MARY, WOMAN AND HER SEED VS SERPENT AND ITS SEED

 ORIGINAL SIN AND DEATH

Adam and Eve were immaculately created and came to life, pure, innocent, and without sin. They were placed in a garden paradise by Lord God to be immortal and live in eternal happiness. They were made in the image and likeness of God with free will to do as they like in the paradise of Eden. Adam was given dominion over all the earth's creation of God. He gave them a command, a single command nothing more but it involved the nature, mind, senses, and spirit of man. One command against everything that God did for them and all the things they have in paradise. Just one and unfortunately they could not give that to God. They failed and committed the grave sin of disobedience to God’s command.  

In the article, The Unforgiven Sin, we explained the doctrine of Original Sin in a fresh perspective sans the theological terms that times hard to understand. Explaining it on layman's term that is easily understood. You may go back to it for reference.

Disobedience corrupted man and caused his fall from the Grace of God. Disobedience committed by Adam and Eve was a rejection of God's sovereign will. To the Catholic Church, it is the reality of Original Sin which is passed on by the parents to the children from generation to generation. By giving way to the temptation of the devil, Adam and Eve committed what is called a personal sin but it’s not an ordinary sin because it affected and corrupted human nature to their Fallen State. Such a fallen state of being is transmitted to every child of the first parents and is termed as the original sin. It is a sin "contracted" and not "committed" personally by us who inherited it and passed on to us in our human nature. It is a state of being, the absence of holiness and perfect charity and not an act passed on to all the descendants of Adam and Eve who are the first parents of the human race. Original sin has weakened our human nature and has resulted in our inclination to sin called "concupiscence". This inclination toward sin and evil is called "concupiscence" (CCC 405, 418). Baptism erases original sin and reconcile man with God. The inclination toward sin and evil persists, however, and he must continue to struggle against concupiscence (CCC 2520).

There are several lines of biblical evidence for the historic Christian doctrine that we are all born into the world with sinful natures, due to the sin of Adam. Psalm 51:5 states that we all come into the world as sinners: “Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin my mother conceived me.”

We are born to sin and we are in that state of sinfulness until our redemption by Jesus Christ since such sin which is not committed by free act can’t be repented by us. One cannot ask forgiveness for a sin he/she did not commit. Since it can’t be repented it can’t be forgiven except by the act of God's saving grace. The first sin or known as the original sin is the concupiscence to sin. It a sin that is in our human nature and therefore it is the only sin that is inherited from generation to generation. A sin that is passed on and caused the man to keep sinning. Since it is inherent to men, it can't be repented by men who inherit it. Many are not even aware that they have it. It is the motherload of all sins and so there is no one that can save us from that sin but God alone saves. All sins can be repented but the original sin can't, so how can God forgive a sin that is not caused by the free action of the children of Adam and Eve?

From the time of the fall of man, the battle already began. In the early period, the Serpent identified by Jesus as Satan was having the upper hand snaring souls to his kingdom except for a few like Enoch and Noah. It came to a point that in the eyes of God, the man was a hopeless creature, beyond salvation that he even regrets he created them. God who is perfect created man in his image and likeness, a perfect being but the Serpent who has opposed God made him imperfect by successfully causing his fall to the sin of disobedience.

God who is the King of the Universe and King of kings, created Man and gave him freedom from the beginning to rule and have dominion to all the physical creation. But the man gave away his dominion to Satan by becoming under him than under God. By following the voice of Satan, Adam and Eve lost everything even the paradise that God personally made for them. What was in Adam and Eve that Satan used to make them disobey God? Was it just out of curiosity or a lethal combination of curiosity and greed? Of wanting to have more than what God has already given them. We believe the sin of disobedience is caused by the freedom of choice that makes man guilty for choosing to disobey God.

Knowing what man has gotten himself into and having his great love for a man more than all his creation, God made a decree of deliverance from the one that caused the man to fall, deliverance from the evil one. But the decree was clouded with mystery if one will hear or read of it in the ancient time covering the entire Old Testament. Genesis 3:15 states "I will put enmity between you and woman. between your seed and her seed. She will crush your head and you will bruise her heel." This is the original translation which later on translated she to he. But whatever the translation be of the words, the essence of the decree of God is clear, he promised deliverance of man from the power of Satan through the woman and her seed. And this is a mystery, who is the woman and her seed that will defeat Satan and crush his head? We know that the serpent cannot be easily killed by hitting its body for it can still bite, the serpent must be killed by crushing its head.

The battle is drawn between the woman and the serpent called Satan, the evil one for the Lord said: "I will put enmity between you and the woman". Enmity means the state of being actively opposed or hostile to someone. Actively oppose to the woman? How is that possible if the woman was still to come or was she? The woman can't be Eve, theologians and scholars agree because she was already defeated by the devil. In fact, the serpent did not approach Adam first but Eve meaning the devil knew she was vulnerable and can easily be deceived and then used her. Its Eve who convinced Adam to disobey God. So the woman that will be in an active opposition against the Devil and vice versa is not Eve but another woman, but who?

In the New Testament, we already know and it was revealed to us that the woman is the Blessed Virgin Mary. But she only existed sometime in the year 20 BC more or less as she conceived Jesus and delivered him to the world of men as God in the flesh sometime about 4 BC when she was about 14 or 16 years of age. Was the Blessed Virgin Mary already existing in the time of Genesis 3:15 to be in an active opposition against Satan? Here is the mystery of who the Blessed Virgin Mary is and why is she so much special to God that she is found to be full of Grace by the angel even before she conceived Jesus to be his mother in the flesh. To know about this mystery we need to comb the scriptures for an answer.

Enmity Between the Serpent and the Woman

And God said to the serpent in the Garden of Eden which tempted Eve and caused the downfall of man as a slave of sin, “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; it shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel." (Genesis 3:15). This is also known as Protevangelium in Christian theology which prefigures the plan of salvation, the coming of the Messiah, the savior that will redeem man from the slavery of sin which began from the fall of Adam and Eve. While the focus is on the Savior alone and it is fitting and right but there is one person who has not been given much attention, the woman especially by the Protestants. 

1.      There are 2 against 2 personages in the Protevangelium Genesis 3:15, not just one. On one hand, the woman and her seed and on the other hand the serpent, that is the devil, and its seed. The words of God are clear, “I will put enmity between you and the woman”. The enmity is between the “you” that is the devil and the woman. They will be in continuing opposition from the beginning and certainly to the end of age when the devil is crushed by the head.

2.      The other is likewise similar but different, “between your seed and her seed”. There is the other enmity and it is between the seed of the devil and the seed of the woman. Here it is clear the offspring of the woman will be in opposition against the offspring of the devil.

3.      We also have to take note that the passage talks of the seed of the woman. The seed is the offspring of the woman but since it tells of only the seed of the woman and not of man then the verse has prefigured the virgin birth. There is no human father.

4.      The seed of the serpent which is an animal is also personified and will be in opposition to the seed of the woman and since the serpent is an animal, the seed of the serpent must be a beast like him.

All agreed that the “seed” of the woman is our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and therefore it logically follows that the woman is the Blessed Virgin Mary who brought forth the seed into the world, her offspring who is the Word of God incarnate. Some however in spite of obvious and logical conclusion would still try to reason out that the woman is really Eve for God was talking to her and the serpent and addressing her also as a woman. But if the woman is Eve then there will be a problem in the consistency of scriptures because she was at a fallen state like Adam and she is powerless against the devil as already shown so how can she oppose it when she herself brought the fall of men? If Eve is the tree from which the seed the Messiah will come is not that in itself a contradiction? For the scriptures tell us that: "No good tree bears bad fruit, nor again does a bad tree bear good fruit (Luke 6:43). Another contradiction is how can the Lord comes from a woman that is of a fallen state since it is written “But he who is united to the Lord becomes one spirit with him” (1 Corinthians 6:17) can we say Eve becomes one spirit with the Lord? Certainly not! Otherwise, Jesus would have been tainted with sin.

Therefore we can only conclude that in verse 3:15 God was not referring to Eve but to another woman. And who could that woman be that the Lord was already referring to her in Genesis which was the beginning? Certainly, before the awaited seed comes, the woman comes first, but is there a woman already existing aside from Eve that God was referring to in the verse? Yes, there was and she is Wisdom personified in the scripture as she. Wisdom is female Sophia in Greek, but who is she? 

The serpent and the woman will be in opposition against each other. It's going to be a continuing hostility a battle. This battle will not only between the Serpent and the woman but between their offsprings. Now if the Blessed Virgin Mary is the woman of Genesis then her seed or her offspring is Jesus Christ. 

Who is the Blessed Virgin Mary?

How is it possible that the woman with a human father and mother be untouched by original sin for even in her original state without Jesus in her womb she was already found FULL OF GRACE. The Angel of the Lord came to Mary and he greeted her with unusual greeting given only to royalty "Hail, "Full of Grace", the "Lord is with you". The young Mary who is the complete opposite of Eve being humble, obedient to God's will, trusting and loving God since she was a child, growing up serving in the Temple as a virgin consecrated to God's service was somewhat shy at the greeting of the Angel. She was used to the angels according to the story of James but the greeting given to him by Gabriel was different on the day of the annunciation of her chosen to be the mother of God concerns her. To which the Angel gave assurance to do not be afraid Mary...

And the angel of the Lord came to Mary said unto her: "Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women. Who having heard, was troubled at his saying, and thought with herself what manner of salutation this should be. And the angel said to her: Fear not, Mary, for thou hast found grace with God."

And so from then on man multiplied and became many and his sins also multiplied and became many that his sins filled the earth that God could no longer contain his anger and regretted that he ever made man. For a while, the devil may have thought that God, may have forgotten his mystery decree of deliverance through the woman and her seed because God has willed that it was time to end the reign of man under the influence of Satan on earth by destroying them with a flood. But it was really really meant first for the cleanse the world of

TO BE CONTINUED...

By Bro. Manny OTFS Chief Apologist

Copyright © 2020 by Ekklesia Katholos (Acts 9:31)

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No part of this publication may be produced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission from the publisher.

THIS IS MY BODY, THIS IS MY BLOOD

Central to the faith and worship of the Catholic Church is the Eucharist, which for the Catholics is the true body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ and therefore included is his divinity in unity with the Most Holy Trinity that is worthy of worship by the true Christians. On the other hand, the non-Catholic Bible Only believers mock and vilify the Eucharist as just a piece of bread falsely saying that it was just invented by the Roman Catholic Church. Who is correct and what is the truth about the Eucharist?

If the Catholic belief is true, the non-Catholics are in continuing blasphemy of the true body and blood of Jesus Christ and therefore they are living in a continuing mortal sin for their contempt of the Eucharist. A sin of the Holy Spirit that has no forgiveness.

