Quote from Michael:

"But that view denies the protection Jesus promised for His Church, that not even the gates of Hell would prevail against it.  It makes no sense to be told in the Bible to submit to those in the Church who teach us an are responsible for our souls, and to go to the Church to resolve difficulties since it has the power to bind and loose if Christ was not going to keep it from error.  I certainly don’t want to rely on a Church that I think has any possibility of error, there is just too much at stake."


Jesus is talking about the true Church, not the RCC which teaches an anti-christ gospel.  The passage about the gates of hell are not even talking about keeping the church from error but deal with eternal life.

Saint Pilgrim


In the Image of Christ
Colossians 3:8-11

“The Gates of Hell”

“And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build
my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.”   Matthew 16:18

 

        These are the words that Jesus spoke to Peter after he confessed in verse 16 that Jesus was the Christ, the Son of the living God.  This is just one little sentence spoken by Jesus, yet it speaks volumes about the church.  As we study God’s Word, we learn that the church is not buildings made up of brick and mortar, wood and nails, but by individuals who have placed their trust in Jesus for the salvation of their souls.  These individuals are not called Christians because of where they attend, but because they have put their trust in Christ and follow Him.

        One of the first things a careful student of the Bible will observe is that the church was not in existence at the time Jesus spoke these words.  Notice that Jesus said, “I will build my church”.  He is talking future tense here.  This would not make sense if the church was already in existence.  Also, we see that the church belongs to the Lord Jesus, He refers to it as, “my church”.  The church doesn’t belong to any individual, family or group, no matter how important or famous or rich they may be. One can own a building or a piece of land, but not the church. The church belongs to the Lord Jesus Christ, because it was purchased with His very own blood (Acts 20:28).  We also learn that the Lord Jesus is the master builder of the church; He said “I will build my church”.  It is the Lord who adds to the church; we may co-labor with the Him, but it is the Lord who gives the increase  (Acts 2:47, 1 Cor. 3:6-7).

        As you have already seen, with just five words the Lord has taught us many wonderful things concerning the church.  Yet, I believe one of the priceless truths for the believer is to be found in the remaining part of the verse, “and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it”.  The truth that is taught here is most precious because it clearly declares the security of salvation that the one who believes has.  There are many today who teach that a person can be saved and yet somehow afterwards lose their salvation.  Some say that a person can lose their salvation by his own will, saying he no longer wishes to be saved, others teach that a person can lose his salvation by willful sin.

        Those who think that a true believer could lose his salvation for whatever reason would have difficultly reconciling their belief with this verse.  You see, if a person could lose their salvation it would make Jesus out to be a liar in this verse, since the gates of hell would in fact prevail against the church.  It would be helpful to understand what Jesus was talking about when He spoke of the gates of hell.  Death and the grave throughout the scriptures is called hell or hades.  Acts 2:26-31 is a good example of this when speaking about the Lord Jesus.

     “Therefore did my heart rejoice, and my tongue was glad; moreover also my flesh shall rest in hope: Because thou wilt not leave my soul in hell, neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.  Thou hast made known to me the ways of life; thou shalt make me full of joy with thy countenance.  Men [and] brethren, let me freely speak unto you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his sepulchre is with us unto this day.  Therefore being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him, that of the fruit of his loins, according to the flesh, he would raise up Christ to sit on his throne; He seeing this before spake of the resurrection of Christ, that his soul was not left in hell, neither his flesh did see corruption”.

        In Luke 16:19-31 we read about the rich man and Lazarus.  In verse 22 we read “the rich man also died, and was buried;  And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments”.  In this passage we learn that the rich man’s body was buried in a grave yet his soul was being tormented in hell.  Hell, then, is the place for those who die in their sins, those who never called on the name of the Lord for salvation (Rom. 10:9-13).  It is a place of great unrelenting torment and eternal suffering (Rev. 14:9-11 20:10-15)

        The gates of hell open to receive the dead but they never open to let the dead escape. This is a sobering thought. Friend, if you die in this life without Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior your dwelling place will be in the torments and sufferings of hell where there is wailing and gnashing of teeth.  There is no escape from that place.  The only time death and hell will give up the dead is when the dead are judged and thrown into the lake of fire along with death and hell (Rev. 20:13-15).  This is the wrath of God that all men deserve because of their rebellion and sin against Him.  Yet, because of His great love for us, God sent His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ to die in our place.  God poured out His wrath on His own Son, the divine Substitute, so that those who place their trust in Jesus as Lord and Savior would never see the wrath of God which is the second death.  Instead of wrath, God gives eternal life to those that trust in His Son (John 3:16, 5:24, 10:27-30).  They will never see the second death.  This is why I say that those who believe that you can lose this great salvation would have to make Jesus out to be a liar when He said, “And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.”  You see, if even one individual Christian (Remember that the church is made up of individuals who place their trust in the Lord Jesus) could lose their salvation and end up behind the gates of hell, then the gates of hell would in fact have prevailed against the church.  Death would still have its sting and the grave would still have its victory.  The apostle Paul would not have been able to declare these words in
1 Corinthians 15:54-57:

     “So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory.  O death, where [is] thy sting? O grave, where [is] thy victory?  The sting of death [is] sin; and the strength of sin [is] the law. But thanks [be] to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

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Ephesians 1:22, et. al., reveal to us that we are the BODY of CHRIST. We are not an organization, but an organism. We are NOT catholic, protestant, or any denomination.

