Christianity Explained
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Faith or Works?
The Bible calls us to be loving and charitable to others, and to worship him in cooperation with his grace. Part of that cooperation with grace is the sanctification of our flesh by the sacraments of the Catholic Church so holy spirit may dwell in us.
See Sabbath and Baptism. about more on works.
CCC 1727
“The beatitude of eternal life is a gratuitous gift of God.”
CCC 1996: “Our justification comes from the grace of God. Grace is favor, the free and undeserved gift of God given to us…”
CCC 2007
“With regard to God, there is no strict right to any merit on the part of man. Between God and us there is an immeasurable inequality, for we have received everything from him, our Creator.”
CCC 2010
“Since the initiative belongs to God in the order of grace, no one can merit the initial grace of forgiveness and justification, at the beginning of conversion.”
CCC 846:
“All salvation comes from Christ the Head through the Church which is his Body:The Church, a pilgrim now on earth, is necessary for salvation: the one Christ is the mediator and the way of salvation; he is present to us in his Body which is the Church. He himself explicitly asserted the necessity of faith and Baptism, and thereby affirmed at the same time the necessity of the Church which men enter through Baptism as through a door.
2 thessalonians 1
11 To this end we always pray for you, that our God may make you worthy of his calling and may fulfill every resolve for good and every work of faith by his power.
Process of sanctification and salvation.
1 Peter 2
5 you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house[a] to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
2 Corinthians 3:18
“And we all… are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another.”
Philippians 1:6
6 And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.
Philippians 2
12 Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed—not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence—continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, 13 for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose.
15 so that you may become blameless and pure, “children of God without fault in a warped and crooked generation.”[a] Then you will shine among them like stars in the sky
Romans 6:19
so now present your members as slaves to righteousness leading to sanctification.
Colossians 1:22–23
“In order to present you holy and blameless… provided that you continue in the faith.”
Ephesians 2:22
22 And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.
These verses debunks protestant theology that faith is not a work.
John 6:27-29
27 Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For on him God the Father has placed his seal of approval.”
28 Then they asked him, “What must we do to do the works God requires?”
29 Jesus answered, “The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.”
1 Thessalonians 1:3
3 remembering before our God and Father your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.
Works.
Ezekiel 36 (593–571 B.C.E)
“And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes.”
Mark 10:19
Rich man: What must I do to be saved?
Jesus answered: 19 You know the commandments: ‘You shall not murder, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not give false testimony, you shall not defraud, honor your father and mother.”
Matthew 19:17
“If you would enter life, keep the commandments.”
Jude 20
20 building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, 21 keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.
Galatians 5:6
For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything, but only faith working through love.
Luke 6:46–49
“Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do what I tell you? Everyone who comes to me and hears my words and does them… is like a man building a house… But the one who hears and does not do them is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation; when the stream broke against it, immediately it fell, and the ruin of that house was great.”
Luke 11:28
“Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and keep it!”
Luke 13:27–28
“But he will say, ‘I tell you, I do not know where you come from. Depart from me, all you workers of evil!’ There you will weep and gnash your teeth…”
John 3
21 But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God. 36 Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.
John 12:48
“The one who rejects me and does not receive my words has a judge; the word that I have spoken will judge him on the last day.”
John 14:15
“If you love me, you will keep my commandments.”
John 14:21
“Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me.”
John 15:10
“If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love.”
2 John 1:6
“And this is love, that we walk according to his commandments.”
1 John 2:3–4
“By this we know that we have come to know him, if we keep his commandments. Whoever says ‘I know him’ but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him.”
1 John 5:2–3
“By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and obey his commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments.”
John 15
The Vine and the Branches
“I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. 2 He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, (see Ezekiel 21:32 fuel for the fire) While every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. 4 Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love.”
(Jesus said we don't remain in him unless we eat the Eucharist.)
Romans 2:13
“For it is not the hearers of the law who are righteous before God, but the doers of the law who will be justified.”