If they are right on the other hand, then the Catholics are guilty of idolatry for worshiping a piece of bread which is a very grave sin against God and an abomination in the eyes of God. Thus the truth of the Eucharist is important for both sides. Let us then prove which of the two doctrines is correct, the Catholic doctrine or the non-Catholic Protestant doctrine?

What are the origin of the Eucharist and the basis of belief of each camp?

Since the doctrine as it is taught can't be found literally in the English bible naturally by the man-made "standard" of the truth of Bible Alone believers or Sola Scriptura doctrine, the doctrine of the Catholic Church is false that is what is taught by the Pastors of so many Protestant churches today. Next is the interpretation of the Protestants that the breaking of bread as taught in the scripture is only ceremonial and that the bread and the wine remain in the original species. No change has taken place and they are just that, a piece of bread and a cup of wine. With such belief, they blaspheme and profane the body and blood of the Lord that is the Eucharist.

But where is this teaching of the Protestants originated? It originated with the Reformation Movement and from the Sola Scriptura doctrine. The teachings of the Reformation Movement started out with Martin Luther who ironically was a former Priest and a Monk in the Catholic Church who protested against the practice of "Simony" done by the Catholic Church during the middle ages. He and his followers broke up with the Catholic Church and founded their own independent churches. In Luther's case, it was named after him, Lutheran Church. The Protestant Churches grew and multiplied independently of each other as they progressively developed doctrines based on their mother of all Doctrines called the Sola Scriptura and Sola Fides. With the Sola Scriptura, the dogma of the Eucharist of the Catholic Church is unacceptable to the Protestants. But they are wrong and both the scripture and history of the Catholic Church will prove the Eucharist to be what it truly is, the true body and blood of Jesus Christ.

The early Catholic Church teachings and early Christian life and practices of the Liturgy show the belief in the Eucharist that it is the true body and blood of Jesus Christ is definitely rock solid. Are there witnesses to the Catholic Church doctrine of the Eucharist? Yes, there are available early Christian Writings that have been preserved and survived from the first century to the present.

BREAD AND WINE BECOMES THE BODY AND BLOOD OF THE LORD

We will first call on the Gospel of Matthew 12:26 While they were eating, Jesus took bread, spoke a blessing and broke it, and gave it to the disciples, saying, “Take and eat; this is My body." Then He took the cup, gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you. This is My blood of the covenant which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. I tell you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until the day when I drink it anew with you in My Father’s kingdom."

Jesus did not say the bread represents his body, but he said THIS IS MY BODY. In the same way about the cup of wine, he did not say the cup of wine represents his blood, he said THIS IS MY BLOOD. When Jesus said it to his disciple was it in a form of a figure of speech or was it a true and definitive declaration? We say it was a true and definitive declaration that the bread and wine are his true body and true blood. To understand the consistency of the teaching of the Lord we should go to John 6:47-58 which states:

"Truly, truly, I tell you, he who believes has eternal life. I am the bread of life. Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, yet they died. This is the bread that comes down from heaven so that anyone may eat it and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats this bread, he will live forever. And this bread, which I will give for the life of the world, is My flesh.”

At this, the Jews began to argue among themselves, “How can this man give us His flesh to eat?”

So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I tell you, unless you eat the flesh and drink the blood of the Son of Man, you have no life in you. Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. For My flesh is real food, and My blood is real drink. Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood remains in Me, and I in him. Just as the living Father sent Me and I live because of the Father, so also the one who feeds on Me will live because of Me. This is the bread that came down from heaven. Unlike your fathers, who ate the manna and died, the one who eats this bread will live forever.”

In the discourse of Jesus with the disciples, he did not correct them in their understanding of what he was saying that he is going to give them his body to eat and his blood to drink. It was too much for them to even consider it. So many of his disciples left him and stopped following him. Yet he did not make an attempt to clarify what he was talking about even to his Apostles which he also asked "Do you want to leave too?" Jesus did not correct the disciples why? Because he was indeed talking of his true body and blood which have become clearer in the above Matthew 12:26-29. By the power of God, the bread becomes his body and the wine becomes his blood. This is the foundation of the doctrine of the Eucharist.

But how did the Apostles teach the early Christians about the Eucharist? In 1 Corinthian 10:14-22 Apostle Paul warned us about Idolatry which the Protestants with their false beliefs against the Eucharist accused us of:

Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry. I speak to reasonable people; judge for yourselves what I say. Is not the cup of blessing that we bless a participation in the blood of Christ? And is not the bread that we break a participation in the body of Christ? Because there is one loaf, we who are many are one body; for we all partake of the one loaf. Apostle Paul warned of idolatry but here in the same verse he confirmed the bread is the body of Christ and the cup of wine is the blood of Christ, therefore, the Catholics are not as guilty of idolatry as the Protestants teach others. By doing so they are sinning against the Holy Spirit

Consider the people of Israel: Are not those who eat the sacrifices fellow partakers in the altar? Am I suggesting, then, that food sacrificed to an idol is anything, or that an idol is anything? No, but the sacrifices of pagans are offered to demons, not to God. And I do not want you to be participants with demons. You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons too; you cannot partake in the table of the Lord and the table of demons too. Are we trying to provoke the Lord to jealousy? Are we stronger than He? Thus the warning of the idolatry of Paul is what the Corinthian had done at that time which was partaking of food sacrificed to idols by pagan religions to their false gods while at the same time partaking of the Eucharist which is the true body and blood of the Lord. Paul, therefore, compared the sacrifice to the idol which is actually a sacrifice to the devil, and the Sacrifice to the true God which is the Eucharist. The first is not of God and therefore idolatry while the last is a true sacrifice offered to the True God, the body and blood of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Paul is saying that after we have partaken of the Eucharist, we can’t partake of the food of the pagans offered in their altars. Otherwise, we profane the true body and blood of Jesus Christ and provoke the Lord. Let us further examine the teaching of the Apostle with regard to the bread and wine and see if he really meant what he meant in 1 Corinthian 10:14-22. Let's proceed in the next chapter of the same Letter he did for the church in 1 Corinthian 11:2 and 11:17-29 -

"Now I commend you for remembering me in everything and for maintaining the traditions, just as I passed them on to you." Here Apostle Paul commends the church in Corinth for maintaining the traditions he passed on to them. Part of the traditions passed on by Apostle Paul is of course the celebration of the Eucharist in the church of God as you will learn in the following verses after verse 2.

"In the following instructions, I have no praise to offer, because your gatherings do more harm than good. First of all, I hear that when you come together as a church, there are divisions among you, and in part, I believe it. And indeed, there must be differences among you to show which of you are approved." [Here Apostle Paul talked about the gathering of Christians together as a church. The Christians gather together for the thanksgiving of the Eucharist as a church not individually eating with their own food, not the Eucharist and Apostle Paul was so upset that it is done as shown in the next verses.]

"Now then, when you come together, it is not the Lord’s Supper you eat. As you eat, many of you proceed with your own meal to the exclusion of others. While one remains hungry, another gets drunk. Don’t you have your own homes in which to eat and drink? Or do you despise the church of God and humiliate those who have nothing? What can I say to you? Shall I praise you for this? Of course not!" [Here the Apostle Paul really castigated the Christians for not coming together for the Lord's Supper, the Eucharist, and instead, they come together bringing their own food during the gathering which is to be the remembrance of the Lord's Supper, the Last Supper, the celebration of the Eucharist.]

'For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: that the Lord Jesus, on the night He was betrayed, took bread, and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, “This is My body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of Me.” In the same way, after supper He took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood; do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.” For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes. Therefore, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord. Each one must examine himself before he eats the bread and drinks the cup. For anyone who eats and drinks without recognizing the body eats and drinks judgment on himself.' [This is self-explanatory confirmation that the Eucharist is the true body and blood of the Lord Jesus Christ and not just a simple ritual of remembrance]

If the Eucharist is just the same bread and the same cup of wine in their original species after the Eucharistic prayers and offering of the sacrifice have been made how is it possible for Apostle to say they are guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord? Now the last verse sums it all up on the reality of the Eucharist and we repeat it "For anyone who eats and drinks without recognizing the body eats and drinks judgment on himself." [Now Apostle Paul is saying we should recognize the body and blood of Jesus Christ in the Eucharist or we face judgment on ourselves.]

The Protestants don't recognize the Eucharist and instead, they are mocking and vilifying the Eucharist which is the true body and blood of Jesus Christ bring judgment for themselves. This is the product of their Bible Only False Doctrine that prevents the people from entering the kingdom of God.

Let us then go forward and away from the Gospels and go to how the early Christians lived and how they regard the Eucharist. Let us take a look at the Didache document which is one of the early Christian writings that reflect the life of the church and the Christians from 33 AD. It is said that the Didache may have been written at the same time that the Gospels and the Letters of the Apostles were written. The Didache comes from the word didoskilos meaning "teacher". It is known as "Teaching of the Twelve Apostles". It is said to have originated in Syria probably Antioch and spread out to the churches there and in Egypt. According to scholars the Didache must have been written between 50 AD to 110 AD and used as a manual for the churches. The original got lost but a copy of it was found sometime in the year.

It's been used as a reference by Early Christian writers like Eusebius, Athanasius, Ignatius, and others. It's used in early Christian writings like Dedascalia and Apostolic Constitution and used in the churches in Syria and Egypt. Didache is a valuable church document as the manual that is why it's not included in the Bible because it's a church manual used to instruct the Christians like a Catechism. For purposes of this article, we will be limiting our reference to Didache's Chapter 14 Christian Assembly on the Lord's Day, Chapter 9 Thanksgiving (Eucharist), and Chapter 10 Prayer After Communion. These three chapters lead us to how the early Christians treat the Eucharist.

DIDACHE: THE SACRIFICE OF THE HOLY MASS

Chapter 14 of Didache, it gives instruction on how the Christian Assembly should gather together on Lord's Day which is Sunday, and celebrate thanksgiving that is the Eucharist. "But every Lord's Day gather yourselves together, and break bread, and give thanksgiving after having confessed your transgression that your sacrifice may be pure. But let no one that is at variance with fellow come together with you, until they are reconciled, that your sacrifice may not be profaned. For this is that which was spoken by the Lord: In every place and time offer me a pure sacrifice; for I am a great King, says the Lord, and my name is wonderful among the nations. [Clearly, too the Eucharist is the sacrifice of the assembly offered to God at the altar. Today it is called the Sacrifice of the Mass]

DIDACHE: THANKSGIVING (EUCHARIST)

Chapter 9 teaches how to give thanks on the Eucharist and how to give thanks. "First, concerning the cup: We thank you, our Father, for the holy vine of David your servant, which you made known to us through Jesus, your servant; to you be the glory forever. And concerning the broken bread: We thank you our Father for the life and knowledge which you made known to us through Jesus Your Servant; to you be the glory forever. Even as this broken bread was scattered over the hills, and was gathered together and became one, so let your Church be gathered together from the ends of the earth into your kingdom; for yours is the glory and the power through Jesus Christ forever. But let no one eat or drink of your Thanksgiving (Eucharist) but they who have been baptized into the name of the Lord; for concerning this also the Lord has said, Give not that which is holy to the dogs.

