Knowledge does not equal obedience
To have a healthy body: eat all nutritious meals, exercise your body, sleep 8 hours a day, stimulate your mind working, have social times, stay in a healthy weight, daily balance all these.
Even though the world “knows “ this, the majority do not obey. And are therefore unhealthy to some extent.
So it is with the Christian life.
Knowing you are saved, forgiven, and made to be a tabernacle to serve as a light to the world, if not DOING is not being a full Christian.
Faith without works is an unhealthy Christian indeed.
We must obey to be what we are called to.
Most Christians are non compliant and down right rebels. We need to come back to listening to God, submitting to his grace instead of resisting and let His life live through us. We cannot do it. Only by grace can we be what we were made for!
IN JOHN CALVIN’S MAGNUM OPUS, THE INSTITUTES OF THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION, HE PRESENTS A VIEW OF MAN THAT IS VERY MUCH LIKE LUTHER’S BUT CONTRARY TO WHAT WE FIND IN THE PAGES OF SACRED SCRIPTURE. CALVIN USED TEXTS SUCH AS GENESIS 6:5—“THE LORD SAW THAT THE WICKEDNESS OF MAN WAS GREAT IN THE EARTH, AND THAT EVERY IMAGINATION OF THE THOUGHTS OF HIS HEART WAS ONLY EVIL CONTINUALLY”—AND ROMANS 3:10FF—“NONE IS RIGHTEOUS, NO NOT ONE; NO ONE UNDERSTANDS, NO ONE SEEKS FOR GOD. ALL HAVE TURNED ASIDE, TOGETHER THEY HAVE GONE WRONG; NO ONE DOES GOOD, NOT EVEN ONE ”—TO PROVE THAT MAN IS UTTERLY DEPRAVED THROUGH THE FALL OF ADAM AND EVE.
CALVIN’S CONCLUSION FROM THESE TEXTS AND OTHERS WAS TO SAY, “THE WILL IS SO UTTERLY VITIATED AND CORRUPTED IN EVERY PART AS TO PRODUCE NOTHING BUT EVIL” (INSTITUTES, BK. II, CH. II, PARA. 26).
THE CONTEXT OF THE TEXTS CALVIN USED ACTUALLY DEMONSTRATES THE OPPOSITE OF HIS CLAIM. FOR EXAMPLE, IF WE READ FORWARD JUST FOUR VERSES IN GENESIS 6, WE FIND: “BUT NOAH FOUND FAVOR IN THE EYES OF THE LORD. . . . NOAH WAS A RIGHTEOUS [“JUST”] MAN, BLAMELESS IN HIS GENERATION” (GEN. 6:8-9). WHILE WE CATHOLICS AGREE THAT GOD’S GRACE OR “FAVOR” WAS ESSENTIAL FOR NOAH TO BE TRULY “JUST” BEFORE GOD, NEVERTHELESS NOAH WAS TRULY JUST, ACCORDING TO THE TEXT.
AS FAR AS THE QUOTE FROM ROMANS IS CONCERNED, THE GREATER CONTEXT OF THE ENTIRE EPISTLE MUST BE UNDERSTOOD. ONE OF THE CENTRAL THEMES OF ST. PAUL’S LETTER TO THE ROMANS IS THE FACT THAT IT IS THROUGH “THE GOODNESS OF GOD” THAT WE ARE LED TO REPENT (CF. ROMANS 2:4), TO BE JUSTIFIED (ROMANS 5:1-2), AND PERSEVERE IN THE FAITH (CF. ROMANS 11:22). IT IS SOLELY BECAUSE OF GOD’S GRACE THAT WE BECOME TRULY JUST:
THEREFORE, SINCE WE ARE JUSTIFIED BY FAITH, WE HAVE PEACE WITH GOD THROUGH OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST. THROUGH HIM WE HAVE OBTAINED ACCESS TO THIS GRACE IN WHICH WE STAND AND WE REJOICE IN OUR HOPE OF SHARING THE GLORY OF GOD (ROM. 5:1-2).
