interesting comparison on Salvation through Faith by Grace only:

http://www.christiananswers.net/q-sum/sum-r005a.html

Salvation through Faith by Grace Alone

Rediscovery of the biblical doctrine of justification by faith alone, more than any other truth, ignited the Protestant Reformation. On what grounds is a sinner accepted in the presence of a holy God? Acceptance is based on the “righteousness of God in Jesus Christ” (see Romans 3:19-24 below). It is a righteousness wholly outside the sinner, accomplished by Christ, and imputed to him through the one God-given means—faith in the Savior, acceptance of His gift of eternal life.

The Bible says:

Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world held accountable to God. Therefore no one will be declared righteous in his sight by observing the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of sin. But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.
-Romans 3:19-24 (NIV, emphasis added)

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast.
-Ephesians 2:8-9 (NIV, emphasis added)

(also see Romans 5:1, 11:6; Galatians 3:6; Ephesians 2:5, 3:7; Philippians 3:9; Titus 2:11, 3:7; I Timothy 1:14)

Catholicism says:

Man is justified by baptism plus faith, plus additional works (see Catholic Catechism Ref. Nos. 1265-1271, 1987-1995). The Holy Spirit's transforming work in the sinner becomes the grounds, along with faith, for justification. Most good Catholics are therefore very concerned with “being good enough,” “meriting,” and “earning” their salvation.

The Catholic Catechism says of baptism, for example:

"Baptism not only purifies from all sins, but also makes the neophyte 'a new creature,' an adopted son of God, who has become a ‘partaker of the divine nature,’ member of Christ and co-heir with him, and a temple of the Holy Spirit" (Catechism 1265, emphasis added). "… Justified by faith in Baptism, [they] are incorporated into Christ; they therefore have a right to be called Christians" (Catechism 1271).

If you have to work your way to salvation, Christ die in vain.

http://www.christiananswers.net/q-sum/sum-r005c.html

Salvation in Christ Alone

The Bible says that Christ is the only way of salvation. Biblical Protestant convictions have always been that no sinner can be saved apart from the saving work of Christ granted to him through faith. Christ's word, "No one comes to the Father except through Me," means that those only who are united to Christ will be saved; all others will die in their sins and suffer the wrath of God in hell forever.

The Catholic church teaches that only through faith in Christ plus Catholic baptism is salvation granted. There are exceptions; e.g., in the cases of martyrs for the faith (Catechism 1258), and infants dying without baptism (Catechism 1261).

The Second Vatican Council's Decree on Ecumenism states:

"For it is through Christ's Catholic Church ALONE, which is the universal help toward salvation, that the fullness of the means of salvation can be obtained" (emphasis added).

Furthermore, Catholicism teaches that all mankind, whether they come to faith in Christ or not, if they have a desire to please God and to be right with Him, though ignorant of Jesus Christ, can be saved! Hosts of Protestants and many adherents of all other religions, may be saved because they receive the benefits of Catholic baptism through their ignorance and desire!

Every man who is ignorant of the Gospel of Christ and of his Church, but seeks the truth and does the will of God in accordance with his understanding of it, can be saved. It may be supposed that such persons would have desired Baptism explicitly if they had known its necessity.
—Catechism 1260)

This doctrine called “Rapprochement” makes Catholicism a kind of universal religion, placing all religions to some degree under its umbrella. All people are thus capable of being saved, even in their unbelief (see Catechism 1257-1261).

The Bible says:

Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
—John 14:6 (KJV)

Christ is certainly the only way of salvation. Not by faith alone. God invites, you respond. That's freewill that all human beings have. Else we are nothing but robots. You conveniently ignored Christ and St Peter (why? because he's the first pope?) like those in Mark 16:16, Acts 10:34-47, Acts 16:30-33, Acts 2:38 and negates the importance of baptism?

The Catholic church teaches that only through faith in Christ plus Catholic baptism is salvation granted. => Not correct, because to a Protestant salvation is equated to the Catholic definition of redemption. For Catholics, salvation is a process that is completed when you are in Heaven. While on this earth, a Christian even those who are baptized and believes in Christ (faith) can still fall from grace.