DIDACHE: PRAYER AFTER COMMUNION

Chapter 10 teaches the faithful about prayer after communion which is after receiving the Eucharist. "But after you are filled, thus give thanks: We thank you Holy Father, for your holy name which you caused to tabernacle in our hearts and for the knowledge and faith and immortality which you made known to us through Jesus your servant; to you be the glory forever. You Master almighty created all things to your name's sake; You gave food and drink to men for enjoyment, that they might give thanks to you; but to us, you freely gave spiritual food and drink and life eternal through your servant. Before all things we thank you that you are mighty; to you be the glory forever. Remember Lord, your church to deliver it from all evil and to make it perfect in your love, and gather it from the four winds, sanctified for your kingdom which you have prepared for it; for yours is the power and the glory forever. Let grace come and let this world pass away. Hossana to the God of David! If anyone is holy, let him come; if anyone is not so, let him repent. Maranatha. Amen."

From the early liturgical practices as shown above taken from Didache, we can read from the 1st Apology of St. Justin Martyrs that the Lord's Day service of the Holy Mass for the Christians of the Catholic church has progressed and developed. The 1st Apology in 148 AD is addressed to the Emperor to defend the Christians against the continuing persecution of the Roman Empire. This document shows exactly how the holy mass, the Sunday worship is still practiced, celebrated, and observed by the same Catholic Church of which St. Justin Martyr was baptized as a true Christian.

1ST APOLOGY: CHAPTER 67 WEEKLY WORSHIPS OF THE CHRISTIANS

Here St. Justin Martyr has portrayed that Christians meet weekly to celebrate the Holy Mass that we Catholics continue to do today.

"And we afterward continually remind each other of these things. And the wealthy among us help the needy, and we always keep together; and for all things wherewith we are supplied, we bless the Maker of all through His Son Jesus Christ, and through the Holy Ghost. And on the day called Sunday, [Today its the same Sunday Holy Mass that is celebrated]  (1) all who live in cities or in the country gather together to one place, and the memoirs of the apostles or the writings of the prophets are read, as long as time permits; then, when the reader has ceased, the president [priest] verbally instructs, and exhorts to the imitation of these good things. [Today this what is exactly followed called the Liturgy of the Word the same first part done in the worship as portrayed here by St. Justin] 

Then we all rise together and pray, and, as we before said, when our prayer is ended, bread and wine and water are brought, and the president in like manner offers prayers and thanksgivings, according to his ability, [This second part of the Holy Mass is the Thanksgiving also called the Eucharist which is the sacrifice of the Holy Mass exactly as still being done today]  

(2) and the people assent, saying Amen; and there is a distribution to each, and a participation of that over which thanks have been given,(3) and to those who are absent a portion is sent by the deacons. And they who are well to do, and willing, give what each thinks fit; and what is collected is deposited with the president [priest], who succors the orphans and widows and those who, through sickness or any other cause, are in want, and those who are in bonds and the strangers sojourning among us, and in a word takes care of all who are in need. [Even today, in the Catholic Church we give what we can give according to our heart's desire for the works of the church] 

"But Sunday is the day on which we all hold our common assembly because it is the first day on which God, having wrought a change in the darkness and matter, made the world; and Jesus Christ our Savior on the same day rose from the dead. For He was crucified on the day before that of Saturn (Saturday); and on the day after that of Saturn, which is the day of the Sun, having appeared to His apostles and disciples, He taught them these things, which we have submitted to you also for your consideration." [Sunday is the Lord's Day exactly why we celebrate and worship on said day because it precisely the day that the Lord rose again from the dead and it is also the day the church was officially founded, on Pentecost.]

1ST APOLOGY: CHAPTER 66 THE EUCHARIST 

From the 1st century, St. Justin Martyr clearly shows us what the Eucharist really is - the body and blood of Jesus Christ - Just as Jesus himself taught, just as the Apostle John taught, just as Apostle Paul taught, just as all the Apostles understood the teaching of Jesus of the Eucharist, just as the early Christians believed it to be true. It is not what non Catholics and Protestants mockingly portray as just a wafer or plain bread but in truth our spiritual food the true body and blood of our Lord Jesus. 

"And this food is called among us Eukaristia (5) [the Eucharist], of which no one is allowed to partake but the man who believes that the things which we teach are true, and who has been washed with the washing that is for the remission of sins, and unto regeneration, and who is so living as Christ has enjoined. For not as common bread and common drink do we receive these; but in like manner as Jesus Christ our Savior, having been made flesh by the Word of God, had both flesh and blood for our salvation, so likewise have we been taught that the food which is blessed by the prayer of His word, and from which our blood and flesh by transmutation are nourished, is the flesh and blood of that Jesus who was made flesh. (6) For the apostles, in the memoirs composed by them, which are called Gospels, have thus delivered unto us what was enjoined upon them; that Jesus took bread, and when He had given thanks, said, "This do ye in remembrance of Me, (7) this is My body;" and that, after the same manner, having taken the cup and given thanks, He said, "This is My blood;" and gave it to them alone." 

1ST APOLOGY: CHAPTER 65 THE SACRAMENTS

St. Justin Martyr's presentation of how the Blessed Sacrament that is the Eucharist in the Holy Mass is celebrated by the Priest is almost the same from the first century to the present. This is quite a wonder how early Christians celebrated the sacraments never changed in the Catholic Church. Here is how in Chapter 65 of the 1st Apology the celebration of the Sacrament is pictured

"But we, after we have thus washed him who has been convinced and has assented to our teaching, bring him to the place where those who are called brethren are assembled, in order that we may offer hearty prayers in common for ourselves and for the baptized [illuminated] person, and for all others in every place, that we may be counted worthy, now that we have learned the truth, by our works also to be found good citizens and keepers of the commandments, so that we may be saved with an everlasting salvation. Having ended the prayers, we salute one another with a kiss. [In the Holy Mass of the Catholic Church today, we greet one another with "Peace be with you". 

(3) There is then brought to the president [the Priest] of the brethren(4) bread and a cup of wine mixed with water, and he took them, gives praise and glory to the Father of the universe, through the name of the Son and of the Holy Ghost, and offers thanks at considerable length for our being counted worthy to receive these things at His hands. And when he has concluded the prayers and thanksgivings [Eucharist], all the people present express their assent by saying Amen. This word Amen answers in the Hebrew language to genoito [so be it]. And when the president [priest] has given thanks, and all the people have expressed their assent, those who are called by us deacons give to each of those present to partake of the bread and wine mixed with water over which the thanksgiving [Eucharist] was pronounced, and to those who are absent they carry away a portion." [Today this is still done in many parishes where the Eucharist is brought to the elderly and sick who can't attend the Holy Mass]

We can now conclude that from the Gospels and scriptures and in the lives of the early Christians the Eucharist is the true body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ worthy of worship and adoration. In the Eucharist the divinity of the Lord is truly present and therefore not recognize in its true form and regard it as just a mere wafer or piece of bread is a grave sin, blasphemy against the Holy Spirit which is unforgivable. Protestants' disdain and rejection of the Eucharist is the result of the false doctrines they have embraced both the Sola Scriptura and Sola Fides.

Copyright © 2020 by Ekklesia Katholos (Acts 9:31)

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

No part of this publication may be produced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission from the publisher.

FALSE DOCTRINE OF FAITH ALONE

THE TWO PILLARS OF PROTESTANTISM

The two Pillars of the Reformation Movement led by Martin Luther are the Sola Scriptura or Bible Alone Doctrine and the Sola Fide or Justification by Faith Alone Doctrine also short for Justification. According to the words of the founder of Protestantism, "Justification is the Article of Faith on which the Church stands or falls". The Church here for Luther is not the Catholic Church but the Protestant church he founded when he protested against the practices of the Catholic Church during his time starting with his 95 Thesis which he posted on the door of the Church as an act of protest. The author accepts that there are practices in the Catholic Church which have been done by the leaders to the extreme which needed correction and reformation since the church is run by the same sinful men who may commit mistakes but they are not reasons for leaving the true church and founding a new church.

READING THE SCRIPTURE WITHOUT REFERRING TO THE TEACHING AUTHORITY OF THE CHURCH CAN BE MISLEADING AND CAN BE USED BY THE DEVIL TO TAKE OUT THE SOUL FROM THE TRUE CHURCH OF THE LIVING GOD.

Luther's state of mind and the condition of his weakening faith at that time fell exactly on the very same trap that the Evil One, Satan tried unsuccessfully to use against our Lord Jesus Christ in the story of the Temptation of Jesus in the Bible. The action of Luther started with a protest based on his own understanding of the scripture then followed by his act of defiance and obedience against the orders of his superiors being a member of the Catholic Church as a former priest and monk himself. He then ultimately got out of the Catholic Church as many of the heretics like him did from the early beginning of the Early Church founded and built by Jesus Christ through the Apostles led by St. Peter sometime in 30 AD. All of them who have listened to their own voices and their own personal interpretation of the Scriptures have ultimately ended up leaving the Catholic Church. They have gone out of the church of the Living God and chose to found and build their own churches thereby opposing the original and the true church. They chose a different path instead of submitting themselves to the authority of the church of God they instead followed their own authority and build their own church of Man. Instead of helping in building the church of Jesus Christ by calling for true reformation within the Catholic Church as St. Athanasius did when some leaders of the Catholic Church were taking the wrong direction as the Protestants/Reformation did, they opted to have their own founded churches according to their own desires and oppose the only one true Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church.

Having gone out of the Catholic Church and building their own churches, they have to take an opposite position otherwise there is no justification for their reckless and irreversible action of leaving the true church. So therefore it's no longer the truth that they are fighting for but the survival of their own church which they alone founded. In a sense their own survival and their own immortality to be counted among the greats. To put it bluntly, they have fallen victims of their own pride, ambition, and vanities of which there is no escape. They have become captives of the devil, Satan the Evil One who believes in his own lies being the Father of All Lies even had the contempt as to test the Son of God using the words of God. Yes, the Devil according to the scripture even used the same scripture of the Word of God to tempt and mislead many souls. He tried to do it with our Lord and God Jesus Christ when he tempted him in the desert saying:

Satan said, "If you are the Son of God, 'throw yourself down for it is written: He will command his angels concerning You, and they will lift You up in their hands so that You will not strike Your foot against a stone".

