Catholic to Christian
The inspirational story of a spiritual journey from faith in doubt to the assurance of eternal salvation.
RSS
  • Home
  • About Me
  • My Catholic Christian Story

Holy Scriptures Category

Can Salvation be that Simple?

Errors in Catholicism, Feedback I've Received, Holy Scriptures, Salvation, The Bible

I hear from a lot of people, some who have received the Gift of Eternal Salvation and some who have not. Some who are a part of Christ’s Body and others who are stuck in the false church, the so-called “roman catholic church”. Those who have been Saved realize exactly how simple God’s plan for Salvation is. Those who are trapped, who have been misled, who have placed their trust in men and not Christ are usually very confused.

All I have to do is Trust in Christ Alone and I will have the Gift of Eternal Salvation? It can’t possibly be that simple.

And yet, it is. But as humans, we’ve been trained to believe that nothing can be gained without hard work. That we can receive no “reward” without putting in some sort of effort. We forget that Salvation is a GIFT and not a reward. A gift is something that we do NOT need to earn, rather it is freely given. And God gives us Eternal Life because He sent His Son to die for our sins, all of our sins, once and forever.

Here in my catholic Christian blog and Web site I relate my story and try to help those who are confused and misled. I try to explain that man-made churches like the church of rome can do nothing but twist and tarnish God’s Word. The Holy Scripture is pure, there is no explanation or interpretation needed. Instead of relying on man-made churches to tell you what the Holy Scripture means, set aside everything you’ve been taught by men and place all of your Trust in Christ Alone.

Share This Post
February 24th, 2010  
Tags: Christ's sacrifice, eternal salvation, false teachings, scriptures, trust in Christ alone



Christmas Isn’t Christian

Errors in Catholicism, Holy Scriptures, The Bible, Things to Think About

If you’ve read my story and my blog, you now know that I am a true Christian. I am, because I placed my Trust in Christ Alone. Because I did this, I know for absolutely certain that I have Everlasting Life. I formerly fancied myself a catholic christian because I was a part of the catholic church (the church of Rome) but now, thanks to the precious gift of Eternal Life, I now know that the church of Rome is a false church, it is not the One True Church, which is Christ’s Body.

Now, because I am a part of God’s salvation plan, I have received the counsel of the Holy Spirit to guide me. Once I was enlightened by Him, I came to know that the celebration of Christ’s birth on December 25th each year is nothing more than another man-made holiday that at best is completely misguided and at worst, intentionally designed to glorify a pagan holiday.

Isaac Newton argued that the date of “christmas” was chosen to correspond with the winter solstice. History tells us that in ancient times the winter solstice was marked on December 25. In 1743, Paul Ernst Jablonski stated that “christmas” was placed on December 25 to correspond with the Roman solar holiday Dies Natalis Solis Invicti and was therefore a “paganization” that was essentially an insult to the True Church.

We know that the “True Church” is not an organized religion here on Earth, but rather “The Body of Christ” Himself, and thus any of us who are True Christians are a part of that Body. We make up that True Church as we are a part of Him, and He is It.

It should be quite obvious to even a non-religious observer of the Scripture that December is not the actual month of Christ’s birth, since events in the Holy Scripture clearly indicate circumstances which would not make a winter birth feasible. The most obvious Scriptural reference is from the Gospel of Luke which tells us that shepherds were tending their sheep in the fields when He was born.

The rains stopped and temperatures first allowed shepherds to tend their sheep in the fields around April. By December, the sheep were no longer in the fields. But does it matter exactly which month it was? No, certainly not. What does matter, however, is that once again the false church, the church of Rome, has developed a man-made declaration and set it down as truth to their followers. A “truth” for them which history proves to be a falsehood.

If you celebrate this pagan holiday, take a closer look at it. Refuse to allow yourself to continue to be misled.

