Can The Born-Again Church Help Me Do Better In Faith Than My Catholic Church?
Question: Ever since we became friends on Facebook, I follow your posts and for real they are encouraging. Above all never have I ever seen you criticize someone's religion or faith, and not even our human weakness. Now my concern is, I am weak spiritually and I try to get back every time, though in one way or the other I slide down hill. Been born a Catholic and raised in it too, but now my question is I feel my faith is weak, have a lot of questions on the rosary prayer, praying through the saints, the things they say we bow down to. Can the Catholic faith help me stay put in faith Sir?? Or is it born again church that can help me do better?
Answer: Greetings to you in Jesus wonderful name!
I thank God for the revolution that has come in our world through the social-media network of Facebook. I have always wanted to share the Word of God through the Internet and that has been a part of me and the ministry God has given, which I have been doing for at least for more than a decade by the grace of God. Now that there are no more borders in this world and the whole world has become a global village, we as the people of God should get together in the Spirit and be diligent to "to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace" (Eph 4:3). Let us learn to encourage each other daily as long as we see a "today" existing by the grace of God, so that we will not be hardened in our heart through the deceitfulness of the last of the last days sins which are increasing rampantly in all world like never before seen or heard (Heb 3:13).
By encouraging one another, actually we are building each other up in our spiritual lives (1 Thess 5:11). Social media platform is a wonderful work of God that can be used effectively in our generation if we do not neglect to use it to meet together as some do neglect it, especially gather together in the spirit and encourage each other as we see the day of the Lord Jesus' coming to take the Church home draws near (John 14:1-4), in which He will rapture us to the palaces built for us in the new heaven and new earth (2 Peter 3:13). We will be raptured to colonize the new heaven and new earth as the time for the event to take place draws nearer and nearer (Rev 21:1-8). To what we can see around and realize through the fulfillment of prophecies of Jesus which literally points us to the fact that what time is left may be just years or even just days and hours left for the glorious hope of our salvation from Great Tribulation to be fulfilled before our very eyes (Matt 24:20-22; Luke 21:36; Heb 10:25). I am very much convinced from the Bible that we are the Terminal Generation that Jesus spoke about.
I do not criticize anyone because of sin, because every time I point my index finger at someone, the other three points to me about my sin nature and its inclination to sin (Gal 6:1, 3; Psa 51:5), known besetting sins of commission (1 Cor 6:10) and unknown sins of omission (1 Sam 12:23; Mal 3:8; 1 Tim 5:8; Jam 4:17; Heb 10:25), and then the thumb points and accuses God for having allowed sin which is not true because our free choice rules over God given choice to choose the good and leave the bad for Him to deal with (Gen 4:7, 13-14; 3:12, 13; Jam 1:15; John 8:7). None of us can say that I am free from sin completely until we die on this earth and go on to be with the Lord, until then we all falter in one thing or the other (1 John 1:8, 10), some people to a lesser degree they sin because of sanctification, others because of lack of sanctification sin to a greater degree. But the call of God to us all who are God's children is clearly revealed in the Scripture, "God's will is for you to be entirely holy and sanctified [in your spirit, soul and body (1 Thess 5:23)], so we ought to stay away from all sexual sin." (1 Thess 4:3), and all unrighteousness is sin but there is sin that does not lead to death (1 John 5:16-17), what is that sin? The sin that is confessed and covered under the blood of Jesus through sincere repentance is that which that does not lead to death (1 John 1:7, 9). But those who choose to stay in sin because of the lure of the sin nature will allow themselves to be led to death of fellowship with God and His people through the evil heart of unbelief (Heb 3:12, 13, 14; 1 John 5:4-5). It is one thing to believe in the Lord Jesus and get saved, but it is totally another thing to walk in the holiness of salvation and serve God in the beauty of holiness (John 6:39, 40; Psa 96:9; 29:2; 1 Chro 16:29; Eph 2:10). We do not work for our salvation, but we work by faith through love after salvation to receive the eternal rewards that are now stored for us as treasures in heaven which Jesus has promised us all right through out the Scripture again and again (Matt 6:19-21; Gal 5:6; Rev 22:10-11, 12).
