Actually, Church would be "kyriakon" (cyriacon) in Greek, the Lord's House. Ekklesias refers to the congregation. For example, en meso ekklesias kai synagoges, from Proverbs 5:14 is rendered "in the midst of the church and of the congregation."
Then Christ lied? [Matthew 10:7 Mark 1:15 Luke 10:11]. What came at the Pentecost fire and brimstone or the Holy Spirit?
Was the kingdom of Moses a spiritual kingdom? What about David's Kingdom? On the other hand does symbol of kingdom doesn't limit anyone. I wouldn't suggest to you that Catholics have a shoe in to Salvation. I would suggest, however, that if you don't believe His Church was built on St. Peter and St. Peter's successors [Cf. Matthew 16:18], you are not a believer and all non-Catholic Churches renounce the successors of St. Peter.
And in LUKE 1:47 Reads , And my spirit hath rejoiced in God
No, Christ spoke of a spiritual kingdom about to take place. Pentecost was the sign of that kingdom. The kingdom promised to Israel in the OT, was a physical kingdom promised to physical Israel. That kingdom will resume in the Millennial.
I have not seen purgatory in Greek. That's because it was sometimes called paradise as in Luke 23:43. Or, being consumed by fire in Hebrews 12:29 with a consuming or purifying fire as in 1 Corinthians 3:12. Sometimes its found in Scripture as Abraham's bosom. [Cf. Luke 16:22-25]. As silver and gold are refined in a purifying fire. Proverbs 17:3
Maybe you could tell us what it means to "believe". Is this intellectual or simply emotional? Is it good vibes or is it something else all together. What happens after we've been faith-ed? are we relieved of doing [Cf. 1 Corinthians 16:13]? What happens to charity [Cf. 1 Thessalonians 3:6; 5:8]? If we have faith why do we pursue "justice, godliness, faith, charity, patience, mildness." [1 Timothy 6:11]
Belief implies more than a mere agreement with facts. If I believe eating rat poison will kill me, and assuming I have no desire to commit suicide, then I won't eat rat poison. If I do, then clearly I did not truly believe it would kill me. If you believe Jesus Christ is both Lord and Savior, then His lordship over you should mean something. You owe Him your obedience. You "do" because you love Him and want to obey Him and because He has given you a new nature and prepared good works for you to do. The same with charity and the fruits you listed from 1 Timothy. We don't do those things to earn our salvation. They are the fruit of a changed life empowered by the Holy Spirit.
Abraham's bosom was a waiting place for OT saints before they went to heaven. It was not like purgatory. It was not a place where one went to do penance. We are refined by purifying fire in this life only. Now that Christ has come when we die, our souls go straight to heaven if we are in Christ. We don't need a final confession or last rites.
If you'll notice there was a great divide between various souls, he was experiencing a tormented in flame. divide from the others in a fixed void called chaos [Mark 12:27; Luke 16:22-23 sqq.]; i.e. he was in purgatory
No, he was in a waiting place for hell. Abraham's Bosom was a waiting place for those who would go to heaven. Before Jesus opened heaven's gates, OT saints went to a place of rest and comfort as their souls could not yet go to heaven. In this story, that place is referred to as Abraham's Bosom. Those who died outside the faith, went to a place of torment awaiting the Great White Throne judgment when they would be sent to their permanent abode with Satan and the demons in the Lake of Fire. After his resurrection, Jesus freed the souls in Abraham's Bosom so they could now be in heaven. Abraham's Bosom was not Purgatory. It was not a place to do penance. Its only reason for existence was that Jesus had not yet opened the gates of heaven. After Jesus freed those souls, believers now go straight to heaven. Abraham's Bosom no longer exists. If you are in Christ, your sins have been forgiven and the price paid by the blood of Christ. There remains nothing for you to do before going to heaven. You don't need to spend time in Purgatory which does not exist.
I said to the poster, in so many words, there is one Lord (i.e., King), one nation, one Kingdom; the Kingdom of God the Catholic Church. Those claiming to be "Church" are not "church" in the same sense as the One Body of Jesus Christ. You should ask yourself how can such claims be valid, as God's truth, thus absolute. A Church, any Church is the body of Christ.