This post has been edited by yeeck: Jun 17 2016, 11:27 PM

Sermon for the Fourth Sunday after Pentecost - 2016 -- Do not be afraid

by Fr. Richard G. Cipolla


"But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus' knees, saying: 'Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord.'" (Luke 5:8)


This gospel seems straightforward. Jesus wants to teach the crowd from a boat, sees that Simon’s boat is empty, asks him to pull out a little from the shore and starts speaking to the crowd. When he is done, he tells Simon Peter to bring the boat into deeper water to get a good catch. Simon explains that they have been trying all night long with no success. They are tired and discouraged. But Simon does as Jesus tells him and they not only catch a lot of fish, but there are so many fish the boats almost capsize. The allegorical level so far would also seem obvious. Peter’s boat is the Church, and to increase the number of followers of Jesus Christ, the Church cannot stay in the shallows but has to go out into the deep and trust in the Lord and there will be a huge increase in the members of Christ’s body that is the Church.


But the jarring element in this gospel is Peter’s reaction to the amazing catch of fish. Remember that this is how he earned his living. And this was the greatest catch he had ever experienced. Suppose you were a bond trader and one morning you had more trades than you have ever had and you made a huge profit in just an hour. What would your reaction be? Suppose you were a house painter, and one day you received fifty phone calls asking for your services and everyone offered you a payment for your services that was far and above what you ordinarily receive. Suppose you were a real estate agent, and after months of no sales, in one hour fifty homes that were your listings all sold and at a greatly inflated price. You get the picture.


And what would your reaction be to this unbelievable windfall? The answer is obvious. It would not be Simon Peter’s reaction: "Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord." For most of us his reaction is a non-sequitur. It does not make sense to us. He should be happy, very happy. He should have hugged Jesus with a broad smile on his face. But no. Get out of my boat, I don’t want you here because I am a sinful man, O Lord. Notice the 'O Lord'. What is the meaning of this reaction?


What happened to Peter at this moment is first of all his intense awareness of the presence of the divine in this miraculous catch. For the first time he sees Jesus as the Lord, as the presence in some way he could not describe of the divine, of God. Luke says: For he and all who were with him were amazed at the catch of fish they had made. Luke, the master of understatement for effect. Peter interprets the great catch, the windfall, the unexpected success, not to the market forces, or to luck, or to personal merit, intellectual or otherwise. Peter immediately knows that what has happened has nothing to do with him. But would you and I think in this way? Would not most of us attribute the windfall at least in part to our own skill, our own hard work, our own insight into market forces or whatever? We would reinterpret the event and would re-interpret ourselves in the light of our great success. And this would be very bad, for it is an offense against reality, especially the reality of ourselves. The Italians say: cose succedono: things happen. But when good things happen, even if we piously say things like, thanks, Lord, we purr with satisfaction at our own triumph. This can be seen in that Calvinistic attitude—whether or not Calvin would have totally approved we do not know—that worldly success is a sign of God’s favor, which interpretation greatly influenced Protestant Christianity in this country. Apparently those who fell into this way of thinking never read the book of Job, which demolishes any such ordinary link.


But with Peter it is deeper than this, for he has a flash of insight about himself, about who he really is, a flash that exposes his sinfulness to himself, and he is appalled and frightened, and recognizes in some way he could never explain that the man in his boat sees him as he really is and that the two of them cannot be in the same place, the sinner cannot abide to be in the presence of the holy. Perhaps Peter sees in this flash of insight where he will be led and the shape of his cross, perhaps he sees his denial of the man in the boat, all in this flash of a nanosecond. Without this moment of truth about oneself, never mind Peter, the truth about you and me, without this moment of insight into who we really are, the boat goes nowhere. And Jesus understands Peter’s reaction, he understands that Peter has had a moment of truth about the reality of himself and that it has shaken him. And what is Jesus’ response: Do not be afraid; from now on you will catch men. No more fishing. No more bad catches, good catches. Nor more ordinary living. To bring the message and reality of Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior of the world to the world: there is the new job of Peter and the others. And to do this they have to give everything up. They left all and followed him. What does this mean? What happened to Peter’s wife? His children, if he had any? Not gone, surely. But no longer the primary focus of his life. And yet a married man has a solemn obligation to his family, to be a husband and father. But even this is transcended in this calling that requires the total self, heart, body, mind, soul.




