This is part of a series on Roman Catholicism. See this index. In Part 1, we discussed how Gunner Q had identified the Jewish Tefillin as the Mark of the Beast. John the Revelator described the Mark of the Beast in the book of Revelation:[1] In scripture there are just three primary …
Living vs Dead Consider this quotation: Does this contradict Galatians 2:16? Of course not. James 2:14-26 is summarized in the tautology: if you don’t live your faith, your faith is not living, but dead The difference between living and dead faith is the nature of that faith, not the deeds. …
Perseverance and Salvation The word sōzesthe (σῴζεσθε) can be translated either as “you are saved” or “you are being saved.” Regardless of which one is chosen, Paul does not describe a works-based salvation, as if 1 Corinthians 15:2 said “you are saved as long as you live the gospel.” Paul doesn’t say “unless …
In this discussion on justification by faith, we have talked a lot about faith, but not a lot about justification. In the Bible, the word translated as justification comes from the Greek word dikaioó (δικαιόω): I make righteous defend the cause of plead for the righteousness (innocence) of acquit justify; hence: …
Faith and Works Are we saved by faith alone? Are there other prerequisites? Many verses explicitly state that salvation requires belief—faith. Some explicitly state that works do not save. Some are directly out of the mouth of Jesus. Let’s imagine that faith is required, but not sufficient, for salvation. Then, every scripture that …
After we defined what faith was (and wasn’t) in Part 2, we then openly wondered about the interplay between living faith and bad (or no) works. Does the presence of bad works—disobedience—indicate that one did not have faith or salvation? Next, we noted that, while Jesus in the second gospel …
In Part 1, we discussed how faith, belief, works, obedience, justification, and salvation are all dependent on love. The Greatest Commandment is to love God. Without a person first loving God, those other things are nothing. Love has primacy. It is only through love that our incorporeal sacrifices of our …
The New Sacrifice In the midst of my series on the Eucharist, I discussed the prophecy of Malachi and concluded that what God wanted most was followers who love him: Cyril had identified the incense and pure sacrifice spoken of by Malachi as the blessings, praise, and glory that the church—congregation—offers to …
This is part of a series on Roman Catholicism. See this index. In “Living Voice,” I discussed the official Roman Catholic position on scripture and teased the upcoming series on justification by faith. But, before we delve into the new series, I want to continue setting up the background for …
This is part of a series on Roman Catholicism. See this index. In my series on the Eucharist, I discussed a few Roman Catholic apologists: FishEaters, Church Fathers, and Joshua Charles. One of the issues I highlighted was what is known as “quote mining,” where a quote is taken out-of-context or …