This post is not going to be about election conditional, unconditional, political or otherwise. Rather I have been thinking a lot about straw man arguments and the "end of the road" scenarios. Will adherence to particular sets of doctrines inevitably lead to the extreme of those beliefs? Do all Calvinists eventually become fatalists? Do Armenians eventually trust in themselves and their works for salvation? Do all those who leave the institutional church eventually become emergent? Are we predestined to become the straw men that others so easily destroy?
Who knows? Sure some will go to the extreme. Some won't. When we discuss things among one another we should deal with the present, with where we are and what we believe right now. If we are in Christ and we are carrying our cross then we will be growing. Who we are today is not who we will be tomorrow. If we are going to build a straw man argument and superimpose it onto a brother or sister in Christ it should make them look more like Christ than they do today, not less. Especially if we take God's promises to us in Christ seriously.
WHAT YOU MUST DO TO BE SAVED
ReplyDeleteBest of all, the promise of eternal life is a gift, freely offered to us by God (CCC 1727).
The Catholic Church teaches what the apostles taught and what the Bible teaches: We are saved by grace alone, but not by faith alone (which is what "Bible Christians" teach; see James. 2:24).
When we come to God and are justified (that is, enter a right relationship with God), nothing preceding justification, whether faith or good works, earns grace.
But then God plants his love in our hearts, and we should live out our faith by doing acts of love (Galatians 6:2).
Even though only God’s grace enables us to love others, these acts of love please him, and he promises to reward them with eternal life (Romans 2:6–7, Galatians 6:6–10).
Thus good works are meritorious. When we first come to God in faith, we have nothing in our hands to offer him.
Then he gives us grace to obey his commandments in love, and he rewards us with salvation when we offer these acts of love back to him (Romans 2:6–11, Galatians 6:6–10, Matthew 25:34–40).
15 Nor do they light a lamp and then put it under a bushel basket; it is set on a lampstand, where it gives light to all in the house.
16 Just so, your light must shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your heavenly Father. (Matthew 5: 15-16)
Jesus said it is not enough to have faith in him; we also must obey his commandments. "Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ but do not do the things I command?" (Luke 6:46, Matthew 7:21–23, 19:16–21).
We do not "earn" our salvation through good works (Ephesians 2:8–9, Romans 9:16), but our faith in Christ puts us in a special grace-filled relationship with God so that our obedience and love, combined with our faith, will be rewarded with eternal life (Romans 2:7, Galatians 6:8–9).
Paul said, "God is the one who, for his good purpose, works in you both to desire and to work" (Philippians 2:13).
John explained that "the way we may be sure that we know him is to keep his commandments. Whoever says, ‘I know him,’ but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him" (1 John 2:3–4, 3:19–24, 5:3–4).
Since no gift can be forced on the recipient—gifts always can be rejected—even after we become justified, we can throw away the gift of salvation.
We throw it away through grave (mortal) sin (John 15:5–6, Romans 11:22–23, 1 Corinthians 15:1–2; CCC 1854–1863). Paul tells us, "The wages of sin is death" (Romans 6:23).
Read his letters and see how often Paul warned Christians against sin! He would not have felt compelled to do so if their sins could not exclude them from heaven (see, for example, 1 Corinthians 6:9–10, Galatians 5:19–21).
Paul reminded the Christians in Rome that God "will repay everyone according to his works: eternal life for those who seek glory, honour, and immortality through perseverance in good works, but wrath and fury to those who selfishly disobey the truth and obey wickedness" (Romans 2:6–8).
Sins are nothing but evil works (CCC 1849–1850). We can avoid sins by habitually performing good works.
Every saint has known that the best way to keep free from sins is to embrace regular prayer, the sacraments (the Eucharist first of all), and charitable acts.