But one thing it is NOT, is a loose grouping of local churches. Because that allows someone to be seen as a heathen and publican in one local assembly and simply move on to the next and maybe get a different ruling in the dispute.  If that happens both of these loose assemblies cannot be the true Church as they disagree on a matter that was to be decided by the Church.

Michael, you got to be kidding! Do you really think that because you have a pope, bishops and priests that your cult is better than Christian churches? Why don’t you explain to us how well your religious order handles child molesting perverted priest who molest helpless little children? We already know the answer, they keep things hushed up and move them to a new location where they molest more helpless children.

Saint Pilgrim

Continued

1Jo 3:22 “And whatsoever we ask, we receive of him, because we keep his commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in his sight. 23  And this is his commandment, That we should believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, as he gave us commandment. 24  And he that keepeth his commandments dwelleth in him, and he in him. And hereby we know that he abideth in us, by the Spirit which he hath given us.”
 
In verse 23 the Lord spells out exactly what His commandments are, “That we should believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, as he gave us commandment.” There is nothing even remotely suggesting that He is talking about the law Moses in these verses rather the emphasis is the law of love.

I am often surprised by law keepers lack of understanding of the book of Hebrews. To rightly understand the book of Hebrews one must see that it is a comparison of the Old Covenant (which is the law of Moses starting with the Ten Commandments) with the New Covenant. One of the key words to pay attention to in Hebrews is the word “better” which is used numerous times in reference of the New Covenant being better than the Old. The book of Hebrews deals with many of the errors that law keepers so often teach. One common error of the law keepers is that they believe that a person is drawn closer to God in their attempts at keeping the law of Moses. Yet, what they fail to realize in their foolish zeal of the law of Moses, is that the law of Moses never had the power to make a person right with God.

Heb 7:18 “For there is verily a disannulling of the commandment going before for the weakness and unprofitableness thereof. 19  For the law made nothing perfect, but the bringing in of a better hope did; by the which we draw nigh unto God.”
 
Verse 18 is talking about the Old Covenant being annulled. The Greek word used for disannulling means:
athetē?sis
ath-et'-ay-sis
From G114; cancellation (literally or figuratively): - disannulling, put away.
It is interesting that God’s Word says that the Old Covenant has been canceled yet the law keepers continue to act as if it is still in effect. Who is right, God who cannot lie, or the law keepers who not only can lie but be deceived as well? If God says the Old Covenant is cancelled then it is cancelled regardless of what any man my say. Law keepers think that their feeble attempt at keeping the law of Moses will draw them closer, and make them more pleasing, to God. Yet, verse 18 claims that the law could not make anything perfect, nor could it draw them closer to God. That is why the New Covenant which is referred to as “the bringing in of a better hope” was made. The New Covenant was made in the Blood of the Lord Jesus Christ and it is by that precious blood that we are drawn closer to God, not the law of Moses.

Hebrews 8 says that the Old Covenant is obsolete and vanishing away.

Heb 8:13 “In that he saith, A new covenant, he hath made the first old. Now that which decayeth and waxeth old is ready to vanish away.”
 
The Greek word for old means obsolete or worn out. Hebrews 10 goes on with this thought.

Heb 10:7 “Then said I, Lo, I come (in the volume of the book it is written of me,) to do thy will, O God. 8  Above when he said, Sacrifice and offering and burnt offerings and offering for sin thou wouldest not, neither hadst pleasure therein; which are offered by the law; 9  Then said he, Lo, I come to do thy will, O God. He taketh away the first, that he may establish the second. 10  By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. 11  And every priest standeth daily ministering and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins: 12  But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God;”

Here Jesus takes away the first (old) Covenant that He may establish the Second (New). According to Hebrews the Old Covenant has been cancelled made obsolete and replaced by the New Covenant. Yet the law keepers would have you believe that the Old Covenant (which is the law of Moses starting with the Ten Commandments) is still in effect. If this is true then it has not been cancelled, made obsolete or replaced by the New Covenant as the book of Hebrews declare. Again, who is telling the truth, God who cannot lie, or the law keepers who can?

2 Cor. 3:6 “Who also hath made us able ministers of the new testament; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life.  7  But if the ministration of death, written [and] engraven in stones, was glorious, so that the children of Israel could not stedfastly behold the face of Moses for the glory of his countenance; which [glory] was to be done away:  8  How shall not the ministration of the spirit be rather glorious?  9  For if the ministration of condemnation [be] glory, much more doth the ministration of righteousness exceed in glory.  10  For even that which was made glorious had no glory in this respect, by reason of the glory that excelleth.  11  For if that which is done away [was] glorious, much more that which remaineth [is] glorious.  12  Seeing then that we have such hope, we use great plainness of speech:  13  And not as Moses, [which] put a vail over his face, that the children of Israel could not stedfastly look to the end of that which is abolished:  14  But their minds were blinded: for until this day remaineth the same vail untaken away in the reading of the old testament; which [vail] is done away in Christ.  15  But even unto this day, when Moses is read, the vail is upon their heart.  16  Nevertheless when it shall turn to the Lord, the vail shall be taken away.  17  Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord [is], there [is] liberty.  18  But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, [even] as by the Spirit of the Lord.”

