Third Sunday of Lent

Jesus casts out a demon from a dumb (cannot speak) person. He is accused of casting out demons in the name of Beelzebub, "the Prince of Devils." He asks, "If Satan is divided against himself, how shall his kingdom stand?" Well, of course, we know it WON'T stand - we've read the book and Jesus wins!

Jesus also cautions that once the unclean spirit is cast out of a person, that spirit wanders around looking for a new place to rest - and not finding any, it sees the soul it once inhabited, and it is all cleaned and swept, so the unclean spirit returns and brings with it seven other spirits even more wicked and thus the last state of the person is worse than the first! Be on your guard! When you have just gone to Confession and have had your "house cleaned" - you are vulnerable to being re-inhabited and potentially be in a worse state than before! Remain strong in your prayers! When you sense temptation returning, pray even harder that you not be turned! Again, so much for the Protestant notion of Once Saved, Always Saved...

The Season of Septuagesima

 

The Season of Septuagesima starts with Septuagesima Sunday and lasts through Shrove Tuesday, the day before Ash Wednesday - and the beginning of the Season of Lent. Of note, the icon in the picture above is an Eastern icon. The Season of Great Lent for Orthodox Christians this year began on February 6th and lasts through Easter Sunday - which again, is a different date than Latin Rite Catholics. Orthodox Easter this year is on April 16th, and for Latin Rite Catholics (and most all other Christian sects) Easter is celebrated on April 9th (more on the date(s) of Easter in a later post during the Lenten season).

For Latin Rite Catholics the pre-Lent season of Septuagesima includes Sexigesima Sunday and Quinquagesima Sunday (60 and 50 days, respectively, and not precisely, before Easter). Of note, in 1969 Pope Paul VI removed the Season of Septuagesima from the liturgical calendar, however in the Extraordinary Rite - this season is still recognized and celebrated.

Septuagesima includes the denial of Once Saved, Always Saved (OSAS), and this declaration, being an Epistle and scriptural reading, makes it very difficult for one to adhere to this anti-scriptural teaching! Of course, I am referring to St. Paul's lesson on "running to win the race..." from 1 Cor. 9:24-27 - and in verse 27 where he points out that even he, the Apostle, St. Paul, after preaching the Gospel, could be disqualified from the prize (eternal life with God and the Saints)! If you have a valid and respectful argument for OSAS, I encourage you to post it in the comments below, and we can discuss this further. Even in the game of Monopoly ®Parker Brothers, the card can be "sold!" 

Your comments and respectful valid arguments are encouraged in the comments below.

Third Sunday of Lent - Scripture of the Week

For the Third Week of Lent:

The Epistle this Sunday (Extraordinary Rite) is taken from Ephesians 5:1-9 wherein we are reminded to be followers of God and to not stray into sins of fornication. covetousness. obscenity, foolish talking and all uncleaness for those who do will not inherit Heaven. You were in darkness but are now in the Light of the Lord.

The Gospel this Sunday (Extraordinary Rite) is from Luke 11:14-28 - In this passage, Jesus casts out a devil from a person who was dumb - and immediately the person began to speak. Some who witnessed this claimed he cast out demons by Beelzebub, the Prince of Devils. Jesus responds that a kingdom divided against itself shall be desolated. He also warned that when a demon is cast out and wanders around looking for a new home, if finding none it returns to the host in which it once resided. Seeing the former host is now clean and inviting, it goes out and brings back seven other spirits to inhabit - making the later state is worse than the first. This is a warning to be on one's guard against evil spirits who will want to come into those who have been delivered to the Lord. It is also evidence against those who preach OSAS (once saved, always saved) for clearly one who was delivered from evil has been "saved" but there is danger of not only falling away, but to be in an even worse situation than their previous state.

From my professor this week:

"Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful." - Hebrews 10:23

I respond: Not only does this fit well with this Sunday's Epistle (Extraordinary Rite) to remain faithful and also with the Gospel to be diligent after being delivered to Christ, but also reminds me of our motto as apologists from 1 Peter 3:15 - to always (unswervingly) be ready to give an answer for the hope that is within us!