Even the great apostle Paul bewailed about the besetting sins of thoughts and attitude that led him to sin internally in his mind (Rom 7:13-17, 18-19, 20-21), but thank God that he did not stop there, but went on resisting against sin, may be even for years together, and finally with a victorious shout of praise and thanksgiving to God declares, no matter how much we are tempted or tested in our lives, Jesus will give victory over all sin very soon as He has already overcome the world (Rom 7:22-25; John 16:33; 1 John 15-17). We do not achieve anything by striving in our spiritual life (John 15:5), but victory actually comes when we learn to stand in faith by the victory of Jesus which was won on our behalf (John 17:14-15, 16-17, 18-19). Once we find that place of rest in faith (Heb 4:9-10), once we come to that rest within our soul by faith through the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, we actually start to crush Satan by the power of God under our feet (1 John 5:4, 5; Matt 11:28, 29-30; Rom 16:20). All these things in our spiritual life will happen only when we persevere and endure the chastening of the Lord (Heb 12:4, 7, 9-10, 11), and at the same time resist sin and hold on to the promises of God (Heb 10:35-36). A Christian will not want to sin (1 John 3:6, 9), but may sin because of the weakness of the flesh (1 John 2:1). In spite of the union with God that does not change in the spirit of a believer because of sin (1 Cor 6:17, 19), yet sin will cause death to fellowship with God which will make him or her to run to Christ for relief after he has fallen (Isa 59:2; John 16:33; Php 4:6, 7; Heb 4:14-16), because with out the peace of Christ a believer will not be able to live in this earth (John 15:5; 1 Tim 6:10).
Yes I understand that you are resisting and fighting against sin, you are in a good place of faith I believe. The Bible reveals that when a believer through the Word of God finds wisdom and understanding of God (Prov 3:1, 11-13), then "the Lord will be his confidence, and He will keep his foot from being caught [in the net of sin's bondage]." (Prov 3:26, Paraphrased). Though you may fall by the weakness of sin nature, yet the Lord will uphold you with his righteous right hand (Isa 41:10; Psa 37:24). As a believer, we ought not to sin with our flesh which is in our actions as we all have wisdom of the Lord, and even if we do not have we should ask for it (Prov 2:16; Jam 1:5-8), especially in the area of sexual immorality within marriage to avoid adultery and fornication completely (Heb 12:4-5; Prov 6:24; 5:3; 22:14), or else the Lord will judge us and chastise us if we do not judge ourselves to stay away from it (Heb 13:4; 1 Cor 11:30, 31-32). Usually all mature believers will be wary and very careful in the area of the sins of sexual nature because it is a serious thing in the sight of God (Acts 15:28, 29). If we as Christians keep faltering even with the Ten Commandments of external sins, rather than just the last commandment of internal sin (Rom 2:3-4, 17-24, 28, 29), we are worse than law keeping Old Testament believers who were much much better than that (Rom 13:8-10).
Covetousness is the strong desire to have that which belongs to another. It is considered to be a very grievous offense in Scripture, and the tenth commandment forbids coveting anything that belongs to a neighbor, including his house, his wife, his servants, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to him (Exod 20:17). Jesus listed covetousness or greed along with many of the sins from within, and spiritually equated it to adultery, murder, etc...which make a person unclean (Mark 7:22; Matt 5:21-22, 27-28). Paul reminded the Ephesians that greed or covetousness is equated with immorality and impurity, so that these must be put away (Eph 5:3). A covetous or greedy person is an idolator (Eph 5:5) and covetousness is idolatry (Col 3:5). James warns that people kill and covet because they cannot have what they want (Jam 4:2).
Covetousness, therefore, is basic to the commandments against murder, adultery, stealing, and lying. Those who accept bribes are coveting, leading to murder (Eze 22:12). Coveting a neighbor's wife is a form of adultery (Exod 20:17). Achan admitted to coveting a robe and silver and gold, so he stole them, which was a sin against the Lord (Jos 7:20-22). Gehazi, the servant of Elisha, coveted the property of Naaman so much that he lied to get what he wanted from Naaman the leper (2 Ki 5:19-25) and was struck with leprosy. Proverbs warns that a covetous person brings trouble to his family (Prov 15:27). Thus covetousness is the root of all kinds of sins, so that Jesus gave the warning, "Be on your guard against all kinds of greed." (Luke 12:15).
As a Christian it is a basic with which we keep the Ten Commandments which prevents us from external sins which the religious Jews kept too (Matt 19:20; Luke 18:21; Mar 10:20; Php 3:6; Acts 4-5, 9-11), but the real test of the spirituality of a true born again person will start, when we want to clean up the internal sin of our mind which usually remain untouched by those who keep the law externally (Matt 23:25, 26, 27).