2 Corinthians 3 is talking specifically about the Ten Commandments (verses 7) in comparison to the New Covenant. Paul says in verse 3 that they are ministers of the New Covenant (new testament) which is not of the letter (Ten Commandments), but of the Spirit.  The Ten Commandments are not part of the gospel, the gospel and the Ten Commandments are opposed to each other so that they cannot be mixed. The Ten Commandments brought forth death and condemnation while the gospel of the New Covenant brought fort life and a clear conscience before God.

Notice verse 7 refers to the Ten Commandments as a ministry of death, not one of life, and verse nine says the Ten Commandments were a ministry of condemnation, not one that would clear a guilty conscience. I am amazed that some people insist upon putting themselves and others under a ministry of death and condemnation. Why would anyone who is sane want to be under a covenant that could only condemn and kill them in the first place? Are they under a false delusion that a ministry of death and condemnation is able to bring them life and a clear conscience before God? No wonder the apostles, elders and brethren of Jerusalem said it was the subverters of souls that taught that Christians are to keep the law of Moses Acts 15:24).

Verse 11 clearly teaches that the Ten Commandments are done away with and that the New Covenant is what remains. The so-called law keepers cannot explain verse 11. Verse 11 says that the Ten Commandments are done away with and the so-called law keepers say it is not. Who’s lying, the so-called law keepers, or God? I will give a little hint it’s not God. Verse 13 declares that the Ten Commandments are abolished, how can a Christian be subject to something that is abolished and no longer in force? The reason some people insist that the Ten Commandments are in force today is explained in this chapter as well. It’s because they are blind by a vail upon their heart in their understanding of the Old Testament (verse 15). In other words they don’t even understand the purpose of the Old Covenant and like the unbelieving Jews they think that their righteousness is by the deeds of the law (Rom.9:30-33). This vail will only be removed when they repent by turning their hearts away from the ministry of death and condemnation to the cross of Jesus Christ where they will find life and a clear conscience before God.

Like the self righteous Pharisees of old, today’s subverters of souls think that they are serving God when they teach their false gospel of works based salvation. Like the Pharisees of old, they lead souls to hell rather than heaven.

Matt. 23:13 “But woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye shut up the kingdom of heaven against men: for ye neither go in [yourselves], neither suffer ye them that are entering to go in.  14  Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye devour widows' houses, and for a pretence make long prayer: therefore ye shall receive the greater damnation.  15  Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he is made, ye make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves.”

Strong words from our beloved Lord Himself. Those who teach that Christians must keep the law of Moses are enemies of the cross and wether they realize it or not they help promote Satan’s deadliest work of blinding mens eyes to the light of the glorious gospel of Jesus Christ.

2 Cor. 4:3 “But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost:  4  In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.”

Pilgrim

Continued

The Bible clearly teaches in many places that a Christian is not under the law of Moses. Those who insist that we are under the law of Moses mistakenly claim that without the law of Moses you give a licenses to sin. What they don’t realize is that just because Christians are not under the law of Moses doesn’t mean they are without divine law. Think about it for a moment, people from Adam to Moses were without the law of Moses, yet God gave them commands to follow as previously shown above. Some of the laws given to those from Adam to Moses were similar to those given in the Mosaic law, such as murder. Yet others were complete opposites such as the eating of clean and unclean animals. They were two different laws to govern two different groups of people. The same is true today, Christians are not under the law of Moses, they are under the law of Christ which is love. Therefore the divine law for Christians is the law of love. If we love God as we should then we would never sin against Him. If we love our neighbors and enemies as we should then we would never sin against them. The law of love is far superior to the law of Moses. The law of Moses was an external list of 613 do’s and don’t which one could be forced to follow to a certain degree even if their heart was not in it. On the other hand the law of love covers every conceivable sin one can commit and those who obey do so from the heart because true love comes from the heart. This is why love is the greatest law and fulfills the law and the prophets. Christians do not commit murder, adultery, lies etc. because it is against the law of love, not because it is a violation of the Mosaic law. We obey righteousness because we are under the law of Christ, not as incorrectly claimed by some that we are under the law of Moses.

The apostle Paul had to defend against the charge that to be without the law of Moses was a license to sin in the book of Romans.

Rom. 6:1 “What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?  2  God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?”

Because Paul taught that one is saved by grace through faith rather than law keeping his enemies accused him of teaching that a Christian had a free license to sin. Paul gave the death blow to that argument in verse 1 of Romans 6. He went on to say:

Rom. 6:15 “What then? shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid.  16  Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?  17  But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you.  18  Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness.”

Can God’s Word get any clearer that we are not under law but under grace (verse 15)? And can God’s Word get any clearer that because were are under grace and not the law that this is not a license for free sinning? True Christians do not practice sin because they follow the law of love which comes from the heart. Notice Paul says in verse 17 “but ye have obeyed from the heart”. Those who claims to be saved and continue living a life full of sin are false professors and their actions prove that they are still  servants of sin rather than a servants of righteousness just as the above verses declare. Those who are truly saved obey from the heart out of love for God and mankind. As a result their righteousness far exceeds the righteousness of the Pharisees who were trying to be righteous by the deeds of the law.

Mat 5:20 “For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.”

Those who insist that Christians are under the law of Moses apparently do not understand what a great burden this is. In Acts 15 the apostle Peter is speaking against the law keepers and had this to say about the law of Moses.

