Hi corinth
Two comments
Catholics depend on Jesus for salvation.
The Pope does not make doctrine.
Wondering, I'm speaking from what dona has written. As a man thinkieth in His heart so is He. So I am sure not all Catholics.
But people usually come to speak similar things who have first trusted in Christ, believed Jesus is the son of the living God, is God, master, ruler, creator of all. Etc.
And while one thing may seem a certain way, Dona believes through a lens. She/He has trusted in Doctrine First. Which is not the foundation. Jesus is. Which the outcome is religion, not relationship. Been there myself so I see clearly.
....
To your second comment thank you, I admitt I do not know much about the in-s and out-s of Catholicism. But what I am saying is the doctrine is of men. For it's not built off Christ, but a system of scriptures taken out of context.
For when one should be able to see through correction by scriptures that reject their scriptures used to defend their doctrine and does not: we know they are interpretting through a lens. Yet God's word cannot be put in a box. And the person is going to grow only in the limitation of their box.
It's like a person who has no outside view of the world, who has only lived in the house with one parent far away in the woods for their lifetime. They only see in regards to their environment.
And Catholic doctrine is like that, one sees only through that system, even interprets scripture from it. That is why the pharasee were blind. They'd yet to believe on Jesus. As recall from my senerio a person to be sheltered who has not been out in the world.
Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean.
27 “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of the bones of the dead and everything unclean. 28 In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness.
Another words in "first" trusting Jesus, coming to belief in who
He is is how one receives the Spirit...which I may talk about later. This is a foundational truth.
When you trust in doctrine before trusting in Jesus then what you may get is what I described already. Because now you interpret Jesus from the box.
Which one misses out on a relationship, where this relationship results in eternal life- to know the father and His son who He has sent.
So go back to verse 27 why are they like whitewash tombs?
For one. they have yet to receive a new heart by belief in who Jesus is. So in this sense of Dona we find through her/his words that They are concerned with outward aspects of Water baptism as something you must Do outwardly in order to be saved. Saved meaning receive the holy Spirit, But what is happening in Acts is not that these were not born again, but that their sins needed to be washed away.
Thereby which regeneration has to happen first in a Catholic like Dona life. Then the Gift of the Holy Spirit is knowledge of the presence of God at water Baptism. Life in the Kingdom
Where in this sense it does not matter (the "empty" words Dona speaks in telling one they must be baptized to be saved) Even though he/she may mean well- because of the Lens she/he view this by. Just something you must do. And in this case You can do it all you want and still may never have the reality of life that should have come to awaken you ( born from above) ; regenerated When you first believed.
Therefore if one has yet to be born from above, then their deeds cannot come from a heart purified by love. Nor can they see the kingdom.
The foundation must be Christ . Not scriptures taken out of context and formed into a box where which one view other scriptures from. That becomes circular and cultic.
Take this passage for example:
For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.
12 Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble;
13 Every man's work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is.
14 If any man's work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward.
15 If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire..
In red I high lighted
than that is laid , not the pope, creed, papacy, or what ever had helped to put these doctrines in which people of the Catholics religion must believe for their salvation.
And I can't say all that I do not mean by this either.
Point is Jesus Christ is the foundation,
And one needs a new heart, outcome -a new direction.
So if I were to preach the Gospel it may be like this REPENT and believe this good news
The kingdom is at hand, available to enter now, for any one who believes who God has showed Jesus to be. The Son of the living God, creator of all, Master, Lord , ruler, King etc.
Forgiveness of sin and everything you need for life and Godliness is found in Him.
Now if one believe the word , I believe the word is Spirit and Life. So in believing the word they receive the Holy Spirit Therefore this would have made someone want to show allegiance to their king, to the word they have accepted through water baptism.
For if you look at water baptism scriptures its after they received the word, or teaching that they were bapized unto who ever taught them. (Which means God worked through, or spoke through His apostles.) So they weren't to be baptized unto the apostles but In the name of Jesus.
So look at Moses as a a type of Christ. They were bapized into Moses under the cloud and in the red sea. Why or how was that? Because they obeyed the word through His voice. But who were they really obedient to? God
Therefore we see the faith or faithfulness of the people was God. It's God who saves, from faith to faith.
Obedience to His words bring deliverence, life. Peace, and joy. Another words obedience to God's commands can be to protect us; Give us life so other can eat from us.
For to believe in Jesus meets the command to believe in the one He has sent And that is the will of the Father.
John 6:40 For it is My Father's will that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in Him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day."
"Believes" is a continual word
This is a place where you recognize like doubting Thomas that He is Truly Lord and God. He said unless I see I will not believe.
That is why you must be born again have not just a physcal birth seeing with physical eyes, but a spiritual birth seeing with Spiritual eyes.
That:
18 The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints,
This is what came to me- and I can be wrong have been in areas before but test what is said by the word.
Test the Spirit ( the words I write) by the scripture
1 John
Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world.