How can this be? The Devil is trying to tempt/test Jesus and even used the scripture in the verse of Psalm 91:11-12. Jesus rebuked him and replied using a verse in the scripture in Deuteronomy 6:16 saying "On the other hand, it is also written, 'You shall not put the Lord your God to the test". Here early in the New Testament, Jesus already affirmed his being Lord and God that should not be put to a the test.

This demonstrates that using the Scripture Alone or Bible alone is dangerous and one needs the authority of Jesus to fully understand their meaning because Satan can also use the same scriptures to give one a wrong interpretation and thereby mislead. Jesus clearly made the clarification refuting what Satan claims using the words of God in the scripture in its real meaning. Because Jesus and the Church he founded and built through the Apostles are one, then the true church becomes the Pillar and Foundation of Truth as taught by St. Paul. In the same manner that Jesus in the story of temptation shows to the devil, he is the authority on matters of the scripture likewise the church has become the teaching authority of the scripture once Jesus ascended to heaven. The evidence of this is that the Holy Spirit is sent to the true church on Pentecost Day, not to any church founded by men so that it can continue to teach and lead the true church to the Truth. On matters of Faith therefore the true Church has the final say.

JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH ALONE OPPOSES THE TEACHING OF THE TRUE CHURCH

Justification by Faith Alone doctrine is an official teaching of Luther popularized by his Reformation movement and other leaders like Calvin and Zwingli and their followers who joined them and came after them. It is not only completely flawed, false, and deceiving, it has spawned doctrines from which many souls have been prevented from entering the Kingdom of God through the church that Jesus founded, the Catholic Church. Protestant reformation formulated doctrines that will serve as the PILLARS AND FOUNDATION OF FALSE DOCTRINES of the non-Catholic Religions which members now call themselves Christians but they are not. They are in fact and in truth pseudo-Christians. These NON-Catholic religions or Protestant churches are now composed of an estimated 40,000 denominations with their own man-made doctrines rooted in the Sola Scriptura (Bible Alone) and Sola Fide (Faith Alone) invented dogma by the Reformation Protestant Movement. Their leaders together with the founders of Reformation can be said to have led and continue to lead the "Genocide of Souls of Deceived Christians to Hell". These leaders are not true shepherds of the Lord but wolves in sheep clothing, the agents of the devil that opened the gates of hell for their followers. They will suffer the most severe punishments for leading many to sin.

Bible Only believing Christians thought and continue to think that they are marching behind Jesus Christ as their personal Lord and Savior but instead, they are marching behind one of the many faces of the Anti-Christs leading to their eternal damnation.

This article provides an introduction to a full PDF book that is available to you through our Facebook Page of the same title One True Faith Society which will be our Online Religious Bookstore of original E-books published and authored by us. It will give you a fresh perspective as to how a wrong interpretation of a single verse in Romans taken out of context by disregarding all other verses in scriptures lead others to sin and the destruction of their souls to hell. We will focus on one Sola in this article which is the SOLA FIDE or is shortly described today as Forensic Justification by Faith Alone.

In the Letter of St. Paul to Romans 3:28, he said "We maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from the works of the law." This one verse has become THE FOCAL POINT OF SOLA FIDE of the Reform Movement when Luther translated the verse with "JUSTIFIED BY FAITH ALONE" inserting the word ALONE which he admitted he had done in his "Open Letter in Translating (1530)", a letter justifying his action of tinkering with the scripture by adding words to the verses.

To understand the original verse therefore without the inserted word alone, we will have to go on understanding the important words that composed the verse. These words are - man; justified; faith; apart; works; and finally the law. What is surprising is that all the works of great theologians focused on the words JUSTIFIED BY FAITH and left out all the other words that connect the sentence of the verse. Now the second point is the context of which Romans 3:28 was said by St. Paul. Who was his audience for his message? What was his purpose of saying it? What was the main issue in the church when St. Paul sent the Letter? and many questions we will try to answer in this short article.

The Letter to the Romans by St. Paul was intended for the Church in Rome as it was known in those days. It is not to preach as to convert the readers but to elucidate doctrines learned by Christians in Rome, citizens of the Roman Empire who are known and called, the Romans. Incidentally, St. Paul was a Roman Citizen and was educated under the Roman system and society so he knew very well how they think, how they live, their customs and traditions. In short, the Letter was for the members of the church in Rome who are Romans who converted to Christianity although the Christians in Rome were not just Roman citizens composed of Jews and Gentiles but all other citizens staying in Rome. In the early years of Christianity, the Jews continue to follow Judaism laws, customs, and practices while the Gentiles were not. So Christian Jews were "Judaizing" Christians who were not Jews. They want Gentile converts to Christianity to be Jews also following their religious customs and traditions. It is in this context that the Letter to the Romans was sent by St. Paul.

The word Justified is used here in a theological sense which is a verb in the past tense that means "declared as righteous in the eyes of God." What is righteous? It means morally right and justifiable. For a man to be morally right he is said to be doing what is the accepted right and good which is inherent to man's nature of knowing what is good or right and what is bad or wrong. Hence putting it together we can say more plainly that a justified man in religious terms is one that does what is good and right in the eyes of God. A man that is justified is a man declared as righteous in the eyes of God. We can say therefore that before Christ came it is the belief of the Jews that a man is justified by the works of the Law. Not works in terms of what is generally accepted as morally right and not just any Law, but works of the Law of Moses. Please remember this as you go through this article.

On the other hand faith in religious terms is a "strong belief in God." That is why we often hear, you must believe in Jesus Christ which literally means you must have faith in Jesus Christ. One will notice that faith as a "strong belief" is a degree of the firmness of belief which is a level of trust that it is the truth. Belief, therefore, has varying degrees and for it to be faith it has to be firm and strong. Mere believing does not make "faith" as there must be dependency or submission to it. It is on this that James 2:19 states "You believe that there is one God, you do well. Even the demons believe and tremble" In fact as we have shown earlier, they even use the scripture to tempt others and deceive them. Thus Demons believe but they don't have faith in God they are believers but they are faithless.

Faith itself is measurable depending on how strong is the belief this is why Jesus said "If you have faith as small as a mustard seed..." Now how does believing becomes strong? Is it by just keeping it to yourself or by "acting" on your belief? The answer is obvious by acting, doing, and following what one believes. Now acting, doing, and following means there is an exertion, and effort to do something which can either be by mental or physical activity to achieve a purpose or a result. This is precisely the meaning of work. In short, the degree of belief can be measured by work which raises the degree of belief to firm and strong fully trusting, depending and submitting oneself to it. This is Faith. As James states in 2:18 'But someone will say you have faith and I have work. Show me your faith without works and I will show you my faith by my works." What Apostle James is saying by his works one can see his faith. James 2:22 "...by works faith was made perfect"

So what does this tell us? It tells us that Faith which is a strong belief is moved and measured by works. But it's a different work because the works mentioned in the verse are of the law. St. Paul is talking about the laws of Moses that count to more than 600 because many of them were no longer laws of God but were the results of the customs and traditions of the Jews. Their Scribes have included laws and practices that were based on their interpretations and understanding of the scripture similar to what the Protestants are doing today. Therefore the works under the laws do not necessarily work of righteousness in the eyes of God because there are laws that have prevented the people from experiencing the love of God. Instead, they were laws that added to the burden of the Jews impractical and impossible to follow yet their religious leaders forced the people to follow.  They are the laws that Jesus fought against with the Scribes and Pharisees and so was St. Paul who fought against the same set of laws to be continued with the Gentile converts in Christianity. It is in that context that St. Paul wrote the Letter to Romans that "a man is justified by faith apart from the works of the law".

Now we will go to the main thing that will pull the rug from which Justification by Faith alone stands. Not only that alone is inserted in the verse by Martin Luther that changed the meaning of the verse but he and many others failed to recognize the use of the word "APART" in the sentence of the verse. Let us go back to how the word apart is used "a man is justified by faith apart from the works of the law". Notice that going back to the original verse and taking away the alone inserted by Luther the meaning of the verse now changes.

Remember this therefore that when St. Paul wrote his Letters to the Romans and Galatians he was defending the new doctrine of the church which was also approved in the Council of Jerusalem that the Gentile converts to Christianity are not bound by the laws of their Jewish Christian brothers who in the first years of the founding of the church continued to be observed some of the laws of the Old Testament circumcision for one as well as prohibition in eating some food. To St. Paul such works of the law don't justify a man but by faith. Paul is magnifying the rebuke of Jesus against the scribes and Pharisees.

Now St. Paul did not teach the Faith Alone doctrine of the Reform Movement of the Protestants. In fact, he said that we must WORK out our salvation in Philippians 2:12-13 "Therefore, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed, not only in my presence but now even more in my absence, continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling for it is God who works in you to will and to act on behalf of His good pleasure. On the other hand, Apostle James also clarified what St. Paul must have meant in Romans. He said it very clear in James 2:24 "You see then that a man is justified by works and not faith alone." James completely destroys in no uncertain terms the theory of Luther by making it very clear that justification of man is both by faith and works that is the clear meaning of FAITH APART FROM THE WORKS OF THE LAW.

Let us further elucidate the spirit of the verse showing that justification is by faith "apart" or "besides" from the works of the law which is in agreement with James 2:17 that states "So too faith by itself if it is not complemented by action is dead". Faith by itself can't stand alone that is the clear message and teaching of James. Therefore justification can't be by Faith alone; but, besides (apart) from faith works too or action and good deeds. The synonym of apart is beside. Besides means "in addition to or apart from" the grammatical use of "apart" in Paul is a preposition that linked its relationship to works. So to make it more clear on the other side stands faith while on the other side stands works the two are separated in the verse by the use of preposition apart but each can't be alone since they are both important for justification. Thus Faith and works go together for justification and not by Faith alone or even Work alone. Without adding and subtracting words, the Bible message should be complementing not contradicting. 

The Doctrine of Faith Alone by the Protestants is unjustifiable even by logic and even with how the early Christians that is the Catholic Church understood them. The Apostles did not contradict each other. St. James and St. Paul were one in the true doctrine that NOT BY FAITH ALONE IS A MAN JUSTIFIED BUT BY FAITH AND WORKS. This work is not the works of the laws of Moses which has been superseded by the new law of love of Jesus Christ under the New Covenant. This is the work of the new law spoken by St. James and also spoken by St. Paul in his other discourses on works that what was foretold by Jeremiah in 30:31-34

“Behold, days are coming,” declares the LORD, “when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, not like the covenant which I made with their fathers in the day I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, although I was a husband to them," declares the LORD.  "But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days," declares the LORD, "I will put My law within them and on their heart, I will write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. "They will not teach again, each man his neighbor and each man his brother, saying, 'Know the LORD,' for they will all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them," declares the LORD, "for I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more."