FURTHER,
FOR THE LAW OF THE SPIRIT OF LIFE IN CHRIST JESUS HAS SET ME FREE FROM THE LAW OF SIN AND DEATH . . . IN ORDER THAT THE JUST REQUIREMENT OF THE LAW MIGHT BE FULFILLED IN US, WHO WALK NOT ACCORDING TO THE FLESH BUT ACCORDING TO THE SPIRIT (ROM. 8:2,4).
NOTICE THE EMPHASIS ON THE FACT THAT MAN IS MADE TRULY JUST SO MUCH SO THAT HE CAN FULFILL “THE JUST REQUIREMENT OF THE LAW.” IT DOESN’T GET ANY MORE JUST, OR RIGHTEOUS, THAN THAT!
THUS, ROMANS 3:10FF SIMPLY DOES NOT TEACH TOTAL DEPRAVITY IN A CALVINIST SENSE. IT CANNOT WHEN THE CONTEXT IS UNDERSTOOD.
MOREOVER, IF WE EXAMINE THE VERSES WHERE ST. PAUL PAINTS HIS PICTURE OF THE WICKED WHO HAVE “TURNED ASIDE” AND “DONE WRONG,” WE FIND HE ACTUALLY QUOTES PSALM 14:3. THE NEXT TWO VERSES OF THIS PSALM EXPLAIN WHO THESE “EVIL ONES” ARE:
HAVE THEY NO KNOWLEDGE, ALL THE EVILDOERS WHO EAT UP MY PEOPLE AS THEY EAT BREAD, AND DO NOT CALL UPON THE LORD? THERE THEY SHALL BE IN GREAT TERROR, FOR GOD IS WITH THE GENERATION OF THE RIGHTEOUS.
THE PSALMIST CLEARLY REFERS TO BOTH EVILDOERS AND THE RIGHTEOUS.
THESE AND OTHER PASSAGES FROM ROMANS TELL US THAT CHRIST CAME TO MAKE US JUST, NOT THAT THERE ARE ABSOLUTELY NONE WHO ARE JUST. WE MUST STRESS AGAIN THAT IT IS BECAUSE OF THE JUSTICE OF CHRIST COMMUNICATED TO THE FAITHFUL THAT THEIR ACTIONS AND, INDEED, THEY THEMSELVES ARE TRULY MADE JUST. BUT THEY INDEED ARE TRULY MADE JUST.
LITTLE CHILDREN, LET NO ONE DECEIVE YOU. HE WHO DOES RIGHT (GR., HO POION TEIN DIKAIOUSUNEIN—“THE ONE DOING JUSTICE”) IS RIGHTEOUS (GR., DIKAIOS ESTIN—“IS JUST”) AS HE IS RIGHTEOUS (GR., KATHOS EKEINOS DIKAIOS ESTIN—“AS HE IS JUST”).
SCRIPTURE COULDN’T BE CLEARER THAT THE FAITHFUL ARE MADE TRULY JUST IN THEIR BEING AND IN THEIR ACTIONS THROUGH THE GRACE OF CHRIST.
MORE GRAVE PROBLEMS ARISE WHEN WE BEGIN TO FOLLOW THE PATH CALVIN LAYS FOR US WITH HIS FIRST PRINCIPLE. EVEN WHEN CONSIDERING THE UNREGENERATE, CALVIN IS WRONG ABOUT TOTAL DEPRAVITY, BECAUSE SCRIPTURE TELLS US EVEN THOSE OUTSIDE OF THE LAW CAN “DO BY NATURE WHAT THE LAW REQUIRES, THEY ARE A LAW TO THEMSELVES, EVEN THOUGH THEY DO NOT HAVE THE LAW. THEY SHOW THAT WHAT THE LAW REQUIRES IS WRITTEN ON THEIR HEARTS” (ROM. 2:14-15).
