I don’t know a lot about different church doctrines or their guided paths to salvation or omnipotent control over access to the lord? I’m not against organized religion I believe it was influential in spreading Christ message and love and can be again.
I believe the Pentecost instilled the ability for all to be infilled by the spirit did it not?
When Jesus hung on the cross beside two thieves. One called him Lord and believed. I’m assuming he was unbaptized, at that moment he had faith and was repentant of his sins? What was Christs response.
Luke 23 42-43
Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom". Jesus replies, "Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with in paradise.”
I enjoyed this read. Here are a couple quick observations. First, I’ll start with a quote:
“The Augustinian, medieval Scholastic and Tridentine theology of justification suffers from one fatal fault: Paul does not mean by the word "justify" what they claim he means by the word "justify." As some modern Catholic exegetes now concede.” - Peter Leithart (Delivered from the Elements of the World)
Fr. Joseph Fitzmyer is one of those exegetes that Peter Leithart is taking about. In the Anchor Bible Romans commentary, Fr. Fitzmyer concedes that the language Paul uses is court (forensic) language. It is declarative, not a process.
As Luther said, Justification by faith (declared in preaching the Gospel and received by faith alone) is the article by which the church stands or falls. This is the hard pill for many Catholics (and even Protestants today) to swallow. This is the center. It destabilizes us. It ends our “anthropology”, our “gospels” which are “according to” and “received” by men. (Gal. 1:11)
It is God coming down in the preached word, ending our rebellion and pride, and beginning a new world in the “hearing” of the message of His Son. The Father loves His Son. If we can get our eyes off of ourselves for once in our lives (all our “works”, our “merits”, our “systems”) and keep them peeled on the Son whom the Father loves, and focus on Jesus “work” we would be free. In biblical lingo: saved.
I wonder though…, is “ritual” a four-letter word for born again believers?
No doubt, the rituals of the Catholic Church have gone “sideways”, and even back under “the elementary principles of the old world” in many ways, but can we celebrate the new creation event with new rituals?
Can the Catholic Mass be reformed so that it is no longer a “work” we perform to merit favor from God, but a “work” we receive given to us by God, which “seals” the onetime event of our justification?
Luther believed so. He believed the “sacraments” of baptism and the Lord’s Supper are ways the “hidden God” comes down to us to be “for us”, which caused Luther to declare:
“We have a definite Lord, one we can grasp.”
In his article “the Catholic Luther”, Lutheran scholar David Yeago writes:
With regard to our Lord’s promise in Matthew 16:19: “Whatever you loose on earth is loosed in heaven.” Luther finally responds that the concrete, external, public sacramental act in the Church is the act of Jesus Christ. When we come to the sacrament, we come to Jesus Christ: his word, his act, his authority.”
David Yeago continues:
“From 1518 on, it is the particularity and concreteness of God’s presence that now foreclose idolatry; the true God, who by definition cannot be used, is the God who makes Himself available as He chooses, in the flesh born of Mary and the Church’s sacramental practice, not in our religious speculation and self-interest.”
This is a topic that deserves deep digging, but here are my initial thoughts.
We have to remember that the Reformation was, fundamentally, a reformation of Catholic theology. It was built upon the foundation of Augustine, and in my opinion, it didn't go far enough. Like Augustine, Luther tragically rejected our Jewish roots, and that was a colossal error. You can't sever the root without killing the branch. Even Scripture supports this point.
If we truly stand by Sola Scriptura, we must make a conscious effort to shed the lenses of our "pagan convert"—to stop reading the Holy Word through Augustine's Hellenized, Greek-influenced eyes. It wasn't until after the break from Rome that believers even dared to think outside of his monumental shadow.
On your second point, you've hit on a vital truth. I recall Luther famously described our righteousness as a dunghill covered by snow—God imputing Christ's righteousness over our filth. And while I understand the forensic point he was making, I only agree in part.
You see, the work of Jesus is never merely a passive covering. He doesn't just throw a white sheet over our sin. He transforms us from the inside out. It is a divine, active, and ongoing work of renewal. We are not just declared righteous; we are being made righteous, conformed to the image of the Son. His grace is the power for change, not just a pardon for the past.
As a former catholic I really enjoyed reading this!