And what is the new law of Christianity? It's the law of love that Jesus taught when he said in Matthew 22:37-40 "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like, unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets."

When we come face to face with our King and Judge, Jesus Christ, those who think they are justified by Faith alone and believed they are already saved will come to the painful truth of their foolishness and hardness of heart for not listening to the Catholic Church as it is written in Matthew 25:34-46 “Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave Me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave Me something to drink, I was a stranger and you took Me in, I was naked and you clothed Me, I was sick and you looked after Me, I was in prison and you visited Me.’ Now is this work or not? This is the work of love and mercy. 

Then the righteous will answer Him, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You something to drink? When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You? When did we see You sick or in prison and visit You?’ This is what the non-Catholics who taught that they are already justified and saved.

And the King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of Mine, you did for Me.’ Is not what you did means your work? 

Then He will say to those on His left, ‘Depart from Me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave Me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave Me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not take Me in, I was naked and you did not clothe Me, I was sick and in prison and you did not visit Me.’

And they too will reply, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to You?’ Then the King will answer, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for Me.’ 

And they will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”And once more who is righteous? Is the man with faith alone? No, Jesus is very clear, the righteous, the one justified is the man that is morally right which means doing what is the accepted right and good under the new law of God the Law of Love. He is the righteous, a justified man that does what is good and right in the eyes of God. A man that is justified is a man declared righteous in the eyes of God. 

He is therefore JUSTIFIED BY FAITH AND WORKS AND WILL GO INTO ETERNAL LIFE.

By Bro. Manny, OTFS Chief Apologist

Copyright © 2020 by Ekklesia Katholos (Acts 9:31)

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

No part of this publication may be produced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission from the publisher.

DISCOVER THE SABBATH TRUTH 1: THE MEANING

One of the most contentious biblical issues among the modern-day followers of Jesus Christ is the Sabbath. There are churches today that have been founded by the Protestant movements some of the denominations in the 19th century AD that observe the Sabbath on a Saturday like the Jews do which for them is exactly the 7th day of the week. They look at the Sabbath as a Saturday-keeping obligation for all their believers.

These churches may even be trying to outdo the Jews to whom the Sabbath has been given according to the Torah or the Book of the Laws through Moses. The Torah is composed of books containing laws or commandments given by God through Moses that are specific and exclusive only to the Jews alone. 

Jewish Rabbis are one in saying that the Gentiles are not covered by all the Laws given to the Jewish people but that the Gentiles are covered by the Noahide laws - universal moral and natural laws given for all mankind that do not include the law on the sabbath. On the other hand, all the Noahide laws are included in the covenant between God and Israel given in Exodus we call the Ten Commandments which actually are not just Ten according to the Jewish teachings but 613 laws in all.

THE SATURDAY SABBATH-KEEPERS AND THE SDA

They have differentiated themselves from other Protestant churches with their regular observance of the Sabbath on Saturday that for them is one of the Pillars of their doctrines as a church. Foremost of Saturday Sabbath-Keepers is the Seventh Day Adventist (SDA) cult. Since the founding of SDA, they have made the Saturday Sabbath-keeping the center of their religious faith because they believe that Saturday is the unversal seventh day of the week. They go around the world preaching that all the other churches who follow Jesus Christ but don't observe the Sabbath on Saturday are in error and in violation of the commandment of God. That members of those churches must convert to SDA for their salvation. This is contradictory to Christians Faith that Jesus is the end of the Law and the fulfillment even of the sabbath. That Jesus alone is the rock of salvation not the keeping of the Sabbath.

Since the Catholic Church has the biggest and largest membership in the world, it is the main target of the SDA recruitment to their cult and all the other cults. Unlike in the past centuries when the Catholic Church would even go to secular schools to teach Catechism, many modern-day Catholics today lack the necessary Catechism, and because they lack the knowledge regarding the biblical origin of the Church doctrines they have become easy prey for the Saturday Sabbath-Keepers who go from house to house preaching and spreading heretical beliefs. There are Catholics who have fallen to SDA doctrinal heresies and black propaganda against the Catholic Church. They left the Catholic Church and became members of the SDA. But soon many of them also left the SDA some even founded their own heretical churches one of the more famous SDA members is the founder of Iglesia ni Cristo, Felix Manalo. 

The main doctrinal argument of SDA for their Saturday Sabbath-keeping is Exodus 20:8-10

"Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor, and do all your work, but the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God; in it, you shall not do any work..."

What then is the meaning of this commandment for the Catholic Church and the Catholics? This is the 3rd commandment in the Ten Commandments according to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, not the 4th as the SDA would teach. The differences between the Catholic Church and the Protestant churches such as the SDA are far and wide, especially on the Sabbath. The Catholic Church continues to teach in its Catechism the observance of the Sabbath. It has not in any way "abolished" it much more change it otherwise it won't be in the Catechism of the Catholic Church. However, the Lord's Day which is on a Sunday has become the day of the Sabbath for the Catholics and even the mainstream Protestant denominations. The SDA observes the Sabbath on Saturday while the Catholic Church observes the Sabbath on a Sunday. The question which one is right?

WHAT IS THE SABBATH?

Since one of the Laws of the Ten Commandments obliges us to "Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy" we must first deal with the true meaning of the Sabbath. 

The word "sabbath" in an English word is a transliteration of the Hebrew word "shavat", meaning to "rest", to "cease", or to "stop". The word "shavat" first appeared in Genesis 2 in the Hebrew Bible after the sixth-day creation account in Genesis 1. We can read the following in Gen 2:2-3: "On the seventh day God completed the work he had been doing; he rested on the seventh day from all the work he had undertaken. God blessed the seventh day and made it holy because on it he rested from all the work he had done in creation." The Hebrew word for rested or rest is "shavat" or "sabbath".

On a closer look, we need to take note of three important lessons that we will discuss separately that will change our understanding of the Sabbath from the limited perspective and shallow understanding of the day it must be observed to its deeper meaning in understanding God's purpose for his creation encapsulated in the word sabbath:

1. On the seventh day God completed the work he had been doing.

Did not God finish the work on the 6th day? Why does the text say "By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing"? By this text, it appears that God still has done something on the 7th day when he ceased the work of creation. Was it possible that while God completed his work on creation on the 6th day yet he still did some things on the seventh day but were no longer considered work of creation? Thus as far as work of creation, God had ceased or rested but he is still at work in sustaining his creation. 

In the 6 days of creation, God introduced the reckoning of time and day with "Evening came, and morning followed—the first day". Together with the creation of the world and everything in it, God appeared to have introduced the reckoning of time and days and must have been the basis of the calendar that will be invented later on in the ancient civilizations. It then appeared that God has limited himself by his own accord to time and day which is peculiar since he is eternal and is not subject to space and time. But one thing we noticed when the count "Evening came and morning followed - the sixth day" at the end of Genesis 1, there was no such count on the seventh day in Genesis 2. Time and day reckoning has stopped on the seventh day after creation when God had finished the work he had been doing. We must remember this as we go through the Article.

Now let us go back to Genesis 2 again. We are told that God planted a garden in Eden. When was the garden planted at the time of creation may not be known exactly but if we compare both Genesis 1 and Genesis 2 as to the timing of which came first in creation there seems to be confusion with or among the writer(s) of the book of Genesis. In Genesis 1, the animals were first created before man, but in Genesis 2 it appears the man was already created before the animals. Which one is correct then? This can be explained with the theory of the 2 sources of Genesis, the Yahwist, and the Priestly sources. When there are differences in the account of the witnesses to arrive at the truth, we will need to look at what is common to both and that is both points to the fact that God created all living things on the 6th day. We are pointing this up for us to understand that while there may appear to be contradictory statements both are talking of the same thing that happened in Genesis 1 and 2.

Genesis 1 is a generalization of what had taken place in the 6 days of creation. But in Genesis 2 some of the details of creation are expounded such that we know that man was first created before the animals and the woman. and before the garden of Eden was planted. In verses 5-7 it says "there was no field shrub on earth and no grass of the field had sprouted, for the Lord God had sent no rain upon the earth and there was no man to till the ground, but a stream was welling up out of the earth and watering all the surface of the ground— then the Lord God formed the man out of the dust of the ground and blew into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being." When man was created, God planted the garden in Eden and then took the man and settle him in the garden "to cultivate and care for it." 

After God had settled the man in the garden he then created the animals, birds of the air, all living creatures and brought them to the man for him to give a name to each one of them but none of them proved to be suitable as a helper to man, so God then created the woman from the rib of the man. For God, this is not impossible but for man, to do all the things we read in Genesis 2 in one day must be impossible so we have some questions which will be the subject of our discussion in this series of articles particularly on what is the equivalent of a day in Genesis? For now, we just have to deal with God who has completed his work on the seventh day.

So then the purpose of the creation of Adam is for him to do the works in sustaining (cultivate) what God has created and to care for them. This is consistent with Ephesians 2:10 that says "For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance as our way of life." In Genesis 2:15 the word to cultivate is to work on the garden and care for it. Thus when God had finished the work, he then gave the "good works" of sustaining his creation to Adam as a way of life.

What are in the Garden of Eden that Adam has to care for it and for what is the Garden for?

Isaiah 43:7 "All who are called by my name I created for my glory; I formed them, made them." The world is represented in the Garden. Everything in the world is in the garden there is nothing in creation that is not in the garden. It is paradise. All of the living creatures and the means to sustain life on earth are represented in the garden where man is given dominion over everything to care for them. Even the woman was created as a helper to man. She is to be a partner and united with the man for all the works needed in the garden representing God's creation. 

The Garden of Eden was planted by God for his dwelling place on earth and put the man there Adam as his deputy that he may rule over the world through him. There in the Garden, he meets Adam and Eve, and he continues to make his presence even as he has completed his work of creation. So it appears that the very purpose of the Garden is to serve as the dwelling place of God among men on the earth with the cooperation of Adam as his deputy. This shows that after creation was completed God rested but sustains his creation through the cooperation of man.  

So where God stops working on the seventh day, the man's work begins. We are made to do the good works of God as a way of life.

2. He rested on the seventh day from all the work he had undertaken.

Rest here which literally means "to cease" in Hebrew is not about how we understand rest as human beings like God relaxing or taking leisure, What the word rest means is that God's creation was complete, perfect, and finished. There was nothing more to create and so God ceased or rested from all his work of creation on the seventh day. Here is the key to understanding the deeper meaning of the Sabbath which is God's rest. 