THOUGH CATHOLICS AGREE WITH CALVINISTS THAT GRACE IS NECESSARY EVEN FOR THOSE WHO ARE IGNORANT OF THE LAW IN ORDER FOR THEM TO BE JUST BEFORE GOD—IN OTHER WORDS, THIS TEXT IS NOT SAYING THESE PAGANS CAN BE JUSTIFIED APART FROM GRACE—THE TEXT DOES INFER THAT NATURE IS NOT TOTALLY DEPRAVED, BECAUSE MAN CAN CLEARLY ACT JUSTLY ON A NATURAL LEVEL AND BY NATURE.
BUT AN EVEN MORE GRAVE ERROR COMES TO THE FORE WHEN WE CONSIDER HIS NOTION OF THE DEPRAVITY OF THE JUST.
“DEPRAVITY OF THE JUST?” YES. THAT WAS NOT A TYPO. ACCORDING TO JOHN CALVIN, EVEN THOSE WHO HAVE BEEN JUSTIFIED BY CHRIST “CANNOT PERFORM ONE WORK WHICH, IF JUDGED ON ITS OWN MERITS, IS NOT DESERVING OF CONDEMNATION” (INSTITUTES, BK. III, CH. 9, PARA. 9). WHAT A FAR CRY THIS IS FROM “HE THAT ACTS JUSTLY IS JUST” (I JOHN 3:7) OR THE PLAIN WORDS OF THE PSALMIST, WHO USES SIMILAR WORDS AS FOUND IN GENESIS WITH REGARD TO ABRAHAM BEING JUSTIFIED BY FAITH: “[ABRAHAM] BELIEVED THE LORD; AND HE RECKONED IT TO HIM AS RIGHTEOUSNESS” (GEN. 15:6). IN THE PSALMS WE READ: “THEN PHINEAS STOOD UP AND INTERPOSED, AND THE PLAGUE WAS STAYED. AND THAT HAS BEEN RECKONED TO HIM AS RIGHTEOUSNESS FROM GENERATION TO GENERATION” (PS. 106:30-31).
CLEARLY, PHINEAS WAS JUSTIFIED BY HIS WORKS AND NOT ONLY BY FAITH. IN OTHER WORDS, PHINEAS’S WORKS ARE TRULY “JUST AS HE IS JUST,” TO USE THE WORDS OF I JOHN 3:7.
THERE ARE A MULTITUDE OF BIBLICAL TEXTS THAT COME TO MIND AT THIS POINT, BUT HERE ARE ONLY THREE:
“FOR BY YOUR WORDS YOU WILL BE JUSTIFIED, AND BY YOUR WORDS YOU WILL BE CONDEMNED”? (MATT. 12:37).
“BY WORKS A MAN IS JUSTIFIED AND NOT BY FAITH ALONE” (JAS. 2:24).
“BUT THE TAX COLLECTOR, STANDING FAR OFF, WOULD NOT EVEN LIFT UP HIS EYES TO HEAVEN, BUT BEAT HIS BREAST, SAYING, ‘GOD, BE MERCIFUL TO ME A SINNER!’ I TELL YOU, THIS MAN WENT DOWN TO HIS HOUSE JUSTIFIED RATHER THAN THE OTHER; FOR EVERY ONE WHO EXALTS HIMSELF WILL BE HUMBLED, BUT HE WHO HUMBLES HIMSELF WILL BE EXALTED” (LUKE 18:13-14).
THESE TEXTS DO NOT EVEN COME CLOSE TO SAYING ALL OF THESE WORKS WERE “WORTHY OF CONDEMNATION.” THEY SAY JUST THE OPPOSITE!
WE SHOULD BE CLEAR HERE: ALL “GOOD WORKS” MAN PERFORMS THAT CONTRIBUTE TO HIS SALVATION ARE FIRST AND FOREMOST GOD’S GIFTS, WHICH, ALONG WITH HIS COOPERATION, TRULY MAKE HIM JUST AND WORTHY TO “WALK WITH [CHRIST] IN WHITE; FOR [HE IS] WORTHY” (REV. 3:4) BY GOD’S GRACE AND MERCY. BUT WE CANNOT ESCAPE THE BIBLICAL FACT THAT THESE WORKS ARE TRULY JUST AND THEY ARE TRULY THE FRUIT OF THE JUST MAN HIMSELF.
