Sunday, April 9, 2017

SALVATION AND THE KINGDOM OF GOD

When reading the Bible and the scriptures one thing that we have to watch out is to make the mistake of reading it out of context. Word has different meaning to different people if taken on its own without regards to how it is said, what it is addressing to, who are its audience, why it is said, when it is said and under what condition and situation. Not only that the word has different meaning to different people but understanding it entails also the state of the person receiving the word such as his mental, spiritual, and educational state.

Jesus ministry on earth lasted more or less 3 years period until he ascended to heaven leaving the building of his Church to the Apostles led by St. Peter who was a simple Fisherman. Throughout that time period he was with his Apostles he personally pick out and chose including other disciples preaching and teaching them and to the people in Galilee and nearby towns the Gospel of the Kingdom. They have seen the miracles but lo and behold they continue to have little faith. They have witnessed and seen it all but still with little faith, how can that be plausible? In Matthew 17:14-20, we will see how Jesus was so disappointed at his disciples, disappointed may even be light, he was exasperated by their continuous lack of faith and understanding to what he kept teaching them. Here is the depiction of the said event:


When they came to the crowd, a man came up to Jesus and knelt before Him. “Lord, have mercy on my son,” he said. “He has seizures and is suffering terribly. He often falls into the fire or into the water. I brought him to Your disciples, but they could not heal him.

O unbelieving and perverse generation! Jesus replied. How long must I remain with you? How long must I put up with you? Bring the boy here to Me.” Then Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of the boy, and he was healed from that moment.  Afterward the disciples came to Jesus privately and asked, “Why couldn’t we drive it out?, “Because you have so little faith. He answered. “For truly I tell you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.”

What disappointed Jesus at that event was his Disciples who were taught by him directly and were with him up close and personal, STILL HAD VERY LITTLE FAITH at that point, almost nil compared to the size of the mustard seed. Can anyone imagine the significance of the event on matters concerning Believing and having Faith? Real Faith? The only place in the Bible where faith is described is in Hebrew 11. In that chapter, faith can be summarized in Verse 1 which states that "Faith is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen". To put it simply faith is the realization of what we hope for in what we believed to be absolutely true. Meaning faith is something that we believe without a doubt and not even an iota of doubt to be true even if we don't see it in our lifetime on earth. It's a complete trust, a total trust in the words and promises of God. Man does not live by bread alone but by every word that comes from God.

Faith moves man to be humble and say, "Thy will be done Father, not my will but yours be done." Faith makes man to follow Jesus Christ and obey all his teachings and his commandments thus we are move to act accordingly and do as he says we do. Thus Faith is what we do in obedience to all that Jesus say we do, for his new commandments are our righteousness. This is the kind of faith that justifies the man. That is why James said "Show me your faith without works and I will show you my faith with my works" and "Faith without works is dead."  This is the essence of what St. Paul said that "we are justified by faith apart from works". Since faith is the product of the absence of doubt in our beliefs likewise our salvation will start from the moment we believe, we believe without a doubt. Thus Jesus said to Thomas, "You believe Thomas because you have seen me, Happy or Blessed are those who believe yet don't see me." Because precisely from belief comes faith and faith is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of THINGS NOT SEEN". 

Believing alone without having faith will not save anyone and having faith alone without works is dead for this reason, James said, "You believe that God is one. Good for you! Even the demons believe that and shudder!" Demons believe but they are faithless and because they don't have faith their works are evil and in opposition to God. They believe in God but they oppose him. A belief therefore that opposes God is the kind of belief that the devil and the demons have. We should therefore be aware of the lies of the false preachers who come holding the Bible and teaching man-made doctrines that we are Justified by Faith Alone and that having been justified by faith alone we are already saved and that even Baptism has very little effect on that. From such error they are teaching that our Justification is a free gift of God in that we are made righteous by the righteousness of Jesus that is counted on us so that even if we remain a sinner and keep sinning we are saved. While indeed Justification is a free gift of Grace from God, we are justified even if we remain in sin. This is absolute lie of the devil working in those so called Bible believing Christian preachers who are in truth, the ravenous wolves in sheep clothing. This lie that is so prevalent today among the Protestants has led many to sin and to hell. While Justification by faith is indeed a free gift of God so no one will boast, true faith is seen in our works, works that are in obedience to God. Meaning true faith makes us do what has been commanded of us by the Lord.

Belief that does not produce faith has zero value in our salvation. The essence of the verses in the bible that state "If one believes in Jesus Christ he is saved" is in the context that one has faith in the Lord and God." Faith is manifested by following the Lord and his commandments. Faith is seen in our works in Obedience to God's commandments and in observing, following, and practicing all of his works and teachings. 