But let us back up. The first words. Those are important to Peter and to us. Do not be afraid. Do not be afraid. Those words that John Paul II said when he appeared on the balcony of St. Peter’s after his election to the papacy: his first words to the crowd: non abbi paura. And Jesus has to say this to Peter and the other disciples, for he knows what it will demand to be his disciple in the deepest sense. He knows the opposition of the world all too well, that opposition that will crucify him. And yet he says those words in the face of Peter’s crucifixion: do not be afraid. He can say this because he is the Lord of world who understands the terrible power of the world, the violent opposition of the world to the truth and therefore to him, and he alone can see beyond Peter’s denial of him and beyond Peter’s crucifixion to the triumph of the resurrection that is the beginning of the triumph over sin and death and the coming of the one who has said and says and will say: "See I make all things new. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end." Maranatha. Lord, come quickly.

St. Paul talks about images and types in the Old Testament being fulfilled in the new.

St. Paul says the law was a pedagogue of Christ. A pedagogue is a child's teacher. The law teaches us the mysteries of Christ. They are shadows of the true spiritual nature of their heavenly realities.

A reality of a type has to take on the same properties as the type.

Circumcision was a sign of God's covenant that he would be the God of the Israelites and he would be their people. Through the law the parents circumcised their children by the eighth day.

St. Paul relates the pedagogue of circumcision to the heavenly reality of Baptism which expands the covenant family making the family universal, Catholic. You are no longer Jews or Gentiles freeman or slave because you have been baptized in Christ Jesus which makes you an heir to the promise of Abraham.

Christ said I did not come to abolish the law but to fulfill the law.

The types become their heavenly reality. Symbols do not evolve into symbols but into eternal truths.

The Eucharist is prefigured in the Passover Lamb that needed to be consumed, the table of the presence that contained a cereal offering that was a perpetual law to be kept in front of the veil that was in front of the Holy of Holies, in the manna that fell from heaven and was placed in the ark that contained Aarons staff that budded ( the cross the tree of life) and the ten commandments ( the law written on our hearts) the heavenly reality was carried in the womb of Mother Mary.

God put in place another sign in the daily temple sacrifice called the Tamid. The Tamid was a sacrifice of Lamb, bread, and wine. At 9:00 in the morning and 3:00 pm everyday the high priest raised the Lamb before the veil sanctifying the bread and wine on the altar then eating what is sanctified.

As Christ died on the cross saying the Todah prayer ( my God my God why have you forsaken me, through the soul of His spouse) the Lamb was raised, the veil was ripped from heaven to earth and the high priest showed us the Holy Mass by presenting the sacrifice before the Holy of Holies which is a type for heaven itself which contains the presence of the Father and the hosts of heaven. It is finished. The true Tamid is established. I have established my kingdom and covenant memorial of the eternal covenant in my blood ( Do this in remembrance of me ) the memorial covenant sacrifice of the eternal cross in the Holy Mass that will always be before the eyes of the Father before he sees the sins of the world in which the table of the presence and the menorah/cross of tree of life, was a type.

We walk by faith not by sight.

And they dedicated themselves to the doctrine and the breaking of the bread and the prayers.

O you foolish Galatians whom before your very own eyes Christ is portrayed as crucified among you.

Hebrews 12: 22-24

This is fullfilled at every Holy Mass in which our high priest Melchizedek mediates with His priests to offer the memorial of the life giving Cross in the form of bread and wine and we are mystically sprinkled with the blood that cleanses all venial sins so that we can be refined and offer the clean oblation (unbloody) without blemish before the Father with the hosts of heaven.

"Do this in remembrance of me ...",
Anamnesis in Greek which means offer this memorial sacrifice.

Malachi 3: 1-4

Malachi 1: 11

1 Corinthians 11:23-26

Romans 15: 16

Mysteries mysterion sacramentum sacrament.

yeah...work for your salvation.

Salvation is through Christ and Peter? Again you are working your way to Salvation. LOL!

http://www.christiananswers.net/q-sum/sum-r005e.html

Mary, Jesus' Mother
Statue of Mary

Protestants have historically held Mary in high regard as a godly and highly favored woman of God, a sinner saved by the grace of her divine Son.

Catholic dogma, on the other hand, has exalted her in an irresponsible and idolatrous way. She is declared to have been free from all original sin (the dogma of the Immaculate Conception, first declared in 1854; Catechism 491-492), free from any actual sin during her life (Catechism 411), and perpetually a virgin even after the birth of Jesus (Catechism 499-500).

