What is your hope to stand before God?
Q: « “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.”
The Son of God said that is the first and greatest commandment, If breaking that commandment is not a mortal sin what in the world is?
If you have not kept this law of God perfectly, even by His grace that has been infused into you at your baptism. What is your only hope to stand before a thrice Holy God on judgement day? How are you getting into heaven?»
Catholic: It is a Counsel of Perfection, like those in the Beatitudes. But notice that there are Degrees of eminence (if that’s the word) in Heaven: For some things, ‘Do this, and you will ‘enter into life’ (Mt 19:17); but for perfection: ‘…and thou shalt have treasure in heaven’. (Mt 19:21).
Here is the account in Matthew [c.f. Mk 10:17-31, Lk 18:18-30]:
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Mt19:16-22 (Douay)
«And behold one came and said to him: Good master, what good shall I do that I may have life everlasting?
Who said to him: Why asketh thou me concerning good? One is good, God. But if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments.
He said to him: Which? And Jesus said: Thou shalt do no murder, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness. Honour thy father and thy mother: and, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
The young man saith to him: All these I have kept from my youth, what is yet wanting to me?
Jesus saith to him: If thou wilt be perfect, go sell what thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come follow me.
And when the young man had heard this word, he went away sad: for he had great possessions. »
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§ Christ said, “if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments”. But He did not say, “Don’t ever once fail to keep them perfectly or you will go to hell”. He did not say, “Every time you fail in this Perfection you commit a Mortal sin.”
§ He gave us the Parable of the Prodigal Son (Lk15:11-32) to show His forgiveness even from the worst sins. Indeed, it has been said that ‘If God Himself had not given us this parable, no man would have dared to invent it.’
§ He told His disciples to forgive, ’not seven times, but seventy times seven (Mt18:22) – Hebrew idiom for ‘an unlimited number of times’. If we are to do this, will God do less?
§ Yet notice that the Rich Young Man had ‘kept all these things since my youth.’ Christ did not allow him to rest on his laurels, but invited him to perfection: ‘Friend, come up higher’ (cf Lk14:10).
The Catholic Church institutionalises the Search for Perfection, notably in monasteries and convents.
It is a warning to us all that we may not rest on our laurels, but must always, in this life, strive to ‘com up higher’.
§ ’The Forgiveness of Sins’ is included in the Apostle’s Creed – a fact I have always found very telling. Many of us have found it hard to believe that God really will forgive. That is why the Holy Spirit inspired the Church to include this phrase in the Creed.
Q: Since you agree you have not kept this law of God perfectly, even by His grace that has been infused into you at your baptism. What is your only hope to stand before a thrice Holy God on judgement day? How are you getting into heaven?
Catholic: It is to keep Faith to the End: «faith that worketh by charity.» Gal 5:6.
«For a just man shall fall seven times, and shall rise again» Prov 24:16
«Be not witness without cause against thy neighbour: and deceive not any man with thy lips.
«Say not: I will do to him as he hath done to me: I will render to every one according to his work.» Prov 24:28-9
I will go to the priests and receive Sacramental Absolution from them, who are the successors of the Apostles, for
«He said therefore to them again: Peace be to you. As the Father hath sent me, I also send you. When he had said this, he breathed on them; and he said to them: Receive ye the Holy Ghost. Whose sins you shall forgive, they are forgiven them: and whose sins you shall retain, they are retained.» Jn 20:21-23
And at the Last Judgment,
«the books were opened: and another book was opened, which was the book of life. And the dead were judged by those things which were written in the books, according to their works» Rev (Apoc) 20:12.
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– and so I can live in ‘Good Christian Hope’ of meeting Him and my other friends Up There when I finally die.
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Q: You must have His righteousnesses imputed to you as the grounds of your justification before God. Nothing of yours even if done by His grace by faith in Him.
Catholic: This is unscriptural (even if Luther maintained it). At the Last Judgment Christ will say to the just: ‘Well done, thou good and faithful servant’ (Mt 25:21, 23). And the king answering shall say to them: Amen I say to you, as long as you did it to one of these my least brethren, you did it to me. (Mt 25:40) If God’s initiative were the *only* thing leading to our salvation, it would be nonsensical for Christ to say to us, ‘Well done, thou good and faithful servant’. … I might just as well say ‘Well done’ to this keyboard for transmitting what I am keying in.
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