WHEN JOHN CALVIN SAYS MAN IS UTTERLY DEPENDENT UPON GOD FOR EVERY SINGLE JUST THOUGHT IN HIS MIND (CF. INSTITUTES, BK. II, CH. II, PARA. 27), CATHOLICS WILL HAPPILY AGREE. AND THEY WOULD BE CORRECT: WE DO AGREE. HOWEVER, APPEARANCES CAN BE DECEIVING, BECAUSE THERE IS MEANING BENEATH THOSE WORDS THAT CATHOLICS CANNOT AGREE WITH.
WITH CALVIN, THERE IS NO SENSE OF GRACE AIDING AND EMPOWERING OUR WILLS AS ST. AUGUSTINE TAUGHT AND THE CATHOLIC CHURCH TEACHES. FOR CALVIN, BEING “DEPENDENT UPON GOD” MEANS OUR FREE COOPERATION OR FREE WILL HAS NO PART TO PLAY. GOD DOES NOT MERELY EMPOWER OUR WILLS; HE OPERATES THEM.
IN THE END, THIS MAY WELL BE THE MOST DISTURBING IDEA STEMMING FROM CALVIN’S NOTION OF TOTAL DEPRAVITY: MAN IS ESSENTIALLY GOD’S PUPPET, A NOTION THAT LED TO CALVIN ATTRIBUTING BOTH THE GOOD AND THE EVIL ACTIONS OF MAN TO GOD.
AND MIND YOU, CALVIN REJECTS AND RIDICULES THE CATHOLIC NOTION OF GOD MERELY PERMITTING EVIL AND WORKING ALL THINGS TOGETHER FOR GOOD. IN HIS WORDS:
HENCE A DISTINCTION HAS BEEN INVENTED BETWEEN DOING AND PERMITTING, BECAUSE TO MANY IT SEEMED ALTOGETHER INEXPLICABLE HOW SATAN AND ALL THE WICKED ARE SO UNDER THE HAND AND AUTHORITY OF GOD, THAT HE DIRECTS THEIR MALICE TO WHATEVER END HE PLEASES” (INSTITUTES, BK. I, CH. XVIII, PARA. 1).
EVILDOERS DO NOT COMMIT ACTS OF DEPRAVITY IN SPITE OF THE COMMAND OF GOD, BUT BECAUSEOF THE COMMAND OF GOD, ACCORDING TO CALVIN (IBID., PARA. 4)!
ISAIAH 45:7 AND AMOS 3:6 ARE USED TO TEACH THAT THERE IS NO EVIL THAT OCCURS THAT IS NOT “IMPELLED” BY GOD’S POSITIVE COMMAND (IBID., PARA. 2).
GOD IS THE AUTHOR OF ALL THOSE THINGS THAT, ACCORDING TO THESE OBJECTORS, HAPPEN ONLY BY HIS INACTIVE PERMISSION. HE TESTIFIES THAT HE CREATES LIGHT AND DARKNESS, FORMS GOOD AND EVIL (IS. [45:7]); THAT NO EVIL HAPPENS WHICH HE HATH NOT DONE (AMOS [3:6]) (IBID., PARA. 3).
AS CATHOLICS WE UNDERSTAND, AS ST. PAUL TEACHES, “[S]INCE THEY DID NOT SEE FIT TO ACKNOWLEDGE GOD, GOD GAVE THEM UP TO A BASE MIND AND TO IMPROPER CONDUCT” (ROM. 1:28). THIS MEANS GOD MAY WELL REMOVE GRACE THAT IS REJECTED. HE MAY ALSO HOLD BACK GRACE AS WELL, BUT THIS IS, AS ST. AUGUSTINE SAID, GOD’S “JUST JUDGMENT.”
BUT ACCORDING TO CALVIN’S UNBIBLICAL TEACHING, GOD DOES NOT GIVE GRACE IN THE FIRST PLACE AND THEN “IMPELS” MEN TO ACT SINFULLY. AS QUOTED ABOVE, ACCORDING TO CALVIN, GOD CAUSES EVIL. AND WE ARE NOT TALKING ABOUT PHYSICAL EVIL HERE; WE ARE TALKING ABOUT MORAL EVIL. THAT IS CATEGORICALLY ABSURD! GOD CANNOT “DO” OR “IMPEL” MORAL EVIL BECAUSE HE IS INFINITELY AND ABSOLUTELY GOOD.
