Brakelite
Well-Known Member
A) "It does not suffice to believe. He who believes and is not yet baptized, but is only a Catechumen, has not yet fully acquired salvation." St. Thomas Aquinas
B) "Now, even the Catechumen believes in the Cross of the Lord Jesus, but unless he be baptized in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost, he cannot receive remission of his sins nor the gift of spiritual grace." St. Ambrose
C) "Without the Sacrament of Baptism, no one is ever justified. If anyone says that Baptism is optional, that is, not necessary for salvation: let him be anathema." Council of Trent
there is only one true church founded by Christ matt 16:18 Jn 10:16
Are you aware @theefaith that the principle focus of your posts, all of your posts, from beginning to end, and thus the purpose thereof, is to direct people to your church? Even when you mention the name of Christ Jesus, it is with the purpose of exalting, glorifying, and magnifying your institution.
This ought not be so. It is Christ, and Him alone, that is the center point, the focal point, the central hub attached to which all things are dependant. He, and He alone is the Vine. The Root. Without Christ there is nothing... We can do nothing. Him and Him alone is Worthy of our praise and any glorying must be because of Him. The Protestant ethos of Christ alone is absolute. There is no other name given under heaven by which man can be saved. That includes the name Catholic. It is outside of Christ that no salvation is to be found. Not outside your church.
KJV Jeremiah 9:23-24
23 Thus saith the LORD, Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his might, let not the rich man glory in his riches: (nor let the religious man glory in his church)
24 But let him that glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth me, that I am the LORD which exercise lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness, in the earth: for in these things I delight, saith the LORD.
The unwillingness of the Lord to chastise is here vividly shown. . . .He makes plain the fact that only by the most thorough heart reformation could the impending doom be averted. In vain would be the trust they might place in the temple and its services. Rites and ceremonies could not atone for sin. Notwithstanding their claim to be the chosen people of God, reformation of heart and of the life practice alone could save them from the inevitable result of continued transgression.
KJV Jeremiah 9:12-14
12 Who is the wise man, that may understand this? and who is he to whom the mouth of the LORD hath spoken, that he may declare it, for what the land perisheth and is burned up like a wilderness, that none passeth through?
13 And the LORD saith, Because they have forsaken my law which I set before them, and have not obeyed my voice, neither walked therein;
14 But have walked after the imagination of their own heart, and after Baalim, which their fathers taught them:
If God spared not Israel... If God spared not the children of Adam in Noah's day... If God spared not the angels who rebelled against God's laws... Why will He spare a church that lives in selfish luxury, possesses great riches for it's own glorying, magnifies itself
KJV Revelation 18:7
7 How much she hath glorified herself, and lived deliciously, so much torment and sorrow give her: for she saith in her heart, I sit a queen, and am no widow, and shall see no sorrow.
You misrepresent Protestantism in order to glorify Catholicism. You ask, what happened to
faith alone...
Christ alone...
Grace alone...
And I will add, scripture alone.
If you have the scriptures, if you have faith, if you have Christ, and if you have grace, they are not alone. They have each other and are in harmony with each other.
It is the rituals and the dogmas and the man made doctrines of the institution you uphold...
The rituals that replace Christ...
The teachings that replace scriptures...
The dogmas that glorify the institution...
The doctrines that negate faith...
The works that deny grace...
These and many more are the reasons why the reformers were so hated and maligned for preaching against the abominations that were freely and without shame practised and taught in the church of the 16th,17th, and 18th centuries. Hence why the only weapon used against those reformers was not the gospel, no, but force, coercion, persecution, and death.
Don't speak to us of things you think we cannot answer or understand. Turn your life over to Christ, exalt Christ, then, and only then, is the beginning of wisdom.