Share This Post
November 27th, 2009  
Tags: Christ's true church, Christmas, December 25, false teachings, scriptures



Salvation Plan

Holy Scriptures, My Belief, Salvation, The Bible

God’s salvation plan is a very simple one, yet many “organized religions” try to make it overly complicated. There may be a number of reasons for that, it could be ignorance, it could be tradition, it could be that some groups are actually trying to lead people away from Christ by muddling and confusing God’s message.

As a catholic who later learned that I was on the wrong path, following the wrong church, I first came to understand the salvation plan of my Heavenly Father and then, through that understanding, received the gift of Eternal Salvation.

It is as simple as simple can be. It isn’t complicated, His plan doesn’t have a lot of conditions imposed on it, His salvation plan is one that anyone can achieve through one simple and completely straightforward method:

Trust in Christ Alone.

It sounds much too simple, and in many cases that leads people to look for a more complicated means of achieving Eternal Life. God never intended for His Salvation to be something you had to EARN, but rather it is meant to be a GIFT that you may freely receive, simply by taking that one, simple step. God never, ever wanted you to have to do any works, to behave in any particular way, to have to labor in any fashion, or to make any special self-sacrifice to receive His salvation. That’s what He sent his Son here to do for us. That’s the whole reason that Christ died on the cross for us, for all of our sins: so that they would ALL be forgiven, once and forever.

So to receive God’s Gift of Eternal Salvation, to fulfill His Salvation Plan, there is nothing more for you to do than to Trust in Christ Alone. Trust that His sacrifice is the one and only sacrifice that can ever be made for our sins, that we cannot save ourselves, trust that it is only through His death on the cross that our sin debt was paid in full.

That means letting go of human teachings, letting go of organized religions and their man-made rules, it means letting go of traditions and interpretations of Holy Scripture and it means, once and for all, placing ALL of your Trust in Christ.

If you can do that, right now, then you can receive the Gift of Eternal Life.

Share This Post
November 13th, 2009  
Tags: eternal salvation, salvation plan, scriptures, trust in Christ alone



To be Filled, We Must First be Emptied

Errors in Catholicism, Feedback I've Received, Holy Scriptures, The Bible, Things to Think About

As you can probably imagine, I receive many, many e-mails a day. Dozens actually, perhaps as many as one hundred on a very busy day. Many of the e-mails I receive are encouraging, some talk about reading my catholic Christian conversion story and taking great joy in it, others detracting of my message, some saying that I am attacking the catholic church or that my message isn’t a Christian one or that catholicism is superior to my own faith.

Today I received an e-mail from someone who took the rather unusual approach of boasting to me about how much they know about the Bible, and how much more they know about it than I. It was clear that they were intent on acting superior to me, to prove through their claim exactly how much more they knew about Holy Scripture than I do (or my family did or does — combined, as a matter of fact):

“I know the Bible better than your or your parents or even your
grandparents ever did while they were Catholic. And I bet that
I still know it better than all of you combined now”.

Of course this person went on to attempt to lecture to me about what God REALLY meant in certain portions of the Word. Unfortunately for the e-mail’s author, they don’t realize exactly how truly lost they really are. Their statements made it abundantly clear that they do not have the Holy Spirit to guide them in the Scripture, a counselor that everyone who receives the Gift of Eternal Salvation has to help them understand the Word, as He promised us:

John 14:26

But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.

What this assurance means to all of us who have received Eternal Life is that we (you or I) don’t have to worry about being as learned about the Holy Scripture as some, like the e-mailer above likes to believe — and publicly boast — that they are. God our Father in Heaven knows that we all need help to understand His Word, and what better way for us to understand it than for Him to sit beside us as we read the Holy Scripture and to impart unto us, one at a time, the full meaning and power of His Holy Word?

This person’s boast of Bible knowledge reminds me of a very poignant passage from Matthew…

Matthew 13

He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given. For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath. Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand.

Remember that in Jesus’ day there were many people who were supposedly much more “knowledgeable” about what was written, yet they were incredibly ignorant about the Truth of God. Their Savior stood right there before them, in the flesh, yet they were unable to see it (”because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, nether do they understand).

