Faith working through love is the Gospel

Rick asks:
The Gospel as Faith Working Through Love ??? 

Correct. The Gospel is God’s (covenantal) love for his people; That is only part of the truth. The Gospel is also Jesus’ example to His people that they should follow in His steps:

1 Peter 2:21 For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps: The Gospel is also God calling to His people:

Matthew 9:13 But go ye and learn what that meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice: for I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. And the Gospel also shows the example of many who responded to God’s call:

Acts 2:47
Praising God, and having favour with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved. And this is not all that the Gospel is, but only a short summary.

it is not man’s love for his neighbor

Yes, it is:
Matthew 22:37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.

38 This is the first and great commandment. 39 And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
40 On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.

Love of God and love of neighbor is the complete Gospel. There is nothing else.

though that should flow on and follow as indeed should man’s love for God We should surely not confuse cause and effect

We haven’t.

If we do, the outside world might well have a very big picture of the church but a very small picture of God – which I take it is not what we want

God is love and love makes the world go round. If the world has a small picture of God, it is the world which will suffer for it. But we are not of the world:

John 15:18 If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you. 19 If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you. 20 Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also.

Sincerely,

De Maria

Bob asks:

De Maria,
Is your understanding of the Magisterium infallible?

There’s a difference between Catholic and Protestant in this respect.

I don’t interpret the Magisterium. I obey. Therefore, I need not be infallible.

Whereas, Protestants interpret the Scriptures. Create their own doctrines which may or may not agree with Scripture. And essentially live according to their own designs

I’ll give you an example. When I first came back to the Church, there were several doctrines with which I disagreed. But I sucked it up and accepted them anyway.

Protestants are never in that situation because they essentially make up their own religion. Correct me if I’m wrong.

Jesus gave St. Peter the Keys

SS April 25, 2013 at 4:29 pm
Not so.
Isaiah 22:
20 “In that day I will summon my servant, Eliakim son of Hilkiah. 21 I will clothe him with your robe and fasten your sash around him and hand your authority over to him. He will be a father to those who live in Jerusalem and to the people of Judah. 22 I will place on his shoulder the key to the house of David; what he opens no one can shut, and what he shuts no one can open. 23 I will drive him like a peg into a firm place; he will become a seat of honor for the house of his father. 24 All the glory of his family will hang on him: its offspring and offshoots—all its lesser vessels, from the bowls to all the jars.
Rev 3:7 says:
“And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write: He who is holy, who is true, who has the key of David, who opens and no one will shut, and who shuts and no one opens , says this” 

Isaiah 22 and Eliakim point to Christ, not Peter.

Please explain why Isaiah 2 and Eliakim can not point to both Christ and St. Peter.

There’s only one key involved here (key not ‘keys’), the key to the House of David. And the one who holds that key is Christ, as the above in Revelation states clearly.

The metaphor is not about the number of keys in possession, but about the ability to bind and loose in the Kingdom of Heaven which is the same thing as the House of David because Christ rules there.

1.  These are the things which you neglect.  Christ is the King of Kings.  Therefore, He always has the Key.  Just because He gave a set to St. Peter doesn't mean that He would therefore be unable to open the doors of His own household.

2.  But St. Peter is the Prime minister, just as Eliakim, and he possesses the keys not by right of birth, but by the grace of God, just like Eliakim.

3.  As for the number of keys, it is the same metaphor.  The keys or key symbolize the power to bind and loose in the Kingdom of Heaven.  If anything, the fact that Jesus gave St. Peter a set of keys means that he has more power than did Eliakim of old.  Not less.  And it certainly doesn't mean that Jesus gave away His own set of keys.

Sincerely,

De Maria

Marian Doctrine in Scripture

Anonymous said...
You said that all Catholic Traditions are in Scripture.  What about Roman Catholic traditions such as the Marian dogmas,

Mary, Mother of God:

Luke 1:43

43 And whence is this to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?

Mary's Assumption and Queen of Heaven:

Revelation 12:1

King James Version (KJV)

1 And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars:

Mary, Mother of all believers:

Revelation 12:17

King James Version (KJV)

17 And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.

Those are the explicit doctrines. The others are implied and can be derived by implied statements in Scripture.

purgatory,

1 Cor 3:15

1 Corinthians 3:15

King James Version (KJV)

15 If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.

the rosary 

The Rosary is a prayer and meditation on the life of Christ.

and the Sabbatine Privilege?

It is invoked by the authority granted the Church by Christ to bind and loose:

Matthew 16:18-19

King James Version (KJV)

18 And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

19 And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.

Am I to believe these traditions are also part of the Scriptures when the apostles never taught such things?

The Apostles taught all Catholic Doctrine either explicitly or implied. That is true whether you believe it or not.

Sincerely,

De Maria