This is what the law keepers said:

Acts 15:5 “But there rose up certain of the sect of the Pharisees which believed, saying, That it was needful to circumcise them, and to command [them] to keep the law of Moses.”

And here is what Peter said:

Acts 15:10 “Now therefore why tempt ye God, to put a yoke upon the neck of the disciples, which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear?”

Peter says that the law of Moses was an unbearable burden that neither they or their fathers were able to bear. If the apostles themselves could not bear the law of Moses what chance do we have? Peter said that those who taught that Christian have to keep the law of Moses were tempting God, a very serious sin. Those who teach that Christians have to keep the law of Moses are siding with the Pharisees of verse 6 and those who temp God (verse 10) and those who subvert souls (verse 24):

Acts 15:23 “And they wrote [letters] by them after this manner; The apostles and elders and brethren [send] greeting unto the brethren which are of the Gentiles in Antioch and Syria and Cilicia:  24  Forasmuch as we have heard, that certain which went out from us have troubled you with words, subverting your souls, saying, [Ye must] be circumcised, and keep the law: to whom we gave no [such] commandment:”

Notice that verse 24 for says it was the troublemakers who taught that Christians must keep the law of Moses and that the apostles themselves never gave such a commandment. Now lets look at the contrast in what the Lord Jesus Christ had to offer in Matthew 11.

Matt. 11:28 “Come unto me, all [ye] that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.  29  Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.  30  For my yoke [is] easy, and my burden is light.”

What the Lord is offering in Matthew 11 is just opposite of what the Bible says about the law of Moses in Acts 15. What the Lord offers is rest for the soul, an easy yoke and a light burden. What the law of Moses offered according to Acts 15 was an unbearable burden that was impossible to bear. Therefore they cannot be talking about the same thing. Jesus also said this about His commandments in 1 John 5.

1Jo 5:3 “For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous.”

If Jesus was talking about the law of Moses here then we would have a major contradiction with Acts 15 which says that the law of Moses was an unbearable burden. Yet this verse goes right along with the words of our Lord in Matthew 11:28-30. The only possibility then is that the commandments that Jesus is talking about in 1 John are not the commandments of the Mosaic law but of a different law. If we look at the context of 1 John it is very easy to see what commandments the Lord is referring to in 1 John 5:3.

1Jo 2:3 “And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments. 4  He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. 5  But whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby know we that we are in him. 6  He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked.7  Brethren, I write no new commandment unto you, but an old commandment which ye had from the beginning. The old commandment is the word which ye have heard from the beginning. 8  Again, a new commandment I write unto you, which thing is true in him and in you: because the darkness is past, and the true light now shineth. 9  He that saith he is in the light, and hateth his brother, is in darkness even until now. 10  He that loveth his brother abideth in the light, and there is none occasion of stumbling in him.”
 
Notice verse 5 talking about the love of God being perfected in a believer and in verse 10 the emphasis on loving a brother.

Continued

Below is an article I am working on concerning the law. It is not finished yet and is in the ruff draft which needs correcting. It is quite long but it addresses many aspects of the law and so-called law keepers.

Pilgrim


“Forasmuch as we have heard, that certain which went out from us have troubled you with words, subverting your souls, saying, [Ye must] be circumcised, and keep the law: to whom we gave no [such] commandment:”  Acts 15:24

   The Ten Commandments are the very heart of the Old Covenant between God and Israel.  In many of today’s churches the Ten Commandments play an important role.  Many of the churches in the area in which I live start their services each week by reciting the Ten Commandments.  Many professing Christians will use the Ten Commandments as the ultimate guide and rule for their life.  In our society conflicts concerning the Ten Commandments are often in the national news.  Almost every year we hear of a court case concerning the display of the Ten Commandments in public places such as schools or court buildings.
   With the emphasis that many churches place on the Ten Commandments as well as all the fuss in society concerning them, one would think that Ten Commandments would be very well understood especially by religious people.  In fact just the opposite is true.  If religious people really understood the law of Moses (in which the Ten Commandments are the very heart) they would be horrified by what they have done with them.
   If a person was to claim that the Ten Commandments never applied to the gentiles and that they applied only to the Jews from Moses to the cross many would label this person as a heretic. If the person went on to say that the Ten Commandments was a ministry of death and condemnation and was not given for a righteous man many would say that this person is not only a heretic, but a lunatic as well.  If this person went on and said the Law of Moses was made void and made obsolete by Jesus because it had a major fault in it and that those who tried to live by it were cursed, then this person better be prepared to be stoned.  Yet, the Word of God teaches these things and more about the Ten Commandments and the Law of Moses.

Below are a few very important truths concerning the Mosaic law from God’s Word that well greatly help those who are truth seekers.

John 1:17 “For the law was given by Moses, [but] grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.”

Luke 16:16 “The law and the prophets [were] until John: since that time the kingdom of God is preached, and every man presseth into it.”

These two verses let us know the beginning and the end of the Mosaic law, which was from Moses to the cross of Jesus Christ (where He fulfilled the law).

John 1:17 tells us that the law came by Moses. This teaches two important points about the law of Moses. 1, as stated above it had a beginning and 2, that before Moses many generation existed without the law of Moses. This does not mean that people from Adam to Moses were not accountable to God for their sin. Romans 5:13 says “(For until the law sin was in the world: but sin is not imputed when there is no law.  14  Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam's transgression, who is the figure of him that was to come.”

