Are there two Gospels?

Are there two gospels?

 

is the message of the gospel different between Catholic and Calvinist like this....

 

Catholic believe you have to cooperate with grace and that God gives it to all people enough for salvation and the works you do is a joint operation,

 

However Calvinist believe you can do nothing without grace, that you were completely dead and unable to see, and humility to understand you did nothing and that his grace is the only thing that changes you allows you into the kingdom and the works are what he prepared for you to do and is enabling you to do...

 

 

Yes, you are touching on one of the biggest differences between Catholic and Calvinist theology. But it's important to note that both would say salvation is by God's grace and not something we earn. The disagreement is over how grace works and how much the human will contributes.

 

A Catholic view (simplified)

Catholics teach that:

• God gives grace first. No one can come to God without His grace.
• Christ died for all people, and God genuinely desires all people to be saved.
• Grace enables a person to respond, but a person can resist that grace.
• When a person cooperates with God's grace, the good works they do are truly theirs, yet also empowered by God.
• Salvation is therefore neither "God alone with no human participation" nor "humans earning salvation," but a cooperation between God's grace and the believer.

A Catholic might quote:

"Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for God is at work in you" (Philippians 2:12-13).

They see both parts together: God works in us, and we truly respond.

 

A Calvinist view (simplified)

Calvinists emphasize humanity's spiritual inability after the Fall.

They teach that:

• Humans are spiritually dead and cannot choose God on their own.
• God's saving grace is what opens blind eyes and changes the heart.
• Faith itself is a gift of God.
• The elect come to Christ because God effectively draws them.
• Good works do not contribute to salvation but are the inevitable result of genuine salvation.

A Calvinist often points to passages like:

"You were dead in your trespasses and sins" (Ephesians 2:1)

and

"By grace you have been saved through faith... not as a result of works" (Ephesians 2:8-9).

The emphasis is that the believer contributes nothing that originates from himself. Even faith and repentance come from God's gracious work.

 

Are they preaching different gospels?

This is where it gets complicated.

Catholics would say no. They would argue that grace is absolutely necessary and that all good works are ultimately God's work in us. They would deny earning heaven by human effort.

Calvinists are divided. Some Calvinists would say Catholics have added human cooperation to the gospel in a way that compromises sola gratia (grace alone). Others would say many individual Catholics trust in Christ alone even if they disagree about some theological details.

 

The heart of the disagreement

The deepest difference is not really about whether grace is necessary.

Both agree:

• Nobody saves himself.
• Christ's death is necessary.
• Grace is necessary.
• Genuine Christians should produce good works.

The disagreement is:

Can a person resist God's saving grace after receiving sufficient grace?

• Catholics: Yes. Grace enables but does not force.
• Calvinists: No, not when God intends to save someone. His saving grace effectively brings the person to faith.

Another way to put it:

• Catholics often stress, "God's grace makes your response possible."
• Calvinists often stress, "God's grace is the reason you responded at all."

 

Interestingly...

Many Catholics and many Calvinists have a very similar personal testimony:

"I was lost. I could not save myself. Jesus Christ rescued me. Any good in me is because of God's grace."

The theological explanation of how that happened is where they part ways.

From a pastoral perspective, both traditions would tell a struggling sinner: "Look to Christ, trust in His mercy, pray for grace, and continue in repentance and faith." The debate is over the mechanics of grace, not whether Christ is the Savior.

145 I cry out with my whole heart;

Hear me, O Lord!

I will keep Your statutes.

146 I cry out to You;

Save me, and I will keep Your testimonies.

147 I rise before the dawning of the morning,

And cry for help;

I hope in Your word.

148 My eyes are awake through the night watches,

That I may meditate on Your word. (Psalm 119:145–148, NKJV)

We must be aware of this: Jesus prays for me. (…) Do not forget: Jesus is praying for me. Now? Now. In the moment of trial, in the moment of sin, even in that moment, Jesus is praying for me with so much love. (Pope Francis, General Audience, 2 June 2021)

Communion 

The Mass is an exchange of hearts. We placed ourselves on the Altar at the Offertory. We were invited to lift up our hearts to the Lord immediately after. We have given ourselves to God. And now He gives His Sacred Heart to us. The Eucharist is the greatest gift we can receive because it is God.

And Jesus promised, “He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him” (Jn 6:56). When we receive Holy Communion, His life flows into us as he said, “He who eats me will live because of me” (Jn 6:57). In receiving the Body of Christ, we become what we receive.

Holy Communion nourishes our soul with the divinity of Christ. It preserves and increases the grace of Baptism, renews our love, and heals the wounds of sin. St. Ambrose declared, “Because I always sin, I should always have a remedy.” Each time we receive, Christ forgives venial sins and strengthens us to resist temptation. The Eucharist also draws us deeper into the unity of the Church. As St. Paul taught, “Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body” (1 Cor 10:17).

The Eucharist is the Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of Jesus. To receive Jesus in the Eucharist is the closest possible union with God this side of heaven. Once we return to our pew, the most important thing to do is give Jesus your full attention for the time he remains with you physically, about fifteen minutes. 

St. Teresa of Avila urges us never to waste these moments, “Be with Him willingly; don’t lose so good an occasion for conversing with Him as is the hour after having received Communion. This is a most advantageous hour for the soul, during which Jesus is very pleased if you keep Him company.” She encourages us to turn inward, to open the eyes of the soul, and to seek Him with love. When we do, Christ often reveals Himself more deeply.

READ

31  He who comes from above is above all; he who is of the earth belongs to the earth, and of the earth he speaks; he who comes from heaven is above all. 32  He bears witness to what he has seen and heard, yet no one receives his testimony; 33 he who receives his testimony sets his seal to this, that God is true. 34 For he whom God has sent utters the words of God, for it is not by measure that he gives the Spirit; 35 the Father loves the Son, and has given all things into his hand. 36  He who believes in the Son has eternal life; he who does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God rests upon him.  (John 3:31–36, RSV2CE)

REFLECTION

Jesus comes from Heaven. He bears witness about Heaven because He has been there and come from there. 

People are not receiving the testimony about Heaven from someone that is from there. 

That’s like me refusing to believe someone from another city who lives there and I am trying to tell them what it’s like without ever being there or seeing it. My reality is incorrect since I don’t “know” and theirs is absolutely correct because they live there. Why would I reject their testimony when they obviously “know” and I do not. 

If I receive the testimony of Jesus who tells me the ways of heaven, I agree that God is true. 

The Father loves Jesus. The Father has given everything to Jesus. If I believe in Jesus (accept his diagnosis of my sin, accept my need of His remedy, accept the Holy Spirit to walk out salvation in obedience)  I have eternal life. 

He who does not obey Jesus will not see true life-deliverance from sin. The wrath of God rests upon him because he refuses the testimony and remedy. 

PRAY

Jesus, I believe you. I believe you came from heaven. I believe you want me to have eternal life. I know only obedience delivers me from sin. Give me light to know what sin is and power to combat it in my life. Help me live in with and through you my only remedy! Thank you for your offer of love! I accept! Help me. Amen.