Mary… was redeemed from the moment of her conception… preserved immune from all stain of original sin.
-Catechism 491

Mary remained free of every personal sin her whole life long.
-Catechism 493

Allegedly, Mary was taken, body and soul, into heaven (Catechism 974). This is the dogma of the “Assumption of Mary,” declared in the year 1950! In heaven, Mary supposedly intercedes for the church as "advocate, helper, benefactress, and mediatrix" (Catechism 969). She is made virtually a co-savior with her Son (Catechism 968). Recently, an increasing number of prominent Catholics have petitioned the church to officially declare that Mary can provide forgiveness of sins!

These doctrines are so far afield from the Scriptures that biblical Protestants are amazed and saddened.

The Bible says:

For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.
—1 Timothy 2:5 (KJV)

Jesus Christ of Nazareth… Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.
—Acts 4:10-12 (KJV)

http://www.christiananswers.net/q-sum/sum-r005g.html

The Papacy and Infallibility

The PopeCatholicism teaches the dogma of the infallibility of the Roman pontiff. This was not declared by the church until the year 1870. Yet through the church's motto of Semper idem (“Always the same”), it is claimed that the church has always held this, going back to the first Pope, the Apostle Peter! (Catechism 80-82, 85).

The pope, as the vicar (deputy, substitute for, representative) of Christ, is considered infallible only when he speaks “ex cathedra” (“from the chair”). But, as the reference below makes very clear, this tradition, along with other traditions of the church, is considered to be as authoritative as the Scriptures.

As a result the Church, to whom the transmission and interpretation of Revelation is entrusted, does not derive her certainty about all revealed truths from the holy Scriptures alone. Both Scripture and Tradition must be accepted and honoured with equal sentiments of devotion and reverence.
—Catechism 82 (emphasis added)

Thus, for the Roman Catholic, submission to the formal teaching of the church's tradition is as important as submission to the Scriptures.

The Protestant Reformation restored to the body of Christ the doctrine of sola scriptura (“Scripture alone”). The Roman Catholic faith has shown a willingness to raise the pope above Jesus Christ and the Bible by giving him the right to nullify Scripture through papal decrees. The conscience of the biblical Protestant (like that of Martin Luther) is bound by the Bible alone. "The Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments are the Word of God, the only infallible rule for faith and life." It cannot be both ways. The traditions of the churches are often of value. But these traditions must always be subordinate to, and constantly corrected by, the Scriptures, which alone are the Word of God.

http://www.christiananswers.net/q-sum/sum-r005h.html

The Sacrifice of the Mass

A Catholic mass is by definition the sacrifice of Christ (Catechism 1322, 1338). The Baltimore Catechism (Confraternity Edition of 1949) says,

"Christ gives us His own body and blood in the holy Eucharist first, to be offered as a sacrifice commemorating and renewing for all time the sacrifice of the cross" (Catechism 356).

While the Catholic catechisms quote the passages that speak of Christ dying once, they also teach that the priest miraculously transforms the bread and wine into Christ's real body, and that Jesus is then sacrificed anew. "The blood is real blood (it looks like wine and tastes like wine at Mass, but it is truly the Blood of Christ." [1]

Although there is some variation among Protestants on the meaning of the Lord's supper, without exception biblical Protestants teach that the sacrament is not a renewal or a revisitation of the bodily sacrifice of Christ. Rather it is a remembrance and a memorial use of symbols blessed by God to the benefit of the humbled believer.

This contrast is far more than a controversy of words. It goes to the very heart of the difference between Catholicism and Protestant Christianity. Protestant faith denies that the church has the power to perform the mass's “miracle of transubstantiation,” and it further denies that the Lord's Supper's purpose is to see accomplished the death of Christ all over again.

"Nor did He [Jesus Christ] enter heaven to offer himself again and again…"
—Hebrews 9:25 (NIV) (see Hebrews 9:25-10:18)

http://www.christiananswers.net/q-sum/sum-r005i.html

Purgatory

The Roman Catholic Church does not teach its people to have confidence in the full forgiveness of their sins through the death of Christ alone. Nor are they taught that the righteousness of God accomplished by Jesus Christ is their permanent possession. The result is that the faithful Catholic is taught never to come to full assurance of salvation during their Earthly life, for they are still capable of committing “mortal sin.” A Catholic's redemption is always dependent on their maintaining a faithfulness to the Church’s doctrine and practice.