GOD CANNOT LIE (HEBREWS 6:8, NUMBERS 23:19); “HE CANNOT DENY HIMSELF” (2 TIM. 2:13) OR ACT CONTRARY TO HIS NATURE. IF GOD’S NATURE IS ONE OF LOVE AND PURE BEING, IT IS ABSURD TO SAY THAT HE CAN “DO” EVIL, WHICH IS BY NATURE A LACK OF SOME PERFECTION THAT OUGHT TO BE PRESENT IN A GIVEN NATURE. IN FACT, JAMES 1:13 TELLS US THAT GOD NOT ONLY CANNOT CAUSE THIS KIND OF EVIL, HE CANNOT EVEN TEMPT ANYONE WITH EVIL. THAT IS CONTRARY TO HIS NATURE.
WHEN ISAIAH 45:7 AND AMOS 3:6 SAY GOD “CREATES EVIL” AND “DOES EVIL,” THIS MUST BE SEEN ONLY IN A SENSE IN WHICH IT DOES NOT CONTRADICT GOD’S NATURE AND WHAT IS CLEARLY REVEALED TO US ABOUT GOD IN SCRIPTURE. GOD CAN DIRECTLY CAUSE PHYSICAL EVIL, SUCH AS THE TEN PLAGUES HE RELEASED AGAINST EGYPT IN EXODUS. BUT THIS WAS AN ACT OF JUSTICE, WHICH WAS MORALLY UPRIGHT AND JUSTIFIED.
WE CAN ALSO SAY THAT GOD PERMITS EVIL IN VIEW OF THE FACT THAT HE CHOSE TO CREATE US WITH FREEDOM. BUT EVEN THERE, GOD PERMITS EVIL ONLY IN VIEW OF HIS PROMISE TO BRING GOOD OUT OF THAT EVIL, AS IS MOST PROFOUNDLY DEMONSTRATED THROUGH THE GREATEST EVIL IN THE HISTORY OF THE WORLD: THE CRUCIFIXION OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST. THROUGH THIS GREATEST EVIL GOD BRINGS ABOUT THE GREATEST GOOD: THE REDEMPTION OF THE WORLD. GOD DID NOT KILL CHRIST, NOR DID HE “IMPEL” ANYONE TO KILL CHRIST.
BUT BY VIRTUE OF HIS OMNIPOTENCE, HE BRINGS GOOD OUT OF THE EVIL ACTS COMMITTED.
From the Journey of the Mind to God by Saint Bonaventure
Mystical wisdom is revealed by the Holy Spirit
Christ is both the way and the door. Christ is the staircase and the vehicle, like the throne of mercy over the Ark of the Covenant, and the mystery hidden from the ages. A man should turn his full attention to this throne of mercy, and should gaze at him hanging on the cross, full of faith, hope and charity, devoted, full of wonder and joy, marked by gratitude, and open to praise and jubilation. Then such a man will make with Christ a pasch, that is, a passing-over. Through the branches of the cross he will pass over the Red Sea, leaving Egypt and entering the desert. There he will taste the hidden manna, and rest with Christ in the sepulcher, as if he were dead to things outside. He will experience, as much as is possible for one who is still living, what was promised to the thief who hung beside Christ: Today you will be with me in paradise.
For this passover to be perfect, we must suspend all the operations of the mind and we must transform the peak of our affections, directing them to God alone. This is a sacred mystical experience. It cannot be comprehended by anyone unless he surrenders himself to it; nor can he surrender himself to it unless he longs for it; nor can he long for it unless the Holy Spirit, whom Christ sent into the world, should come and inflame his innermost soul. Hence the Apostle says that this mystical wisdom is revealed by the Holy Spirit.