God gave mankind many commandments before Moses came along with the Mosaic law. The first command God gave to mankind in which mankind broke was not to eat of the tree of knowledge of good and evil (Gen 1:16). There are many commands God gave to man before Moses Gen. 9 records a few:

Gen. 9:1 “And God blessed Noah and his sons, and said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth.  2  And the fear of you and the dread of you shall be upon every beast of the earth, and upon every fowl of the air, upon all that moveth [upon] the earth, and upon all the fishes of the sea; into your hand are they delivered.  3  Every moving thing that liveth shall be meat for you; even as the green herb have I given you all things.  4  But flesh with the life thereof, [which is] the blood thereof, shall ye not eat.  5  And surely your blood of your lives will I require; at the hand of every beast will I require it, and at the hand of man; at the hand of every man's brother will I require the life of man.  6  Whoso sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed: for in the image of God made he man.  7  And you, be ye fruitful, and multiply; bring forth abundantly in the earth, and multiply therein.”


Here God commands mankind to be fruitful and multiply, not to eat flesh with the blood still in it and not to shed another mans blood. God also allows mankind here to eat any animal whether clean or unclean unlike the Mosaic Law which forbids the eating of unclean animals. So we clearly see that even without the Mosaic law mankind was responsible before God concerning his sin. God defined certain sins and set limits upon mankind many generation before Moses, God also judged sin as seen in Romans 5:13-14 many generations before the Mosaic law was given. In Exodus 19 God is going to make a covenant with a certain group of people. This covenant as one can read is the Ten Commandment which follow in Exodus 20. A covenant is a legally binding contract between two or more parties. In this case the text of Exodus 19 is clear that the covenant (contract)  is between God and the children of Israel who were delivered from Eygpt.

Ex. 19:1 “In the third month, when the children of Israel were gone forth out of the land of Egypt, the same day came they [into] the wilderness of Sinai.  2  For they were departed from Rephidim, and were come [to] the desert of Sinai, and had pitched in the wilderness; and there Israel camped before the mount.  3  And Moses went up unto God, and the LORD called unto him out of the mountain, saying, Thus shalt thou say to the house of Jacob, and tell the children of Israel;  4  Ye have seen what I did unto the Egyptians, and [how] I bare you on eagles' wings, and brought you unto myself.  5  Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for all the earth [is] mine:  6  And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation. These [are] the words which thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel.  7  And Moses came and called for the elders of the people, and laid before their faces all these words which the LORD commanded him.  8  And all the people answered together, and said, All that the LORD hath spoken we will do. And Moses returned the words of the people unto the LORD.”

There are two very important observations that a careful student of God’s Word will notice in these verses.

1. The Ten Commandment was a covenant that God made ONLY with the children of Israel.

Verse 1 “children of Israel”, verse 2 “Israel”, and in verse 3 “the house of Jacob, and tell the children of Israel;”

It is clear that God is making this covenant with only one group of people, Israel. No gentile nations or people are even mentioned or hinted at in this passage. God is singling out one nation out of the entire world and making a covenant with then exclusively. Deuteronomy 5 even claims that the covenant of the Ten Commandments was not even made with the forefathers of Israel but to them alone.

Duet. 5:1 “And Moses called all Israel, and said unto them, Hear, O Israel, the statutes and judgments which I speak in your ears this day, that ye may learn them, and keep, and do them.  2  The LORD our God made a covenant with us in Horeb.  3  The LORD made not this covenant with our fathers, but with us, [even] us, who [are] all of us here alive this day.  4  The LORD talked with you face to face in the mount out of the midst of the fire,  5  (I stood between the LORD and you at that time, to shew you the word of the LORD: for ye were afraid by reason of the fire, and went not up into the mount;) saying,”

2. The result of the covenant that God made the with Israel was that they would be a peculiar people, distinct and separate from all other people of the world.

Ex. 19:5 says “Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people:” The result of this covenant was to make Israel a “peculiar treasure unto me above all people.” This is important to grasp because it too means that the Ten Commandments were given ONLY to the children of Israel. If the Ten Commandments were given to the gentile nations and people as well then verse 5 would not be true. The covenant God made with Israel made them distinct and separate from all other nations and people in the world which would not be the case if this covenant was for all people.

Continued

According to my Bible program the first time the word Sabbath is used and any command associated with it is Exodus 16:23. The entire book of Genesis  does not use the word Sabbath, nor is there a command for any one to keep the Sabbath contained in Genesis. So even though you have the seed of the Sabbath in Genesis the commands do not come until Moses. No where in the Bible that I am aware of is there any command for gentiles to keep the Sabbath. If you know of one that is as clear as the commands given to Israel in regards to Sabbath keeping I would be interested in looking at it. Also, if Sabbath keepers are honest with themselves they would know that most, if not all, of them don’t keep the Sabbath according to the Sabbath laws of the Bible. One rule says that you cannot start a fire on the Sabbath. When one starts their car they start many fires in the combustion chamber therefore breaking the Sabbath. Do you use your car on the Sabbath? If so you are breaking the Sabbath.

