Reformation Monk
Puritan Board Freshman
First let me lay out a quick framework of my personal exp.
I was in the PCUSA for a long time, during that time; I became Reformed and actually moved to the PCA for a couple of years. But because of difficulties in the particular church I had moved too, my family and I moved back to our old PCUSA.
I then basically became frustrated and kind of gave up and decided to take up an ecumenical direction in my faith. I had worked at LifeWay (an SBC Christian Bookstore) and I started to read about Spiritual Disciplines from authors like Richard Foster. This lead me down the road to questioning Protestantism altogether and I soon found myself as a Catholic Catechumen in a Strict Traditionalism, all Latin Mass, Catholic Parish.
So for many months I learned the Catholic Faith and became a serious practicing Catholic. I learned my rosary and did it every day, went to Eucharistic Adoration.. the whole 9 yards.
But in the middle of my experience; the Spirit finally moved me to realizing that even though the Catholics try very hard at bending the Scriptures, there was just too much drastically opposed to the plain truth of Scripture for me to continue down that road and I fell away from the Catholic Church.
I then went to the High Anglican Church for awhile.... then moved on to Lutheranism.
While I was studying up on Lutheranism I started to read about the Theology of the Cross and the Theology of Glory.
This lead me back to Romans and Galatians. At this time I was listening to the Bible almost exclusively every day in my car and at work.
and then everything finally "clicked".
I finally truly understood "Justification by faith alone."
That is when I understood the difference between the "Christian Religion" and that of the true Christian Church.
During all of this, especially in the Catholic Church I was still asking a basic question, which in my mind seemed to be a pretty important question; but strangely enough, most others seemed to be stumped, which was, "how does a person know their saved?"
Of course the Catholics would say that they are "being saved." But even then they really couldn't articulate the process very well... basically it was a process. For them, like the Eastern Orthodox, Salvation basically involves trying to get closer to God. So one is "more assured of being saved" by "doing more."
So in other words, if I'm a Catholic, I feel more assured of my salvation if I go to Mass every Sunday, if I go to Confession frequently, if do my rosary, if I am helping the poor, if Im charitable, if I active in my church... etc...
So in other words; in light of the true Gospel ( justified by faith alone ) I finally understood how Catholics and Anglicans and even Lutherans rely heavily on the Church and Sacraments as being a means of grace in a way that basically means.....
"The closer you keep yourself to the Church and it's sacraments, the more assurance you have."
Because even Lutherans believe you can backslide and fall away.
That is why I am now and permanently, by God's grace, and will be forever Reformed. This time around, I now totally understand the truth of Scripture and how very prone we are to "works righteousness."
So here is my question.
I now see Baptism as an Ordinance and not a Sacrament. This is now a very important distinction for me, because I now am very convicted that Baptism and Communion can not be a work.
This is the main reason why I've become a Credobaptist.
So I was wondering if perhaps some others here could give me your opinions on everything I've just laid out.
Also, without sounding dispensational, could someone in simple terms kind of explain the discontinuity between the Old and New Testament. Of course the main argument now from my Paedobaptist friends are that I'm becoming a Dispensational. But I'm trying to explain to them my new convictions.
Thanks.
I was in the PCUSA for a long time, during that time; I became Reformed and actually moved to the PCA for a couple of years. But because of difficulties in the particular church I had moved too, my family and I moved back to our old PCUSA.
I then basically became frustrated and kind of gave up and decided to take up an ecumenical direction in my faith. I had worked at LifeWay (an SBC Christian Bookstore) and I started to read about Spiritual Disciplines from authors like Richard Foster. This lead me down the road to questioning Protestantism altogether and I soon found myself as a Catholic Catechumen in a Strict Traditionalism, all Latin Mass, Catholic Parish.
So for many months I learned the Catholic Faith and became a serious practicing Catholic. I learned my rosary and did it every day, went to Eucharistic Adoration.. the whole 9 yards.
But in the middle of my experience; the Spirit finally moved me to realizing that even though the Catholics try very hard at bending the Scriptures, there was just too much drastically opposed to the plain truth of Scripture for me to continue down that road and I fell away from the Catholic Church.
I then went to the High Anglican Church for awhile.... then moved on to Lutheranism.
While I was studying up on Lutheranism I started to read about the Theology of the Cross and the Theology of Glory.
This lead me back to Romans and Galatians. At this time I was listening to the Bible almost exclusively every day in my car and at work.
and then everything finally "clicked".
I finally truly understood "Justification by faith alone."
That is when I understood the difference between the "Christian Religion" and that of the true Christian Church.
During all of this, especially in the Catholic Church I was still asking a basic question, which in my mind seemed to be a pretty important question; but strangely enough, most others seemed to be stumped, which was, "how does a person know their saved?"
Of course the Catholics would say that they are "being saved." But even then they really couldn't articulate the process very well... basically it was a process. For them, like the Eastern Orthodox, Salvation basically involves trying to get closer to God. So one is "more assured of being saved" by "doing more."
So in other words, if I'm a Catholic, I feel more assured of my salvation if I go to Mass every Sunday, if I go to Confession frequently, if do my rosary, if I am helping the poor, if Im charitable, if I active in my church... etc...
So in other words; in light of the true Gospel ( justified by faith alone ) I finally understood how Catholics and Anglicans and even Lutherans rely heavily on the Church and Sacraments as being a means of grace in a way that basically means.....
"The closer you keep yourself to the Church and it's sacraments, the more assurance you have."
Because even Lutherans believe you can backslide and fall away.
That is why I am now and permanently, by God's grace, and will be forever Reformed. This time around, I now totally understand the truth of Scripture and how very prone we are to "works righteousness."
So here is my question.
I now see Baptism as an Ordinance and not a Sacrament. This is now a very important distinction for me, because I now am very convicted that Baptism and Communion can not be a work.
This is the main reason why I've become a Credobaptist.
So I was wondering if perhaps some others here could give me your opinions on everything I've just laid out.
Also, without sounding dispensational, could someone in simple terms kind of explain the discontinuity between the Old and New Testament. Of course the main argument now from my Paedobaptist friends are that I'm becoming a Dispensational. But I'm trying to explain to them my new convictions.
Thanks.