Here's to persevering in Lenten devotion and penance.

AMDG,

Scott<<<

Once Saved, Always Saved

I once was challenged by an email correspondent to show him where is the book / chapter / verse that supports my claim that a believer in full possession of the gift of eternal life can be cut off.

 

Now, before I could answer him though, I needed him to clarify what he meant exactly by the phrase “a believer in full possession of the gift of eternal life”.  This turn of phrase was something new that he introduced and so I needed to make sure I understood exactly what he meant before we could go ahead and debate the truth or falsehood of the doctrine of “Once Saved, Always Saved” (OSAS).

 

And so I asked him a yes or no question.  I asked him that “if one receives the Grace of God and is described as being a member of the Body of Christ, would you call that person 'saved', ie to have full possession of the gift of eternal life?”

 

I’m unsure if my question unnerved him or that he knew where I was going with this but instead of answering with a yes or no he avoids my question altogether and in its place brings other verses that he believes proves his position.

 

Rather than show him that these new verses don’t prove what he thinks they prove, I kept pressing him on answering my question so that we may move on.  My question was rather simple.  From the perspective of my Protestant friend, an individual who he considers to be ‘saved’, is that individual a member of the Body of Christ and therefore in full possession of the gift of eternal life?

 

If he answered no, then I would ask him to clarify exactly what he means by having “full possession of the gift of eternal life.”  But if he answered that yes, when one is a member of the Body of Christ then he is in “full possession of the gift of eternal life”, which I suspect he would have to if he were honest with himself.  Then all I would have to do is bring a verse which shows that even when one is a member of the Body of Christ, i.e. in full possession of the gift of eternal life, can still be cut off from the Body of Christ.

 

That verse is in John 15.  Jesus said: “I am the true vine, and my Father is the vine grower.  He takes away every branch in me that does not bear fruit […] I am the vine, you are the branches.  Whoever remains in me and I in him will bear much fruit, because without me you can do nothing.  Anyone who does not remain in me will be thrown out like a branch and wither; people will gather them and throw them into a fire and they will be burned.” (John 15:1-6)

 

Notice that Jesus is talking about those ones who are the branches while He is the vine.  The branches are part of the body of the vine.  These branches, these people therefore are in ‘full possession of the gift of eternal life’ by virtue of being members of the Body of Christ.  These ‘branches’, these ‘saved’ individuals though can still be taken away and burned (v.6).

 

Rest assured that if he ever comes back to start a new subject that I will bring back this exact exchange so that he might finally answer my question.  If he won’t then he will show his true colors to all the others who are reading along of his intentions of not of finding the truth but to avoid all that might confuse him of his current mindset that “Once Saved, Always Saved” must be correct.

 

And that is the reason that I continue in my efforts to evangelize on internet groups.  I don’t put so much time and effort in this to convince those that I’m talking to but for those many who might be reading along that I may not ever know are there.

 

God Bless
Nathan

 

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 Prepared by a St.Denis parishioner

Eternal Security

From what I understand of the belief of eternal security is that once one accepts Jesus Christ into their hearts and pray the ‘sinners’ prayer then there is no sin, no evil this individual can do so as to keep them from reaching heaven.  They only need to believe in Jesus (John 3:16) and they’ll be ‘saved’.  They have absolute assurance of salvation.  And since works do not gain our salvation, our works cannot contribute to our losing our salvation.  We are now “hid” with Christ in God (Colossians 3:3).  There is “no condemnation” for those in Christ (Romans 8:1-2).

In fact some also bring up John 10:27 as proof that they can never lose their salvation since Jesus proclaims that “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:  And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.”  And yet nowhere do we find that one cannot willingly jump out of His hands through ones own choosing.

In fact, one Protestant writes:

“However, it is not merely from the Levitical laws that we were discharged, but also from the moral ones.  God only has one law.  Does that mean we can sin freely?  No, for God hates sin, and if we love God, we will live according to His commandments.  However, it does mean that no sin will be held against us once we receive Christ, for upon receiving Christ we are discharged from the very law against which our sins would have been reckoned.”