According to this pro Catholic site most Catholics don’t believe the hocus pocus of the mass. I find it interesting that the RCC can’t even convince its own gullible people of this lie. Apparently the RCC bit off more than it could chew when it invented the occult lie called the mass.


http://www.trosch.org/ind/homepage.html

“  Within the Church there have always been and will always be false teachers. Surveys have indicated that in the 1990's, 70% of Catholics no longer believe in the real presence of Jesus in the Eucharist. Yet, all who attend Mass are being encouraged to receive Holy Communion. Sin is no longer recognized or believed to be a reason not to receive Holy Eucharist. The Biblical admonition to not receive, unless first examined and found worthy, is sacrilegiously abused.”

http://www.cuttingedge.org/news/n1334.cfm

HUMAN SACRIFICE
 
"As you can tell, by the 1200's,  I had the Roman Catholic Church practicing powerful White Magic Witchcraft.  The invention of the Mass said in Latin was the key, as it produced tremendous spiritual power.  But, I was lacking a human sacrifice, and Lord Satan was not happy about it.  You see, all witchcraft requires sacrifice, and Satan wants it to be human.  Even White Magic people who sacrifice animals, or who do not sacrifice anything, are not aware that someone, somewhere, is sacrificing on their behalf.  Where in the world could I get a human sacrifice system operating in the Roman Catholic Church and still maintain my fig leaf cover as a Christian Church?
 
Ah, I have the answer:  I can invoke the magical properties of a priest performing a "Mystery "!  All pagan priests in every era have wowed their adherents with the idea that he can perform a "Mystery" that no one else can even conceive, let alone do.  Let me see how I can work this out.  I will need a body, preferably that of Jesus Christ, and I will need blood, again preferably from Jesus Christ.
 
I have it!  I will propagate the lie that, at the time of Communion, the wafer becomes the body of Jesus Christ, and the wine actually becomes His blood.  [Transubstantiation] Then, there is no difference between the "Mystery" ceremony the Catholic priest mystically performs, and the real sacrificial ceremony a Satanic priest really performs.  In the supernatural realm, there will be no difference, and I will have my human sacrifice!  Once again, I can keep sacrificing that hated Jesus Christ again and again, and again, endlessly!  How wonderful this concept truly is!  The people will think they are doing great honor to Jesus, when they are really sacrificing Him at Satan's altar.
 

Finally, since all true pagans eat the flesh of their sacrificial human victim and drink the blood, after the sacrifice is over, I will have the Catholics eat the wafer and drink the wine after the priest is finished with the symbolic sacrifice. Perfect!"

Children, children!
Ha-ha.  I’ve never watched soap operas – but this exchange has to be as good as ‘Days of Our Lives’ or ‘As the Stomach Churns’.

Let’s, market it, call it ‘Reality Forum’ – make a bunch of money and give the money to the poor!
               

LOL! Judging by all the funny doctrines of the RCC you would think its devotees would have a sense of humor.

The following from http://www.demonbuster.com/zpart2-w5.html

 Roman Catholic Church

The Roman church denies the finished work of Jesus' sacrifice on Calvary, salvation by faith alone, the unique Mediatorship of Jesus and the all-sufficiency of the Bible as our source of divine Truth. Wearing of hair shirts, barbed-wire corsets and self-flagellation (whipping) were regularly practiced with Catholic monasteries and nunneries until at least the 1960's. (A Catholic can be a Christian but the vast majority are just religious. When you ask a Catholic if they are a Christian, many will say that I am a Catholic.)

What does the Roman church have in common with modern Paganism?

1. Both teach salvation through ritual acts and good works.

2. Both have a god and a goddess (Mary) figure in their pantheon.

3. Both have a slain and risen god who dies and is reborn in a seasonal cycle of ritual dramas.

4. Both have magic or thaumaturgy (Transubstantiation in the Mass) as central elements in their theology.

5. Both make extensive use of incense, statues, candles and ceremonial robes in their devotions.

6. Both believe in a kind of second chance after death (Purgatory).

7. Both believe the rituals of the living can affect the dead.

8. Both believe in rituals of pain and mortification for purification.

This Forum is for all Christians. That include Catholics, as well as the Anti-Catholics. We request the same respect from you that you get here. And the vast majority of the people on this board are with us. The Catholic Church needs no spin Doctor to proclaim the truth.

You are clearly only hear to monger up trouble. Please show some Maturity as Creationist has.

Tibby, chill out before you hurt yourself. Take a deep breath, hold it in, and count to 10. No, make that 100,000,000,000!

Oh, great come back. Why don’t you throw a “yo momma” in while you are at it?

Honestly, leave the silly insults in middle school, discuses respectfully, or some trolling. Make a legitimate argument, or save the bandwidth for posters who have something to say.

That wasn’t an insult, I was just speaking the truth. How come you get so upset when I finally agree with Michael on a point. You should be rejoicing.

If we are going to save the bandwidth for someone with something (truthful) to say, then you Catholic spin doctors will have to find another forum to post on. Might I suggest a “CATHOLIC” forum. At least there you will find many who embrace the lies of the RCC. Just think of all the serious discussions you could have there. I would be happy to look a few up for you if you don’t know where to find them.  

And you say the gates of hell will not prevail against the RCC! Yet, if an apostate church rules the catholic people in place of the RCC (which is a false church) then the gates of hell have surly prevailed by your own admission.

What nonsense, do you ever stop to think about the rammifications of what your theories are.  If you think being forced out of Rome is being prevailed over you have a very strange view of what satan wants to accomplish.  

