Why the Catholic Catechism is so Important
“See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit” (Colossians 2:8).
Now, more than ever, we need to understand our faith and protect it against wolves and false prophets who seek to lead us astray from the true faith of Jesus Christ. The closer the world gets to the second coming of Jesus, the greater will be attacks on our faith.
Faith is a gift from God. Faith is not a blind following in something we would like to believe or would like to be true. The Greek word used in the New Testament for faith is pistis (pronounced PIS-tis). It describes a moral conviction, a reliance on Christ for salvation, and constancy in our profession of faith. Faith comes from God; and God determines what we should believe.
When we say “salvation comes by faith”, what we mean is God gives us a moral conviction that Jesus is our Savior; that Jesus is the Way; that Jesus is the Truth. When we proclaim our faith in Jesus, what we are really doing is responding to the grace of faith the Father bestows on us. We accept Jesus as Lord, Savior, Master and Teacher.
Faith is not a mantra like “Open Sesame!” We do not open heaven just by standing in front of the gates and saying a magic faith phrase. When Jesus preached, and when the apostles preached, the word “repent” always preceded “and believe” or “and be baptized”. It isn’t the profession of faith that saves. It is the response of faith, the conviction to repent and be transformed, which saves. Our profession of faith is merely the words reflecting what is deep in our heart.
The question becomes, “What do we have faith IN?” Is it just faith in Jesus? Is it faith that Jesus died on the cross for the forgiveness of sins? Is it faith that sin doesn’t matter anymore because Jesus said from the cross, “It is finished”?
There is a very telling aspect of faith, forgotten by so many Christians, where Jesus said “If you love me, you will keep my commandments” (John 14:15) and “Teach them to observe all that I have commanded you” (Matthew 28:20). True faith in Christ will always lead us to deny ourself and to follow everything Jesus taught, rather than follow what we want to believe.
When faith is nothing more than a belief in “things” or “ideas”, rather than a conviction of what God puts in our heart, faith is lost. We begin to believe what we want to believe, rather than believing the truth. Faith starts to erode when we start believing that our magic mantra, “Lord! Lord!” will gain us entry into the Kingdom of Heaven even if we don’t abide by all, that is everything, Christ taught. Jesus said faith and profession doesn’t work this way (Matthew 7:21-23).
“For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. To suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear” (2 Timothy 44:3-4). That time, I believe, is now. Of course, it isn’t that things were different back then. Matthew chapter 23 is an entire discourse on Jesus denouncing the leaders of his day.
Christianity wasn’t a hundred years old when Gnosticism reared its ugly head against the Church. Arianism began in the fourth century. Throughout history there has been nothing but one barrage after another of “new ideas” to lure believers away from the true faith of Jesus Christ and the Church he started. I’m not saying things are worse now, but they certainly are not any better.
“Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith” (1 Corinthians 16:13-14). We have to face facts. Our faith is always under attack. Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. Satan tried to fool Jesus in the desert by misusing Scripture. False prophets use that same trick today in trying to persuade us to forsake the true faith of Jesus Christ.
If you don’t want your faith to be stolen or eroded, “Test everything; retain what is good” (1 Thessalonians 5:21).
When Paul says test everything, he means everything. Everything includes both words and deeds of the preachers, teachers and leaders who seek to persuade us in the guidance of our faith. We don’t just test the one verse they quoted to see if it really is in the Bible. We don’t just test a sentence or two. We test everything. And we don’t test to determine if what they say “sounds good.” We test to see if what they say aligns 100% to all Jesus taught. If their words are filled with rhetoric and innuendo, not grounded in the truth of Christ, they must be rejected as heretics. If the fruits of their life are rotten, hurting others and satisfying themselves, they must be rejected as heretics.
Recently, two heretical sects have emerged in popularity to steal our faith. These heresies are supported by a number of national leaders as being both good for the country and good for God. They claim their philosophies are based in Christianity; because they support salvation through Jesus Christ, attending church regularly, support right to life of the unborn, and condemn certain grave sins. The leaders of these heresies often quote specific verses of the Bible to prove a point they already believe and to prove they know the Bible. These heresies seem to offer nothing more than an additional denomination of Christianity and a way for Christians to express themselves, worship as they wish, and follow what sounds good to them.
When put to the test of abiding to ALL Jesus taught, these sects fail miserably. Here are some examples:
There are other examples; but these are already enough to bring to light the foolishness of the Christian Nationalism and MAGA Catholic movements. These movements pit God against Nation, faith in God against trust in leaders, and their leaders relish the high places of esteem and worship which Jesus warned us against seeking. These movements offer the basic tenets of faith only to lure in the weak and naive. Then, they water down and hide the full message of Christ to destroy faith.
Jesus did not call us to follow some of what he taught; but all of what he commanded. If we follow the precepts of men, and not the precepts of the Church given to us by Jesus to guide and protect us, our faith will be lost. Follow only Christ and his Church, not the deceiptful rhetoric, intended to tickle ears, coming from the mouths of wolves.
“For whoever keeps the whole law, but falls short in one particular, has become guilty in respect to all of it” (James 2:1). We can’t partially follow Jesus.
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