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Nobody said that Christ's way is the easy way, infact He said the opposite. I don't want to discourage you, I am glad that you are seeking, but I need to inform you that Protestantism isn't really any "easier" than Catholisism.finchuck said:So now I have something else to feel guilty about
Hey! Not fair...FOUL ball!Shelb5 said:Finchuck,
I noticed your new and you have no blesssings so here is 5000, go and buy yourself a fancy avatar or something.
Howdy Finchuck,finchuck said:That's how I feel at times. I prefer to consider myself a Christian trying to get myself right with God. Everyday I try to act more like Jesus. I try to be a good person, I try to do the right thing, and for the most part, I am succeeding.
Here's the thing about the sacrament of penance. The reason you do it in front of a priest is so that he can help you overcome your sin. I am probably not qualified to answer this to your satisfaction (we do confession differently in Orthodoxy). Have you ever sworn a friend to secrecy before telling them a secret about yourself? (Maybe it's just us girls who do that, I don't know!However, at times, mostly in the past as I've taken a new path recently, I've sinned. My question is this: Can a Catholic be forgiven of a sin if he/she doesn't go to confession? My conscious sometimes gets the best of me and I dont want to HAVE to go to confession and be "punished" everytime I commit a sin. I'd rather just turn around and try to live the life that God wants me to live without the priest's consent.
Hey, I'm 20 too!As you may be able to tell, this is all new to me. I'm only 20 and I never really looked into my religion much at all. It wasn't until recently that something occurred in my life that I had to overcome and I turned to God for help. I researched the Christian faith and as I read its values, I thought to myself "I can do this." But then when I look at the Catholic values, I sometimes think "I can't do this."
The important thing to know is that, as legalistic and strange as some Christian customs might seem, they're meant to help you experience God's grace. You might want to read about the sacraments and the symbolism involved, to find out why the Catholic Church might do such things that appear on the surface to be rather strange. You've got nothing to lose by getting more information, right?I am a good person, I know that. But I make mistakes. All I want is to get right with God and live the way he'd want me to live without all the hassles of rituals, customs, traditions, etc. getting in the way.
Right. One of the REAL benefits to OUR WAY, is the fast lane to heaven. Die, and if you are one of us, and have turned your life over to Jesus, and confessed, you are IN ... NOW, this second.Lotar said:I don't know the exact dynamics of Catholic confession, you should probably go to thier forum to ask about that. But as far as I know, you need to confess to a priest, and if you die without confessing a mortal sin you go to hell, but everything else just racks you up time on purgatory.
I wrote this earlier, it's not quite finished yet, but is mostly agreed upon. Catholics and the Church of Christ have a slightly different take on it (mostly on the works portion), but for the most part agree.finchuck said:So then what is somebody that believes in God, has received the sacraments up until Confirmation, tries to act the way God would want him to, but doesn't go to church?
On Salvation
Works play no part in salvation. Works come about as a result of salvation. If one does not have works, it is because they do not have salvation, not the other way around. To say that works are required for salvation, says that we are saved at least partly because of our own merit, which we know not to be true.
Romans 3:10
As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one:
Works are a result of salvation, but that does not mean that works cannot come for some other reason as well. All dogs are mammals, not all mammals are dogs. All who are saved have works, not all who have works are saved. If works are absent, it is because salvation is absent. Not salvation is absent because works are absent.
Galatians 2:16
nevertheless knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the Law but through faith in Christ Jesus, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, so that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the Law; since by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified.
James 2:26
For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead.
How do I know I am saved, and when am I saved?
Giving your life to Christ. Repenting and accepting His forgiveness for our sins, seeking and following His will through prayer and scripture, by having faith and the works to demonstrate it. It is stated this way because of the common trend in the Church today is, "I'm a Christian because my Mom/Dad were", have "because I was baptized". It's teaching that the faith must be yours, not your parents; it's not genetic.
No, not everyone will be saved who thinks that they are. Saying some prayer your pastor made up, getting baptized, being a basically good person, saying you believe in Jesus, or being "born a Christian" are common reasons people give for why they are saved. Unfortunately none of these things are going to get you to heaven.
How do I know others are saved?
You will know them by their fruit. Though we can never truly know their hearts.
Is it available only to Evangelical Fundamentalists, or can Mainline Protestants, Anglicans, Catholics and Orthodox partake of this relationship?
All Christians have it.
What was that like? And were you saved the moment before that? In other words, how did you know?