Thus Catholics are taught that when they die, if they have not committed mortal sins (and with the exception of the special class of believers they call “saints”), all go to the place the church calls purgatory. The Catechism states,

“All who die in God's grace and friendship, but still imperfectly purified, are indeed assured of their eternal salvation; but after death they undergo purification, so as to achieve the holiness necessary to enter the joy of heaven…”

“The Church formulated her doctrine of faith on Purgatory especially at the Councils of Florence and Trent” (Catechism 1030-1031). This concept of purgatory led to the unbiblical Catholic doctrine of prayers for the dead (Catechism 1032). Catholic believers are taught that “it is a holy and a wholesome thought to pray for the dead that they may be loosed from their sins” (Catechism 958).

Does God's Word teach about purgatory?

There is no mention of purgatory in the 66 books of the Bible, and since the orthodox biblical view of forgiveness assures redeemed sinners that their sins have all been paid in Christ, the doctrine of purgatory is rejected by Protestants as an erroneous addition to the Bible. Furthermore, we believe that it has been created by the church out of virtual necessity, as its view of the inadequacy of Christ's death demands such a doctrine.

This doctrine simply fits with Catholicism's whole system of justification by faith plus works—a keystone of Catholic theology. There is no possible way to reconcile Catholic teaching with Protestant teaching or the Bible on this point. Purgatory is part of a false gospel.

Power crazy system.

http://www.christiananswers.net/q-sum/sum-r005k.html

The Priestly System

The Old Testament clearly established a priesthood (the Levites) to serve Israel. This Earthly priesthood was a symbol of the Messiah's eternal priesthood. The book of Hebrews explains its purpose and fulfillment. Historic Protestantism, because of its study of the Scriptures, proclaimed the “universal priesthood of all believers.” The special office of priest was fulfilled in our Savior, and thus came to an end in Him.

Although Catholicism acknowledges this universal priesthood, it sustains a “weak and beggarly element” of the old covenant and assigns to its priests remarkable power as pastors of the church. This system is essential to the power of the Catholic Church and cannot be justified by the Bible.

One of the finest scholars of Roman Catholic Scripture, Raymond E. Brown, shocked Catholics when he discovered that:

When we move from the Old Testament to the New Testament, it is striking that while there are pagan priests and Jewish priests on the scene, no individual Christian is ever specifically identified as a priest. The Epistle to the Hebrews speaks of the high priesthood of Jesus by comparing his death and entry into heaven with the actions of the Jewish high priest who went into the Holy of Holies in the Tabernacle once a year with a offering for himself and for the sins of his people (Hebrews 9:6-7).

But it is noteworthy that the author of Hebrews does not associate the priesthood of Jesus with the Eucharist or the Last Supper; neither does he suggest that other Christians are priests in the likeness of Jesus. In fact, the once-for-all atmosphere that surrounds the priesthood of Jesus in Hebrews 10:12-14, has been offered as an explanation of why there are no Christian priests in the New Testament period.[1]

Biblical Protestantism repudiates the Catholic priesthood system, and would consider its proposed imposition a radical violation of its conscience before God.

Salvation is through Christ, but you ignored the words of Christ and St Peter as per scripture references given. Gosh.

Lies. Mediatrix of all graces doesn't mean she bypasses Jesus the sole Redeemer of mankind. It is precisely because of her special relationship with her Son and her faithfulness that she mediates for us to Jesus.

This post has been edited by yeeck: Jun 18 2016, 05:49 PM

The Priesthood Is Both Ministerial and Universal
By: Tim Staples

Hebrews 7:22-25 says: "This makes Jesus the surety of a better covenant. The former priests were many in number, because they were prevented by death from continuing in office; but he holds his priesthood permanently, because he continues forever."

Millions of Protestants and members of various quasi-Christian sects see in this and similar texts "proof" that a Catholic understanding of the priesthood is false. After all, don’t Catholics claim to have priests who are "many in number?"

One Mediator, Two Priesthoods

The Protestant interpretation of Hebrews 7 is contradicted by 1 Peter 2:5-9. Peter says: "like living stones be yourselves built into a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ . . . But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s own people . . ."

When Peter declares all Christians to be priests, he does not contradict Christ as our "one mediator between God and men," which is the definition of a priest (1 Tm 2:5). The Catholic Church affirms and harmonizes both texts and both concepts.