Our thought patterns shape our character, and our character shapes our conduct. Under the law, we did not bear fruit to God. Instead we bore fruit to death, because the law aroused the passions of sins within us (Rom 7:7, 8, 9, 13). So usually all people who keep the law, basically arouse the passion of the body more within their mind, therefore the tenth commandment was never kept by the law keepers because they have become law breakers within their mind because of keeping them externally. So how do we really overcome sin of covetousness in our lives within our mind? We as believers in Christ Jesus should come to realize by faith, we died with Jesus at Calvary, we are dead to the law and delivered from its dominion over us as a principle of justification or of sanctification (Rom 7:1-5). In fact we all grow in this kind of faith in our spiritual lives from baby-hood to adulthood over a period of time, from faith to faith, and it does not happen in a single day (Rom 1:17), but rather is a process that takes a life time of falling and standing up again and again to be strengthened spiritually (Prov 24:16; 2 Pet 3:18; Rom 12:1-2; 1 Thess 5:23, 24), and thus overcome various types of covetousness by building our spiritual muscles more and more in our lives and be victorious progressively in our lives for the Glory of God (Prov 24:16; Psa 145:14; 37:24).
As sanctification is positional when we were saved (Heb 10:14), and also progressive after we are saved, Paul the apostle calls for active trust and obedience when he says, "Since we have these promises [of God that He will help us overcome sin and also preserve us in that sanctification (Rom 6:14; 16:20; 1 Thess 5:23, 24)], dear friends, let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God." (2 Cor 7:1).
Catholic faith is only a partial law keeping faith, that if someone seeks the Lord sincerely through it, they will find it but not in the fullness and liberty which the Bible shows is possible (Jer 29:13-14). If you have not found victory over sin in any area of your spiritual life, it means in that area of life you are still striving by your works hard to please God (Rom 4:4; Hen 11:6), and that you have not yet been able to tap in to the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ through faith (Rom 6:14). So continue to submit to God by humbling yourself before the Lord and say that you can do nothing without His grace, then resist temptations of the devil and the sin with which he lures you in to spiritual lethargy, surely without fail soon God will lift you up in to a victorious life over sin and will crush Satan under your feet shortly (Jam 4:7-10). A man who works before God to please Him is considered proud and becomes a debtor to God (Rom 4:4), but those who humble themselves as weak and feeble before God to overcome sin is given the grace to overcome it because God is always inclined towards humble people and gifts them with His divine strength to overcome sin, sickness and death (Jam 4:6; Rom 16:20). So humble yourself and receive grace from the Lord. Resist sin until sin is totally brought under your dominion by the grace of God. Kill sin before it kills your fellowship with God. Run to God when you sin, because only in Him you will find refuge from the storms of life caused by the weakness of our sin nature that makes us all sin in one way or the other. True freedom comes to us when we overcome sin by the grace of God!
1 Timothy 2:5 declares, "For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus." There is no one else that can mediate with God for us. If Jesus is the ONLY mediator, that indicates Mary and the saints cannot be mediators. Catholics say that they pray the rosary because it’s a powerful prayer to God, through His mother, Mary. The actual Roman Catholic Rosary is made up of a cross or crucifix, a medal, large beads and small beads. Rosary prayers are nothing but works hidden in the form of religious love and meditation towards God, which are done through putting a cross with the hand and then counting the beads to start a prayer for each number of beads which are all man made tradition that has made void the power of the Word of God, and the real faith in the only and only Jesus Christ through whom only we can all be saved (Mark 7:13; Acts 4:12).