Let’s look at the question of absolute assurance.  Is there such a teaching in Scripture?  NO, there isn’t.  Romans 8:1-2 does not say absolute assurance.

Rom 8:1-2  “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death.”

And Romans 6:15-16 says that sin leads to death.  Now, this verse is found in the SAME letter as the verse supposedly showing absolute assurance.  Decidedly, Paul does not agree with this.  We are not discharged from the moral law because there are consequences to sinning!! 

For example, what happens if a believer in Jesus cannot forgive the sins of another?  Jesus Himself says that: “…if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.” (Mat 6:14-15)

God is infinite in His resources, He spares nothing to convince us to come to Him and remain BUT because of our free will, we are always free to refuse God's infinite help and support and in this way even lose our own salvation and therefore the Protestant doctrine of Eternal Security is unequivocally false.

 

God Bless

Nathan

OSAS

From what I understand of their belief is that once one accepts Jesus Christ into their hearts and pray the ‘sinners’ prayer then there is no sin, no evil this individual can do so as to keep them from reaching heaven.  They only need to believe in Jesus (John 3:16) and they’ll be ‘saved’.  They have absolute assurance of salvation.  And since works do not gain our salvation, our works cannot contribute to our losing our salvation.  We are now “hid” with Christ in God (Colossians 3:3).  There is “no condemnation” for those in Christ (Romans 8:1-2).

In fact some also bring up John 10:27 as proof that they can never lose their salvation since Jesus proclaims that “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:  And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.”  And yet nowhere do we find that one cannot willingly jump out of His hands through his own choosing.

Re-read 2 Peter 2:20-21. This letter was written to the believing Jews throughout the known world. Here is what he says to those who lose there way:

"If they have escaped the corruption of the world by knowing our
Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and are again entangled in it and
overcome, they are worse off at the end than they were at the
beginning. It would have been better for them not to have known
the way of righteousness, than to have known it and then to turn
their backs on the sacred command that was passed on to them."

These people who escaped the corruption of the world were saved because they escaped the corruption by knowing our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ! These saved people who became entangled AGAIN in it and overcome...these people are worse off than they were in the beginning because they knew the way of righteousness and they turned their backs on the sacred command passed on to them.

Peter can only be talking about certain saved Jews who turned away from righteousness and now they are worse off than they were before knowing that way of righteousness. They lost their salvation even after finding it.

Jesus also speaks of this loss and promises their acceptance if anyone repents and comes back after rejecting the father.  The Parable of the lost son speaks of a son who rejects his father and asks for his inheritance in advance essentially telling his father that he is dead to him.  The father in the parable is the Lord and He gives us the free will to choose or reject Him.  But even when one rejects Him, our Father in heaven is always waiting for our repentance and return because when we turn away we are dead and when we return to Him we are “alive again” (Luke 15:31). 

God Bless
Nathan

The Five Solas (Petillo)

The Five Solas

A Response to Petillo

By Scott Windsor

I am responding to Petillo's blog, currently located here:
http://lcf1689.blogspot.com/2013/01/the-five-biblical-solas-of-reformation.html

The Five Biblical Solas of the Reformation

In order to be a true Christian one must believe the five solas of the reformation; that is, sola scriptura, sola fide, sola gratia, solo Christus and Sola Deo Gloria.  Is anyone ready to lay down their life for these divine truths because they honestly love them before God and man?

sw: We are to love nothing before God!  So I would urge anyone reading this to NOT lay down their life based upon this reason.

  Do you strongly believe these doctrinal truths?  

sw: No, because while some of them have some truth to them, others are actually contrary to Scripture, namely "sola scriptura" and "sola fide."

Are they divine truth to you and from His holy and written Word?

sw: No, for the same reason cited above.

SOLA 1 - SOLA SCRIPTURA

Sola Scriptura refers to the Bible as the sole God-inspired, infallible and inerrant written Word of God; however, we acknowledge that the Bible did not fall out of heaven or was not literally written with the hand of God; that is, it is God-breathed or the all-sufficient Word of God.  It is sufficient enough for life, faith and morals. 

sw: Being "sufficient" cannot be equated to being "sola."  This is the fatal flaw of most, if not all, who claim this doctrine.  They take references of sufficiency and equate that to sola.

