In response to Annette Corrigan's Letter:
You and I, Annette, owe much to the Transcript. It allows us to voice our opinions, beliefs and, in this case, our Christian faith. Since Catholics are no stranger to the Letters page I think a response from one who is not a Catholic is called for. So, come. Let us reason together.
You wrote: “Their is no sin that our loving Lord will not forgive. The only sin that is not forgiven is the one not confessed.”
Well, Annette, you raise several points that call for comment. First, is the obvious contradiction that our Lord will forgive all sins, followed by a sin that He will not forgive. I, like you, accept that God forgives all sins, but I do not narrow His mercy; it cannot be bounded.
Even Saul, His bitterest enemy, who hated the Christ and held the garments of those who stoned believers, fell helpless before the power of His love saying, “Lord, what will you have me to do?” And Saul did much. Later his name was changed to Paul, who wrote 13 letters inspired and preserved by God as Scripture.
Now if God saved His bitterest enemy, then none can escape His love.
The second point is more difficult to express: the nature of sin. The Scriptures define sin in its broadest terms as “missing the mark.” It is not just stealing, lying, or being impure; it is every single word that proceeds from us, every thought that passes through our minds, it is all that we should have spoken but were silent. Sin is all of that, and all of that “missed the mark” of perfection and was tainted by sin.
Even “our righteous acts are like filthy rags,” in His sight (Isaiah 64:6).
As creatures of the sea have no awareness of the water in which they live, so we are so accustomed to sin that it goes unnoticed. How can we possibly confess our sins when they naturally stream from us without ceasing and without consciousness?
But for Christians, this is of no consequence and of little concern. Covered with the sacrificial blood of Christ we are as pure to God the Father as is His beloved, the Lord Christ.
Once we began to understand sin in its fullest sense, we began to understand the incomprehensible perfection of Christ. As a youth I though that even God could not create a man who could live without sin. I was almost right. There is one exception.
You wrote: “To assure oneself that a relationship is possible divorced from your church is self delusional.”
Few know what the true church is. The Greek word that is translated “church” is ekklesia. Ekklesia means “called out ones.” God's church is not an earthly organization, some brick and mortar building however grand or humble. It is a body of believers, some of whom belong to earthly organizations and others who do not. They are sprinkled like salt over the earth preserving it for the day of Christ's coming, not as the sacrificial lamb of God but as a lion.
Believers are found everywhere, on every continent, in every country. Many are not recognized as such, but God knew them before they were born and for the sake of His Son's blood, treasures each one.
Now what if some of these precious ones turn their backs on God and reject Him? His faithfulness does not depend on our faithfulness. We are too weak for that. He will never reject His own. Rather, these fallen ones shall, in a time to come, be held up as testaments to His immeasurable grace.
You wrote: “We go go Mass because Christ is present.”
And so He is, Annette. But He is everywhere, as the Scriptures say, “For in Him we live and more and have our being,” (Acts 17:28). Go to the farthest star and beyond and His spirit is there no less so than in your private moments in prayer.
The Father cannot be contained by the limitless expanses of space or confided in any holy sanctum or bounded by time or knowledge. He is in all aspects of His personality, infinite. If we could abide with Him for an endless time, we would always be just beginning to know Him.
And we, Annette, despite our many differences, together with countless others called to believe in Christ, are fellow members of that ekklesia, that body of Christ, that glorious edifice of called out ones.
Sincerely,
Bob Scroggins
New Milford, PA