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rainydaygirl
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Joined: 2008/10/27
Posts: 742


 this is real important (former catholics please read)

i know there are some who use to be apart of the RCC here on this site. over the last few days the Lord has been opening my eyes to some things and i have a question. first let me say i was raised in the catholic religion so that is my background. here is my question while i was young there was a lot of emphases placed on the fact that i was/am a sinner. those of you who have any knowledge of the RCC background know that at one time the nuns use to drive this home in catechism classes so you will understand what i mean. i remember being told from a really early age that i am a sinner and i need Jesus, its just something i always understood. now fast forward to the present and i am wondering is it possible that a person can repent(or think they are repenting) of sin because of learned behavior? is it possible for someone to be taught that they are a sinner, be taught right from wrong and then think they are repenting but really just responding to what they learned and not have had a true conversion encounter with Jesus? i always believed that the only way a person could see the sin in their life is by God showing them but now i am realizing that knowing Him is about so much more then just getting my sins forgiving. how can you know if you have truly repented because of conviction of sin and not just wanting to be a good person? in this day when so many are deceived i feel the pressing need in my spirit to know where i stand with Him, to be sure of where i stand with Him

rdg

 2014/2/26 9:45Profile
mama27
Member



Joined: 2010/11/20
Posts: 1482


 Re: this is real important (former catholics please read)

I don't know the answer to your question, but it is a "God thing" that you posted this, b/c I am out the door to visit my Aunt Marty (who I have asked people on SI to pray for her salvation) - she is Catholic and on her death bed....I sense she may only have days left to live. I have been so asking God what is the point of entry to sharing with her about the Lord and her need for a Savior....this is an aspect of the Catholic religion that I did not understand....I hope someone very knowledgeable here can help you with your issue. THANK YOU for sharing this - I believe it was of the Lord!

 2014/2/26 10:06Profile









 Re: this is real important (former catholics please read)

Hi RDG,

I am a former Catholic, born and raised in an Irish Catholic community in the West of Scotland. All of my education was Catholic and I was married in the Catholic church and they buried my first son. I know well of the issues that you have raised so let me give you my opinion.
Indeed we were well versed in our sinfulness and our guilt, but we were never pointed towards Jesus as the answer, the answer lay with the Sacraments. Repenting to a Catholic means going to confession and then Communion. Communion to a Catholic means a wafer of bread which they claim is Jesus. This Jesus is a counterfeit Jesus and not the Jesus of the Bible, it is the Jesus of transubstantiation, whereby the priest turns the bread and wine into the actual Body and blood of Jesus and then you take Jesus, by taking the wafer, into you.

True repentance comes when we " believe," in Jesus. Now that word in the Greek is way more than the modern day version of giving mental assent to an abstract truth, which every Catholic would certainly do. A Catholic has no problems in saying that they believe Jesus is the Son of God and that He died for our sins. The meaning of the word " believe," is to " trust with ones life." You see the difference? When we come to Jesus in repentance, we are giving Him our whole lives thus becoming born again of the Spirit and we are radically changed. Jesus said those who try and save their lives would lose them, and those who would lose their lives for His sake would gain eternal life. Now He was not talking about physically dying ( although obviously many martyrs down through the ages have been killed for Jesus) He was talking about losing our old lives and gaining a new eternal life in Him. So, when I was born again at the age of 27, the old Frank died, literally, not theologically. So much so that my wife said, who was not a Christian, that she woke up one morning to find a different man in her bed.

Being a Catholic cannot save anyone, nor could being a Baptist or Pentecostal. The only thing that saves is if one is born again by the Spirit of God. When reaching out to Catholics my suggestion is to let them know that Catholicism cannot save them, nor can their sacraments. Take them to John 3 and show them where Jesus says that unless a man or woman is born again they cannot enter the Kingdom of heaven. Then ask them what they think this " born again" means. It is a good starting point and of course all of it has eternal consequences which would not be lost on someone who already mentally assents to the fact that there is a heaven and a hell and an eternity in one or the other. I hope this helps sister..............bro Frank

 2014/2/26 12:01
tbsounde2
Member



Joined: 2009/2/11
Posts: 179
Los Angeles, CA

 Re:

"True repentance comes when we " believe," in Jesus"
"The meaning of the word " believe," is to " trust with ones life."

A hearty amen to that brother Frank!