The dead saints or Mary cannot mediate our prayer requests to God. God answers prayers based on whether they are asked according to His will which is revealed in the Word of God, not based on who is praying (1 John 5:14-15). God is not partial to hear a particular persons prayer and reject our prayer or another human's prayer (Acts 10:34), from the first human to the last that will be born on earth will be a sinner by birth except Jesus who was sinless because He had no sin and did no sin (Rom 3:23; 2 Cor 5:21; 1 Pet 2:22). In fact, Mary herself says to obey what Jesus says and Jesus tells us all to pray directly to the Father God in heaven using his name (John 16:23-24, 26-27). And also it was prophesied by Mary through her song, that she herself needed salvation from Jesus through His death, and that He is her Lord and God her Savior, who in fact was the One who saved her from sin, and that is why we say and believe that she was not sinless but a blessed and surrendered vessel of God through whom the purpose of God to send the eternal Son to the earth was fulfilled, thus she has been a sinner who was saved and had become a saint in Christ Jesus for the Glory of God (John 2:5; Luke 2:35; 1:46, 47). Jesus is able to save all those who come to God through Him, because if someone believes Him, then He is able to intercede for them from the right hand of God and save them completely (Heb 7:25; Rom 8:34). Also when we are saved and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and obey Him, then God gives us the gift of the Holy Spirit (Acts 5:32), who starts to intercede for every born again believer to keep them saved (Rom 8:27), through whom we are also able to intercede for ourselves and our situations according to the will of God in the Holy Spirit through tongues and Spirit empowered prayers (Rom 8:26; Eph 6:18; 1 Cor 14:15; Rom 8:16; 1 Cor 6:17).
God has clearly revealed in His written word saying, ""You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below." (Exo 20:4). So whether Catholic tradition teaches or a angel from heaven itself descends and teaches us to break the above commandment of God, which prohibits us to bow down before any image in the form of anything, which includes so called Mary behind which a demon of idolatry resides, we should be bold enough to resist the devil and overcome the urge of the flesh which would like to rebel against God to break the command of God by bowing down before any image. By keeping the commandments, you will be submitting to the authority of God, then from that moment onward you thus start to resist the devil, then he will definitely flee from you to create any further urge towards idolatry (Jam 4:7).
My belief is strong in the Word of God that whether someone comes from a catholic faith, Methodist, protestant, Evangelical, Pentecostal or Charismatic sections of Christianity, or they come from Muslim, Hindu or whatever faith of the world, only when they are convicted by the Holy Spirit to repent of their sin and look to Jesus Christ for their salvation, they can become a saved saint of Jesus Christ and thus be a child of God for eternity ahead (John 1:12; 3:3; 16:7-11). So can Catholic faith help? Of course to some extent to know the truth mixed with man made traditions of errors (Mark 7:13), but that in itself cannot take a person to heaven unless that person seeks God with his whole heart to find Him to be born again from above (Jer 29:13; Acts 17:27).
So unless we are born again from heaven once again apart from the natural earthly birth with which all of us humans are born once, we cannot enter the Kingdom of God where God resides and rules directly in the realm of spiritual, soulish, physical, financial and social starta of the existence of humans on earth. The world without God is run under the rulership of Satan and his deceit through which people all over the world, no matter what religion they come from, follow him blindly and live to fulfill his will for their lives (John 8:44-47; Eph 2:1-3).
There are no born-again church even when it does have a name board that says 'BORN AGAIN CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST'. If a particular Church does speak the truth of the Gospel of grace through faith (Eph 2:8-10), even then it is not a living organism. But the individual person who opens his heart and invites Jesus in to it are born again from above, and as they gather together on earth to edify one another and grow in the knowledge of God, they make a church to become a living organism of heaven which operates under the direct authority of God (Rev 3:20; Matt 18:20; 1 Cor 12:27; Col 1:18; Eph 5:29-30).
So I would say, go to a Church that believes the whole of Bible to be the Word of God and teaches all that Jesus has commanded in the Bible to all the believers (Matt 28:19-20). Go to the Church that emphasizes a holy inner and higher life rather than a religious earthly life of pure doctrine and outward works (Matt 23:23, 26-27, 28; 1 Thess 4:3). Go to a Church where they watch over your soul to keep it from the deceitfulness of sin and rebuke you from walking under the dictates of the evil heart of unbelief that comes to destroy a person's life (Heb 13:17; 1 Thess 5:12; Heb 3:12-13, 14; Jer 16:12; 7:24; Eccl 9:3). Go to a Church where they operate in all the gift of the Spirit and encourage you to be filled with the Spirit (1 Cor 12:7-11; Eph 5:17-21). Go to a Church where you are freely able to exercise and work towards developing the spiritual gifts through which you will be able to bring more souls in to the kingdom of God (Matt 6:33-34), working inline with the purpose and prosperity of the Church community and the world at large around you where you are (Jer 29:7; 1 Tim 2:1-4). Above all, go to a Church where the members love Jesus more than anything in this world, and also encourage you to walk in the same sacrificial path of life in which they are walking already by faith (Acts 2:41, 42-47; 4:33-37). Religion is man made, true spirituality is God made relationship with Himself where He reigns over every part of your life, and you deny yourself and willingly give in to His will by taking up your cross and following Jesus where ever He leads you (Rom 12:1-2; Luke 9:23).
