NRSV-CE: Matthew 27:3 When Judas, His betrayer, saw that Jesus was condemned, he repented and brought back the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and the elders.
1. The Good Thief actually did do several good works. He publicly declared the kingship of Christ, he rebuked a sinner, he accepted and admitted his guilt to God and he comforted Our Lord in His most painful hours.
2. The Good Thief, even if he didn't do any good works on his cross, would still not support the Protestant doctrine of faith alone. If the Good Thief had survived his crucifixion somehow, he would have been required to do good works afterwards, or Jesus would not have saved him. So again, the doctrine of faith alone is an invention of man from the 16th century that is directly contradicted by Jesus, Scripture and the Church.
You are just a silly and unserious person. Your attempt to claim that James was not discussing good works is absolutely and objectively wrong and you know what you are saying is wrong. I won't pretend that you don't know you are wrong about this.
You seem to have an issue with spamming my posts and it won't continue. No amount of spam by you is going to change the fact that Faith Alone is a false doctrine and it's not going to change the Christian doctrine on faith and works.
Good afternoon Linestepper, thank you so much for this commentary. I was at adoration this morning and pondering the USCCB readings for the day regarding what Christ said regarding his betrayer.
Matthew (and Mark) both put it bluntly, "better that he had never been born."
I take it Christ meant "this betrayal is going to hurt him more than he can imagine" rather than Christ literally wished his betrayer had not been born. Judas' choice will hurt him in the realm beyond physical suffering.
A conversation with a pro-abort a while back brings this to mind because of the constant refrain that adoption is not an answer because the baby may fall into the wrong hands and suffer -- therefore it is better that the baby is not born so as to not risk suffering. Truly, innocent babies will suffer and may die after they are born if they fall into the wrong hands. But we have to insist on their right to be born first, separately from a prospective quality-of-life evaluation.
I can see how Christ's literal words could be remembered and misapplied.
It's not that Christ didn't wish he were born. Christ created him, so Christ obviously wanted him born. It's that Judas will wish he had never been born because he's going to spend eternity in hell.
A man can publicly say things and do works to seen my others without truly believing. Only God knows what’s in a man’s heart. If you believe you must do good works then you believe what Christ did is not enough. There is absolutely nothing you can add to the cross my friend. It was perfect. Just accept it as is. The good works come because of your love of Christ. Not to get to Him. Please note: you can’t tell one’s tone or true intentions on internet comments. I desire to have a well meaning conversation between believers and in doing so bring both of us closed to Christ. Not to put down or “win”. Winning is for us both to go to Him and bring others along as well.
And the fact that there is something lacking in Christ's afflictions proves that your claims are false.
Jesus wasn't kidding when He gave the parables of the True Vine, Talents, Unforgiving Servant and Sheep/Goats. You may not like them, but you must accept them. Your personal theology is wrong and you need to drop it. Stop being Protestant and start being Christian.
Jesus said, "Father, forgive them, FOR THEY KNOW NOT what they do.
Jesus' whole mission on earth was that cross. He came here to be the PASSOVER sacrificial lamb to die to save people from their sins. That was his whole point.
The Jews had NO CLUE what they were doing, and Jesus said so, when he said, "...FOR THEY KNOW NOT..."
Why did they know not?
Deuteronomy 29:4
Yet the Lord hath not given you an heart to perceive, and eyes to see, and ears to hear, unto this day.
And this is repeated in Romans 11:8
Romans 11:8
(According as it is written, God hath given them the spirit of slumber, eyes that they should not see, and ears that they should not hear;) unto this day.
God had to blind them, so that they would NOT know who Jesus was, so that they would have him crucified for blasphemy, because the end result was, Jesus died for a PURPOSE, which was his mission, to save people...and he USED the Jews to do that...including Judas.
Judas was not the only one who was indwelled by Satan.
Peter tried to SAVE Jesus from getting convicted by cutting off the ear of a soldier who was present for the arrest of Jesus.
John 18:11
11 Then said Jesus unto Peter, Put up thy sword into the sheath: the cup which my Father hath given me, shall I not drink it?
Matthew 26:52-54
52 Then said Jesus unto him, Put up again thy sword into his place: for all they that take the sword shall perish with the sword.
53 Thinkest thou that I cannot now pray to my Father, and he shall presently give me more than twelve legions of angels?
54 But how then shall the scriptures be fulfilled, that thus it must be?
So here you have a conundrum. Judas turns in Jesus, so that Jesus can fulfil prophesy to SAVE PEOPLE by being crucified on the cross.
In turn, Peter tries to SAVE Jesus from dying on the cross, which would PREVENT Jesus from dying for ANYONE'S sins.
Let's remember, the ONLY reason that Jesus came to earth was to die on that cross. Passover Lamb of God. And God "USED" Judas for that purpose.