Romans 12:1
“I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.”
Acts 2:42–47
“And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers… praising God and having favor with all the people.”
Peter 4:7-9
7 The end of all things is at hand; therefore be self-controlled and sober-minded for the sake of your prayers. 8 Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins. 9 Show hospitality to one another without grumbling.
Matthew 5:42
42 Give to the one who asks of you, and do not turn your back on one who wants to borrow
James 1:26-27
26 Those who consider themselves religious and yet do not keep a tight rein on their tongues deceive themselves, and their religion is worthless. 27 Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.
James 2
This is not a testament to not following the law, St Paul and James are both clear as to the significance of keeping the law via God's grace. St James is saying that the man who overcomes nine vices but cannot overcome the last one, he has still sinned and become guilty according to the law. St James says this so someone doesn't think that he can ignore eight commandments and ignore the rest two, all are to be kept or else a person is guilty to the law.
We are created in the image of the Worker and our faith is deepened and brought to completion by deeds.
James 2:22
22 You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did.
James 4:11
if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge.
Ephesians 2:10
10 For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
2 Thessalonians 1:8
8 in flaming fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus.
Proverbs 3:1
“My son, do not forget my teaching, but let your heart keep my commandments.”
2 Peter 1:5-11
5 For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; 6 and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; 7 and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love. 8 For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 But whoever does not have them is nearsighted and blind, forgetting that they have been cleansed from their past sins.
10 Therefore, my brothers and sisters,[a] make every effort to confirm your calling and election. For if you do these things, you will never stumble, 11 and you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
2 Peter 3:13-15
14 So then, dear friends, since you are looking forward to this, make every effort to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with him.
Matthew 6
Jesus goes over various works such as:
Giving to the Needy, The Lord's Prayer, Fasting.
Then in the next chapter it goes over the necessity of doing them:
Matthew 7
21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ 23 Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’ 24 “Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25 And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. 26 And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. 27 And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.”
Matthew 12:50
"Whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.”
Matthew 19:17
“If you would enter life, keep the commandments.”
Mathew 25
34 “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35 For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36 I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’ 41 “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42 For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43 I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’
Philippians 4:9
“What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, do.”
1 Corinthians 7:19
19 For neither circumcision counts for anything nor uncircumcision, but keeping the commandments of God.
Hebrews 10:24–25
“And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, encouraging one another.”
Revelation 22:14
“Blessed are those who wash their robes, so that they may have the right to the tree of life…”
Old testament acts counted as righteous like Abraham listening to God and acting his whole life.
Psalm 106:30-31
30 But Phinehas stood up and intervened,
and the plague was checked.
31 This was credited to him as righteousness
for endless generations to come.
The Commandments of Jesus
James 2:10
For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it.
Gods Law is unchanging
Isaiah 40:8
The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God endures forever.
Psalm 111:7–8
“The works of his hands are faithful and just; all his precepts are trustworthy; they are established forever and ever, to be performed with faithfulness and uprightness.”
Psalm 119:160
“The sum of your word is truth, and every one of your righteous rules endures forever.”
Numbers 23:19
“God is not man, that he should lie, or a son of man, that he should change his mind.”
Malachi 3:6
I the Lord do not change.
Hebrews 13:8
8 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.
Luke 16:17
"it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for one dot of the Law to become void.”
Ecclesiastes 3:14
“I perceived that whatever God does endures forever; nothing can be added to it, nor anything taken from it.”
Commandments
Matthew 5:48
48 You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.
1 Thessalonians 2:13
13 And we also thank God continually because, when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as a human word, but as it actually is, the word of God, which is indeed at work in you who believe.
1 Thessalonians 4:2-4
2 For you know what instructions we gave you through the Lord Jesus. 3 For this is the will of God, your sanctification:[a] that you abstain from sexual immorality; 4 that each one of you know how to control his own body[b] in holiness and honor,
2 Thessalonians 3:6
“Now we command you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you keep away from any brother who is living in idleness and not in accord with the tradition that you received from us.”