I can see it now, satan gloating over his victory over God cause he made the Church move from Rome.  LOL

Well Michael you finally have a good point. What was I thinking? It wouldn’t make any sense at all for Satan to drive the RCC from Rome seeing he already is the father of it.

The following is a list of Saints called upon for special purposes (Reprinted from Orthodox Family Life. Volume 3, Issue 3. Spring 1998):

Do the Catholics have something similarto the Orthodox??LOL!

To Have a Child
St. Anna, Mother of the Theotokos
St. Elizabeth, Mother of the Forerunner
St. Sabbas the Sanctified of Palestine
St. Irene Chrysovolantou

For Safe Childbirth
St. Eleftherios

For the Care & Protection of Infants
St. Stylianos

For Young People
Holy Great Martyr Demetrios the Wonderworker

Delivery from Sudden Death
St. Barbara the Great Martyr

Against Drinking
Holy Martyr Boniface & the Righteous Aglais

For Travelers
St. Nicholas: in general, & specifically for sea travel
St. John the Russian: for transport, auto, busses
St. Niphon, Patriarch of Constantinople: for safety at sea

For Cobblers
St. Eustathius the Cobbler of Georgia

For Physicians
St. Panteleimon
The Holy Unmercenaries, Saints Cosmas & Damian
For the Kitchen, Home
St. Euphrosynos the Cook
St. Sergius of Radonezh: for baking
Sts. Spyridon & Nikodim of Kievo-Pechersk: Prosphora making

For Trading
St. Paraskeva

For Headaches
Holy New Martyr Demas of Smyrna

For Eyes
St. Paraskeva

For Ears
St. Spyridon the Wonderworker

For Teeth
St. Antipas of Pergamum

For Hernias & Intestinal Disorders
Holy Great Martyr Artemius
St. Artemius of Verkola

For Throat
St. Blaise of Sebastia

For Finding Employment
St. Xenia of St. Petersburg

For Help in Studies
The Three Hierarchs:
St. Basil the Great, St. John Chrysostom, St. Gregory the Theologian
St. Sergius of Radonezh
St. John of Kronstadt
St. Justin the Philosopher

For Church-Chanting
St. Romanos the Melodist

For Iconographers
St. Luke the Apostle and Evangelist
St. John of Damascus

For Patient Endurance of Affliction
St. Job the Much-Suffering
Holy Forty Martyrs of Sebastia: especially in freezing cold weather
Holy Forty-Two Martyrs of Amorion

For Protection Against Thieves
St. Gregory the Wonderworker of Kievo-Pechersk

For Stone-workers
Holy Martyrs Florus & Laurus

For Soldiers
Holy Archangel Michael
St. George the Great Martyr
St. Barbara the Great Martyr

For Spiritual Help, Consolation & Compunction
St. Ephraim the Syrian
St. Alexis the Man of God
St. Seraphim of Sarov

For a Good End to One's Life
Holy Archangel Michael
St. Niphon, Patriarch of Constantinople

For Captives and Court Cases
St. Onouphrios the Great
St. Peter of Athos
St. George the Great Martyr

For Help in Distress, Poverty, Etc.
St. Nicholas the Wonderworker
St. John the Almsgiver of Alexandria
St. John of Kronstadt

For Finding Things
St. Phanourios the Great Martyr
St. Menas the Great Martyr of Egypt

For Meeting a Difficult Situation, an Interview, Etc.
St. David the Prophet, Psalmist & King
The Holy Unmercenaries & Healers
SS. Cosmas & Damian of Rome
SS. Panteleimon & Hermolaus
St. Julian the Martyr
St. John of Kronstadt
St. Nectarios of Aegina
Holy Archangel Raphael

For Animals & Livestock
St. George: cattle & herds
St. Parthenius of Radovysdius: cattle
SS. Spevsippus, Elesippus & Melevsippus: horses
St. Tryphon: geese

For Protection of Crops from Pests
St. Michael of Synnada

For the Protection of Gardens Against Pests
Holy Great Martyr Tryphon: also for hunters and Patron of Moscow

Against Demons & Witchcraft
SS. Cyprian & Justina
St. Theodore Sykeote
St. Mitrophan of Voronezh

For Chastity & Help in Carnal Warfare
St. John the Forerunner
St. Demetrios the Great Martyr
St. John the Much-Suffering
Holy Martyr Theodore the Byzantine
Holy Martyr Ignatios of Athos
St. Mary of Egypt
St. Joseph the All-Comely
St. Susanna [Old Testament]

For Mental Disorders
St. Naum of Ochrid
St. Anastasia
St. Gerasimos of Cephalonia: the possessed

Against Plague
St. Haralambos
St. Marina the Great Martyr

For Help Against Quick-Temper & Despondency
St. Tikhon of Zadonsk

For Workers in Hospitals
Holy Unmercenaries Saints Cosmas & Damian
St. Dositheus, Disciple of Abba Dorotheus

For Guilelessness & Simplicity
Holy Apostle Nathaniel & St. Paul the Simple

More RCC shamanism.