Much Blessings......
Answer: Greetings to you in Jesus wonderful name!
I thank God for the revolution that has come in our world through the social-media network of Facebook. I have always wanted to share the Word of God through the Internet and that has been a part of me and the ministry God has given, which I have been doing for at least for more than a decade by the grace of God. Now that there are no more borders in this world and the whole world has become a global village, we as the people of God should get together in the Spirit and be diligent to "to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace" (Eph 4:3). Let us learn to encourage each other daily as long as we see a "today" existing by the grace of God, so that we will not be hardened in our heart through the deceitfulness of the last of the last days sins which are increasing rampantly in all world like never before seen or heard (Heb 3:13).
By encouraging one another, actually we are building each other up in our spiritual lives (1 Thess 5:11). Social media platform is a wonderful work of God that can be used effectively in our generation if we do not neglect to use it to meet together as some do neglect it, especially gather together in the spirit and encourage each other as we see the day of the Lord Jesus' coming to take the Church home draws near (John 14:1-4), in which He will rapture us to the palaces built for us in the new heaven and new earth (2 Peter 3:13). We will be raptured to colonize the new heaven and new earth as the time for the event to take place draws nearer and nearer (Rev 21:1-8). To what we can see around and realize through the fulfillment of prophecies of Jesus which literally points us to the fact that what time is left may be just years or even just days and hours left for the glorious hope of our salvation from Great Tribulation to be fulfilled before our very eyes (Matt 24:20-22; Luke 21:36; Heb 10:25). I am very much convinced from the Bible that we are the Terminal Generation that Jesus spoke about.
I do not criticize anyone because of sin, because every time I point my index finger at someone, the other three points to me about my sin nature and its inclination to sin (Gal 6:1, 3; Psa 51:5), known besetting sins of commission (1 Cor 6:10) and unknown sins of omission (1 Sam 12:23; Mal 3:8; 1 Tim 5:8; Jam 4:17; Heb 10:25), and then the thumb points and accuses God for having allowed sin which is not true because our free choice rules over God given choice to choose the good and leave the bad for Him to deal with (Gen 4:7, 13-14; 3:12, 13; Jam 1:15; John 8:7). None of us can say that I am free from sin completely until we die on this earth and go on to be with the Lord, until then we all falter in one thing or the other (1 John 1:8, 10), some people to a lesser degree they sin because of sanctification, others because of lack of sanctification sin to a greater degree. But the call of God to us all who are God's children is clearly revealed in the Scripture, "God's will is for you to be entirely holy and sanctified [in your spirit, soul and body (1 Thess 5:23)], so we ought to stay away from all sexual sin." (1 Thess 4:3), and all unrighteousness is sin but there is sin that does not lead to death (1 John 5:16-17), what is that sin? The sin that is confessed and covered under the blood of Jesus through sincere repentance is that which that does not lead to death (1 John 1:7, 9). But those who choose to stay in sin because of the lure of the sin nature will allow themselves to be led to death of fellowship with God and His people through the evil heart of unbelief (Heb 3:12, 13, 14; 1 John 5:4-5). It is one thing to believe in the Lord Jesus and get saved, but it is totally another thing to walk in the holiness of salvation and serve God in the beauty of holiness (John 6:39, 40; Psa 96:9; 29:2; 1 Chro 16:29; Eph 2:10). We do not work for our salvation, but we work by faith through love after salvation to receive the eternal rewards that are now stored for us as treasures in heaven which Jesus has promised us all right through out the Scripture again and again (Matt 6:19-21; Gal 5:6; Rev 22:10-11, 12).
