This is almost the same as the conversation between, Jesus and Nicadimus, to enter the kingdom of Heaven you must be born again by water and of Spirit. Once born again then we are suppose to love, live and serve the Lord together. Jesus is the Vine, we are the branches, in which we produce fruit for the Lord. Not agrue over semantics, through these agruements the devil dilutes the Lords message, and set us against one another.

Your sprinkled not submerged etc. I’m right and your wrong etc.

The Message is the same, God offers man Salvation, and man offers God Religion via a lot of different denomination.

Yes, I’ll resume the podcasts in June. I’m just bogged down with the Catholic Perspective on Paul book right now.

Please say a prayer.

Have you listened to the Crucified Rabbi podcasts:

http://crucifiedrabbi.com/

Yours in Christ,
Taylor Marshall

“This denominational arrangement is completely foreign to the teachings of Paul. For this reason, the Catholic Church never accepted a “denominational” understanding of Church.”

What then would he say about the different scapulars ? Orders? Brotherhoods?

Is someone who calls himself a “Franciscan friar” naming himself? (ie: de nomine)

Would you explain that by saying it is an “order only, and not a “church”"? Well, actually, there are a great many people who call upon the name of Jesus, and believe that he is the Son of the Living God, and trust him for their salvation, AND identify themselves as accepting some of the teachings of these various church fathers (Calvin, Wesley, etc.)YET, consider themselves part of a Church that transcends all human institutions and is JOINED together by the Holy Spirit that is, … the Body of Christ.

Even Pope Benedict recently expressed his desire to recognize Christians of other “denominations”. (sorry, I don’t have a quote ref.)

We read above,

“CHAPTER V.
On the necessity, in adults, of preparation for Justification, and whence it proceeds.

The Synod furthermore declares, that in adults, the beginning of the said Justification is to be derived from the prevenient [Page 33] grace of God, through Jesus Christ, that is to say, from His vocation, whereby, without any merits existing on their parts, they are called; that so they, who by sins were alienated from God, may be disposed through His quickening and assisting grace, to convert themselves to their own justification, by freely assenting to and co-operating with that said grace: in such sort that, while God touches the heart of man by the illumination of the Holy Ghost, neither is man himself utterly without doing anything while he receives that inspiration, forasmuch as he is also able to reject it; yet is he not able, by his own free will, without the grace of God, to move himself unto justice in His sight. Whence, when it is said in the sacred writings: Turn ye to me, and I will turn to you, we are admonished of our liberty; and when we answer; Convert us, O Lord, to thee, and we shall be converted, we confess that we are prevented by the grace of God.”

Surely the problem is that at best this amounts to a “cooperation”. It does not reflect the work of the Spirit as spoken of in John 3, or Ezekiel 36, giving life where there is death. It is God’s activity, otherwise we rob him of his glory, (1 Cor. 1v29).

Thanks