WHAT IS SALVATION AND REQUIREMENT OF SALVATION?

Salvation is when we are allowed entry and citizenship to the Kingdom of God which means the everlasting life in the everlasting paradise of the Kingdom. That is salvation in the true sense of the word. Salvation therefore is directly linked to the Kingdom of God established by Jesus Christ on earth and on which he will come again to bring a new earth and new heaven in just one Kingdom of God. Salvation is a process which starts with our initial acceptance after passing the requirement according to command of the King of Kings to enter the Kingdom but it does not end there for we must perfect ourselves to be worthy of staying in the Kingdom which will be decided only by the Lord our just judge when it is our time to face his judgment. For this reason, St. Paul said, "work out your salvation with fear and trembling" for we don't know, indeed no one knows, until the end when we are handed down the judgment of the Lord. That is why we are reminded that we should not judge others for there is only one judge. This reminder of not judging others pertains to the judgment that only the Lord has the power to do and decide not us. But it does not deter us to use our judgment of whether we are following the teachings and commandment of the Lord for in that we will be judged. Salvation therefore is completed in the judgment of the Lord. 

But if Salvation means being found worthy to be accepted in the Kingdom of God, then what is this Kingdom? Jesus came to do the will of the Father and that is to establish the Kingdom of God as home to those who are saved, the ones worthy of eternal life in the Kingdom. The eternal home destination of those who are saved therefore is the Kingdom preached by the Lord.

When Jesus first went around Galilee after John was put in prison, Jesus preached and taught the gospel of the kingdom of God, and saying, "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel." (Mark 1:14-15. "And Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people." (Matthew 9:35) Jesus said to them, "I must preach the kingdom of God to the other cities also, because for this purpose I have been sent." (Luke 4:43) This announcement of Jesus of the "Good News" which is the meaning of the Gospel which the Father gave through Him was about the Kingdom of God being established on earth.

The acts of redemption, the salvation of man, all the commandments of God everything Jesus did were all related to the establishment of the Kingdom of God on earth as it is written:

"In the days of those kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which will never be destroyed, and that kingdom will not be left for another people; it will crush and put an end to all these kingdoms, but it will itself endure forever.” (DanieL 2:44) 

It is for the purpose of the kingdom of God that Jesus was sent by the Father. The Lord plainly said it is for the Gospel of the Kingdom why he was sent by the Father. And true enough the Lord has organized his ministry where he appointed 12 disciples as his Apostles who he personally taught and trained to be his witnesses but also fellow workers to set up the kingdom of God. And when his work was about to be completed what did he tell his Apostles that he will build? His Church, "I will MY CHURCH". He was preaching THE GOSPEL OF THE KINGDOM in his earthly ministry and what did he found and build? A Church! His Church. The Kingdom is the Church which was earlier known then as The Way or The Church of God! The awaited establishment of the Kingdom of God on earth, the new Kingdom of Israel which is of Davidic origin is the church built through the Apostles headed by Peter. 

Now the question is this, is the Catholic Church the true and original Church of God which is the precursor of the promised kingdom that was set up in fulfillment of the scripture? Our answer is absolutely a big big YES! The Kingdom of God on earth has been set up and it will last forever. It is the Church of God, that is the Catholic Church, the new Israel and we are the new People of God. How sure are we that it is the Catholic Church headed by the St. Peter? Because there is no denying that the Bible is not just the word of God but a written witness of the history of the Church from its early beginning until today. Considering that it will take an entire booklet or book to prove that it is the Catholic Church, it must be taken another Post which is a short reading for our Ebook with the Title: Thy Kingdom Come. Proving without a doubt that it is the Catholic Church in short or more precisely the Holy Roman Catholic and Apostolic Church. 

For the sake of this post, we will suppose that you agree with us that it is the Catholic Church that is the physical reality of the Kingdom of God in our time. We say that the first step in the process of salvation is the acceptance in the Kingdom and to be accepted there are requirements that one must meet according to the commandment of the Lord, the King of the Kingdom. So what are these.

REQUIREMENT OF SALVATION IN THE KINGDOM OF GOD

REPENT, BELIEVE, AND BE BAPTIZED

The Lord's very first commands were, REPENT AND BELIEVE IN THE GOSPEL. We now know that the Gospel is the good news of the establishment of the Kingdom of God on earth by Jesus. We also know now that to Repent is to be sorry of our sins, to ask forgiveness from God with desire and intention to change our ways and to stop sinning or committing sins. We have just discussed above what it is to believe or become a believer. Now supposed we have repented and we believe what now? Are we done, have we satisfied the requirement of God to be accepted in his Kingdom? The answer is not yet because after believing, next is the Baptism of water and spirit. This is precisely what Jesus said to one who wants to enter the Kingdom of God.

“Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” Nicodemus said to him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born?” Jesus answered, Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”(John 3:3-8).  

Baptism of water and spirit has been instituted and commanded by the Lord as a requirement for entering the Kingdom of God. Before Jesus ascended to heaven he repeated the same command “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. (Mark 16:15-16) Here salvation is attained by believing and being baptized which are the requirement the first key that will open the door to the the Kingdom of God and be given the means to be saved. Note that Jesus used "will be" which is a modal verb future tense. Therefore in spite of having followed the requirement to enter the Kingdom, Salvation is still conditional because inside the Kingdom of God on earth we must continue to persevere in faith up to the end of  our life. Why because God is perfect and in the coming Kingdom of God no one will remain that will not not be perfect. That is why Jesus commanded us, "Be Perfect as your Father in heaven is perfect" Note that today, there are still two Kingdoms of God existing, the Kingdom of Heaven in Heaven and the Kingdom of God on earth preceded by the Catholic Church founded and built for the purpose of perfecting the People of God, the Elect. At the end of age, there will just be One Kingdom of God since the new earth and the new heaven will merge into a new creation of God. 

Since God knows that it is difficult for man by himself alone to be perfect because he is prone to give in to temptations of the devil who continue to have the power on earth until the end of age, he has given us the Church as precursor for the Kingdom of God that in the Church we will be made perfect by the Sacraments which are the means for salvation. Indeed for our sake, God has in his mercy discarded the old laws, the many laws that were hard to observe and only given us the 7 Sacraments to fulfill. The Sacraments embodied all the laws and is anchored on the greatest gift of God, that is his Love for us. Because of his love and his mercy he made the yoke light and easy than ever before thus he said: "Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” (Matthew 11:29-30) 
ROLE OF THE CHURCH

The Role of the Church therefore is towards perfection of those accepted to enter the Kingdom. But it does not mean that those already accepted are already saved because they have to be perfected first. The belief which produces Faith justifies the man or made righteous by God through the merits of Jesus Christ who redeemed all man but it must be followed through by Baptism that regenerates the man to be born again as new man in Christ, giving him forgiveness of all his sins. Yet after justification and regeneration man can and may still fall back into sins. However does it mean, we have to be baptized again and again? The answer is No. Baptism is only done once and we just have to renew the vow or the oath of the baptized in baptism yearly to remind us of that oath. So if we fall back into sins what must we do to remain in the Kingdom of God and not thrown out, Jesus instituted the Reconciliation. He was asked by the Apostles on this, how many times do we have to forgive our brother who sin, the Lord answered 7x77 times which is a metaphor that means for as long as he asks for forgiveness, forgive him. St James mentioned specifically that we must confess our sin and reconcile with our brothers for us to be forgiven. And in fact it is for this reason that Jesus has given the Apostles and their successors the power to forgive sins. Whose sins you forgive, they forgiven. Whose sins you retained they are retained.

One may ask, but if the Church is full of sinners how can it be the Kingdom of God on earth? How can God allow the sinners to be in his Church. Well obviously the Lord answered this already when he said I did not come for the righteous but for the sinners. The Kingdom of God is even portrayed in the Gospel as having both the sons of the devil, the weeds that were able to enter the kingdom and the wheat the sons of God. In his Parable God allowed the weeds for the meantime because they may also pull out the wheat. But in the end of age, the day of judgment, the weeds will be pulled out and bundled together to be burned in eternal fire of hell with the devil and his demons. That is why we see and hear of bad priests, bad bishops, and bad Catholics in the Catholic Church that seemed to put the Church in bad light. Yet in spite of the crisis after crisis and the non-stop attack of its enemies the Catholic Church grew as prophesied by the Lord in his Parable of the Kingdom where it started out as small seed and grew to a very big tree. He however say that we must persevere because we will be tried and tested and only those likened to the wheat that was planted by the Son of God to the end will persevere and remain in the Kingdom of God and into eternal life. 

ALL THE MEANS OF PERFECTION TO BE WORTHY OF THE KINGDOM IS IN THE CHURCH, THAT IS THE CATHOLIC CHURCH ONLY THAT IS WHY THE DOGMA THERE IS NO SALVATION OUTSIDE THE CATHOLIC CHURCH.

