IS THE FATHER THE "ONLY" TRUE GOD?

Catholics are always confronted by other preachers that teach Jesus is not God but only human with the biblical passage in John 17:3 that according to them is the best proof that the Father is the only true God. However, a single passage in the bible may just be a part of the truth and not the entire truth, therefore a half-truth, when used as representing the whole truth, is a lie. We, therefore, have to study not just verse 3 of the 17th chapter of John but the verses preceding to and following after to know exactly what is the context of the said verse. There is this saying that is true and accepted by many theologians that a text without the context is a pretext meaning that scripture read separately without regard to the surrounding verses is easily misconstrued or given a wrong interpretation. Therefore if we want to get to the truth and the right interpretation of John 17:3 that is consistent with what the Gospel of John is teaching, we have to take into account the verses preceding and following after John 17:3.

But first, we need to know what we are after and that is the context of what John 17:3 means. What is the meaning of the context? A context is the circumstances that form the setting for an event, statement, or idea in terms of which it can be fully understood and assessed. It is that parts of something written or spoken that immediately precede and follow a word or passage and clarify its meaning. In layman's terms, to get the whole truth we have to take cognizance of the whole and not just a part of a verse of the chapter and separate it from the rest. So we go to Chapter 17 and get the preceding and the following verses of John 17:3 the complete verses 17:1-5 where Jesus is portrayed by John as looking up toward heaven and prayed the following:

“1 Father, the hour has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you. 2 For you granted him authority over all people that he might give eternal life to all those you have given him. 3 Now, this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. 4 I have brought you glory on earth by finishing the work you gave me to do. 5 And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began.

In Chapter 17, Jesus prayed to the Father. Prayer is also another name for conversing with a plea. And we have highlighted the 4 verses preceding and following verse 17:3 that will give a different meaning against the claim of those that use the subject verse as a proof text that Jesus is just a man because the Father is the Only True God. 

If we take cognizance of the 4 verses preceding and following verse 17:3  they will prove the subject verse can't be a stand-alone verse to prove the false doctrine that denies the deity or divinity of Jesus Christ as the Son of God. By studying the entire paragraph composed of the 5 verses that include verse  17:3, we can conclude that Jesus Christ is not just a man but consistent with the Gospel of John, he is both true God and true Man in one person. He has two natures, Divine and Human in one person. We say it is consistent with the Gospel of John because it is the only Gospel that is different from the Synoptic Gospels of Mark, Matthew, and Luke and that it deals with the mystery and the knowledge of the three persons of One True God. Let us see:

1. In verse 1, Jesus asked the Father to Glorify him that he may glorify the Father. Verse 1 centered on the word glorify which plainly means to give glory.  What is glorify and what is glory? Glorify is an action word, a verb that means to praise, to exalt, to worship, to revere, to give honor or a more direct answer is to give glory. Glory, on the other hand, is a noun the refers to the majesty, beauty, and power of God. Glory, therefore, is what God has in his being a God. And so in the biblical sense, glory refers to God's state of being, and glorification is given to God alone since only God is worshiped, praised, and honored. 

If Jesus is just a mere man, he is, therefore, committing blasphemy for asking God the Father to glorify him or give him glory. In that regard, Jesus is proving he is not just a mere man or an ordinary being from the earth or even from heaven like angels but more than any being, he is in effect putting himself equal to the Father, he is God. For Jesus to ask the Father to glorify him that in turn, he may glorify the father shows a relationship of God with God. Meaning they are the same God that has glory and must be glorified. But how can this be that a God would ask another God to glorify him and give him glory? This can't be unless Jesus is the same one God with the Father because in Isaiah 42:8 God said this "I am the Lord, Lord is my name; my glory I give to no other, nor my praise to idols." Here God made it clear His glory is him alone and he gives it to no other meaning he does not share his glory and praise to anyone. So the only way we can understand this plea of Jesus to the Father is that being the Son of God, he has the same glory as of the Father before he came down to become a true man to fulfill the will of God the Father. We will deal with this more in verse 5.

But Can God call on God? Is there such a thing in the Bible?

