REDEMPTION AND SALVATION

Most times we hear from our separated brethren (Protestant) that all we need to be saved is Faith. This belief is known as “Sola Fide” or “Salvation by Faith alone”. They try to show us that this belief is true by carefully selecting and using verses from the Bible which seem to support this position.

We will look at the that position intensively with the Bible to see how true it actually is and see how exactly we are saved?To do this however, we have to look back at why man even needs Salvation?

The Fall
Adam and Eve disobeyed God and committed the first sin. As a result, mankind fell from a position of GRACE and into the power of death, becoming slaves to sin. This put man in a position needing serious help.

The Help
God being merciful reached out to man over and over again, making covenants with different people who responded to his fatherly call. God made a Covenant with Abraham which became a covenant with Israel. This covenant though not perfect was a prefiguration of the New and Everlasting Covenant.

The New and Everlasting Covenant
The New and Everlasting Covenant was freely given to us when God the Son in humility became man and offered himself as a Sacrificial Lamb to redeem us.

What did Jesus Christ’s Sacrifice obtain for us?
By Christ Sacrifice, all of mankind has been redeemed. In other words, all of mankind can now attain the ORIGINAL STATE OF PERFECTION in which we created and so can enter into Heaven on completion of our earthly sojourn.

Is Redemption the same as Salvation?
No. Redemption is the universal result of Christ’s sacrifice which gives all men the opportunity to attain Salvation. However, Salvation is the lifelong process beginning from baptism and extending till our death and possibly, entrance into Heaven.

Some believe every “true” Christian should be sure that they are saved and so are already sure of heaven. The Catholic Church however, rightly teaches us that Salvation is not something that one can be personally sure that he possesses. This is because if we are sure that we are in heaven, then God’s final judgement would be pointless as everyone already knows where they are going.

Also, the bible teaches us that Salvation is a lifelong process and not something that is attained at one moment only.

Mt 10:22 … but whoever endures to the end will be saved.
Mt 24:13 But the one who perseveres to the end will be saved.
Mk 13:13 But the one who perseveres to the end will be saved.
Phil 2:12–13 even tells us that we ought to work out our salvation.
By what then are we saved?

Obviously, we are redeemed and saved by God’s GRACE. It is because of God’s Graciousness that he reached out to us, became one of us, died for us, redeemed us and saved us. There is nothing that we can do to merit/win salvation for ourselves.

Ephesians 2:8–9 – “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not from you; it is the gift of God; it is not from works, so no one may boast”
1 Tim 2:4 –“(God) who wills everyone to be saved and to come to knowledge of the truth.”
1 Corinthians 15,17 – “And if Christ has not been raised, your faith gives you nothing, and you are still in sin.”

What then is the use of Faith?
Faith as well as a lot of other virtues (as we call them) are responses to God’s Grace. We do not reach out to God by Faith, we only respond to God’s gracious call. A good example is the Annunciation. If God had not reached out by sending Angel Gabriel to the Blessed Virgin Mary, her Faith-Filled response would have been impossible. She could not have reached out to God to initiate the Incarnation.

Also, we know from the Bible that faith is not the only response to God’s grace. There are 3 main responses. These are Faith, Hope and Charity, more known as the Theological Virtues.

Faith –Romans 5:21
Hope – Rom 8:24–25
Charity/Love – Mark 12:33

Some Christians try to over-emphasize Faith above and teach that as long as you have faith, you don’t really need the rest. But as the Catholic Church and the Bible teach in the whole of James chapter 2 “Faith alone cannot save you.”

Therefore, everyone who wishes to attain Salvation has to respond fully to God’s Grace by at least Faith, Hope and Charity. And as we are told, in the Bible, the greatest response is that of LOVE. We cannot attain Salvation by any other means.

1 Corinthians 13:13 – “Now we have faith, hope and love, these three, but the greatest of these is love.”

The WOMAN

Jesus said, ‘Woman, what do you want from me? My hour has not come yet.’ – John 2:4.

It is very easy and seemingly normal to infer from this statement that Jesus was either upset by Mary’s request or Jesus did not regard Mary as much as Catholics believe He did. Calling your mother “Woman” is a sign of disrespect or at least irritation.