Here are some Scriptures that teach the infallibility of the Word of God:

2 Timothy 3:15-17 NIV
 ¹⁵ and how from infancy you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. ¹⁶ All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, ¹⁷ so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.

sw: This is the primary scriptural citation sola scriptura adherents refer to - and as I noted previously, this passage does NOT speak to a "sola" nature, only a "sufficient" nature.  The concept of "sola" is imported or imputed into this verse through eisegetical arguments - such as we're responding to now.  Yes, all Scripture is God-breathed and (and here's the key) USEFUL for teaching, etc. so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work, but this passage does NOT say that Scripture is the ONLY (or "sola") source ability to thoroughly equip someone.  James White likes (or liked, not sure if he's still using this bad argument) making an analogy to his bike shop being able to thoroughly equip him to ride his bicycle.  The point that argument overlooks is that there's any number of equally able bike shops which could "thoroughly equip" him!

John 10:35 KJV
If he called them gods, unto whom the word of God came, and the scripture cannot be broken;

sw:  The context of this verse is Jesus challenging the Jews because they were about to stone Him because He refers to Himself as God's Son.  Jesus cites Scripture stating, "ye are gods" (Psalms 82:6), and that passage from Psalms says that we are "all sons of the Most High."  So yes, while He does say "Scripture cannot be broken," what He's NOT saying is Scripture is the sole (or sola) source for the Christian.  Again, this verse does NOT support sola scriptura!

John 17:17 KJV
Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.

sw: Sounds good, and IS good, His word IS truth!  Again, this does not say that ONLY His word is truth!  This is NOT supportive of sola scriptura!  Petillo has (as has all others before him) missed the mark in this feeble attempt to defend sola scriptura.

Sola Fide refers to faith alone; that is, it is the sole instrument for how someone is declared justified by faith alone; that is, faith is the alone instrument for being right before God.  In Reformed theology, there is no "faith plus good works" but faith alone but a faith alone is never alone because it is a working faith.  

sw:  The fact of the matter is that the ONLY place in Scripture where the words "faith" and "alone" are used together in Scripture is in James 2:24 which is blatantly a statement DENYING and of course that verse is:  "You see that a man is justified by works and not by faith alone" (NASB, emphasis added).  When Scripture itself explicitly states "not by faith alone," how does one justify (no pun intended) a doctrine based upon faith alone?

sw: Another thing we see here is Petillo using the double-speak we have seen others use.  I've already prepared a fuller response on this double-speak as used by others, so I won't belabor it too much in this response (see the link) - suffice it to say that saying "faith alone, but not a faith which is alone" is double-speak.  If a saving/working faith is never alone, then faith alone (aka sola fide) is a lie.

SOLA 2 - SOLA FIDE

Justification by faith alone is a declaration by God in legal terms where a sinner is declared righteous on the basis of Christ alone; that is, it is a once-and-for all declaration by God and in justification we are not "made" right with God but declared right with God through Jesus His Son. 

sw:  Here Petillo has actually changed topics from sola fide to solo christus, which is a truism if properly taught and understood and once saved, always saved (OSAS), which is a false teaching!  Solo christus is discussed later, so I'll wait on that one, but OSAS is yet another fatal flaw in Protestant thinking which I will address now.  Ironically those who adhere to OSAS look to St. Paul's writings to find, what they think, is support for the teaching but in the context of all that St. Paul wrote one would have to reject OSAS if they are reading him objectively.  Why do I say that?  Simply put, St. Paul puts forth the possibility of he himself losing salvation!  Yes, he teaches that he must continue to discipline himself so that even after preaching the Gospel to others, that he himself would not be disqualified or cast out from the prize (1 Cor. 9:27).  From the same context he teaches that we must all run as to win the prize (1 Cor. 9:24) to not be complacent.

