinthians 10:1-4)

It is very important that you understand Catholicism’s teaching, “There is no salvation outside the [Catholic] Church” because it will lay the groundwork for some future posts that I will be writing not only out of my desire to reach precious Catholics with the truly good news of the Biblical gospel that can be found in God’s Word, but also out of my desire to warn Christians of the many ways that they may be enticed into wrongly believing this teaching and be lured into the Catholic church and away from believing the Biblical gospel.

Now I present to you:

Extra Ecclesiam Nulla Salus – No Salvation Outside The Church

RELATED SCRIPTURES

 

“He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification.” (Romans 4:25)

“Therefore as by the offence of one [the sin of Adam] judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one [Jesus Christ] the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life.” (Romans 5:18)

“For when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we have done, but because of his mercy.” (Titus 3:4,5)

“Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by Me.” (John 14:6)

“Be it known unto you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye crucified, whom God raised from the dead, even by Him doth this man stand here before you whole. This is the stone which was set at nought of you builders, which is become the head of the corner. Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.” (Acts 4:10-12)

“For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus; Who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time. ” (1 Timothy 2:5,6)

“I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you by the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel — which is really no gospel at all. Evidently some people are throwing you into confusion and are trying to pervert the gospel of Christ. But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let him be eternally condemned! As we have already said, so now I say again: If anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let him be eternally condemned!” (Galatians 1:6-9)

“But I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent’s cunning, your minds may somehow be led astray from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ. For if someone comes to you and preaches a Jesus other than the Jesus we preached, or if you receive a different spirit from the one you received, or a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it easily enough.” (2 Corinthians 11:3,4)

“When Christ came as high priest of the good things that are already here, He went through the greater and more perfect tabernacle that is not man-made, that is to say, not a part of this creation.  He did not enter by means of the blood of goats and calves; but He entered the Most Holy Place once for all by His own blood, having obtained eternal redemption.  The blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkled on those who are ceremonially unclean sanctify them so that they are outwardly clean.  How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death so that we may serve the living God!” (Hebrews 9:11-14)

“For Christ did not enter a man-made sanctuary that was only a copy of the true one; He entered heaven itself, now to appear for us in God’s presence.  Nor did He enter heaven to offer Himself again and again, the way the high priest enters the Most Holy Place every year with blood that is not his own.  Then Christ would have had to suffer many times since the creation of the world.  But now He has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of Himself.  Just as man is destined to die once and after that to face judgment, so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people; and He will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for Him.” (Hebrews 9:24-28)

1 “The law is only a shadow of the good things that are coming—not the realities themselves. For this reason it can never, by the same sacrifices repeated endlessly year after year, make perfect those who draw near to worship.

² Otherwise, would they not have stopped being offered? For the worshipers would have been cleansed once for all, and would no longer have felt guilty for their sins.

³ But those sacrifices are an annual reminder of sins.

⁴ It is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.

⁵ Therefore, when Christ came into the world, he said:

“Sacrifice and offering you did not desire,
    but a body you prepared for me;

⁶ with burnt offerings and sin offerings
    you were not pleased.

⁷ Then I said, ‘Here I am—it is written about me in the scroll—
    I have come to do your will, my God.’”

⁸ First he said, “Sacrifices and offerings, burnt offerings and sin offerings you did not desire, nor were you pleased with them”—though they were offered in accordance with the law.

⁹ Then he said, “Here I am, I have come to do your will.” He sets aside the first to establish the second.

¹⁰ And by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.

¹¹ Day after day every priest stands and performs his religious duties; again and again he offers the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins.

¹² But when this priest had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God,

¹³ and since that time he waits for his enemies to be made his footstool.

¹⁴ For by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy.

¹⁵ The Holy Spirit also testifies to us about this. First he says:

¹⁶ “This is the covenant I will make with them
    after that time, says the Lord.
I will put my laws in their hearts,
    and I will write them on their minds.”

¹⁷ Then he adds:

“Their sins and lawless acts I will remember no more.”

¹⁸ And where these have been forgiven, sacrifice for sin is no longer necessary.” (Hebrews 10:1-18) (SOURCE – biblegateway.com)

“For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God.” (1 Peter 3:18)

“For if a law had been given that could impart life, then righteousness would certainly have come by the law.  But the Scripture declares that the whole world is a prisoner of sin, so that what was promised, being given through faith in Jesus Christ, might be given to those who believe.  Before this faith came, we were held prisoners by the law, locked up until faith should be revealed.  So the law was put in charge to lead us to Christ that we might be justified by faith.” (Galatians 3:21-24)

“But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”  (Romans 5:8)

“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, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” (Ephesians 2:8-10)

“This is love: not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.” (1 John 4:10)

“But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, He saved us, not because of righteous things we have done, but because of His mercy.” (Titus 3:4,5)

“Blessed are they whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered.  Blessed is the man whose sin the LORD will never count against him.” (Romans 4:7,8)

“But there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you.” (2 Peter 2:1)

“Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men. after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.” (Colossians 2:8)

“I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life.” (1 John 5:13)

“Therefore, I declare to you today that I am innocent of the blood of all men. For I have not hesitated to proclaim to you the whole will of God. Keep watch over yourselves and all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Be shepherds of the church of God, which He bought with His own blood. I know that after I leave, savage wolves will come in among you and will not spare the flock. Even from your own number men will arise and distort the truth in order to draw away disciples after them. So be on your guard! Remember that for three years I never stopped warning each of you night and day with tears.” (Acts 20:26-31)

 

Thank you very much for stopping by today.