The basis of the Catholic Church Dogma of "There is no salvation outside the Catholic Church" is precisely because it is the precursor of the Kingdom of God that has been established and already with us. It is at hand. The Church is the physical and visible reality of the kingdom and since salvation means to be accepted in the kingdom of God then to be in the Catholic Church is to be saved because we have in the church all the means of salvation available only to us and these are the Sacraments that fully embodied all the commandments of the Lord.

The Catholic Church is the body of Jesus Christ and his kingdom on earth. It is therefore perfect; however, we must grow in the church following all the Sacraments that we may truly be worthy of the Kingdom. While the church is perfect as Jesus Christ and the church are one, we that belong to the body of the church, citizens of the Kingdom of God, his people, have the means to grow in perfection with the Lord and be found worthy to be in the Kingdom of God through all eternity. And what are these means?
  • Baptism.
  • Eucharist.
  • Confirmation.
  • Reconciliation.
  • Anointing of the sick.
  • Marriage.
  • Holy orders 
Baptism allow us entry into the Kingdom of God and its precursor the Catholic Church. The Eucharist, the true body and blood of the Lord is our spiritual food that makes us Holy as we partake in the Holiness of the Lord. We become truly one with him. It is for this that the early Christians are called Holy Ones. This is reality that is why under the precepts of the Church we can't eat of the body and drink of the blood unworthily or while we are in a state of mortal or grave sin. Our desire of the Lord makes us strive to be righteous, obeying his commandments and observing righteousness, that is the effect of the Eucharist towards perfection.

Confirmation  confers on us the Gifts of the Holy Spirit which has been handed down by the Apostles by the laying of hands on the believers. A new Christian convert then named Simon Magus, the magician who at first converted to the faith and was baptized, tried to bribe the Apostle to bestow on him too the power to confer the Gifts of the Holy Spirit. He tried to pay them in exchange for the power to confer the Holy the Spirit, it is called Simony from the name Simon Magus. St. Peter instead banished Simon from the Church for the grave offense against the Holy Spirit. Having been banished for his evil ways, Simon Magus went to Rome and founded his own heretical church with him as their living God. He fooled and people using his magic tricks. But Tradition had it that when he challenged St. Peter and St. Paul to prove who is the true God, him or their God, Simon Magus was killed while performing his levitation trick as Sts. Peter and Paul prayed to God for the end of the Simon Magus trickery.

Confirmation of the Holy Spirit and its gifts can only be done by the Apostles and their direct successors, the Bishops of the Catholic Church. It is non-transferable to any other ordinary, meaning it cant be bought or given to anyone who desire to have such power. Such power goes with the Office of the Bishop as direct successors of the Apostles alone in the Catholic Church. So to for any Pastor or preacher to say they will baptize you with the Holy Spirit is a lie for even an ordinary Priest does not have that power only the Bishops. 

Reconciliation through Penance and Confession is the means of us getting cleansed of the sins we make and be firm in faith. That is why we pray to the Father as Jesus taught us "Do not lead us to the temptation but deliver us from the Evil one." We are subject to temptations all the time in our lifetime up to the last breath, the devil will try to snatch us away from the kingdom of God that we may join the damned in hell. But God has given us a way, he instituted the Sacrament of Penance and Confession we now call Reconciliation by giving this power to the Apostles who in turn gave the power to Bishops and Priests in orderly succession that the Church maybe built with perfect members who are free of sins. That is why they regard and called the Early Christians as Holy Ones. For they are indeed holy because of the power given to them by the Lord to Forgive sins. "Whose sins you forgive, they are forgiven, and whose sins you retain, they are retained." And when they asked Jesus how many times they will forgive one who have sinned, Jesus said to forgive 7 x77 of each sin we commit and thus allow us to be reconciled again and again until we are perfected and sin no more.

The Anointing of the Sick is our last means of salvation available in the Catholic Church. It is also known early in the Church doctrine as Extreme Unction which is administered to the dying also the last rite. We call it the insurance to life eternal in the kingdom of God blessed is the one who is able to receive it. Its like being in the race and the hordes of the devil are trying their best to pull you out of the finish line trying to catch you but in the final breath you are able to receive the Annointing, we call that PHOTO FINISH. You made it by the nose in the thick of time. In the Anointing or the Last Rite the Sacraments of reconciliation and the Eucharist are ministered to the dying as a last heroic effort of saving one soul for the Kingdom of God. The last heroic effort of perfection towards the end of life.

Finally we have a choice of either entering Holy Order such as priesthood or marriage to raise a family and children. Any of the choices is necessary for works of building up of the Church.

Bro. Manny Chief Apologist


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