If you ask how such things can occur, seek the answer in God’s grace, not in doctrine; in the longing of the will, not in the understanding; in the sighs of prayer, not in research; seek the bridegroom not the teacher; God and not man; darkness not daylight; and look not to the light but rather to the raging fire that carries the soul to God with intense fervor and glowing love. The fire is God, and the furnace is in Jerusalem, fired by Christ in the ardor of his loving passion. Only he understood this who said: My soul chose hanging and my bones death. Anyone who cherishes this kind of death can see God, for it is certainly true that: No man can look upon me and live.
Let us die, then, and enter into the darkness, silencing our anxieties, our passions and all the fantasies of our imagination. Let us pass over with the crucified Christ from this world to the Father, so that, when the Father has shown himself to us, we can say with Philip: It is enough. We may hear with Paul: My grace is sufficient for you; and we can rejoice with David, saying: My flesh and my heart fail me, but God is the strength of my heart and my heritage for ever. Blessed be the Lord for ever, and let all the people say: Amen. Amen!
There is a Reason for Everything
God’s Providence Rules over ALL
Choice to respond to Grace-Everyone has a choice
Choose to Surrender and Accept-be empowered
Peace - Resting in God knowing he’s worked it all out.
Nothing in the world exists without a reason nor happens by chance; everything is part of the magnificent plan of divine providence.
St. Augustine, says: “The all-powerful God would not let any evil get into his works, if he were not so powerful and good that he can draw good even from evil” (Enchiria. 11).
We need to be firmly convinced of this so as not to be scandalized by trials, nor harbor any doubts about divine providence. We can distrust ourselves, our goodness, and our faithfulness, but not God’s, for his goodness is above the heavens, his fidelity beyond the clouds, his fatherly providence guides everything (Ps 108:5; Wis 14:3).
God’s providence is so immense that, while it embraces the whole universe, it takes care of each individual creature in a special way.
A sacrifice to God is a contrite spirit
I acknowledge my transgression, says David. If I admit my fault, then you will pardon it. Let us never assume that if we live good lives we will be without sin; our lives should be praised only when we continue to beg for pardon. But men are hopeless creatures, and the less they concentrate on their own sins, the more interested they become in the sins of others. They seek to criticize, not to correct. Unable to excuse themselves, they are ready to accuse others. This was not the way that David showed us how to pray and make amends to God, when he said: I acknowledge my transgression, and my sin is ever before me. He did not concentrate on others’ sins; he turned his thoughts on himself. He did not merely stroke the surface, but he plunged inside and went deep down within himself. He did not spare himself, and therefore was not impudent in asking to be spared.
Do you want God to be appeased? Learn what you are to do that God may be pleased with you. Consider the psalm again: If you wanted sacrifice, I would indeed have given it; in burnt offerings you will take no delight. Are you then to be without sacrifice? Are you to offer nothing? Will you please God without an offering? Consider what you read in the same psalm: If you wanted sacrifice, I would indeed have given it; in burnt offerings you will take no delight. But continue to listen, and say with David: A sacrifice to God is a contrite spirit; God does not despise a contrite and humble heart.Cast aside your former offerings, for now you have found out what you are to offer. In the days of your fathers you would have made offerings of cattle—these were the sacrifices. If you wanted sacrifice, I would indeed have given it.These then, Lord, you do not want, and yet you do want sacrifice.
You will take no delight in burnt offerings, David says. If you will not take delight in burnt offerings, will you remain without sacrifice? Not at all. A sacrifice to God is a contrite spirit; God does not despise a contrite and humble heart.
You now have the offering you are to make. No need to examine the herd, no need to outfit ships and travel to the most remote provinces in search of incense. Search within your heart for what is pleasing to God. Your heart must be crushed. Are you afraid that it might perish so? You have the reply: Create a clean heart in me, O God. For a clean heart to be created, the unclean one must be crushed.
We should be displeased with ourselves when we commit sin, for sin is displeasing to God. Sinful though we are, let us at least be like God in this, that we are displeased at what displeases him. In some measure then you will be in harmony with God’s will, because you find displeasing in yourself what is abhorrent to your Creator.