God Bless You

Mary Dalke/Living4HisGlory

 

Featured picture by Mary K Dalke – Reflections of His Glory Photography

Scripture added by Mary K Dalke on Pixlr Editor

Unless otherwise noted, all Scriptures are from: The Holy Bible New International Version® 1973, 1978, 1984 International Bible Society.  Used by permission of Zondervan.  All rights reserved.

REACHING PRECIOUS CATHOLICS WITH THE TRUTH OF GOD’S WORD

Today, April 1st, marks a whole year that my family and I have lived without our sweet and precious Mom (pictured above). Tears still continue to fall, and she will be missed every moment throughout the rest of our lives. Life will never, ever be the same again. In spite of the deep sense of loss that I continue to feel, I thank God for giving me His strength that has been made perfect in my weakness, and His peace that truly has gone beyond all human understanding over this past year. I thank God for blessing me with such a sweet and wonderful Mom who was there for me every time when I needed her the most. She was sweet and very loving, but she was also feisty, and, at times, she said what needed to be said to those who needed to be put in their place, including my former husband.

It was because of my Mom, and my desire to reach her and other precious Catholics with the Biblical gospel, that I began writing many of my posts and series regarding Catholicism in light of the truth of God’s Word, the Bible. My dear Mom would oftentimes ask me if I wrote anything new on my blog which gave me many opportunities to read some of my poems and a few of my posts to her and to even share the gospel with her many, many times over the many years that I have been writing poems and posts on WordPress, as well as sharing the gospel with her countless numbers of times throughout the thirty-nine years since I became a Christian back in the Spring of 1980.

Even though my Mom thought that I was in a cult in the beginning years after I left the Catholic church, as time passed the Lord softened her heart and my sweet Mom actually began to ask me many questions about salvation and the afterlife, especially after my dear Dad died at the end of October of 1999. This led to many in depth discussions during which I always gently and lovingly shared Scriptures with her so that she would see what God says regarding these extremely important topics, because my opinion doesn’t amount to anything of importance. These are spiritual life and death matters that have eternal consequences depending upon what a person believes regarding Jesus Christ and how one can be assured of spending eternity in heaven. I prayed for her and desperately tried over and over to share the good news of all that Jesus Christ accomplished for us through His “once for all” sacrifice on the cross with her, but she would always say, “It’s most confusing.” I tried to present the gospel to her in the simplest of terms, but she still didn’t grasp the simplicity of the gospel, that Jesus Christ died in our place, taking upon Himself the full wrath of God that was intended for us because of our sins, and how God is completely holy and that we can only come into His presence by placing our trust in Jesus’ sinless life that He lived for us, His death in our place for our sins, His burial, and glorious bodily resurrection from the dead three days later. I told her how we would then be covered in the righteousness of Jesus Christ, and that God would no longer see our sins, and that they would be as far as the east is from the west, and cast into the depths of the sea never to be remembered again, therefore no need for “purgatory” which is not even in the Bible –Jesus paid the debt for all of our sins in full! That is the gloriously good news of the Biblical gospel! One day last year my Mom even willingly listened to part of the testimony of former Catholic priest, Richard Bennett, but she was abruptly interrupted when her caretaker came into the house.

On March 31st of last year, my sister and I rushed over to her home on a rescue mission because my Mom was very sick. My sister called 911 and the paramedics took her to the hospital and we stayed with her in Intensive Care until 2:35 a.m. not wanting to leave her side until after talking with the doctor. When I talked with the doctor I insisted on them doing all that they could do for her and to put her on a ventilator if it came to the point where she was still having a hard time breathing with the oxygen they were giving her when we were with her. The doctor stressed that if she was put on the ventilator that she would have a low quality of life as a result. Because of how some hospitals today have embraced doctor assisted suicide, I was concerned that they were not going to try everything they could to help her, so I made sure they understood that I did not want them to just let her die. If I had not insisted that they put her on a ventilator I don’t think that my sweet Mom would have been alive the next morning when we received that dreaded phone call from the hospital telling us that she is fading fast and to get to the hospital quick. I hurried as fast as I could and when I got to her room she was unconscious and on the ventilator. With tears filling my eyes, I expressed my love to her and thanked her for being such a wonderful Mom for the last time hoping that she would hear me. I then pleaded with her to, “Please, please place your trust only in all that Jesus did for you when He died for your sins!” Much more was said to her, and I can only hope that she heard me and that the Lord brought back many Scriptures to her mind as well as the many conversations that we had in the past about God’s love and the good news of the Biblical gospel, and that she did choose to place her trust in Jesus Christ’s once for all sacrifice to pay the debt for every one of her sins in full before she took her final breath.

The one thing that brings me hope that she did choose to place her trust in Jesus Christ alone for her salvation and that she is with the Lord, is the fact that she told me during one of our conversations about God, the Bible, and Catholicism, that she believed the Sacrifice of the Mass was done “in memory of” what Jesus already did, and that it was not a continued sacrifice. Although only the Lord truly knows what her decision was, and I will not know if she did or not until the Lord calls me home, I must press on and share His love and truth with all who will listen while I still have breath. Therefore, in memory of my sweet Mom and out of love for God and the truth of His Word, as well as out of love and concern for every precious Catholic, towards the latter part of April, Lord willing, I will go back to writing and completing the series comparing the Catechism of the Catholic Church with a Catholic New Testament Bible trusting that God will use the truth of His Word to open the eyes of many other precious Catholics so that they will see the joyously good news of all that Jesus Christ accomplished for us. I pray that every Catholic will see that Jesus Christ is truly the only way to God the Father (John 14:6), the only name under heaven by which we can be saved (Acts 4:10-12), and the only Mediator between God and mankind (1 Timothy 2:5,6).

Thank you very much for stopping by today.

God Bless You

~Mary/Living4HisGlory