You hear that a lot. "Catholicism has people running on a sacramental treadmill, never knowing if God loves them, and if they are saved." I confess, I can't beat up on you too bad, because I thought this, too. I'm sure Jerry Bridges is an awesome dude; many people have begun to have a relationship with Jesus through his work. The book "Transforming Grace" is where he uses the word. He should be honest, and plainly accuse the Catholic Church of whatever errors he wants to name. It's better that way.
It's in that spirit of love, frankness, and fraternal correction that I say this: I have rarely read such dangerous, heretical nonsense. But then, that's the whole Reformation in a nutshell: giving some people a false peace, by telling them Jesus forgave them at the Cross for all sin, past, present, and future, and making the rest fearful and scrupulous, first telling those people that the sacraments of the Church don't really do anything, and then telling them that the smallest sin could damn them.
I'm sorry, but not. By the way, the question behind the question: with thanks to Mark Shea: "By what authority?" I digress.
I have never lived in abject terror of God's judgment or hell-fire since I came into full communion with the Church. Romans 3:23 reads totally different to a Catholic. You know what it means? None of us here is innocent; all of us here need mercy. What is "mercy", you ask? God is Love, as a preface. Mercy is the experience of God as Love in the realization that you are a sinner. It is divine love to sinners. There is no greater fount of mercies than the sacraments of the Catholic Church.
I'm not chasing love; I'm drowning in it. In Him. The Church has a human dimension, to be sure. And members of that community of sinners aren't always so divine, me especially. But in its divine dimension, the Church truly is the Body of Christ; His hands, His feet, to carry you and me to Heaven's glory. That's why we confess to a priest: because ultimately only God can pardon us, and only His true priest lends his hands and His tongue to Jesus Christ.
I don't need or want false peace, and false assurance. The Reformed don't have any assurance, anyway.
It's in that spirit of love, frankness, and fraternal correction that I say this: I have rarely read such dangerous, heretical nonsense. But then, that's the whole Reformation in a nutshell: giving some people a false peace, by telling them Jesus forgave them at the Cross for all sin, past, present, and future, and making the rest fearful and scrupulous, first telling those people that the sacraments of the Church don't really do anything, and then telling them that the smallest sin could damn them.
I'm sorry, but not. By the way, the question behind the question: with thanks to Mark Shea: "By what authority?" I digress.
I have never lived in abject terror of God's judgment or hell-fire since I came into full communion with the Church. Romans 3:23 reads totally different to a Catholic. You know what it means? None of us here is innocent; all of us here need mercy. What is "mercy", you ask? God is Love, as a preface. Mercy is the experience of God as Love in the realization that you are a sinner. It is divine love to sinners. There is no greater fount of mercies than the sacraments of the Catholic Church.
I'm not chasing love; I'm drowning in it. In Him. The Church has a human dimension, to be sure. And members of that community of sinners aren't always so divine, me especially. But in its divine dimension, the Church truly is the Body of Christ; His hands, His feet, to carry you and me to Heaven's glory. That's why we confess to a priest: because ultimately only God can pardon us, and only His true priest lends his hands and His tongue to Jesus Christ.
I don't need or want false peace, and false assurance. The Reformed don't have any assurance, anyway.
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