In the Image of Christ
Colossians 3:8-11

“Are you a child of God, or are you just religious?”
(Part One)

    "Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity."  (Matt. 7:21-23)

        “That’s strong language!”, you might say. But it was the Lord Jesus Christ who spoke these solemn words.  Anyone who calls Jesus “Lord” should examine himself in the light of these verses.  The only thing sadder than dying in your sin and ending up in the lake of fire for eternity, is the person who calls Jesus “Lord”, yet ends up in that same lake of fire.  Can you imagine the horror of his soul as his eyes close for the last time in this life thinking that when he opens them again on the other side of eternity, he will be “better off”, because he’ll see the glories of heaven, and to his horror and surprise he awakes in the torments of hell? His relatives who are still alive console themselves saying that father or mother or brother or sister is better now, happy now, etc. Little do they know!

        We need to observe and consider several things as we read these verses.  First we see that the people that the Lord is referring to are religious folk.  With their mouth they call Jesus “Lord”.  They claim to be Christians, and that they are involved in God’s work.  To substantiate their claim they point to spiritual things like prophesying, casting out devils, and many other good works.  Some will say these are people who once were saved, and yet somehow lost their salvation, that is, that they WERE Christians once, they once believed in earlier years,  but something happened and they “fell away” or “gave it up”. Yet we should pay attention to what Jesus said,  “I never knew you”.  

        Another thing to notice is the size of the problem, the quantity of people who will experience this painful problem. Christ said that in that day, “many will say...”.   He didn’t say a few, just a handful, but rather, “many”.  That is a big problem, it affects a lot of people, people who, sadly, do not suspect that this is their problem. Great multitudes will find themselves in this horrifying situation.  The saddest thing about this, is that once these people are awakened to the deception in which they lived, it will be to late to do anything about it. A stitch in time saves nine, but a stitch too late can’t alter your fate! Therefore, two good questions to ask yourself are, who are these people, and, is it possible that “I” am one of them?

        I have met many people in my lifetime that claimed they were children of God and are convinced that when they die they will be in heaven.  Yet these people can’t even claim the good works that the people in the verses above can.  Their lives manifest a love of the things in this world rather than the things of God (1 John 2:15-17).  When they stand before God they will not be able to say, “Lord, look at what I have done for you”,  because they have done nothing for the Lord.  Yet these people claim they belong to him.  If the Lord tells the people who did so much in the above verses that He never knew them, what chances do these people have?  

        Don’t take me wrong, I am definitely not saying that we are saved by good works.  The Word of God teaches us that we are saved by faith, not by our own works (deeds), and that a saved person is created for good works. (Ephesians 2:8-10 Titus 2:14 3:4-7).  In other words, we can’t do good works in order to be saved, but once we are saved, we do them because we’re saved. They are the effect of salvation, not the cause. If you are in Christ you will bear fruit (John 15:1-6)  If you claim to be a child of God and yet there is no fruit in your life, perhaps it is because you are not really in Christ.  If you claim to be a child of God, yet your life is full of the pleasures of sin and void of the things of God,  you have deceived yourself, my friend.  In the book of Titus we read these words

"They profess that they know God; but in works they deny [him], being abominable, and disobedient, and unto every good work reprobate." Titus 1:16

    Notice that there is a profession and a denial in this verse.  The profession is with the mouth and the denial is with the deeds, the lifestyle.  In God’s eyes the denial speaks louder than the profession, just as we say, “actions speak louder than words”.

        Dear friend, I have met many people that fit the verses above, and  not only this, but also I myself used to be one of them.  I made a profession of the Lord Jesus when I was eight years old and was baptized.  I attended church and was involved in many of the activities held there, I read my bible, and even prayed from time to time.  At about the age of twelve all the spiritual activity in my life stopped.  I started a love affair with the things of the world.  I loved the pleasures of sin that this world had to offer, and pursued those pleasures with great zeal.  At twenty years of age the Lord started working on me.  My brother gave me a book to read written by a Christian.  I refused to read the book for many months.  It was by my lamp stand and every night as I turned the light off I would see the book just sitting there.  One night I picked the book up and started reading it.  About half way through the book the author asks this question, “If you were to die tonight where would you be spending eternity?”  I had heard or read this question many times in the past, and without hesitation said to myself, “heaven of course”.  Yet when I read this question that night the Spirit of God convicted me.  It was the first time in my life I really gave this question more than a second of thought.  How could I claim to be a child of God when right across the room I had grocery bags filled with pornography exposing the ungodly lust of my heart?  My mouth for years was filled with obscenities and my heart filled with prejudice and hatred toward others.  As I examined my life, I realized for the first time that I was not a child of God, and that I was in big trouble with Him.  If God was going to let me into heaven He might as well tear down those pearly gates and let everyone in.  It was that night that I repented and bowed my knee to the Lord and asked Him to save me from my sin and from the penalty of my sin.  I knew that I deserved the wrath that God has for unrepentant sinners.  I also knew that God offered a pardon for my sin, and that this was a based on one simple requirement. The condition was, receiving His Son the Lord Jesus Christ and believing on His name.  If I would receive The Lord Jesus Christ, then God would not only deliver me from His wrath, but also He would make me His child (John 1:11-13).  Dear friend, if you examined your life and find that you are in the same condition that I was in then I would plead with you to do as I did, repent and call on the name of the Lord to be saved (Romans 10:9-13).  Right now it is not yet too late.  I pray that you will not be one of the many that Jesus spoke about in Matthew 7:21-23 that deceived themselves until it was too late.  Call on the name of the Lord now, while there is still time.  “Now is the day of salvation.”

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