I don’t know a lot about different church doctrines or their guided paths to salvation or omnipotent control over access to the lord? I’m not against organized religion I believe it was influential in spreading Christ message and love and can be again.
I believe the Pentecost instilled the ability for all to be infilled by the spirit did it not?
When Jesus hung on the cross beside two thieves. One called him Lord and believed. I’m assuming he was unbaptized, at that moment he had faith and was repentant of his sins? What was Christs response.
Luke 23 42-43
Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom". Jesus replies, "Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with in paradise.”
I enjoyed this read. Here are a couple quick observations. First, I’ll start with a quote:
“The Augustinian, medieval Scholastic and Tridentine theology of justification suffers from one fatal fault: Paul does not mean by the word "justify" what they claim he means by the word "justify." As some modern Catholic exegetes now concede.” - Peter Leithart (Delivered from the Elements of the World)
Fr. Joseph Fitzmyer is one of those exegetes that Peter Leithart is taking about. In the Anchor Bible Romans commentary, Fr. Fitzmyer concedes that the language Paul uses is court (forensic) language. It is declarative, not a process.
As Luther said, Justification by faith (declared in preaching the Gospel and received by faith alone) is the article by which the church stands or falls. This is the hard pill for many Catholics (and even Protestants today) to swallow. This is the center. It destabilizes us. It ends our “anthropology”, our “gospels” which are “according to” and “received” by men. (Gal. 1:11)
It is God coming down in the preached word, ending our rebellion and pride, and beginning a new world in the “hearing” of the message of His Son. The Father loves His Son. If we can get our eyes off of ourselves for once in our lives (all our “works”, our “merits”, our “systems”) and keep them peeled on the Son whom the Father loves, and focus on Jesus “work” we would be free. In biblical lingo: saved.
I wonder though…, is “ritual” a four-letter word for born again believers?
No doubt, the rituals of the Catholic Church have gone “sideways”, and even back under “the elementary principles of the old world” in many ways, but can we celebrate the new creation event with new rituals?
Can the Catholic Mass be reformed so that it is no longer a “work” we perform to merit favor from God, but a “work” we receive given to us by God, which “seals” the onetime event of our justification?
Luther believed so. He believed the “sacraments” of baptism and the Lord’s Supper are ways the “hidden God” comes down to us to be “for us”, which caused Luther to declare:
“We have a definite Lord, one we can grasp.”
In his article “the Catholic Luther”, Lutheran scholar David Yeago writes:
With regard to our Lord’s promise in Matthew 16:19: “Whatever you loose on earth is loosed in heaven.” Luther finally responds that the concrete, external, public sacramental act in the Church is the act of Jesus Christ. When we come to the sacrament, we come to Jesus Christ: his word, his act, his authority.”
David Yeago continues:
“From 1518 on, it is the particularity and concreteness of God’s presence that now foreclose idolatry; the true God, who by definition cannot be used, is the God who makes Himself available as He chooses, in the flesh born of Mary and the Church’s sacramental practice, not in our religious speculation and self-interest.”
I’d love to know your thoughts on this?
This is a topic that deserves deep digging, but here are my initial thoughts.
We have to remember that the Reformation was, fundamentally, a reformation of Catholic theology. It was built upon the foundation of Augustine, and in my opinion, it didn't go far enough. Like Augustine, Luther tragically rejected our Jewish roots, and that was a colossal error. You can't sever the root without killing the branch. Even Scripture supports this point.
If we truly stand by Sola Scriptura, we must make a conscious effort to shed the lenses of our "pagan convert"—to stop reading the Holy Word through Augustine's Hellenized, Greek-influenced eyes. It wasn't until after the break from Rome that believers even dared to think outside of his monumental shadow.
On your second point, you've hit on a vital truth. I recall Luther famously described our righteousness as a dunghill covered by snow—God imputing Christ's righteousness over our filth. And while I understand the forensic point he was making, I only agree in part.
You see, the work of Jesus is never merely a passive covering. He doesn't just throw a white sheet over our sin. He transforms us from the inside out. It is a divine, active, and ongoing work of renewal. We are not just declared righteous; we are being made righteous, conformed to the image of the Son. His grace is the power for change, not just a pardon for the past.