Yes, there are such verses in the bible where it is shown that God calls on his God. One example is in Psalm 45 7-8 "Your throne, O God, stands forever; your royal scepter is a scepter for justice. You love justice and hate wrongdoing;  therefore God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness above your fellow kings." Now we asked who is God here that God has anointed? It has been revealed in the New Testament under Letter to the Hebrews who this God who is anointed by his God as stated  in Hebrews 1:8-9 it says:

About the Son, he says "Your throne, O God, will last forever and ever; a scepter of justice will be the scepter of your kingdom. You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness; therefore God, your God, has set you above your companions by anointing you with the oil of joy" Thus the God referred to in Psalm 45 is none other than the Son of God who is Jesus Christ and he has a God as it clearly says "God (the Son), your God (the Father) has anointed you"

Another example is Psalm 110 that says "‘The Lord said to my Lord, “Sit at My right hand until I put Your enemies under Your feet.”’ We know who is sitting at the right hand of God who is called here as Lord, Jesus Christ who is called Lord by the Lord (the Father).

In the two scriptures both Psalm 45 and Psalm 110, we see that God is either called God or Lord. God is Elohim and Lord is Adonai both refer to the Proper name of God, Yahweh. Since YHWH the name of God was so holy for the Israelites, they used either (Elohim) God or (Adonai) Lord to refer to Yahweh.

2. He has been granted authority over all people that he might give eternal life to all those the Father has given him. In Verse 2 Jesus has authority over all people that only God has. He can give eternal life that only God can. Can an ordinary man or even a special one in biblical history give eternal life to a fellow man? Only God can give eternal life. Notice too that the word used is "that he might give eternal life" meaning that Jesus is the judge as he alone is given authority over all people and that the judgment is him alone and we know that God is the judge of all people per Psalm 75:7 "But it is God who executes judgment, putting down one and lifting up another."

In verse 1  we can already infer from the very words of Jesus that he is himself a divine being equal with the Father as he asked the Father to glorify him as he glorifies the Father. Now in verse 2, we see that God the Father has given him authority over all people. Again some may misconstrue the use of the word "authority" here as again proof text that Jesus is not God because he only gets authority from God the Father. The use of the word authority here does not mean that Jesus as the Son of God has no authority as God himself. The use of the word authority here is the Father's way of giving back to the Son the will to decide alone as freely as he sees fit to "give eternal life" to any of all those that the Father has given him. This is because when the Son of God became man, he freely surrendered his own Divine will to the will of the Father as he humbled himself in obedience to the will of the Father even to the point of dying on the cross. We should remember that Jesus confirmed this when he prayed on the night he was arrested in Gethsemane Luke 22:42 "Father not my will, but Thine be done" and that concerning giving up his life he also said in John 10:18 "No one takes it from me, but I lay it down on my own. I have the power to lay it down, and the power to take it up again. This command I have received from my Father.” Meaning the decision is with Jesus alone but that he loves the Father so much that his will is to do the will of the Father.

So, therefore, make no mistake that The Son of God has the will of his own and the use of the word, "might" is an expression that Jesus has the free will to give or not to give eternal life. That is the context of the use of the word "authority" means in the verse 17:2. 

The fact that Jesus "might" give eternal life to any of all those the Father has given him shows he has the power to give eternal life that only God can. Life comes from God alone who created man and gives him life. Thus eternal life can only come from God who is eternal. That power cannot come from a man who is only a creature. Therefore since Jesus has the power to give eternal life, he is not just an ordinary creature as a man but a true God and Man in one person.

We see that the giving of authority shows that the second person of the Trinity, the Son of God has his own free will which he by becoming man has surrendered to the Father is also, in the same way, giving it back to him giving him authority.

3. This is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God and Jesus Christ. (whom the father sent). This verse 3 is actually a bit "controversial verse" and the construction of the sentence is a bit tricky for those with what the scripture said in 2 Peter 3:15-16 "Bear in mind that our Lord’s patience means salvation, just as our dear brother Paul also wrote you with the wisdom that God gave him. He writes the same way in all his letters, speaking in them of these matters. His letters contain some things that are hard to understand, which ignorant and unstable people distort, as they do the other Scriptures, to their own destruction." 

The Gospel of John is a gospel that revealed certain knowledge of the One True God that as St. Peter said about the letters of St. Paul just like John has "some things are written that are hard to understand but the ignorant and unstable people distort." John 17:3 is used to mislead believers on the proven heretical belief that Jesus is just a man and not God.

According to non-Catholics, the Father is the only true God using John 17:3 as the best evidence of their false doctrine "the Father alone is God". First, the two verses preceding the said verse show Jesus Christ worthy of the same glorification and glory as God has authority over all people and can give them eternal life that only God can. Second, if we look closely at the construction of the verse, it shows that the true God has another person other than the Father, Jesus Christ whom the Father sent because of the use of conjunction word "and" which is used to connect words of the same part of speech, clauses, or sentences, that are to be taken jointly. 