Catholics also use this event as an example of Mary’s intercessory power. But if Jesus was irritated by Mary’s intercession while she was alive on earth, then it should be obvious that asking for Mary’s intercession is wrong.

The issues above arise as a result of misunderstanding what the term “Woman” as used by Jesus means. Let us delve into the Scriptures and see what “Woman” actually meant to and for Jesus.

Jesus and Adam

We know that Jesus is the Second or New Adam. They are the only two men who came into the world without the stain of sin and just as all mankind fell into sin as a result of Adam’s sin, so are all mankind redeemed from sin by Jesus’s sacrifice.

This kind of relationship between biblical person or characters is called typology. The Old Testament character is always used to point to a New Testament character. In this case, Adam points to Jesus. — Romans 5:11, 1 Cor 15:22 & 45.

Eve and Mary

When Adam was created, he was given a helper who was made directly from him. The woman who was created was fully “the bone of his bones and the blood of his blood.” Adam and Eve contained exactly the same material as one was made fully from the other.

When Our Lord Jesus Christ became man, he was conceived by a virgin and so all the matter in him came from only one person. This means that Jesus and his mother, Mary contained exactly the same physical material making Mary “the bone of his bone and the blood of my blood”.

Mary, just like Eve was created without original sin. They are the only females who were “Full of Grace”.

Just as Jesus is the New Adam, so is Mary the New Eve.

Genesis/Gospel of John

The first (and probably all the) chapters of the Gospel of John was written with Genesis as a reference point. Here are some examples.

Gen 1:1 and John 1:1 – “In the beginning, ….”

Gen 1:5 and John 1:5 – “…. Light from darkness ….”

Gen 1:2 and John 1:21-35 – “Holy Spirit above Water”

Also, the two books open with creation stories.

Seventh Day

We know that God created the world in 6 days and that he rested on the 7^th day. God created man on the 6^th day, saw that he was lonely, put him to sleep and then created woman. Adam woke up on the 7^th day, saw her and said “This now is bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called woman, because she was taken out of man.” Here the first marriage took place.

Let us count the days in John chapters 1/2 and see how many they are.

John 1:14 – First mention of the messiah – Day 1

John 1:29 – “The Next Day” – Day 2

John 1:35 – “The Next Day” – Day 3

John 1:43 – “The Next Day” – Day 4

John 2:1 – “On the third day” – Day 4 + 3 = Day 7!!!

So on the seventh day, at another marriage feast, the New Adam (Jesus) calls the New Eve (Mary) the same title which the First Adam called the first Eve: “Woman”. He is not irritated by her request neither is he disrespecting her. He is instead calling her by her title because Mary is “The WOMAN”.

Remember Genesis 3:15. Mary is the WOMAN whose SEED (Jesus) crushes the head of Satan. Even at Calvary, Jesus still refers to her as WOMAN – John 19:26.

Mary’s intercession is indeed welcome and powerful to Jesus as He shows by granting her request at Cana by turning water into wine.

NOTE: – The question Jesus asked her is more properly translated as “Woman, what is that to me and to thee?” rather than “Woman, what do you want from me?”.

Confession

Are there sins which require confession or is that just a Catholic invention?
Well, let’s ask the bible.

Matthew 9:1-8. (Note verse 8).
Mark 2 : 5 -12 (Note verse 10)

Then John 20 : 19 – 23 (Note verses 21 – 23).

Then 1 John 1 : 9 says if we confess our sins to God, he will forgive!

Therefore, the Catholics are the ones who created confession, right?

Just read the same 1 John 5 : 16 – 17.
(Oh, You didn’t know it was written in the bible.)

Now my question is, if they should not be prayed about directly to God, then how will they be forgiven?

CONFESSION!!!!!

Saint Paul said this plainly in 2 Corinthians 5 : 17 – 20.
(Verse 19)”…… He hath placed in us the word of reconcilation.”
And that is exactly what confession is.
The sacrament of RECONCILATON to God.

Or maybe I’m more stupid than I thought and those verses are not in the bible.