Here are some Scripture references to help us understand sola fide:

Romans 4 KJV

4 What shall we say then that Abraham our father, as pertaining to the flesh, hath found?  ² For if Abraham were justified by works, he hath whereof to glory; but not before God. ³ For what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness.  ⁴ Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt.  ⁵ But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.  ⁶ Even as David also describeth the blessedness of the man, unto whom God imputeth righteousness without works,  ⁷ Saying, Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered  ⁸ Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin.

sw:  Interestingly, Protestants like Petillo like to use this passage from Romans 4 where it speaks of Abraham's faith - but in the greater context of the whole of Scripture we cannot ignore James 2:24 which also speaks of Abraham's faith AND explicitly states that Abraham was "justified by works and not by faith alone."

Ephesians 2 KJV
⁴ But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, ⁵ Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)  ⁶ And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:  ⁷ That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.  ⁸ For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:  ⁹ Not of works, lest any man should boast.  ¹⁰ For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.

 sw:  Another mistake folks like Petillo makes is to take St. Paul out of context, as he has done above.  The "works" which St. Paul speaks against here is "works of the law," and specifically in this context he is speaking about circumcision (see verses 11-18).  Yes, the context makes it clear that St. Paul is saying that one does not absolutely need to follow "the Law" of circumcision - this is not a denial of the need for works to accompany faith in order for that faith to be a saving faith.

Titus 3:5 KJV

⁵ Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost;

sw: Again, if we look to context, specifically verse 9, we see the "law" is part of what is being spoken of in this context.  If we look at verse 8 we see that the context is actually encouraging the faithful to good works!

SOLA 3 - SOLA GRATIA

Sola Gratia teaches that grace is unmerited favor or a free grace through the unified merit of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  It means that God comes to save the poor sinner; that is, God takes the initiative to save a lost sinner and gives him a new heart and a new unified merit of Christ alone through the spiritual application of the Holy Spirit.

sw: Properly understood, sola gratia is truth!  We have done nothing and can do nothing to merit God's Grace - it is something He freely gave to the world (John 3:16) but even that gift requires something of us in order to receive it - we must believe in Him - which leads us to Petillo's next point. 

Sola Gratia is a denial of synergism; that is, the soul remains passive and there can be no cooperation with God and man until the sinner is spiritual quickened unto eternal life or life everlasting because there is no good in the flesh of men.  It is His unified imputed or account merit that is the centrality of the Gospel; that is, it alone is all-sufficient not the personal merits of the saints.  There is a merit that is not a merit that merits hell; however, there is no merit that merits heaven.

sw: This is where Protestants like Petillo go totally off-track.  Scripture clearly states that God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son - and here's the synergism - that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have everlasting life.  It almost seems that in their desire to fight anything "Catholic" they are willing to overlook such an obvious truth.  To deny that there has to be cooperation with God is devoid of the truth of Scripture.  Sure, we don't merit His Grace, but those who do nothing will not experience it.  At the very minimum we must believe in Him as our Lord and Savior.

SOLA 4 - SOLO CHRISTUS

Solo Christus refers to the saving and unified merit of Christ alone in His active and passive obedience; that is, His active obedience is His sinless life that He used to earn heaven for us because we could not merit heaven ourselves, and second, is His passive obedience where He bore the sins of His people in His body upon the tree where He took all our filth, sin, defilement and total rebellion and idolatry at the Cross so we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

sw: Again, there IS truth in solo Christus.  It IS Jesus Christ who merits our salvation, not us.  We don't "earn" Heaven, but it is also not merely a passive hearing of His Word which saves us - for we must also be doers of His Word.

"for it is not the hearers of the Law who are just before God, but the doers of the Law will be justified."  Romans 2:13"But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves." James 1:22

sw: Now to the verses Petillo puts forth:

Galatians 2 KJV
¹⁶ Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.
¹⁷ But if, while we seek to be justified by Christ, we ourselves also are found sinners, is therefore Christ the minister of sin? God forbid.
¹⁸ For if I build again the things which I destroyed, I make myself a transgressor.
¹⁹ For I through the law am dead to the law, that I might live unto God.
²⁰ I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.
²¹ I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain 

sw: Make note of the context again - it is "works of the Law" which do not justify!  True faith or saving faith is not an alone faith.  If you believe in Jesus Christ, you DO what is commanded in His Word.

