Msg Base:  AREA 3  - ASK FATHER (AMDG)
  Msg No: 158.  Tue  1-01-80  1:11  (NO KILL)
    From: Father Mateo
      To: Scott Horn
 Subject: Forgiveness after Baptism

SH|Û Jesus died for our salvation.  His merits are infinite and more than
  |Û enough to forgive our sins.  But these merits are applied to us over
  |Û our whole lifetime, not once for all upon belief in Christ.
 
SH|  I still don't understand.  The merits are applied over our whole
  |lifetime?  This just does not square with John 3:16 and 5:24.  I realize
  |the danger of singling out one or two particular verses of the whole New
  |Testament, but these two are so clear and certain.
 
SH|Û The Church is the pillar and foundation of the truth (1 Tim 3:15),
  |Û not the Bible, and especially not a selection of one's favorite texts
 
 
SH|  You mean the Church is a higher authority than the Bible?
 
 
Dear Scott,
 
With respect, there is nothing in John 3:16 and 5:24 which even deals
with the Lord's provision for people who fall into sin after baptism.
That he did make provision for us who sin is clear from many scriptures,
among them: Proverbs 24:16, Jeremiah 8:4, Ezechiel 33:11-20, John 20:23,
James 5:14-16, 1st John 5:16.
 
Our sanctification in Christ, suggests 2 Cor 3:18, is process, not a
single, grace-filled event.  Such an event is but a beginning.  Process
is lifelong.  1st Peter 2:2 speaks of "growing into salvation."  What
is growing has not yet reached fulness.  2nd Peter 3:18 again says,
"GROW in grace".  Life in Christ is often ups and downs. Revelation
2:4-5 and 3:2-3 show Christ rebuking lax Christians and recalling them
to their first fervor.  He does not abandon Christians who sin.
 
The vicissitudes of the spiritual life need grace, and grace is
available AS NEEDED if we turn again and again to the Lord in faith
and prayer.  If we search the whole Scripture under the guidance of
the Body of Christ, which is the Church (Col. 1:24), we will not read
our favorite verses while tuning out the rest of the Word.
 
In college, I had a professor who used to growl at us very often: "If
you want the right answers, you have to ask the right questions."
With respect, "Is the Church a higher authority than the Bible?" is
not one of the right questions.
 
Church and Bible are not two rival authorities, competing for our
allegiance.  Rather, the Bible cannot be (and was never by God
intended to be) understood apart from the Church community that
produced it in the first place.  The Holy Spirit inspired, first Jewish
then Christian believers, members and leaders among the People of
God, to write the Scriptures, drawing upon the community's traditions
as they did so.
 
The Community of the New Testament, however, was not and is not a
common, garden-variety community.  It was and is CHURCH, the Body of
Christ, Members of Christ the Head, the Bride of Christ, the New
Jerusalem.  Its foundation if Jesus Christ, not a book.  The book (or
rather books) were produced by the Holy Spirit within the Church for
the Church's use in proclaiming Jesus Christ.  History shows that,
used apart from the Church, the Bible produces a bewildering spawn of
denominations instead of the unity Jesus prayed for.  This is not the
fault of the Bible, but of those who reject the Spirit-filled
guidance of the Church in using the Bible.
 
                                        Sincerely in Christ,
 
 
                                                Father Mateo