If we put the preceding verses 1 and 2 together with 3 we will understand that there are two persons mentioned in the Only True God verse, the Father and Jesus Christ, whom the Father sent. Let's read that again.  After saying that he gives eternal life he said what is eternal life "...and this is eternal life that they may know YOU (referring to the Father), the only true God, AND JESUS CHRIST...here John used the 3rd person proper noun to refer to Jesus. The purpose really is to differentiate the two persons in the Trinity the Father and the Son Jesus Christ. The use of a comma after the 3rd person pronoun you and comma after the Only True God and the conjunction "and" only means that the Father God and Jesus Christ are equal to the same thing as One True God. We will understand it better in the verses following verse 17:3. Let's move on.

4. I have brought you glory on earth by finishing the work you gave me to do. While in verse 1, the word glorify is the main action being asked for by the Son of God, Jesus Christ, in Verse 4 glory to God on earth has been said to have been achieved and brought by Jesus to the Father. This means that by making the Father known on earth revealing the mystery of God to those who are called and who have believed, Jesus has brought praise, honor, and worship to the Father by completing the works the Father has given him. The very purpose of his coming to the world and dwelling with men as a true man.

So we ask, how can an ordinary man if we are to believe that Jesus is just a man bring glory to the Father unless he is by nature and power God himself? Since glory is with God, bringing glory on earth means making the real presence of God on earth visible. We should know that by coming into the world he already brought glory to God as the angel sang when he was born "Glory to God in the highest and peace to God's people on earth".

John 1:14 "The Word (God in John 1:1) became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth." Who then is the only Son what is he? In verses John 1:16-18 it says "Out of his fullness we have all received grace in place of grace already given. For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is himself God and is in closest relationship with the Father, has made him known." This is a very powerful direct testimony of the Apostle calling and referring to the Son as "who is himself, God". To the Apostle John, Jesus is himself, God in the flesh and physical person seen by them.

Those who were privileged to be given such revelation of the coming of God in the flesh sought him who is God born of the woman and "WORSHIPPED" him. This is told in Matthew 2:11 of the visit of the magi to the newly born Jesus. "On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh." Thus we can say that the presence of Jesus is the physical presence of God with men. This is the meaning of the mystery word Immanuel which is only used once in the scripture to refer to Jesus Christ, he is Immanuel which means "God with us" spoken of in Matthew 1:23.

Luke 2:9-14 An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. 10 But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. 11 Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. 12 This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.” 13 Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, 14 “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.” From the mouth of the angel, Jesus the Messiah is the Lord. And as we already know the Lord is God.

Note that there are two persons of the Lord spoken of by the Angel in the verse the one up above whose glory shone around the shepherds and the one who was born and who according to the Angel is the Messiah and the Lord"

5. Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began... Now in verse 5 the true identity of Jesus Christ has been revealed from his own mouth when he asked the Father to "GLORIFY HIM" this is a huge revelation. Jesus is asking God to Glorify him when glory and glorification are only due to God not to humans. Not only is Jesus asking God the Father to glorify him he is telling him what glory he is asking - It is the GLORY HE HAD WITH THE FATHER BEFORE THE WORLD BEGUN for he said once more "Glorify me Father with the glory I had with you before the world began". Now God does not and will never share his glory with any other gods.

Does God share his glory with another or give it to another? Let us hear from God if he shares his glory to any other God:

Isaiah 42:8 "I am the LORD; that is My name! I will not give My glory to another or My praise to idols (gods)." and said it again in Isaiah 48:11 "For My own sake, My very own sake, I will act; for how can I let Myself be defamed? I will not yield My glory to another."

Know then that God does not share his glory to another god, idol, or anyone because the "All Glory and Honor belong only to God". But Jesus is saying he had the glory with the Father before the world began and the glory is only due to God. Unless Jesus is God he is by this verse blaspheming God the Father because he is making himself equal with the Father sharing the same glory due only to God. Jesus therefore in verse 5 is claiming the glory of God he had with the father and therefore he is God but a different person because he is praying to the Father who is in heaven from which he came and will go back according to him in his prayer. 

So then who is Jesus Christ in his original nature before he lowered himself and became a true human being? If we move forward in John 17 going through verses 6-12 we learn a lot more of the true nature of Jesus in his own words from which we can already draw our conclusion lets read: 

John 17:6-12 “I have revealed your name to those whom you gave me out of the world. They were yours; you gave them to me and they have obeyed your word. 7 Now they know that everything you have given me comes from you. 8 I gave them the words you gave me and they accepted them. They knew with certainty that I came from you, and they believed that you sent me. 9 I pray for them. I am not praying for the world, but for those, you have given me, for they are yours. 10 All I have is yours, and all you have is mine. And glory has come to me through them. 11 I will remain in the world no longer, but they are still in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name, the name you gave me, so that they may be one as we are one. 12 While I was with them, I protected them and kept them safe by that name you gave me. None has been lost except the one doomed to destruction so that Scripture would be fulfilled."