Actually, I don't know when the exact moment was for me. Thoughts who can pinpoint when usually were not raised in the church, or left the church and came back. I can say that in tenth grade was when I first made a real effort to apply my faith.
How do I know I am saved? Because I believe that Christ died and rose again for my sins. I have repented and turned from my sins, and make an effort to seek His will.
Romans 10:10
for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.
Religious feelings are no basis for faith, or a reason to believe that one is saved. If you merely follow your feelings, who knows where you'll end up? There are Muslims, Mormons, and Buddhists that get that feeling. Pray, and follow the word of God, don't rely on feelings.
The reason that Evangelical Christians focus on the personal side of the faith is that many people don't realize that it is an essential part of salvation. The downside is that some people seem to think we teach, pray this prayer and you go to heaven. Or you don't really need a church; you can be fine on your own. But it's just like how some people at other churches think you just need to show up on Sundays, or sometimes only on holidays. Salvation is through Grace alone, but faith without works is dead.
I don't know, you'd have to ask them.Am I not considered a Catholic anymore?
All it has to do with is what is most important to you. It is always possible to make time.This is confusing. I understand that Christ should be the #1 priority in somebody's life, but circumstances permitting, that can't be the case for everybody. Where does that leave them? On the outskirts waiting until they CAN put Christ in front?
Thanks. But I just gave them back to you. I got out, and want to stay out. Grin. I don't take "candy" from strangers, not even ones that seem like "nice guys."ej said:Check your blessings Bruce
Bruce, all this is going to do is cause problems. That is not at all what I was saying, it would do us all good if you deleted this post.Bruce S said:Right. One of the REAL benefits to OUR WAY, is the fast lane to heaven. Die, and if you are one of us, and have turned your life over to Jesus, and confessed, you are IN ... NOW, this second.
The other side takes the slow path. They get to "fry" for a tad before the detrius of the little stuff is burned off, this one is one of OUR side's best selling tools. Grin.
Or, you could still "obtain" an INDULGENCE, yes, they still have those, now they don't sell them like they USED TO, but they ARE still officially granted by the Pope. That burns off a centrury of suffering or two.
Silly notion that Purgatory thing [to MY way of understanding things.] I know the RCC's have chapter and verse that they still twist into justifying this.
BUT, being the RCC with the memory that goes WAY BACK, I can still recall their insistance on LIMBO.
Now, if you think Purgatory is odd, Limbo is stranger. It is the place where unbaptised Babies went to languish, outside of heaven, FOREVER. If you didn't have a dunk in water, and the right words, you stayed outside of God's grace forever.
Of course, the "INFALLIBLE" doctrines of today, have now overulled the "INFALLABLE" doctrines of yesterday, and that isn't doctrine anymore.
Ah...the rules change, you went to HELL for eating meat, no longer do, you went to Limbo and no longer do. I had a discussion here on this, the RCC's claimed that eating meat didn't send you to hell, but we CERTAINLY WERE TAUGHT THAT IT DID, clearly, loudly, and with fear and trembling did believe it was so.
Funny how MEN decide how you go to where and for what....
Fuming here, the memories of the stuff that turned me off coming back again. Sorry.
Well if we're gonna play it that way... I gave you 10,000.Bruce S said:Thanks. But I just gave them back to you. I got out, and want to stay out. Grin. I don't take "candy" from strangers, not even ones that seem like "nice guys."
I got my blessings the old fashioned way, gave up EWTN for Lent.
ROFLM..."X"O
I don't know what Catholics would say, but we would say that just going to confession isn't going to save you either. Also, how do you know when the last 10 years of your life will be? Christ could return, or you could die tomorrow.finchuck said:I think I am going to try and go to Confession for the last 10 years of my life and see how I feel after that. I just feel sorta funny and find it kind of arbitrary that God might reject me if I don't tell my sins to a priest.
I know that God already knows that I'm sorry for anythng and everything that I've done.
AmenLotar said:I don't know what Catholics would say, but we would say that just going to confession isn't going to save you either. Also, how do you know when the last 10 years of your life will be? Christ could return, or you could die tomorrow.
The Christian life may not always be easy, but God definately does bless you for following it. Plus you won't have that guilt hanging over your head.
hahahahaej said:Well if we're gonna play it that way... I gave you 10,000.
Okay. I guess I misunderstood you.finchuck said:I meant I haven't been to Confession in 10 years.
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