_________________
Will

 2014/2/26 12:52Profile
tbsounde2
Member



Joined: 2009/2/11
Posts: 179
Los Angeles, CA

 Re: this is real important (former catholics please read)

Hi rainydaygirl,

Although repentance is important, it isn't repentance that saves us, it is faith in Christ which saves us and produces repentance in us. Just as brother Frank said, faith is not merely to believe (for even demons do that), but to place our trust in Christ and His finished work. Just as the wonderful hymn (Rock of Ages) declares:

Not the labor of my hands
Can fulfill Thy law's demands;
Could my zeal no respite know,
Could my tears forever flow,
All for sin could not atone;
Thou must save, and Thou alone.

Nothing in my hand I bring,
Simply to Thy cross I cling;
Naked, come to Thee for dress;
Helpless, look to Thee for grace;
Foul, I to the fountain fly;
Wash me, Saviour, or I die.


_________________
Will

 2014/2/26 12:59Profile
rainydaygirl
Member



Joined: 2008/10/27
Posts: 742


 Re:

thanks for answer my thread here everyone. Frank you said that "True repentance comes when we " believe," in Jesus. Now that word in the Greek is way more than the modern day version of giving mental assent to an abstract truth, which every Catholic would certainly do." ---

i think that is the difference and i see that more clearly now. when we come to Jesus we do surrender all and everything, and doing so is such much more then just receiving forgiveness its a promise or understanding that from this day forward i am going to be living daily with Him. its not my wants or desires any more its all about Him. From now on Jesus is Lord and i surrender, submit, and obey no matter what that might look like to the world around me or cost me to self. in the catholic church i was taught that i was a sinner but i can remember also being told that "its ok, cause God knows, He understands that were human, He will forgive us our sins." while that is all true its has never felt right to me, almost as if the attitude it self gives into the idea that its alright to sin because after all God will forgive you, your just a mere human after all.

rdg

 2014/2/27 8:20Profile









 Re:

Hi RDG,

"i think that is the difference and i see that more clearly now. when we come to Jesus we do surrender all and everything, and doing so is such much more then just receiving forgiveness its a promise or understanding that from this day forward i am going to be living daily with Him. its not my wants or desires any more its all about Him. From now on Jesus is Lord and i surrender, submit, and obey no matter what that might look like to the world around me or cost me to self"

Amen sister, indeed. It is all about giving your life over, surrendering to a Holy God and the way that He has so graciously laid down, that way is named Jesus and Him being Lord over your life. Now there are many parts of the Protestant world who could claim that Jesus does not have to be Lord of your life, they are simply wrong.

" i was taught that i was a sinner but i can remember also being told that "its ok, cause God knows, He understands that were human, He will forgive us our sins." while that is all true its has never felt right to me, almost as if the attitude it self gives into the idea that its alright to sin because after all God will forgive you, your just a mere human after all."

This teaching can be found in many places and is the essence of hyper grace and also those who would deny the necessity of Jesus being the Lord of your life. The Catholic answer lies in their sacramental system, mere empty symbolism. By a combination of infant baptism, confession, communion and perhaps the last rites, you could get into heaven. It would depend on how you ranked on the sacramental scale, but in most likelihood most Catholics think they will end up in purgatory. Problem with all of that? It's all a lie. It's a lie that started at the very inception of the Catholic church in 313ad. So many of those who at the time were known as catholics wih a small c had denied Jesus during the greatest persecution of all, the Diocletian persecution. They became known as traidors, similar to our modern word of traitor. Traidor meant " to hand over." Diocletian would spare the life of anyone who denied Jesus and handed over their scriptures to be burned publicly. This is what the majority of catholics did, not only handing over scriptures but also handing over people know as " rigorsts," or " donatists." These brothers and sisters were killed.

After the persecution, there was, of course, a split between those who had stood strong through the persecution and those who had denied Jesus and burned the scriptures. The catholics won the day with the support of Constantine who took over after Diocletian apologized to the Christians and hung himself. The catholic theologians then came up with a theology that covered their denials of Jesus and their burning of Scriptures. The Donatists main point were that these people were unholy and unworthy of ministering to the saints. The Catholics said that it did not matter the state of the minister, only the holiness of God mattered as men were imperfect, therefore those who had denied their faith were allowed to be ministers. This was actually a form of Gnosticism. Needles to say it did not end well for the so called Donatists or rigorists. Just a little history :) ...............bro Frank

 2014/2/27 10:13





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