We like glory. We love to make ourselves glorious! It’s one thing to steal glory from your friend, neighbour or sporting opponent, but it’s another thing altogether when you try and steal glory from God!! Who do you think you’re messing with!!
World Catholic Youth Day 08 is coming soon. The RTA is doing a good job at advertising it on their flashing signs on main roads in Sydney and surrounding areas. As WCYD08 gets closer, there will be lots of discussion about the differences between the Roman Catholic Church and Protestant Christianity.
The biggest difference between Roman Catholicism (and indeed all religions) and Protestantism is that they are trying to contribute something to their salvation and therefore trying to steal God’s glory.
Some may say that the differences between Roman Catholics and Protestants are insignificant. They’re not. In the Protestant Reformation of the 1500s, there were people who died, unwilling to recant of their open proclamation of the differences.
There were 5 slogans that became famous during that time 500 years ago – they are slogans well worth remembering and fighting for today.
Stay tuned for more…
ps – a warm fuzzy for the name of the NSW South Coast town where the above pic was taken…
Nice post!
Interested in your thoughts…if a Catholic comes to believe in radical grace, are they still Catholic? Should they remain in the Catholic church?
so much of being a catholic is about “belonging” rather than “believing”. it’s a family culture thing that you are born into. i know of a solid guy who spent 10 years continuing to “belong” to the roman catholic church even though he genuinely “believed” the gospel of Grace Alone in Christ Alone by Faith Alone.
he speaks of 2 conversions:
1) a born again converted to Jesus and being saved by his grace.
2) and then 10 years later – being converted out of the roman catholic church.
he is now a pastor in a protestant church (and doing some fine things in helping people to think through the difs b/w RCC and the Gospel).
so i think that you can be a Christian and still part of the Catholic church – but my guess is that, like my friend, you’ll eventually realise you need to leave.
even though his plan wasn’t to leave the church, martin luther worked out he couldn’t stay!
thoughts?
Interesting thought on Luther. Though, if I read Luther and the history bools correctly, Luther was very much attempting to “reform” the church, which he felt was still the body of Christ – only misguided. Of course, later on he realized that he would be better off leaving the RC institution.
Similar to a pagan tribesman that comes to know the Lord, I think every newly-regenerated Catholic should first pray and ask God if their mission field is right before them. The call of the great commission is to first minister where we are at. I think that is what Martin Luther did and perhaps a truly Christian Cathloic would do better by staying in the RCC, at least initially. Of course, I am not saying this is prescriptive for everyone. Nor am I saying that missions to the Catholic church can only be done “on the inside”.