What God did for People through Jesus 2 – God is Light
What God did for People through Jesus 2. 1 John 1:1-10 “What was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have looked at and touched with our hands, concerning the Word of Life– and the life was manifested, and we have seen and testify and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was manifested to us–what we have seen and heard we proclaim to you also, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ. These things we write, so that our joy may be made complete.
This is the message we have heard from Him and announce to you, that God is Light, and in Him there is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth; but if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar and His word is not in us.”
What God did for People through Jesus 2 – Roman Catholic reform
Since the attempt at Roman Catholic reform resulted in the Protestant Reformation, reformers have had a tendency to make conditions of salvation difficult for people. To my understanding of what I heard, it was as if God really did not want to extend salvation to humans, but for some reason, He had to. Therefore, God made being saved in Christ as difficult as possible. It was as though God said, “I extend you salvation, but I hope you do not accept because I really want to give you the justice of what you deserve rather than the mercy and grace of salvation.” At least, for me, that was the view I was exposed to.
As I matured spiritually, I began to wonder this: If what God really wanted was to destroy us and not save us, to give us justice and not mercy, why bother sending Jesus to become the Christ? If God just withheld Jesus, we definitely would get justice and not mercy. Without Jesus, we gentiles have no form of hope.
There were many factors that resulted in the Protestant Reformation. One of those factors that figured prominently in Martin Luther’s presenting
the ninety-five thesis for debate was the sale of indulgences.
This is a very complex evolution in Roman Catholic theology. This evolution of theological view point involved three things: religious goals, secular politics, and money. That is a combination that commonly results in materialism and greed!
What God did for People through Jesus 2 – The practice of penance
At first, there was the practice of penance. When a person sinned, he or she had to do something to demonstrate physically he or she regretted the sin. Then there arose a debate about how far reaching the acts of penance were. Could the acts of penance cover the consequences to be endured in purgatory? Then there evolved the concept of indulgences. That concept evolved into the concept that a person could buy total escape from all consequences of sinful deeds.
The idea was this: saints and good people did more than enough good deeds to receive their salvation. From their excess good deeds, there existed a “treasury of merits.” The pope had access to this “treasury of merits” and could authorize the sale of these excess good deeds in the form of indulgences.
A person who had not done enough good deeds to escape punishment could buy an indulgence and assure to himself or herself of an ...