Even the great apostle Paul bewailed about the besetting sins of thoughts and attitude that led him to sin internally in his mind (Rom 7:13-17, 18-19, 20-21), but thank God that he did not stop there, but went on resisting against sin, may be even for years together, and finally with a victorious shout of praise and thanksgiving to God declares, no matter how much we are tempted or tested in our lives, Jesus will give victory over all sin very soon as He has already overcome the world (Rom 7:22-25; John 16:33; 1 John 15-17). We do not achieve anything by striving in our spiritual life (John 15:5), but victory actually comes when we learn to stand in faith by the victory of Jesus which was won on our behalf (John 17:14-15, 16-17, 18-19). Once we find that place of rest in faith (Heb 4:9-10), once we come to that rest within our soul by faith through the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, we actually start to crush Satan by the power of God under our feet (1 John 5:4, 5; Matt 11:28, 29-30; Rom 16:20). All these things in our spiritual life will happen only when we persevere and endure the chastening of the Lord (Heb 12:4, 7, 9-10, 11), and at the same time resist sin and hold on to the promises of God (Heb 10:35-36). A Christian will not want to sin (1 John 3:6, 9), but may sin because of the weakness of the flesh (1 John 2:1). In spite of the union with God that does not change in the spirit of a believer because of sin (1 Cor 6:17, 19), yet sin will cause death to fellowship with God which will make him or her to run to Christ for relief after he has fallen (Isa 59:2; John 16:33; Php 4:6, 7; Heb 4:14-16), because with out the peace of Christ a believer will not be able to live in this earth (John 15:5; 1 Tim 6:10).
Yes I understand that you are resisting and fighting against sin, you are in a good place of faith I believe. The Bible reveals that when a believer through the Word of God finds wisdom and understanding of God (Prov 3:1, 11-13), then "the Lord will be his confidence, and He will keep his foot from being caught [in the net of sin's bondage]." (Prov 3:26, Paraphrased). Though you may fall by the weakness of sin nature, yet the Lord will uphold you with his righteous right hand (Isa 41:10; Psa 37:24). As a believer, we ought not to sin with our flesh which is in our actions as we all have wisdom of the Lord, and even if we do not have we should ask for it (Prov 2:16; Jam 1:5-8), especially in the area of sexual immorality within marriage to avoid adultery and fornication completely (Heb 12:4-5; Prov 6:24; 5:3; 22:14), or else the Lord will judge us and chastise us if we do not judge ourselves to stay away from it (Heb 13:4; 1 Cor 11:30, 31-32). Usually all mature believers will be wary and very careful in the area of the sins of sexual nature because it is a serious thing in the sight of God (Acts 15:28, 29). If we as Christians keep faltering even with the Ten Commandments of external sins, rather than just the last commandment of internal sin (Rom 2:3-4, 17-24, 28, 29), we are worse than law keeping Old Testament believers who were much much better than that (Rom 13:8-10).
Covetousness is the strong desire to have that which belongs to another. It is considered to be a very grievous offense in Scripture, and the tenth commandment forbids coveting anything that belongs to a neighbor, including his house, his wife, his servants, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to him (Exod 20:17). Jesus listed covetousness or greed along with many of the sins from within, and spiritually equated it to adultery, murder, etc...which make a person unclean (Mark 7:22; Matt 5:21-22, 27-28). Paul reminded the Ephesians that greed or covetousness is equated with immorality and impurity, so that these must be put away (Eph 5:3). A covetous or greedy person is an idolator (Eph 5:5) and covetousness is idolatry (Col 3:5). James warns that people kill and covet because they cannot have what they want (Jam 4:2).
Covetousness, therefore, is basic to the commandments against murder, adultery, stealing, and lying. Those who accept bribes are coveting, leading to murder (Eze 22:12). Coveting a neighbor's wife is a form of adultery (Exod 20:17). Achan admitted to coveting a robe and silver and gold, so he stole them, which was a sin against the Lord (Jos 7:20-22). Gehazi, the servant of Elisha, coveted the property of Naaman so much that he lied to get what he wanted from Naaman the leper (2 Ki 5:19-25) and was struck with leprosy. Proverbs warns that a covetous person brings trouble to his family (Prov 15:27). Thus covetousness is the root of all kinds of sins, so that Jesus gave the warning, "Be on your guard against all kinds of greed." (Luke 12:15).
As a Christian it is a basic with which we keep the Ten Commandments which prevents us from external sins which the religious Jews kept too (Matt 19:20; Luke 18:21; Mar 10:20; Php 3:6; Acts 4-5, 9-11), but the real test of the spirituality of a true born again person will start, when we want to clean up the internal sin of our mind which usually remain untouched by those who keep the law externally (Matt 23:25, 26, 27).