Judas did not go to hell, all because Jesus said:
Father, forgive them, for they know NOT what they do. Why did they know not? Because God didn't want them to know.
Instead of Jew Bashing, you might want to shake the hand of the Jews, thanking them for killing Jesus, because if they didn't kill him...NO ONE WOULD BE SAVED.
Remember what Joseph said to his forgiven brothers... what they meant for evil, God meant for good, to save many people. Also, remember, Joseph's brothers had no clue who he even was... until Joseph REVEALED himself. Jesus and the blind Jews. And who threw Joseph in a "dry well", aka well without water?
I know the history of the hatred Catholics have towards the Jews for killing Jesus. And it's a deep hate. We all know the hate that Mel Gibson has. But that's what Jesus came here for, to save people. To die on the cross. But you wanted Jesus to die of old age instead?
I've read them all. They don't say what you claim they say.
YOU need to be silent and start learning. You are not an authority in the Christian faith and the beliefs and doctrines of Christianity are not determined or defined by you. Your fallible interpretation of Scripture is in error and you do not have the Christian faith.
Be silent and start listening to the Catholic Church that Jesus built. Do what Jesus commanded you to do and listen to the Church.
I guess you haven’t heard of the thief on the cross.
1. The Good Thief actually did do several good works. He publicly declared the kingship of Christ, he rebuked a sinner, he accepted and admitted his guilt to God and he comforted Our Lord in His most painful hours.
2. The Good Thief, even if he didn't do any good works on his cross, would still not support the Protestant doctrine of faith alone. If the Good Thief had survived his crucifixion somehow, he would have been required to do good works afterwards, or Jesus would not have saved him. So again, the doctrine of faith alone is an invention of man from the 16th century that is directly contradicted by Jesus, Scripture and the Church.
I think it's funny that you think that publicly speaking is considered works.
Abraham was justified by what he did...
In other words, he lived what he believed.
What did he believe? That God promised that his seed would continue thru Issac.
So he had no problem in killing Issac. He knew that God world raise him from the dead to fulfill that promise.
Faith. The killing would be the works.
His faith was justified.
That's what James is discussing in regards to what works is.
Do is deeds. Deeds is works.
Faith workout PROVING it, is dead.
Good works has nothing to do with the conversation.
James does not discuss GOOD works. He discusses proving what you believe by living it... just like Abraham.
Ed Chapman
You are just a silly and unserious person. Your attempt to claim that James was not discussing good works is absolutely and objectively wrong and you know what you are saying is wrong. I won't pretend that you don't know you are wrong about this.
You seem to have an issue with spamming my posts and it won't continue. No amount of spam by you is going to change the fact that Faith Alone is a false doctrine and it's not going to change the Christian doctrine on faith and works.
Abraham believed God and our was accounted to him for righteousness.
Faith alone, buddy!
But for those under the law...
Deuteronomy 6:25
And it shall be our righteousness, if we observe to do all these commandments before the Lord our God, as he hath commanded us.
Works.
Abraham was justified three different times. Maybe if you read the entire Bible you wouldn't be making such elementary errors.
Yep, he had no good works! Just faith alone.
Absolutely! The thief on the cross had no "Good Works". No purgatory to go thru. Just a guilty sinner who had Faith Alone!
Good afternoon Linestepper, thank you so much for this commentary. I was at adoration this morning and pondering the USCCB readings for the day regarding what Christ said regarding his betrayer.
Matthew (and Mark) both put it bluntly, "better that he had never been born."
I take it Christ meant "this betrayal is going to hurt him more than he can imagine" rather than Christ literally wished his betrayer had not been born. Judas' choice will hurt him in the realm beyond physical suffering.
A conversation with a pro-abort a while back brings this to mind because of the constant refrain that adoption is not an answer because the baby may fall into the wrong hands and suffer -- therefore it is better that the baby is not born so as to not risk suffering. Truly, innocent babies will suffer and may die after they are born if they fall into the wrong hands. But we have to insist on their right to be born first, separately from a prospective quality-of-life evaluation.
I can see how Christ's literal words could be remembered and misapplied.
It's not that Christ didn't wish he were born. Christ created him, so Christ obviously wanted him born. It's that Judas will wish he had never been born because he's going to spend eternity in hell.
A man can publicly say things and do works to seen my others without truly believing. Only God knows what’s in a man’s heart. If you believe you must do good works then you believe what Christ did is not enough. There is absolutely nothing you can add to the cross my friend. It was perfect. Just accept it as is. The good works come because of your love of Christ. Not to get to Him. Please note: you can’t tell one’s tone or true intentions on internet comments. I desire to have a well meaning conversation between believers and in doing so bring both of us closed to Christ. Not to put down or “win”. Winning is for us both to go to Him and bring others along as well.
What is lacking in Christ's afflictions?