Romans 3 KJV
²¹ But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets;
²² Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference:
²³ For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;
²⁴ Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:
²⁵ Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God;
²⁶ To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.

sw: Again, "works of the Law" is the context!

Romans 4 KJV

4 What shall we say then that Abraham our father, as pertaining to the flesh, hath found?

² For if Abraham were justified by works, he hath whereof to glory; but not before God.
³ For what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness.
⁴ Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt.
⁵ But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.

sw:  In order for Petillo's thesis to be true here we'd have to say this is a direct conflict with James 2.  Since I do not believe in Scripture contradicting itself, and I do not believe Petillo does either, then we must believe Petillo is misrepresenting the context of Scripture here, especially when the EXACT SAME EXAMPLE is used in James 2 to show that it was "by works a man is justified, and NOT BY FAITH ALONE."

SOLA 5 - SOLA DEO GLORIA

Sola Deo Gloria teaches that all glory goes to God alone;

sw:  Catholics believe it this too!  But let us continue...

that is, all of spiritual salvation goes to God alone. 

sw:  Agreed!

That is, He is the object of our worship that gets the most glory. 

sw:  Agreed!

We indeed praise Him and glorify Him because He chose to save; that is, He is glorified in the eternal preservation of the saints and He is glorified in the eternal destruction of the damned.  He is glorified unto holiness by eternal mercy and He is glorified unto sin by His eternal justice.

sw:  God is not glorified in the damned.  God's justice is demonstrated and His glory is in the mercy He shows to those whom He has saved FROM damnation.  

Psalm 29:1 KJV
Give unto the LORD, O ye mighty, give unto the LORD glory and strength. 
Psalm 29:2 KJV
Give unto the LORD the glory due unto his name; worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness.
 Psalm 64:10 KJV
The righteous shall be glad in the LORD, and shall trust in him; and all the upright in heart shall glory.

sw:  These are nice passages, but none of them proclaim SOLA deo gloria!   Yes, we give unto the Lord, unto His mightiness, glory and strength, and while it IS theologically sound to only give glory in the highest to God, the passages Petillo cites here do not proclaim "sola."

May we learn these sacred and divine truths!  May we plan to live a godly and holy new year!  We must mediate on these divine truths and by His Spirit apply it to our lives!

sw:  Those things which Petillo has professed which are truths should be learned and help us to lead godly and holy lives - those things we have identified as falsehoods must be utterly rejected and denied by all faithful Christians.  

sw:  The "Five Solas" are mostly fictions invented by protesting rebels who LEFT the One, True Church and desperately sought to establish a new foundation, a new authority and most definitely a "different gospel" from that which was preached by their forefathers - and which we are explicitly warned against:

I wonder that you are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ, unto another gospel.  Which is not another, only there are some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ.   But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach a gospel to you besides that which we have preached to you, let him be anathema.  As we said before, so now I say again: If any one preach to you a gospel, besides that which you have received, let him be anathema.  Galations 1:6-9

But I fear lest, as the serpent seduced Eve by his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted, and fall from the simplicity that is in Christ.  For if he that cometh preacheth another Christ, whom we have not preached; or if you receive another Spirit, whom you have not received; or another gospel which you have not received; you might well bear with him.  For I suppose that I have done nothing less than the great apostles  2 Corinthians 11:3-5

sw:  In this passage, St. Paul, while warning against a false gospel also fears that those to whom he has preached may, like Eve, be led astray by the Serpent.  He that cometh, be it 1500 some years later, preaching another Christ, whom they did not preach, or another Spirit, etc. is to be avoided, rejected and anathema.  If "OSAS" were a truth, a true gospel, then why would St. Paul fear his followers would be able to be led astray?  Heed St. Paul's warning, my friends!  Flee the false Christ of Calvinism!  Embrace the One, True Christ who did indeed build His One, True Church - and didn't wait until the 16th century to do so!  Come home to that One, True Church - that we might be one, just as the Son and the Father are One.

That they all may be one, as thou, Father, in me, and I in thee; that they also may be one in us; that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.  John 17:21

In JMJ,
Scott<<<