There are two keys to understanding Hebrews 7.

Context: The inspired author is showing the superiority of Christ’s priesthood in contrast with the Old Covenant priesthood. He never denies the existence of a New Covenant priesthood.
Distinction: Christians do not usurp or diminish the unique priesthood of Christ when they are made to be priests. Unlike Old Covenant priests, they participate in the one priesthood of Christ. So intimate is the union of the baptized with Christ that St. Paul describes it as a body (cf. Rom 12:5,1 Cor 12:12-27) with Christ as its head (cf. Eph 1:22-23). What can be attributed to a hand in the body does not somehow take away from the head. It is Christ who empowers all Christians to participate in his priesthood. Indeed, it is "Christ [and his priesthood] living in them" (cf. Gal 2:20).
First Peter 2 indicates that all Christians are priests—but it does not mention the existence of a ministerial priesthood. Indeed, the ordained ministers of the New Covenant are called apostles (cf. Eph. 4:11), presbyters (cf. Jas 5:14), bishops (cf. 1 Tm 3:1), and deacons (cf. 1 Tm 3:8ff), but never priests (Gk. hiereus). So how do Catholics demonstrate the existence of a ministerial priesthood distinct from the universal priesthood?

First of all, a careful reading of 1 Peter 2, verses 5 and 9 reveals a reference to Exodus 19:6: ". . . and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation." This text from Exodus indicates a universal priesthood in the Old Testament. And yet, in Exodus 19:22, we read, "And also let the priests who come near to the Lord consecrate themselves . . . " In other words, a universal priesthood in the Old Covenant did not exclude the possibility of a distinct ministerial priesthood as well. It would be natural then to expect the same in the New Covenant. And indeed, that is precisely what we discover.

So I Send You

We should not be surprised that the noun "priest" (Gk. hiereus) was not used as a title for New Covenant ministers: This same term was used by the more numerous Jewish and even pagan priests of the first century (cf. Lk 1:8-9, Acts 14:13). Using different titles for New Covenant priests would be one way of distinguishing them. However, the verb form of hiereus is used for New Testament ministers. It is found when Paul speaks specifically of his ministry as an apostle, referring to it as a "priestly service": ". . . because of the grace given me by God to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles in the priestly service (Gk. hierourgounta) of the gospel of God…" (Rom 15:15b-16a).

Here we see a central clue to the priestly nature of New Covenant ministers that becomes more and more telling as we traverse Scripture. New Covenant ministers reveal their essence as priests by their priestly functions. We do not find this priestly function ascribed to deacons, but we do in the cases of apostles, bishops, and "elders." In this brief analysis, we will only consider apostles and "elders."

In Scripture, we see our Lord definitively choosing and sending apostles to act as priests, or "mediators between God and men." For example, after the Resurrection, our Lord appears to the apostles and says to them: "‘Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I send you.’ And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and said to them, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained’" (Jn 20:21-23).

Here, Jesus communicated the power to forgive and retain sins—just as he himself had done—to the apostles. This is a priestly ministry (see also Lv 19:21-22).

Tense Matters

Some Protestant scholars attempt to evade the rather obvious meaning here by claiming the verbs, "are forgiven" and "are retained" indicate that when Jesus said, "If you forgive . . . they are forgiven," he actually meant whoever’s sins they forgive would have already been forgiven. And even more, they would not have been forgiven through the ministry of the apostle, but by God apart from the apostle. Because "the first verbs in the two clauses are aorists, which imply the action of an instant; [and] the second verbs are perfects," one scholar claims that these verbs "imply an abiding state that began before the action of the first verbs" (Merrill C. Tenney, The Expositor’s Bible Commentary, 9:193).

Dr. Tenney’s argument is weak. First, kratete, "you retain," is present—not aorist—tense, indicating that the apostle’s authority to "retain" is ongoing. This fact alone reveals Tenney’s argument to be hollow. But his argument also does not sufficiently acknowledge that these two verbs, "you forgive" and "you retain," in these protases (conditional clauses) are subjunctives contained within indefinite relative clauses. It is true the aorist subjunctive here with regard to whoever sins you forgive would indicate an instant action, but the subjunctive mood within an indefinite relative clause expresses uncertainty or potentiality with regard to the subject. While this is not a proper future tense, it does indicate the future in the sense of something that is possible. This would seem to indicate a conditional thought that must be fulfilled before the apodosis (concluding clause) "are forgiven" could be fulfilled. In short, before the definite event of these sins being forgiven can come about—indicated by the perfect tense—another merely possible event must occur; namely, the apostle must forgive those sins.

