The Dividing Line

I  have discussed in an earlier posting "Why There Can be No Union With Roman Catholics" why I feel evangelicals and Catholics are not combatable.
I would like to further discuss that topic.
It is not that today if you were to look around you would find belief wise in the life of the individual evangelical and the Catholic that much of what they would call different. In fact,, the ones that the protestant churches are losing to the Catholics seem to feel  the need for more liturgy. This they seem to be able to find in the Catholic belief system.
But the evangelical has the practice of Bible study and discussion groups.
Well, the Catholics since Vatican 2 have been allowed to read the Bible for themselves. They better not try to interpret it on their own. They can read and discuss and use the authorized Catholic material  provided. And when they have a question they , if they are good Catholics, need to go to their priest who will look up what the traditions of the church have determined want the passage is saying.
The evangelical is allowed to discuss and prove all things using the Bible as the authority of what the meaning is. they don't have to have tradition of the church determine what the passage means or says. Sometimes they are wrong, They are allowed to be. Yet that is why they have commentaries and a pastor.
And they also seek charismatic manifestation in worship.. that is both the evangelical and the Catholic  The charismatic movement may be one reason for the confusion.
Let's cut to the core problem.
 It is the statement 'saved by grace alone through faith alone.'
That is saying God does the work. Grace is a gift. Faith is a gift.
Not of works so no one may boast.
Catholics add works. Grace plus works. And the works are the individuals.
To add more heat to the fire.. it all goes back to a council. A council called Trent. It was here that the pronouncement was made by the Bishop of Rome, The Pope at that time, and the council who states that if anyone believed you were saved by faith alone  without works and taught such was put under an anathema and consigned to hell. And on top of that the council was deemed infallible and irrevocable.
So the Roman Church still holds that to be true. No sola scriptura. No sola gratia. No sola fide.
Sorry, guys. They don't mix and stick together as a whole. I am referring to the evangelical and the Catholic.

Further Help In Bible Study

I know some of you out there are doing a  research once again in  my posts on bible study methods. I notice 3 have  done a recent read  of the ABCD Method of Bible Study again. For further suggestions I would refer you back to an earlier one I posted in 2017 on Chapter study. This may help you do more intensive study. The only way we are going to dig deep in our study is to use different methods so our study doesn't become mundane.
I am happy to see that people are reading and interacting with this blog, for Your Information. Keep up the good work.

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Why There Can Be No Union With Roman Catholics

This must be addressed by someone, and I have yet to see it.
It is important because there are quite a lot of young promising Christian people, both male and female, who are drifting into the Roman Catholic Church feeling that the Roman Church is the  "better way' to do Christianity.
It is my contention it is not.
Of course, I am assuming something primarily. That is that you are a Christian.
Define terms.
I was taught to define terms so that the one you are discussing things with is understanding what is being said.
Christian. The way I define it is a person who has a living relationship with God through Jesus Christ.
An Evangelical would say --a person who has been born again as Jesus explained to Nicodemus as recorded in John chapter 3.  By grace through faith.
On the other hand, a Catholic would say one is saved by grace plus works.
Define grace.
Sola gratia , which the evangelicals who are saved, means by grace alone. Without works. And then grace is not something we have. It is a gift from God.
Let us look at that word Evangelical.
It is a word the Protestants use because the term Protestant started to get a bad name..  Protestant is a name the Roman Church gave a group of people who didn't agree with them.
But that is off the subject.
A Catholic believes that the church is the authority to believe when it comes to proper study and understanding of what the Bible says. Since they believe, without any scriptural proof, just some idea the Pope came up with, that they were given the authority to determine what is and is not 'Bible".
Let us use the term Christian for the other group, the one that consists of people who have a relationship with God through the finished work of Jesus Christ.
The Christian says the Bible is complete and does not need to have a group of people decide what is or is not 'Bible'.
Sola scriptura.
And let us look at this question:. Is there salvation in the Catholic church? Not if you adhere to their teachings which are not able to be located in scripture. They base their understanding on scripture plus tradition as taught by the priest who is stating what tradition, or the church, has determined it means. They are lost, not able to guide the blind since they are one themselves.
Enough for now. That is enough for a person to chew on. Be sure to leave a comment which I can see and respond to, if you desire to. If not, well, don't.

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