We have to take note of these important words from Jesus Christ:

1. That he comes from the Father and that the Father sent him.

2. "All I have is yours, and all you have is mine. And glory has come to me through them."

This a bold claim by saying "all you have is mine" to the Father. He is in effect claiming divinity the same as the Father. He is declaring himself God having everything the Father has that means including the glory that is in God.

This is true as in the earlier chapter in John 10:28-30 "I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand. I and the Father are one."

Note the following 3 verses, Jesus has plainly made it known that he has the same and equal power as the Father because, in conclusion, he declared that He and the Father are One. Thus he declares equality with the Father as God.  If then the Father is greater than all and everything the Father has is likewise owned by the Son then the same greatness of the Father (Greater than all) is also with the Son. That is why Jesus, who said here that he will give eternal life and they shall never perish, is God for only God can give eternal life.

3. The Father and the Son share the same name.

"Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name, THE NAME YOU GAVE ME!" WHAT? JESUS HAS THE SAME NAME AS THE FATHER, THEY SHARE ONLY ONE NAME.  

And this is true for the meaning of Jesus in Hebrew is "Yahweh saves" and the LORD IS YAHWEH BECAUSE THE LORD IS GOD. So that when we call Jesus Lord, we are in fact calling the name of God, whose name is Yahweh (YHWH OR JEHOVAH). Jesus is Yeshua that is a shortened version of the name Yehoshua or Joshua and is the literal Hebrew word for Salvation. Jesus is the savior but what does God say on who is the savior? Isaiah 43:3 "For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior..." What Isaiah prophesied, the Angel confirmed in Luke 2:10-11 once more this is what it says "But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord." Therefore the Lord God, Yahweh, is the Messiah, the Savior who is Jesus Christ sharing the same name as the Father, Yahweh, God.

Therefore in John 17, the Father and Jesus are revealed to have this mystical relationship of being One yet they are two separate persons. Jesus commanded the Apostles to Baptize those who will believe IN THE NAME NOT NAMES BUT SINGULAR NAME. In the "name" of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. The three persons share the same name, the same glory, the same power, the same substance, the same nature, as the Only True God. One Godhead in three divine persons.

This is the mystery of who and what is God that Jesus Christ revealed to those who believed and will believe. There is one God the Father and there is one Lord, the Son but there is One Lord and God and they are One. "Hear or Israel, the Lord is God, the Lord is One". In this Chapter 17, the two divine persons, the Father and the Son have been revealed in the prayer of Jesus Christ having the same Glory as God in later chapters, and in many scriptural passages the Holy Spirit has been introduced in that revelation of One Godhead as Lord and God and with the coming of the Holy Spirit in Acts, the complete revelation of the mystery of who and what is God has been made known to men that God is Trinity, three divine persons in One God - Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. This is the truth, this the true teaching of Jesus Christ, and therefore if any person, group, religion, the church teaches a different doctrine other than the one revealed by the Lord, know that such teaching is false.

Unless all the other verses attesting, witnessing, and confirming the person of Jesus Christ as true God and true man the use of John 17:3 as the only basis of the false doctrinal teaching of those that teach Jesus Christ is not God but only a man is defeated. The entire Chapter 17 should be read to fully understand the mystery revealed by the Gospel of John about the true person of Jesus Christ.

By: Bro. Manny Santos, OTFS Apologist

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

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ERRORS OF PROTESTANT CHURCHES 2

ERROR #2 JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH ALONE OR SOLA FIDE

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 doctrines 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.

Here's 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 led 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 shortly described today as Forensic Justification by Faith Alone.

In the Letter of St. Paul to the Romans 3:28 he said "We maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from the works of the law." This one verse which 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 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 composed of Romans 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 like Jews who follow 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 in 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 that 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 context 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. Therefore, belief 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, an 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 are not necessarily the works 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 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 its 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. Another word for apart is besides that 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? Its 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 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 the 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 as righteous in the eyes of God. 

He is therefore JUSTIFIED BY FAITH THAT WORKS IN HOPE, LOVE, AND CHARITY AND WILL GO INTO ETERNAL LIFE.

By Bro. Manny, OTFS Chief Apologist

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