God's rest is eternal and not limited to space and time. The six days of creation are memorialized on the seventh day when God ceased the work of creation on that day. But the seventh day that refers to the day God enters his rest is eternal which is why creation must be eternal and continuing. Again we note that after the sixth day of creation the reckoning of time and day also stopped as there was no mention of "Evening came and morning followed - the seventh day" meaning the end of the seventh day and the beginning of the eight-day was not recorded although the 7th day is very much part of creation as the climax of God's creative action. 

So when God entered his rest or sabbath on the seventh day after creation, he left the care of his creation to Adam as we shall see when the sixth day was completed there was no more counting of evening and morning on the seventh day signifying eternity of God's rest and the beginning of man's work in the Garden of Eden, the garden planted by God. 

God's creation is originally meant for eternity and not for destruction and the Sabbath is the remembrance for that original purpose of God. Therefore God's rest is the glory of God's creation remembered or memorialized in the Sabbath for all time. 

When God entered his rest after creation, he brought in his rest, Adam and Eve. God's rest is in the Garden Paradise of Eden. There Adam and Eve have the beatific vision of God's glory and they have everything even though their work is to cultivate and take care of the Garden paradise, their work is light and not burdensome as the land is very fertile that all kinds of plants and fruits grow with ease.

3. God blessed the seventh day and made it holy because on it he rested from all the work he had done in creation.

The meaning of "God blessed the seventh day and made it holy" can literally mean "God rested on the seventh day and set it apart."  God "set apart" the seventh day as the day he rested from the work of creation and sanctified it. Genesis 2 tells us what God did after the sixth day of creation and the text of the scripture is not about a commandment to observe the sabbath. We understand this now because at that point there is nothing to remember yet as Adam and Eve were living early on in the creation and they are in God's rest in the Garden Paradise of Eden.

All creations exist because God sustains their existence otherwise, since they come from nothing, without God, all creations will come back to nothing from where they started. In philosophical reasoning, nothing can come from nothing, but nothing is impossible to God that he can make things happen by his Word. 

All creations glorify the work of God in them and since God entered his rest on the seventh day, he blessed it and made it holy. However when God ceased work on the creation, his entire creation by the same spirit of God that continues to exist in all of creation "works" to sustain them. The divine plan works through each created being and materials to achieve the very purpose of their existence. Thus all of the creation glorifies God in the state of which they are created and made. And so for his own purpose and will, he sustains his creation and is, therefore, God is in a sense perpetual work in sustaining his creations.

The creative spirit of God is continuously present and they give glory to God. This is the reason why Jesus said, "...even now the Father is at work and I'm at work". Meaning the Father is continuously at work non-stop in sustaining his creation because God is beyond the measure of space and time. By his design in creation, he is ever-present in them that they have become his pro-creators enabling the material physical creation to multiply, renew, and sustain their existence. 

God is the reason we continue to exist. In Science, they have discovered for the first time what sustain matters to hold together and they call it God's particle or Higgs boson. It gives mass to matter without it there will be no mass and all things go back to nothing that is why Scientists call it God's particle. It is the thing that holds all matters together of living things and material things. We don't see it working according to its design, but it is there, that is why in faith we profess that God is the creator of all things both seen and unseen.

WHY IS THERE NO COMMANDMENT OF THE SABBATH IN GENESIS?

Before the fall of man in the Garden of Eden, there was no hard work. The man was in a state of God's rest in the Garden of Eden. The man was with God in Paradise. Note that in Paradise there was no reckoning of night and day, there was no counting of days unlike during the days of creation when every day from the first day to the sixth day was reckoned with "Evening came, and morning followed—the nth day" observance.  It was an easy-going lifestyle for Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden called Paradise. 

They have everything they need for life without the need for labor. Yes, they cultivate the garden and care for it, they have dominion over all the things God created in accordance with God's purpose for them yet they did not labor as the Garden was very fruitful because the Garden in itself is God's dwelling place on earth where he interacts with man. Adam and Eve were in God's rest, the eternal presence of God. They have the beatific vision of God in the Garden that appeared to converse with them, give them instructions and orders.

Labor means hard physical work toiling to survive. How did the man end up laboring for his survival? In Genesis 2:16-17, The Lord God gave the man this order: "You are free to eat from any of the trees of the garden except the tree of knowledge of good and evil. From that tree you shall not eat; when you eat from it you shall die" But as we know in Genesis 3, Adam and Eve disobeyed God and fell into sin thus for their punishment, God cursed the ground that Adam cultivates Genesis 3:17-19 To the man he said: "Because you listened to your wife and ate from the tree about which I commanded you, You shall not eat from it, Cursed is the ground because of you! In toil (labor), you shall eat its yield all the days of your life. Thorns and thistles it shall bear for you, and you shall eat the grass of the field. By the sweat of your brow, you shall eat bread until you return to the ground, from which you were taken; For you are dust, and to dust, you shall return" Note the word "In toil, you shall eat its yield all the days of your life". The word "toil" means very hard labor. 

The very basic necessity of life is food. Man has to eat to live and there in Genesis 3 the fearful consequence of disobeying God resulted in separation from him from God's rest, from his presence, from Paradise, the man was banned and was not allowed entry. From easy life of abundance to hard life and hard labor to be able to live all the days of his life meaning no rest for him or he will starve to death. God threw out of his rest, Adam and Eve, and would not allow man from that time to enter his rest. Just as what he did centuries into the future to the erring Israelites who disobeyed him, they were not allowed entry into the promised land Hebrew 3:11 As I swore in my wrath, “They shall not enter into my rest."

The separation of man from God's rest was a very difficult period of time for Adam who lived for 930 years and this can be deduced from what Lamech said, the father of Noah in Genesis 5:28-29 When Lamech was one hundred and eighty-two years old, he begot a son and named him Noah, saying, “This one shall bring us relief from our work and the toil of our hands, out of the very ground that the Lord has put under a curse.”. Lamech was hoping that Noah will give them relief from labor without rest but such liberation will not come centuries past into the future when the savior, the Messiah finally comes.

Man's separation from God has even resulted in the corruption of the whole mankind and the earth except Noah who found favor with God was ultimately punished with the Flood. Only those in the Ark of Noah survived to repopulate the earth.

We have proven from the Genesis scriptures that God has not and never made a command on the observance of the sabbath day. What the SDA has done is to interpret Genesis 2:3-4 as a command to all people of the world for the sabbath day observance which is not. It only tells us what God has done on the seventh day. In fact, after the Great Flood, God has entered a covenant with Noah and the sabbath is not part of the covenant in the form of commands known as Noahide Laws which according to the Jewish Rabbis are moral and natural laws that is valid for non-Jews while the Mosaic Laws are exclusive only to Israel both Noahide Laws and Mosaic Laws have the same moral and natural laws. 

It was not until the Exodus when God's plan of salvation was put into action when he took it upon himself to save the Israelites from the bondage of slavery in Egypt through Moses as the mediator between Him and the Israelites and their leader. 

IN CONCLUSION

The Sabbath memorialized the sixth day's work of creation of God and glorify him. Sabbath is God's rest that marked the day God ceased from His work of creation. In six days God entered into space and time and introduced the reckoning of time and day marking the beginning and end of each day of Creation with "Evening comes and morning followed - the nth day" from the first day to the sixth day. On the seventh day, God ceased working and entered back to eternity of space and time, the seventh day is not marked in Genesis as having ended like the six days of creation it is a continuum - God's rest, eternal, thus it is blessed and sanctified because in it we find God. 

Sabbath of God or God’s rest is about entering the Glory of God. God’s glory is seen in all his creation and the Sabbath is the apex of all his works, it is the climax after which there is nothing more to create. Thus time stops and eternity follows. So when God rested He entered back into eternity, His divine realm. He was happy and satisfied with all his creations that in it he put up his own park, the Garden of Eden, and placed there Adam his first human creation to take care of the Garden and have dominion over his creation. Thus when God ceased creating, man begun working. But in the beginning, such work is not laborious because Man was in the realm of God in the physical world. God's presence was there and work was a joyful experience to do obeying the will of God at all times. Work was a blessing and fruitful for the man until he fell into sin and work became a curse, a lifetime of enslavement to hardship and pain as a consequence of disobedience and sin against God.

- By Bro. Manny OTFS Apologist

Go to Discovering the Sabbath Part 2

Copyright © 2020 by Ekklesia Katholes (Acts 9:31)

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

No part of this publication may be produced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission from the publisher.

DIVINE ORIGIN OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH

To be rich in the history of the Catholic Church is to be rich in faith. From the historical perspective of the Catholic Church, we learned that it is the only religion founded and organized by God himself because it is to be the precursor of the coming Kingdom of God that will have its eternal place in the new heaven and new earth which will come at the end of the age when everything will be dissolved and everything will be made new by God.

The founding and the building up of the church under a new and everlasting covenant is the visible work of the establishment of the invisible Kingdom of God. It is the visible reality of the kingdom where the elect is made perfect to be a worthy subject of God who is the king of the Kingdom of God which will unite heaven and earth, heavenly kingdom, and earth’s kingdom into one eternal paradise. This is the true meaning of salvation to be counted worthy of the Kingdom of God. And this is why the church was founded by the Lord because in his own words “It is for this reason that I was sent”.

Understanding this will open our eyes to why the church has from the beginning been seen as the enemy of the world. The devil and his armies are all over it with one objective, to destroy the church. The Catholic Church which by historical account is the true church of Jesus Christ is also the only church that has been persistently the subject of diabolical attacks, infiltration, scheming, and severe persecutions throughout its existence. Yet in spite of the many attempts to destroy it out of existence, the wonder of it all is that the Catholic Church even came out stronger and more organized than ever. Yet it is made so because it is to be preserved until the end of time. However, the prophecies made on the future of the Catholic Church guide us to the reality that a time will come when it will appear to be eclipsed and gone. It will suffer greatly to the point that even the elect will be deceived. 

The Catholic Church is the only church that can directly trace back its beginning from the time of the Apostles to the present. The reason for this is because the church is not a loose band of believers with a bible in hand and a personal relationship with the Lord but an organized religion of the true God with a mission to preach the gospel through all the nations of the world and build the true church of Jesus Christ. They would not have done it without any semblance of organization. It would be foolish to believe that each believer acted on their own to go on missions, build a church without any leadership and organization to guide them.

Jesus' ministerial work of appointing 12 Apostles that left their homes and work to be with him full time on 24/7 preaching, evangelizing, baptizing, and ministering of followers all over Judea shows organization. They are so well organized that they even were able to train some 70 disciples who were junior Apostles to start preaching the gospel of the Messiah in towns and cities prior to the official commissioning of the Apostles by Jesus. It's the first time that we learned Jesus gave them authority to fulfill the mission and sent them without carrying anything.

