posted on Nov, 6 2003 @ 09:49 PM
"Give not that which is holy unto the dogs" (Mt. 7,6).
According to Christ's teaching, man is united with God in the Mystery of Communion -- the holy Eucharist.
The Lord says: "I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will
give is My flesh, which I will give for the life of the world...
Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except that you eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink His blood, ye have no life in you... He who eateth My
flesh, and drinketh My blood, dwelleth in Me, and I in him" (John 6, 51-56).
"I will build My Church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it" (Mt. 16,18)
What does this quote above mean.???
The Church of Christ is "the pillar and ground of the truth" (1 Tim. 3,15).
God Himself passed on to us to be exercised in our attitude to unrepentant sinners: "if he neglect to hear the Church, let him be unto thee as an
heathen man and a publican" (Mt. 18,17).
Following Christ, His holy disciples, St. John the Theologian (2 John 1,10), and the holy Apostle Paul (2 Thes. 3,6)
also called the faithful to spiritual vigilance and strictness: In his epistle to Galatians Apostle Paul anathematizes any distorter of Christ's
teaching: "If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let them be accursed" (Gal. 1, 9).
Are we judging others of their faith or are we condeming what is wrong to what Jesus Christ Himself said???
He spoke of Confession .. Jesus, giving His disciples the authority to forgive sin, said: "If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if
you retain the sins of any, they are retained" (John 20:23; c.f. Matt. 16:19, 18:17-19).
"You did not choose Me", Jesus told the Twelve: "but I chose you and appointed [ordained] you." (John 15:16). To these same disciples Jesus
promised: "It is not you who speak but the Holy Spirit" (Mark 13:11).
St. Paul wrote: "Let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup" (1 Cor. 11:28), and "If we would judge ourselves,
we would not be judged" (1 Cor. 11:31).
Above are quotes from the Bible that the Church does have authority to hear of any concerns regarding the truth and to make it known to the fathers of
the church....
When we confess the truth,we are holding onto what is sacred and passed down from the Apostels themselves....they did not stray from the truth that
Jesus Christ taught..... St. Paul says: Therefore, bretheren, stand fast and hold the traditions, which ye have been taught, whether by word or
epistle (II Thess. 2:15)
When we are outside the church we are in fact doing the opposite of what JesusChrist said...
That is why with true love and faith we can become all ....
the words of the Apostle: "I...beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called, with all lowliness and meekness, with
long-suffering, forbearing one another in love; endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who
is above all, and through all, and in you all." (Eph. IV:6).
Yes Bigsage...many do judge and condemn ......we may find faults and condemn that which is a bad act or against what is the truth.... but not judge
or condemn the person ....for if we do, we are not truly following the teachings and words of Christ....'''walk in the worldly vanity of their
mind, having their understanding darkened,being alienated from the life of God'(Eph.4:18);they have their portion in this life(Ps 16:14);who mind
earthly things, and whos end is destuction(phil.3:19)
The truth of God calls such people the faithless and perverse generation(Matt 17:17),and for that reason says to us :Save yourselves from this outward
generation(Acts2:40)
Many NEW and MODERN ways of living a life in Christ has become the norm for many people and I myself would rather listen to what our early church
fathers said and are saying ......that we should save ourselves from the outward generation...
My religion or religious preference has nothing to do with condemning or judging others ......We are all guilty of sin ......and do not have the
authourity to judge others of theirs......
Priests are normal people with normal lives.....they too will be judged at judgement day.....to what they do with their lives and how they live them,
is solely up to them..........
To argue against the authourity of the church is wrong because the Church was esatblished by Jesus Christ Himself.......what we do with our lives and
how we live it, is up to us and our Free will .......
The church itself does not teach to condemn and judge people but people themselves do this .........I guess because we see others faults more easily
then our own!
helen....
sorry for the long read.