And the fact that there is something lacking in Christ's afflictions proves that your claims are false.
Jesus wasn't kidding when He gave the parables of the True Vine, Talents, Unforgiving Servant and Sheep/Goats. You may not like them, but you must accept them. Your personal theology is wrong and you need to drop it. Stop being Protestant and start being Christian.
Jesus said, "Father, forgive them, FOR THEY KNOW NOT what they do.
Jesus' whole mission on earth was that cross. He came here to be the PASSOVER sacrificial lamb to die to save people from their sins. That was his whole point.
The Jews had NO CLUE what they were doing, and Jesus said so, when he said, "...FOR THEY KNOW NOT..."
Why did they know not?
Deuteronomy 29:4
Yet the Lord hath not given you an heart to perceive, and eyes to see, and ears to hear, unto this day.
And this is repeated in Romans 11:8
Romans 11:8
(According as it is written, God hath given them the spirit of slumber, eyes that they should not see, and ears that they should not hear;) unto this day.
God had to blind them, so that they would NOT know who Jesus was, so that they would have him crucified for blasphemy, because the end result was, Jesus died for a PURPOSE, which was his mission, to save people...and he USED the Jews to do that...including Judas.
Judas was not the only one who was indwelled by Satan.
Peter tried to SAVE Jesus from getting convicted by cutting off the ear of a soldier who was present for the arrest of Jesus.
John 18:11
11 Then said Jesus unto Peter, Put up thy sword into the sheath: the cup which my Father hath given me, shall I not drink it?
Matthew 26:52-54
52 Then said Jesus unto him, Put up again thy sword into his place: for all they that take the sword shall perish with the sword.
53 Thinkest thou that I cannot now pray to my Father, and he shall presently give me more than twelve legions of angels?
54 But how then shall the scriptures be fulfilled, that thus it must be?
So here you have a conundrum. Judas turns in Jesus, so that Jesus can fulfil prophesy to SAVE PEOPLE by being crucified on the cross.
In turn, Peter tries to SAVE Jesus from dying on the cross, which would PREVENT Jesus from dying for ANYONE'S sins.
Let's remember, the ONLY reason that Jesus came to earth was to die on that cross. Passover Lamb of God. And God "USED" Judas for that purpose.
Judas did not go to hell, all because Jesus said:
Father, forgive them, for they know NOT what they do. Why did they know not? Because God didn't want them to know.
Instead of Jew Bashing, you might want to shake the hand of the Jews, thanking them for killing Jesus, because if they didn't kill him...NO ONE WOULD BE SAVED.
Ed Chapman
Judas is in hell. Jesus asking the Father to forgive those who were crucifying Him doesn't mean Judas was forgiven of his sins.
People actually go to hell. In fact, the majority of all people will end up in hell. The path is narrow to salvation and few will find it.
Remember what Joseph said to his forgiven brothers... what they meant for evil, God meant for good, to save many people. Also, remember, Joseph's brothers had no clue who he even was... until Joseph REVEALED himself. Jesus and the blind Jews. And who threw Joseph in a "dry well", aka well without water?
I know the history of the hatred Catholics have towards the Jews for killing Jesus. And it's a deep hate. We all know the hate that Mel Gibson has. But that's what Jesus came here for, to save people. To die on the cross. But you wanted Jesus to die of old age instead?
If they didn't kill Jesus, no one would be saved.
Is suggest that you read the verses that I posted, i.e. Deuteronomy 29:4 and Romans 11:8.
Also, John 9:39-41.
They didn't know who they were crucified.
Jesus also told the disciples THREE TIMES that he was going to be crucified. They didn't understand because it was HID from their understanding.
They didn't understand until after Jesus rose from the dead and opened their eyes to the scriptures.
And yes, I know that people go to hell. But blind Jews do not.
The story of Joseph and his brothers is prophesy of Jesus and the blind Jews, in which he forgives them ALL... ALL... ALL.
And so all Israel shall be saved.
I've read them all. They don't say what you claim they say.
YOU need to be silent and start learning. You are not an authority in the Christian faith and the beliefs and doctrines of Christianity are not determined or defined by you. Your fallible interpretation of Scripture is in error and you do not have the Christian faith.
Be silent and start listening to the Catholic Church that Jesus built. Do what Jesus commanded you to do and listen to the Church.
Bereans disagree with your statement. They search the scriptures daily... for what purpose? Lol. You are funny. You should be a comedian.
You are showing your ignorance of Scripture again.
The Bereans accepted Paul's new oral tradition. They then went to the Old Testament books and checked his citations of Scripture.
The Thessalonians were less noble. They rejected Paul's new oral tradition and stuck with only Scripture.
Nothing you said contradicts or invalidates the command from Jesus to listen to the Catholic Church. You don't obey Christ.
You also don't hold fast to the oral tradition as Paul commanded. You don't obey Scripture