It even came to a point when the 12 were asking among themselves who was going to be the right-hand man of the Lord. Judas Iscariot was the treasurer, the one who kept the donations and do the marketing for the daily needs of the ministry. Jesus organized them like a community which was in preparation for the building of the church, his church.

One of the first actions of the Apostles at the founding of the church and establishment of the church in Jerusalem was to elect a replacement for Judas which was the first recorded succession in the church of the office. They also started appointing presbyters, elders, and bishops indicating a hierarchy and leadership. They have planned their missions who among the Apostles were to go in what place. The leadership question was also settled by the Lord which chose Simon renaming him Peter, the rock, to which his church will be built. In fact, he is the only one among the Apostles that was given the name Rock. The assumption of Peter as a leader can be shown by the very first act of him leading the Apostles in preaching and evangelizing in Jerusalem among the Jews where he converted some 3,000 Jews to the new church. 

Aside from the various actions given above the main evidence that the Catholic Church was well organized was the Council of Jerusalem which resulted in the official decision of the church to open up to Gentiles and not subject them to the Jewish laws. It was also an important decision that was made signaling the church was not just a sect of Judaism but that it is, in fact, a separate new religion under a new and everlasting covenant with God with its own laws from Jesus, doctrines, rites, worship, and hierarchical succession of bishops which have taken over the functions of the Apostles as shepherds and overseer of the church assigned to them with territorial jurisdiction but in communion with all the churches in provinces, cities, and towns. 

From the limited space in the bible particularly in the books of the Acts written by St. Luke, we learn the early historical evolution of the church as it grew and spread to the ancient world from Jerusalem up to the emergence of the Church of Rome and its bishop as the recognized leader. Of all the Churches built at that time, it was to the Church of Rome where St. Paul wrote his longest Epistle and important doctrinal discourses in the church. St. Peter also made his 2 Letters writing from the Church of Rome under the code name Babylon to misled authorities regarding his whereabouts. The Letters or Epistles with instructions to the churches and the decision of the Council of Jerusalem are clear evidence of the organization and unity of the churches as one united body not as independent churches on their own.

Jesus organized the church to be hierarchical, sacerdotal, and monarchical. He gave it absolute power to rule and make rules like Moses did to the Jews in his time. “Whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven”. Jesus' choice of word in his law of giving power to the church is absolute one with the use of “whatever”. However this does not mean the Catholic Church can change the laws and teachings of the Lord but rather such power is given to meet any contingencies as a church with a mission to teach, preach, minister to the believers and followers of the Lord, and herd them as a shepherd to the flocks. The power, therefore, is for the purpose of implementing all the commandments of the Lord through his church. 

By religious organization, the Kingdom of Heaven therefore which has existed from the beginning and the new Kingdom established on earth through the Church by the Lord have become united as one. The Lord has clearly established that to enter the kingdom one must first be born again which is the institution of Baptism. Before baptism, one must first believe in the gospel of the Lord. To believe is to repent and be baptized, born again in spirit to be able to enter the kingdom by becoming a member of the Catholic Church of Jesus Christ.

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Copyright © 2020 by Ekklesia Katholes (Acts 9:31)

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

No part of this publication may be produced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission from the publisher.

SACRED RITES AND WORSHIP IN THE CATHOLIC CHURCH, BIBLICAL?

Jesus said, "Give to Ceasar what is Caesar's and to God what is God's" So what can we give to God what he wants from us? Our love and true worship. For God so love the world that he gave his only begotten son. He loves the man he created that he wants to dwell with them that was the reason he gave them the Garden of Eden, paradise on earth, which was destroyed by sin, an unforgiven sin that was contracted by the generations after Adam and Eve.

It is this love for men his will to dwell with them that in Exodus God made his presence in midst of his chosen people the nation of Israel while it was yet to reach the promised land. Every day as they traveled in the desert for 40 years God did not leave them and has made his glory felt, lest the people will once again reject him even after they saw the awesome beyond belief miracles such as the parting of the sea. To make it possible for them to dwell with the people, he commanded them to make a dwelling tent for him with a Tabernacle. It is to be a meeting place between him and Moses administered by the Priests. In that Tabernacle called the dwelling tent and meeting tent, God instituted rites and worship due to him as their God. As it is written "Our fathers had the "tabernacle" of testimony in the wilderness, just as he who spoke to Moses directed it according to the pattern which he had seen".- Acts 7:44.

So how was the first Tabernacle administered according to God's command and instruction? In Hebrew 9:1 it says "Now even the first covenant had regulations of divine worship and the earthly sanctuary" Hebrew is talking of regulated divine worship, something that is structured following the instruction of God himself and it is done in a sanctuary that is on earth. Continuing in Hebrew 9:2 "For there was a tabernacle prepared, the outer one, in which were the lampstand and the table and the sacred bread, this is called the holy place"

Israel was first chosen not to the exclusion of all people but they are the first to be called, chosen as a priestly nation. A holy nation which will be the light of the world so that God will be known by others as one true and ever-living God.

Jesus said I did not come to abolish the law and the prophets, I come to fulfill them. His coming is the fulfillment of everything that was not perfected in old covenant to be perfected in the new covenant including the rites and worship in the old that is now perfected in the New Rites and Worship in the New Covenant that Jesus himself instituted, the tradition of the institution talked about by St. Paul which he has received and he is passing on the church. The church is the New Tabernacle of David that has been restored and made into new under the New Covenant. The promised building of the Tabernacle of David turned up to be the Church of Jesus Christ.

What happened in the Tabernacle of David?

The Tabernacle (Hebrew: מִשְׁכַּן‎‎, Mishkan, "residence" or "dwelling place"), according to the Hebrew Bible, was the portable earthly dwelling place of God amongst the children of Israel from the time of the Exodus from Egypt through the conquering of the land of Canaan. According to Talmudic sources, the tent sanctuary remained at Shiloh for 369 years until the Ark of the Covenant was taken into the battle camp at Eben-Ezer (1 Samuel 4:3–5) and captured by the Philistines at Aphek (probably Antipatris)

FROM HERE WE WILL LET THE BIBLE SPEAKS FROM HEBREWS

To fully appreciate the rites and worship in the true church of Jesus Christ, the Holy Catholic Church which is the fulfillment of the restoration and rebuilding of the Tabernacle of David, let us allow the Bible to speak and we will make notation and commentary to elucidate the function of the church of Jesus Christ as an institution of God.

God's will to have his dwelling in his chosen people:

We will go back to exodus when the chosen people of God, Israel was called by and instructed them to make a Dwelling place for him in their midst that he can be with them. This is explained by the Epistle to the Hebrews. The word for dwelling place in Hebrew is Tabernacle or Mishkan. It was the "residence" of God among the Israelites. It was the holiest place in their midst and the most regulated place. Nothing in there can be seen or touched by anyone unless he is authorized by God. Only the High Priest and the priests are ordained to administer God in his Tabernacle.

In those ancient time, the Tabernacle was portable and movable as the Israelites moved and wandered in the desert, they moved the Tabernacle as well and even such movement of carrying the Tabernacle from one place to another was also highly regulated carefully following every detail that God has instructed them how to. The Tabernacle was with them for as long as they were loyal to God alone but many of the Israelites became apostates and God punished them and left their tabernacle. Thus at Shiloh, after 369 years, the tabernacle fell and captured by the Philistines and brought with them the Ark of the Covenant.

The High Priest of a New Covenant

8 Now the main point of what we are saying is this: We do have such a high priest, who sat down at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in heaven, ² and who serves in the sanctuary, the true tabernacle set up by the Lord, not by a mere human being.³ Every high priest is appointed to offer both gifts and sacrifices, and so it was necessary for this one also to have something to offer. ⁴ If he were on earth, he would not be a priest, for there are already priests who offer the gifts prescribed by the law. ⁵ They serve at a sanctuary that is a copy and shadow of what is in heaven. This is why Moses was warned when he was about to build the tabernacle: “See to it that you make everything according to the pattern shown you on the mountain.” ⁶ But in fact the ministry Jesus has received is as superior to theirs as the covenant of which he is mediator is superior to the old one, since the new covenant is established on better promises.⁷ For if there had been nothing wrong with that first covenant, no place would have been sought for another. ⁸ But God found fault with the people and said: “The days are coming, declares the Lord when I will make a new covenant with the people of Israel and with the people of Judah. ⁹ It will not be like the covenant I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt, because they did not remain faithful to my covenant, and I turned away from them, declares the Lord.

¹⁰ This is the covenant I will establish with the people of Israel after that time declares the Lord.
I will put my laws in their minds and write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people.¹¹ No longer will they teach their neighbor, or say to one another, ‘Know the Lord,’ because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest.¹² For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.”¹³ By calling this covenant “new,” he has made the first one obsolete, and what is obsolete and outdated will soon disappear.

Worship in the Earthly Tabernacle

9 Now the first covenant had regulations for worship and also an earthly sanctuary. ² A tabernacle was set up. In its first room were the lampstand and the table with its consecrated bread; this was called the Holy Place. ³ Behind the second curtain was a room called the Most Holy Place, ⁴ which had the golden altar of incense and the gold-covered ark of the covenant. This ark contained the gold jar of manna, Aaron’s staff that had budded, and the stone tablets of the covenant. ⁵ Above the ark were the cherubim of the Glory, overshadowing the atonement cover. But we cannot discuss these things in detail now.

⁶ When everything had been arranged like this, the priests entered regularly into the outer room to carry on their ministry. ⁷ But only the high priest entered the inner room, and that only once a year, and never without blood, which he offered for himself and for the sins the people had committed in ignorance. ⁸ The Holy Spirit was showing by this that the way into the Most Holy Place had not yet been disclosed as long as the first tabernacle was still functioning. ⁹ This is an illustration for the present time, indicating that the gifts and sacrifices being offered were not able to clear the conscience of the worshiper. ¹⁰ They are only a matter of food and drink and various ceremonial washings—external regulations applying until the time of the new order.


What is the meaning of this until the time of the new order? It means that in those time the food and drink in the worship was just food and a drink made sacred by the rites and worship but today in the Tabernacle of the new covenant, the food is the body of Jesus and the drink is his true blood no longer made sacred but it is by the change of substance and nature are really sacred. Under the perfected rites and worship instituted by Jesus Christ in the new Tabernacle which is the church.

The Blood of Christ

¹¹ But when Christ came as high priest of the good things that are now already here, he went through the greater and more perfect tabernacle that is not made with human hands, that is to say, is not a part of this creation. ¹² He did not enter by means of the blood of goats and calves; but he entered the Most Holy Place once for all by his own blood, thus obtaining eternal redemption. ¹³ The blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkled on those who are ceremonially unclean sanctify them so that they are outwardly clean. ¹⁴ How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God!