2 Timothy 3:16-17
All Scripture is breathed out by God
Mark 10:19
Jesus answered: 19 You know the commandments: ‘You shall not murder, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not give false testimony, you shall not defraud, honor your father and mother.”
Matthew 7:21-23
21 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. 22 Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ 23 And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; leave Me, you who practice lawlessness
Mathew 16:24
"Then Jesus told his disciples, 'If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me."
Mathew 22
The Greatest commandment
“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. 38 This is the great and first commandment. 39 And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. 40 On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”
John 15:13
(This means laying down our life setting all things aside for Jesus)
13 Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.
1 John 2:15-17
Not loving the world
15 Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them. 16 For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—comes not from the Father but from the world. 17 The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever.
Colossians 3
2 Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.
23 Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters,
2 Timothy 2:3-4
3 Share in suffering as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. 4 No soldier gets entangled in civilian pursuits, since his aim is to please the one who enlisted him.
Hebrews 12:8
8 If you are not disciplined—and everyone undergoes discipline—then you are not legitimate, not true sons and daughters at all.
Hebrews 12:14
“Strive for peace with all men, and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord.”
Hebrews 13:2
Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.
John 14:15
"If you love me, keep my commandments."
John 14:21
"Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him."
John 15:10 (during the last supper, see eucharist)
5 “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.
6 If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. 10 If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. 14 You are my friends if you do what I command.
Matthew 28:19-20
The Great Commission
Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.
1 John 2:3-4
"And by this we know that we have come to know him, if we keep his commandments. Whoever says 'I know him' but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him."
1 John 5:2-3
"By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and obey his commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome."
2 Corinthians 7:1
“Let us cleanse ourselves… bringing holiness to completion in the fear of God.”
Revelation 22:14
"Blessed are those who wash their robes, so that they may have the right to the tree of life and that they may enter the city by the gates. … They will follow the commandments of God."
Ephesians 5:11
11 Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them.
Colossians 3:9–10
Do not lie to each other.
Luke 18:20
Do not bear false witness.
2 Timothy 2:14-26
14 Keep reminding God’s people of these things. Warn them before God against quarreling about words; it is of no value, and only ruins those who listen. 15 Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth. 16 Avoid godless chatter, because those who indulge in it will become more and more ungodly. 17 Their teaching will spread like gangrene. 19 Everyone who confesses the name of the Lord must turn away from wickedness. 21 Those who cleanse themselves from the latter will be instruments for special purposes, made holy, useful to the Master and prepared to do any good work. 22 Flee the evil desires of youth and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, along with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart. 23 Don’t have anything to do with foolish and stupid arguments, because you know they produce quarrels. 24 And the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but must be kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful. 25 Opponents must be gently instructed, in the hope that God will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth, 26 and that they will come to their senses and escape from the trap of the devil, who has taken them captive to do his will.
1 Peter 1:15–16
“As he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, ‘You shall be holy, for I am holy.’”
The following verse is about not taking revenge or stooping down to others level around baseless insults:
Matthew 5:39
39 But I tell you, do not resist an evil person. If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to them the other cheek also.
Cross reference:
1 Peter 2:23
23 When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly.
James 2:13
13 For judgment is without mercy to one who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment.
Philippians 2
3 Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, 4 not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.
14 Do everything without grumbling or arguing,
Romans 14
17 For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. 16 Therefore do not let what you know is good be spoken of as evil.
Acts 10
42 And he commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one appointed by God to be judge of the living and the dead.
James 1:19-21
Hearing and Doing the Word
19let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; 20 for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God. 21 Therefore put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.
Revelation 21
7 The one who conquers will have this heritage, and I will be his God and he will be my son.
Preach.
1 Peter 2:9
proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.
Jude 20
22 And on some have compassion, making a distinction; 23 but others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire, hating even the garment defiled by the flesh.