Just like the e-mail author who pridefully boasted about how much they “know” about the Bible, yet despite all of their “knowing” they do not understand.

Jesus Himself spoke to the common people, He surrounded Himself with followers who believed in Him and placed their Trust in Him Alone for their Salvation and did not attempt to preach to others by lecturing them about how much more they knew about what was written. And when Jesus left us on earth, He left behind for us the Holy Spirit that we may fully understand everything about God’s Word without having to spend our entire lives intently studying every single passage of Scripture.

We are very, very fortunate to have this counsel once we have the Gift of Eternal Life.

My Christian catholic story, which you may read here if you haven’t done so as yet, is my humble exposition of how I made the journey from catholic to Christian. How I was led from the darkness into God’s Wonderful light. I, like the e-mail author who boasted to me about their knowledge of the Scripture, thought that I knew a lot — remember that I even taught the catholic faith as an instructor in the RCIA program — but I never really knew the Holy Scripture, I never really KNEW Him, until I put aside the false teachings that I had received throughout my entire life and allowed myself to Trust in Christ Alone.

This part is something that is very important, and something I only learned once I’d received the Gift of Eternal Salvation: He will fill us with the fullness of His Word, but in order to be filled, we must first be emptied. Until we empty ourselves of the false teachings that obscure His Word and its meaning, we can never truly be filled.

Share This Post
July 21st, 2009  
Tags: scriptures, The Bible, the holy spirit, trust in Christ alone



Nothing can Separate Us from Him

Holy Scriptures

This is powerful, powerful stuff. Once we belong to Him, nothing — nothing! — can take us away from Him:

Romans 8:38-39
“For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

http://kingjbible.com/romans/8.htm

Share This Post
June 17th, 2009  
Tags: belief, scriptures



  • You are currently browsing the archives for the Holy Scriptures category.

  • Recent Blog Posts

    • Can Salvation be that Simple?
    • Christmas Isn’t Christian
    • Salvation Plan
    • Great Joy
    • God is using your story to affect many lives
    • Christian vs Catholic
    • To be Filled, We Must First be Emptied
    • Trust in Christ Alone for Your Eternal Salvation
    • To Jesus through Mary?
    • What is the difference between catholic and Christian?
  • Topics

    • Errors in Catholicism
    • Feedback I've Received
    • Holy Scriptures
    • Joyful Stories
    • My Belief
    • News
    • Salvation
    • The Bible
    • Things to Think About
    • Videos
  • Blog Archives

    • February 2010
    • November 2009
    • October 2009
    • August 2009
    • July 2009
    • June 2009
    • January 2009
    • December 2008
    • October 2008
  • Friends and Resources

    • Bibleline Ministries
    • From Tradition to Truth: A Priest's Story
    • Is Peter the Rock?
    • Online Parallel Bible
  • Popular Tags

      belief Bibleline Ministries catholic christian catholicism Christ Christ's sacrifice Christ's true church christian vs catholic Christmas convictions December 25 difference between catholic and christian Dr. Hank Lindstrom E-mail encouragement eternal salvation false church false teachings feedback God's love graven images inspirational video mary mother of jesus peace salvation plan scriptures spouse thanks The Bible the holy spirit trust in Christ alone YouTube
  • Notices

    • Terms of Use
    • Privacy Policy
    • Contact

 

Categories
  • Errors in Catholicism
  • Feedback I've Received
  • Holy Scriptures
  • Joyful Stories
  • My Belief
  • News
  • Salvation
  • The Bible
  • Things to Think About
  • Videos
About Me

What is the meaning of Catholic to Christian?

I’m a husband and a father of two, a man who spent the vast majority of my life being raised a catholic Christian...

Read more

Copyright © 2010 Catholic to Christian All Rights Reserved THEMES CSS WP THEME by I SOFTWARE REVIEWS