Pray!

KS: You say that because you name it and claim it that you have saved yourself. Have you not listened to anything I have said?


DM-I could ask you the same thing. But I recognize that we disagree with each other. I have heard everything you said, but I disagree.


KS-Romans 8.16, "The Holy Spirit bears witness that we are the children of God." I know that I am saved because I know the Lord; He bears witness to my salvation.


Romans 8, also says:


Romans 8:17 And if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, provided that we share his sufferings so that we may also share his glory.


Thus, unless you suffer with Christ, you will not share in His glory. Yeah, that is another condition for salvation.


Hebrews 12:8
If you have not received the discipline in which all share, then you are illegitimate and not true sons.


//KS-Moreover, Jesus said, "My Father will give the Holy Spirit to whoever asks of Him." DeMaria says, "Not so! You must be baptized before receiving the Holy Spirit." Or 'asking is only when being baptized.'//


KS-Jesus does NOT play games with words!


DM-It is you playing games with the Word of God. You have made yourself the authority over Scripture and have twisted God's message beyond recognition. Your incoherent, inconsistent, contradictory teachings are signs of the confusion which Satan produces.


Jesus Christ established the Catholic Church and sent her out to Teach His Commands. But you thumb your nose at being taught by men, you are too great for that.


Matthew 28:18 Then Jesus approached them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,[a] 20 and teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the world.”


In your religion, God doesn't have the authority to appoint men to Teach you what He wants you to learn in order to be saved.


When God said to Cornelius, "send for this man". You would have replied, "Me, what for? I can read and understand by my own understanding." Even though Scripture warns against that sort of pride:


Proverbs 3:5 Trust wholeheartedly in the Lord
rather than relying on your own intelligence.


KS-He says 'ask and you will receive.' Yet, you make the Lord a liar by saying, "That's not true. You can only ask by being baptized.' I pray for you. You are in blatant contradiction to Christ.


DM-It is you making Him a liar. Jesus Christ also said:


John 15:10If you keep my commandments,
you will remain in my love,
just as I have kept my Father’s commandments
and remain in his love.


And again:


John 6:51 I am the living bread that came down from heaven.
Whoever eats this bread will live forever;
and the bread that I will give
is my flesh, for the life of the world.”


And also:


John 3:5Jesus said,


“Amen, amen, I say to you,
no one can enter the kingdom of God
unless he is born of water and the Spirit.


And many other requirements Jesus made for one to be saved. But you want to replace Jesus and give your own version of salvation.


//DM: The Catholic Church is waiting for you//
KS: I am already close friends with Jesus Christ. Of what value do I have with those who trample on the words of my Lord?


DM-It is you who trample on His words. The Catholic Church will give you the proper understanding of God's Word.


KS- I hope that you will simply be honest! May God help you to be so. Jesus Christ is the light of the world.


DM-It is you who needs to be honest. You have turned God's Word upside down and continue to make yourself into your own saviour. You have distorted the Gospel of Jesus Christ beyond recognition.


Hebrews 13:8
Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.


Exodus 20:6 but I will show my favor for a thousand generations of those who love me and observe my commandments.


You don't have the authority to annul God's Word simply because you prefer one verse over the rest of Scripture. Scripture is the Word of God. every word of it is equally inspired.


The Catholic Church is the instrument God has chosen to Teach His Word to the world. She it is who wrote the New Testament and selected the books to be included in the Old Testament. It is to her that you should be listening in order to discover how you will be saved. Just as God told St. Cornelius to send for St. Peter, you need to do the same and send for the Catholic Church.

KS- Hi. I think our entire line of dialogue boils down to this. Jesus said, "My Father will give the Holy Spirit to whoever asks of Him." Your reply is that 'asking' has to be during baptism. I think that negates the words of Christ; I don't think you are being honest.


DM-I have a different opinion.  Our entire dialogue boils down to this question, "who is in authority?" Without saying so directly, you demonstrate that you believe you are in authority.


Evidence for this conclusion.


1. You take one verse out of Scripture and make an entire theology upon it. You discard the rest of Scripture as though it is of no consequence regarding the question of salvation.


2. You have made yourself a special individual to whom you claim that God has given a special privilege of salvation without having to meet the requirements He has set for all others from the beginning.


Whereas, I accept the authority of God and the whole of the Revelation of God through Jesus Christ. I accept that God became man and that Jesus established a Church and Taught that Church the Doctrines He wanted mankind to know.

He then gave that Church the authority and command to make disciples of the world. Disciple means student. So, Jesus expected all of us to learn from the Church which He established to Teach mankind in His place.

The Church went into the world to Teach and wrote the New Testament as an aid in that goal. She also put the Old Testament together as further aid for that purpose.

Through the Church we learn that God has many requirements for the salvation of our souls and that the Church provides us with the grace (and therefore spiritual strength) to achieve this goal, if we desire it.

To summarize:

You have made for yourself a convenient shortcut in order to avoid keeping the Word of God while seeming to accept one verse in Scripture.

While I and all Catholics, obey God's Word entirely.