Our thought patterns shape our character, and our character shapes our conduct. Under the law, we did not bear fruit to God. Instead we bore fruit to death, because the law aroused the passions of sins within us (Rom 7:7, 8, 9, 13). So usually all people who keep the law, basically arouse the passion of the body more within their mind, therefore the tenth commandment was never kept by the law keepers because they have become law breakers within their mind because of keeping them externally. So how do we really overcome sin of covetousness in our lives within our mind? We as believers in Christ Jesus should come to realize by faith, we died with Jesus at Calvary, we are dead to the law and delivered from its dominion over us as a principle of justification or of sanctification (Rom 7:1-5). In fact we all grow in this kind of faith in our spiritual lives from baby-hood to adulthood over a period of time, from faith to faith, and it does not happen in a single day (Rom 1:17), but rather is a process that takes a life time of falling and standing up again and again to be strengthened spiritually (Prov 24:16; 2 Pet 3:18; Rom 12:1-2; 1 Thess 5:23, 24), and thus overcome various types of covetousness by building our spiritual muscles more and more in our lives and be victorious progressively in our lives for the Glory of God (Prov 24:16; Psa 145:14; 37:24).
As sanctification is positional when we were saved (Heb 10:14), and also progressive after we are saved, Paul the apostle calls for active trust and obedience when he says, "Since we have these promises [of God that He will help us overcome sin and also preserve us in that sanctification (Rom 6:14; 16:20; 1 Thess 5:23, 24)], dear friends, let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God." (2 Cor 7:1).
Catholic faith is only a partial law keeping faith, that if someone seeks the Lord sincerely through it, they will find it but not in the fullness and liberty which the Bible shows is possible (Jer 29:13-14). If you have not found victory over sin in any area of your spiritual life, it means in that area of life you are still striving by your works hard to please God (Rom 4:4; Hen 11:6), and that you have not yet been able to tap in to the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ through faith (Rom 6:14). So continue to submit to God by humbling yourself before the Lord and say that you can do nothing without His grace, then resist temptations of the devil and the sin with which he lures you in to spiritual lethargy, surely without fail soon God will lift you up in to a victorious life over sin and will crush Satan under your feet shortly (Jam 4:7-10). A man who works before God to please Him is considered proud and becomes a debtor to God (Rom 4:4), but those who humble themselves as weak and feeble before God to overcome sin is given the grace to overcome it because God is always inclined towards humble people and gifts them with His divine strength to overcome sin, sickness and death (Jam 4:6; Rom 16:20). So humble yourself and receive grace from the Lord. Resist sin until sin is totally brought under your dominion by the grace of God. Kill sin before it kills your fellowship with God. Run to God when you sin, because only in Him you will find refuge from the storms of life caused by the weakness of our sin nature that makes us all sin in one way or the other. True freedom comes to us when we overcome sin by the grace of God!
1 Timothy 2:5 declares, "For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus." There is no one else that can mediate with God for us. If Jesus is the ONLY mediator, that indicates Mary and the saints cannot be mediators. Catholics say that they pray the rosary because it’s a powerful prayer to God, through His mother, Mary. The actual Roman Catholic Rosary is made up of a cross or crucifix, a medal, large beads and small beads. Rosary prayers are nothing but works hidden in the form of religious love and meditation towards God, which are done through putting a cross with the hand and then counting the beads to start a prayer for each number of beads which are all man made tradition that has made void the power of the Word of God, and the real faith in the only and only Jesus Christ through whom only we can all be saved (Mark 7:13; Acts 4:12).
The dead saints or Mary cannot mediate our prayer requests to God. God answers prayers based on whether they are asked according to His will which is revealed in the Word of God, not based on who is praying (1 John 5:14-15). God is not partial to hear a particular persons prayer and reject our prayer or another human's prayer (Acts 10:34), from the first human to the last that will be born on earth will be a sinner by birth except Jesus who was sinless because He had no sin and did no sin (Rom 3:23; 2 Cor 5:21; 1 Pet 2:22). In fact, Mary herself says to obey what Jesus says and Jesus tells us all to pray directly to the Father God in heaven using his name (John 16:23-24, 26-27). And also it was prophesied by Mary through her song, that she herself needed salvation from Jesus through His death, and that He is her Lord and God her Savior, who in fact was the One who saved her from sin, and that is why we say and believe that she was not sinless but a blessed and surrendered vessel of God through whom the purpose of God to send the eternal Son to the earth was fulfilled, thus she has been a sinner who was saved and had become a saint in Christ Jesus for the Glory of God (John 2:5; Luke 2:35; 1:46, 47). Jesus is able to save all those who come to God through Him, because if someone believes Him, then He is able to intercede for them from the right hand of God and save them completely (Heb 7:25; Rom 8:34). Also when we are saved and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and obey Him, then God gives us the gift of the Holy Spirit (Acts 5:32), who starts to intercede for every born again believer to keep them saved (Rom 8:27), through whom we are also able to intercede for ourselves and our situations according to the will of God in the Holy Spirit through tongues and Spirit empowered prayers (Rom 8:26; Eph 6:18; 1 Cor 14:15; Rom 8:16; 1 Cor 6:17).