Except...the Catholic church does not teach the whole truth of God's Word. It has made things up and twisted other things. Israel was God's nation yet not all Israel stayed faithful. God always kept a remnant. That remnant today is scattered across many locations and churches. What unites us is the Gospel. Salvation is from Christ, not a church. We are not saved through a church. We are saved by faith alone. Sacraments are not a means of grace. We confess our sins to God not to a priest and a priest cannot offer absolution. There is no Purgatory and "saints" and Mary cannot hear our prayers. The Pope is the head of the Catholic church but not of Christianity or the church universal. My faith is in Christ, not in a church.
Saved by faith alone is not in the Bible. Martin Luther tried to add the word "alone." The purging fire we call "purgatory" is in the Bible, and Catholics believe the Bible to be the Word of God. Jesus is the head of the Catholic Church, not the pope. As in Isaiah the pope acts as a prime minister.
As Paul plainly states in Ephesians 2:8-9:
What you really mean is that the Catholic Church doesn't teach God's truth you want to hear.
Israel is still God's nation, The covenant forming the "kingdom, and a holy nation" has never been rescinded. The statement unfounded.
The false Gospel you teach does not afford your salvation and only unites non-Catholics against the Church. Salvation does indeed come from Jesus Christ, through the Church.
Then you don't believe the bible, or Jesus Christ Grace is His work done through the Church. 1116 Sacraments are "powers that comes forth" from the Body of Christ,33 which is ever-living and life-giving. They are actions of the Holy Spirit at work in his Body, the Church. They are "the masterworks of God" in the new and everlasting covenant. Cf. Lk 5:17; 6:19; 8:46.
False teachings.
As I have shared previously, I was born and raised Catholic. Starting my freshman year in high school, I read through the Bible (a Catholic version), four times Genesis through Revelation. I was still attending the Catholic church and had no outside influences. As I read through the Bible, I began to see a different truth than the "truth" I was being taught on Sundays. These were not hard-to-understand truths that only scholars or Catholic clergy could understand. These were plain and simple truths found on the pages of Scripture available to anyone who can read. It does not take a Magisterium or a council of clergy to understand the plain truths of Scripture. We call this the perspicuity of Scripture. God did not leave us His Word in a form that only a handful could be trusted to correctly understand. The Apostles were not learned men except perhaps Paul. Maybe Matthew. They were simple men. Jesus largely taught the masses not the religious rulers of the day. One does not need a seminary education to understand the Gospel. What I read on the pages of Scripture told a different story than what I was hearing on Sundays at Mass. Not in all areas but in many important areas. My spirit instinctively trusted the Word of God over the word of men. We are promised as believers the Holy Spirit will lead us to the truth. I believe the Holy Spirit was leading me. I had given my life to Christ in the ninth grade. Yes, I was baptized a Catholic and gone through Confirmation, but those things meant nothing to me. When I gave my life to Christ, it was by choice (though that "choice" was a gift of God's grace) and not because it was expected or another was answering for me. I did not come to God's Word with a preconception. All I knew going into my reading of Scripture was what the Catholic nuns and priests had taught me. I had no contact with other faiths or writings. I only wanted to hear the truth.
Forgive my lack of clarity. Yes, Israel is still God's people and nation. I meant that the example of a remnant of faithful Israel exists by parallel today in the visible church on earth. The visible church contains wheat and tares but there is a faithful remnant of wheat in the church. They are the body of Christ. They do not all belong to any one visible church. Some may not even attend a church.
I believe the Catholic church teaches "another gospel" which Paul said should be condemned. It is full of false teaching. Salvation does not come through the church. You can hear the Gospel from a traveler in the middle of nowhere and be saved. No church or sacrament is needed. You are confusing good works with Sacraments. Baptism and communion are the only sacraments.
Jesus renamed Simon as Rock and gave Rock (Peter) the keys to the kingdom, just to Peter--no other Apostles.
Because some people teach that salvation = faith + works so the word "alone" is added to make clear that Scripture teaches that it is faith alone that saves us. Not faith + anything.