The text of John 20 is really quite plain. It tells us when the sins spoken of are forgiven: when the apostles forgive them. This is not to say the apostles accomplish this by their own power. Jesus "breathed on them" and gave them the power of the Holy Spirit to forgive sins. But the apostles are revealed to be the instruments of God’s forgiveness.

Not Just Anyone

Consider James 5:13-17:

Is any one among you suffering? Let him pray. Is any cheerful? Let him sing praise. Is any one among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church . . . and the prayer of faith will save the sick man, and the Lord will raise him up; and if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. Therefore confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man has great power in its effects. Elijah was a man of like nature . . .

When it comes to one "suffering;" James says, "Let him pray." "Is any cheerful? Let him sing praise." But when it comes to sickness and personal sins, he tells his readers they must go to the "elders"—not just anyone—in order to receive this "anointing" and the forgiveness of sins.

Some will object and point out that verse 16 says to confess our sins "to one another" and pray "for one another." Is not James just encouraging us to confess our sins to a close friend so we can help one another to overcome our faults?

The context seems to disagree with this interpretation for three main reasons:

1. James had just told us to go to the presbyter in verse 14 for healing and the forgiveness of sins. Then, verse 16 begins with the word therefore—a conjunction connecting verse 16 back to verses 14 and 15. The context seems to point to the "elder" as the one to whom we confess our sins.

2. Ephesians 5:21 employed this same phrase, "to one another," in the context of teaching about the sacrament of holy matrimony: "Be subject to one another out of reverence for Christ." Even though the text says "to one another," the context limits the scope of the meaning of "to one another" specifically to a man and wife—not just anyone. Similarly, the context of James 5 bears out that the confession "to one another" refers to the relationship between "anyone" and specifically an "elder" or "priest" (Gk. presbuteros).

3. The final words of the passage speak specifically of ministers called by God to minister to his people in his place, i.e., Elijah the prophet (cf. Jas 5:17).

The Perfect Future

One final text we will examine is Matthew 16:18-19: "And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church . . . I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven."

Catholics are generally well-acquainted with this text and its meaning with regard to papal infallibility. Here Jesus promises Peter the power to proclaim the gospel on earth with the infallible authority of heaven to back him up. But fewer consider its implications in relation to the forgiveness of sins (see CCC 553). In both cases, we are talking about priestly functions; that is, Peter and his successors are here promised the power to be mediators of both the message of God’s truth and the healing communicated through God’s forgiveness.

The text itself is clear in that it uses a very rare Greek construction that profoundly brings out the sacerdotal nature of the Petrine office. It uses the future perfect periphrastic tense, which employs the future tense of the verb "to be" along with the perfect participle. According to Dr. James Allen Hewett:

This tense . . . occurs rarely in the [Greek New Testament], but the student will do well to be familiar with it. Consider Matthew 16:19 (two examples) and 18:18 (two examples): "Whatever you bind on the earth will have been bound [estai dedemenon] in heaven and whatever you loose on the earth will have been loosed [estai lelumenon] in heaven." The construction declares that a completed heavenly action and its continuing results will come to exist on earth upon the completion of a future earthly event. (New Testament Greek: A Beginning and Intermediate Grammar, 152)

To put it simply: God’s power being released "from heaven" is contingent upon a future event of Peter and his successors acting on earth. That, in a nutshell, could be a dictionary definition of priest.

http://www.catholic.com/magazine/articles/...l-and-universal

Q. I was asked this question: that Virgin Mary needed a savior!

A. Though Mary, is Truly the Immaculate Conception aka Born Without Sin. Jesus Christ is not only Her Son and Her God, but also, Her SAVIOR!

Not as saving Her because she was born in sin, Like Us, but SAVING Virgin Mary from the NOTHINGNESS, that She was, to a CREATED BEING, SO PERFECTLY CREATED, FULL OF GRACE, because of who She is today, THE MOTHER OF GOD. Amen

As Virgin Mary Stated: "...My Spirit has rejoiced in God My Savior..."

Hail Mary, Full of Grace.



This post has been edited by yeeck: Jun 18 2016, 06:04 PM