God has clearly revealed in His written word saying, ""You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below." (Exo 20:4). So whether Catholic tradition teaches or a angel from heaven itself descends and teaches us to break the above commandment of God, which prohibits us to bow down before any image in the form of anything, which includes so called Mary behind which a demon of idolatry resides, we should be bold enough to resist the devil and overcome the urge of the flesh which would like to rebel against God to break the command of God by bowing down before any image. By keeping the commandments, you will be submitting to the authority of God, then from that moment onward you thus start to resist the devil, then he will definitely flee from you to create any further urge towards idolatry (Jam 4:7).
My belief is strong in the Word of God that whether someone comes from a catholic faith, Methodist, protestant, Evangelical, Pentecostal or Charismatic sections of Christianity, or they come from Muslim, Hindu or whatever faith of the world, only when they are convicted by the Holy Spirit to repent of their sin and look to Jesus Christ for their salvation, they can become a saved saint of Jesus Christ and thus be a child of God for eternity ahead (John 1:12; 3:3; 16:7-11). So can Catholic faith help? Of course to some extent to know the truth mixed with man made traditions of errors (Mark 7:13), but that in itself cannot take a person to heaven unless that person seeks God with his whole heart to find Him to be born again from above (Jer 29:13; Acts 17:27).
So unless we are born again from heaven once again apart from the natural earthly birth with which all of us humans are born once, we cannot enter the Kingdom of God where God resides and rules directly in the realm of spiritual, soulish, physical, financial and social starta of the existence of humans on earth. The world without God is run under the rulership of Satan and his deceit through which people all over the world, no matter what religion they come from, follow him blindly and live to fulfill his will for their lives (John 8:44-47; Eph 2:1-3).
There are no born-again church even when it does have a name board that says 'BORN AGAIN CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST'. If a particular Church does speak the truth of the Gospel of grace through faith (Eph 2:8-10), even then it is not a living organism. But the individual person who opens his heart and invites Jesus in to it are born again from above, and as they gather together on earth to edify one another and grow in the knowledge of God, they make a church to become a living organism of heaven which operates under the direct authority of God (Rev 3:20; Matt 18:20; 1 Cor 12:27; Col 1:18; Eph 5:29-30).
So I would say, go to a Church that believes the whole of Bible to be the Word of God and teaches all that Jesus has commanded in the Bible to all the believers (Matt 28:19-20). Go to the Church that emphasizes a holy inner and higher life rather than a religious earthly life of pure doctrine and outward works (Matt 23:23, 26-27, 28; 1 Thess 4:3). Go to a Church where they watch over your soul to keep it from the deceitfulness of sin and rebuke you from walking under the dictates of the evil heart of unbelief that comes to destroy a person's life (Heb 13:17; 1 Thess 5:12; Heb 3:12-13, 14; Jer 16:12; 7:24; Eccl 9:3). Go to a Church where they operate in all the gift of the Spirit and encourage you to be filled with the Spirit (1 Cor 12:7-11; Eph 5:17-21). Go to a Church where you are freely able to exercise and work towards developing the spiritual gifts through which you will be able to bring more souls in to the kingdom of God (Matt 6:33-34), working inline with the purpose and prosperity of the Church community and the world at large around you where you are (Jer 29:7; 1 Tim 2:1-4). Above all, go to a Church where the members love Jesus more than anything in this world, and also encourage you to walk in the same sacrificial path of life in which they are walking already by faith (Acts 2:41, 42-47; 4:33-37). Religion is man made, true spirituality is God made relationship with Himself where He reigns over every part of your life, and you deny yourself and willingly give in to His will by taking up your cross and following Jesus where ever He leads you (Rom 12:1-2; Luke 9:23).
Much Blessings......
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