¹⁵ For this reason, Christ is the mediator of a new covenant, that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance—now that he has died as a ransom to set them free from the sins committed under the first covenant.

¹⁶ In the case of a will, it is necessary to prove the death of the one who made it, ¹⁷ because a will is in force only when somebody has died; it never takes effect while the one who made it is living. ¹⁸ This is why even the first covenant was not put into effect without blood. ¹⁹ When Moses had proclaimed every command of the law to all the people, he took the blood of calves, together with water, scarlet wool and branches of hyssop, and sprinkled the scroll and all the people. ²⁰ He said, “This is the blood of the covenant, which God has commanded you to keep.”^[e] 21 In the same way, he sprinkled with the blood both the tabernacle and everything used in its ceremonies. ²² In fact, the law requires that nearly everything be cleansed with blood, and without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness.

²³ It was necessary, then, for the copies of the heavenly things to be purified with these sacrifices, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. ²⁴ For Christ did not enter a sanctuary made with human hands that was only a copy of the true one; he entered heaven itself, now to appear for us in God’s presence. ²⁵ Nor did he enter heaven to offer himself again and again, the way the high priest enters the Most Holy Place every year with blood that is not his own. ²⁶ Otherwise Christ would have had to suffer many times since the creation of the world. But he has appeared once for all at the culmination of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of himself. ²⁷ Just as people are destined to die once, and after that to face judgment, ²⁸ so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him.

Melchizedek the Priest

7 This Melchizedek was king of Salem and priest of God Most High. He met Abraham returning from the defeat of the kings and blessed him, ² and Abraham gave him a tenth of everything. First, the name Melchizedek means “king of righteousness”; then also, “king of Salem” means “king of peace.” ³ Without father or mother, without genealogy, without beginning of days or end of life, resembling the Son of God, he remains a priest forever.

⁴ Just think how great he was: Even the patriarch Abraham gave him a tenth of the plunder! ⁵ Now the law requires the descendants of Levi who become priests to collect a tenth from the people—that is, from their fellow Israelites—even though they also are descended from Abraham. ⁶ This man, however, did not trace his descent from Levi, yet he collected a tenth from Abraham and blessed him who had the promises. ⁷ And without doubt the lesser is blessed by the greater. ⁸ In the one case, the tenth is collected by people who die; but in the other case, by him who is declared to be living. ⁹ One might even say that Levi, who collects the tenth, paid the tenth through Abraham, ¹⁰ because when Melchizedek met Abraham, Levi was still in the body of his ancestor.

Jesus Like Melchizedek Hebrew7

¹¹ If perfection could have been attained through the Levitical priesthood—and indeed the law given to the people established that priesthood—why was there still need for another priest to come, one in the order of Melchizedek, not in the order of Aaron? ¹² For when the priesthood is changed, the law must be changed also. ¹³ He of whom these things are said belonged to a different tribe, and no one from that tribe has ever served at the altar. ¹⁴ For it is clear that our Lord descended from Judah, and in regard to that tribe Moses said nothing about priests. ¹⁵ And what we have said is even more clear if another priest like Melchizedek appears, ¹⁶ one who has become a priest not on the basis of a regulation as to his ancestry but on the basis of the power of an indestructible life. ¹⁷ For it is declared: “You are a priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek.” 

¹⁸ The former regulation is set aside because it was weak and useless ¹⁹ (for the law made nothing perfect), and a better hope is introduced, by which we draw near to God.²⁰ And it was not without an oath! Others became priests without any oath, ²¹ but he became a priest with an oath when God said to him: “The Lord has sworn and will not change his mind: ‘You are a priest forever.’” ²² Because of this oath, Jesus has become the guarantor of a better covenant. ²³ Now there have been many of those priests since death prevented them from continuing in office; ²⁴ but because Jesus lives forever, he has a permanent priesthood. ²⁵ Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him because he always lives to intercede for them. 

²⁶ Such a high priest truly meets our need—one who is holy, blameless, pure, set apart from sinners, exalted above the heavens. ²⁷ Unlike the other high priests, he does not need to offer sacrifices day after day, first for his own sins, and then for the sins of the people. He sacrificed for their sins once for all when he offered himself. ²⁸ For the law appoints as high priests men in all their weakness; but the oath, which came after the law, appointed the Son, who has been made perfect forever.

6 Therefore let us move beyond the elementary teachings about Christ and be taken forward to maturity, not laying again the foundation of repentance from acts that lead to death,  and of faith in God, ² instruction about cleansing rites, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. ³ And God permitting, we will do so. ⁴ It is impossible for those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit, ⁵ who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the coming age ⁶ and who have fallen away, to be brought back to repentance. To their loss they are crucifying the Son of God all over again and subjecting him to public disgrace. ⁷ Land that drinks in the rain often falling on it and that produces a crop useful to those for whom it is farmed receives the blessing of God. ⁸ But land that produces thorns and thistles is worthless and is in danger of being cursed. In the end it will be burned.

⁹ Even though we speak like this, dear friends, we are convinced of better things in your case—the things that have to do with salvation. ¹⁰ God is not unjust; he will not forget your work and the love you have shown him as you have helped his people and continue to help them. ¹¹ We want each of you to show this same diligence to the very end, so that what you hope for may be fully realized. ¹² We do not want you to become lazy, but to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised.

The Certainty of God’s Promise

¹³ When God made his promise to Abraham, since there was no one greater for him to swear by, he swore by himself, ¹⁴ saying, “I will surely bless you and give you many descendants.” ¹⁵ And so after waiting patiently, Abraham received what was promised.

¹⁶ People swear by someone greater than themselves, and the oath confirms what is said and puts an end to all argument. ¹⁷ Because God wanted to make the unchanging nature of his purpose very clear to the heirs of what was promised, he confirmed it with an oath. ¹⁸ God did this so that, by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled to take hold of the hope set before us may be greatly encouraged. ¹⁹ We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain, ²⁰ where our forerunner, Jesus, has entered on our behalf. He has become a high priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek.

Christ’s Sacrifice Once for All

10 The law is only a shadow of the good things that are coming—not the realities themselves. For this reason, it can never, by the same sacrifices repeated endlessly year after year, make perfect those who draw near to worship. ² Otherwise, would they not have stopped being offered? For the worshipers would have been cleansed once for all, and would no longer have felt guilty for their sins. ³ But those sacrifices are an annual reminder of sins. ⁴ It is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.

[Note that the endless sacrifices of bulls and goats were an imperfect sacrifice. They were just done to remind the people in the old covenant of their sins. As an imperfect sacrifice, it was impossible to forgive sins. Hebrew reminds us that those sacrifices foreshadow the perfect sacrifice that is coming that will be done once for all]

⁵ Therefore, when Christ came into the world, he said: “Sacrifice and offering you did not desire, but a body you prepared for me; ⁶ with burnt offerings and sin offerings you were not pleased. ⁷ Then I said, ‘Here I am—it is written about me in the scroll— I have come to do your will, my God.’” ⁸ First he said, “Sacrifices and offerings, burnt offerings and sin offerings you did not desire, nor were you pleased with them”—though they were offered in accordance with the law. ⁹ Then he said, “Here I am, I have come to do your will.” He sets aside the first to establish the second. ¹⁰ And by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.

¹¹ Day after day every priest stands and performs his religious duties; again and again, he offers the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. ¹² But when this priest had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, ¹³ and since that time he waits for his enemies to be made his footstool. ¹⁴ For by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy.

 [The sacrifice of Jesus Christ only makes perfect those who are being made holy. Therefore its not an automatic forgiveness for all but that forgiveness is made available for those that will believe, which is the start of being made holy. That being made holy is a process, a journey towards becoming holy, verse 10 is clarified in verse 14]

¹⁵ The Holy Spirit also testifies to us about this. First, he says: ¹⁶ “This is the covenant I will make with them after that time, says the Lord. I will put my laws in their hearts, and I will write them on their minds.” ¹⁷ Then he adds: “Their sins and lawless acts I will remember no more.” ¹⁸ And where these have been forgiven, sacrifice for sin is no longer necessary.

A Call to Persevere in Faith

¹⁹ Therefore, brothers and sisters, since we have the confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, ²⁰ by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, ²¹ and since we have a great priest over the house of God, ²² let us draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water. ²³ Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. ²⁴ And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, ²⁵ not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching. 

²⁶ If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, ²⁷ but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God. ²⁸ Anyone who rejected the law of Moses died without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. ²⁹ How much more severely do you think someone deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, who has treated as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant that sanctified them, and who has insulted the Spirit of grace? ³⁰ For we know him who said, “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” and again, “The Lord will judge his people.” ³¹ It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

³² Remember those earlier days after you had received the light when you endured in a great conflict full of suffering. ³³ Sometimes you were publicly exposed to insult and persecution; at other times you stood side by side with those who were so treated. ³⁴ You suffered along with those in prison and joyfully accepted the confiscation of your property because you knew that you yourselves had better and lasting possessions. ³⁵ So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded.

³⁶ You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised. ³⁷ For, “In just a little while, he who is coming will come and will not delay.”

³⁸ And, “But my righteous one will live by faith. And I take no pleasure in the one who shrinks back.” ³⁹ But we do not belong to those who shrink back and are destroyed, but to those who have faith and are saved.

IN CONCLUSION

The rites and worship due to God and God alone are preserved only in his church, the Catholic Church which the Protestants have called the worship of Idols which is very offensive to the Lord God. Blasphemy of the Holy Spirit of which there is no forgiveness. They call as profane the rites and worship to the true God celebrated by the Catholic Church presided by the ordained Priests solely authorized to perform such rites and worship as in the days of the Levites in the Old Covenant and is now perfected to this day of the New Covenant by the only "actual" sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross done once and today is being duplicated in commemorative sacrifice of Bread and Wine which he has commanded for the church to do. It is a thanksgiving, a Eucharist to God for the forgiveness of sins. This to us is the mark of the true Church of Jesus Christ, the Catholic Church.

Therefore unless a believer enters the true church, he is not a true believer but a false one. No true believer is outside the Holy Catholic Church for there is just one body, one church, and one Lord Jesus Christ. He who said that unless you eat my body and drink my blood you have no life in you for my body is true food and my blood true drink. He who eats my body and drinks my blood has eternal life and I will raise him on the last day. The body and blood of Jesus Christ can only be available to us through the rites and worship instituted by the Lord and handed over to the Apostles who handed it over to us. Jus exactly as what St. Pual has said. "For I received from the Lord what I also handed over to you.

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By Bro. Manny OTFS Chief Apologist

Copyright © 2020 by Ekklesia Katholes (Acts 9:31)

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