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Aidan Sorenson I began to feel unfulfilled and denied interpretation of scripture that would be meaningful to my life. I felt drawn to the idea of less “tradition” and more Christ-centered. I never intuitively felt that praying to saints or the dead was spiritually correct. And then of course I read about deep concerns of the Catholic Church, the pope and finally stumbled upon an awesome pastor at a Lutheran church. Went to bible classes, learned so much and found what I had been searching for. There’s more, but that’s the gist. Thanks for asking!
Jesus says when comforting his flock who were worn down by the Pharisees rules. Come to me all who labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me for I am gentle and lowly in heart and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light. MT 11:28-30.
Hi. I’m a 65 year old Roman Catholic. A lot of Protestants say that Catholics say that good works are necessary for salvation. St James said that faith without works is dead. Jesus said that what we do for others we do for Him. My Pastor did a Homily on works, and summed it up this way: We don’t do good works to obtain salvation. We do good works because we are saved. It’s about loving our neighbors, which Jesus said is the 2nd greatest commandment. Actions speak louder than words. If you claim salvation and say you’re a Christian but don’t strive to live your life in imitation of Christ, you’re just engaging in lip service. Doing good works is outward sign that we are disciples of Christ. The Roman Catholic church has its faults. We’re not perfect and are a work in progress. That’s another topic for another time. For now, I just wanted to clarify our emphasis on doing good works.
There's a lutheran idea called total depravity. We are fallen, we cannot save ourselves, we cannot love God properly by ourselves, we can do nothing ourselves, our hope is Jesus and His finished work on the cross. Lutherans also hold to the idea that Faith without works is dead. We make claims on many of the Church Fathers, they're where we got much of our belief. When a human does works, it's them submitting to the will of The Father. By our FAITH, God can work through us. We aren't the ones doing the works, it is God doing the works through us! Works don't save you, they are an outward sign of your Faith. Evidence, "Fruits" I grew up RC, I was confirmed and everything, there are many great people in that tradition. But when my childhood pastor left to go run 2 other churches I realized that there wasn't much left in that church community that made me feel like I was home. And I realized that I've always believed 90% of the Lutheran confessions, as if I was never really RC. The Spirit guided me and aligned me almost solely on Lutheranism. I know it was The Spirit based on the fruits. I know God better now than ever before, my hope is Him alone. And this is how it helps. It's easier to love Him and let Him work through you when you know he has forgiven you, that he loves you, that you need not worry. But when your motivation is primarily fear of judgement it clouds the nature of God. That he is abounding in love, and slow to anger.
All of our good works are as filthy rags before God. Anything that we do good is from our faith in Christ and through the Spirit. Indeed as Paul tells us the good works are the fruits of the spirit.
You are a very candid and faithful man. However the way you explained this makes Martin Luther sound like a lawyer. " My client didn't stab that other person, the defendant walked into his knife." A appreciate your enthusiasm and love of your church. And you are right, deep down you are Catholic.
My sense is that Lutheran doctrine is more in line with contemporary Roman Catholics than most Protestants especially considering the Lutheran-Catholic dialogue/ Joint Declaration on Doctrine of Justification. Evangelical Catholics not only worship like Roman Catholics but our core beliefs are compatible.
You're not drawing necessary distinctions between Lutherans and Lutherans. Confessional/orthodox Lutherans (LCMS, WELS, others) did NOT sign or support that Declaration.
@@evangelicalcatholics I agree with you LutherCast, however even with the JDDJ aside, orthodox Lutheranism is far closer to post-Vatican II Catholicism than it is to most Protestant denominations today.
@@evangelicalcatholicshonestly, I personally wish the LCMS signed the document, because orthodox Lutherans have more in common with Roman Catholics than the ELCA does.
Great video. I had one Catholic parent and one Lutheran and I always wondered what the difference was but they always told us it was up to us to figure out what we believe.
Interesting! I agree the best way to know is to go yourself and actually talk to practicing folks. I was raised Baptist and never looked into anything else until I met my Catholic husband. Spoiler, I joined the Catholic Church. But first, in my mind I was going to find a middle ground for us. So I did just what’s suggested. Talked to practicing people and went to experience different places. Ultimately, the Catholic Church was home. I remember my issue with “high church” Protestants was the use of “confession” and “profession” interchangeably. I couldn’t get with that. Seems when I read the Bible they are two different things. Anyways, enjoyed learning a bit through the video ☺️
I'd love to pick your brain. I'm torn between the two. The whole calling upon the Saints thing in Catholicism feels off to me. I feel a disconnect in my relationship with Christ when so many other distractions.
Overall a very informative video for someone who doesn’t understand a lot about either Catholicism or Lutheranism and wants to know more. I wish though there was a little bit less “Lutheranism is the best faith” rhetoric. If you really want to be making videos comparing religions it should be done in a way with much more humility and respect for other faiths no matter what their doctrines or beliefs are.
Why is that? Why can a Catholic ect. share in the Eucharist in the Lutheran Church but the Lutheran ect. cannot share it in the Catholic Church? Isn’t that sort of gatekeeping? I have always felt Jesus meant for us to spread his message and that included the Eucharist. “Do this in remembrance of me.”
@TheShadowDraken we treat communion carefully because of 1 Corinthians 11:27 we want to properly prepare people for the blessings received in communion. Catholics do the same thing basically. It's not a bad thing to be cautious about communion, the king Jesus is present, it's serious.
We love giving our Life to Jesus. Such a small sacrifice for what He did for us. Requirements are to repent and confess with your mouth. Not live by flesh alone.
glad I came across this video. someone I love is going to Lutheran school and was curious was loving what I was hearing until you took a mocking tone towards others, now I am worried
The official stance is that the apocryphal books are valuable (the 14 Catholic books but also others), but shouldn't be held in the same regard as rest of the holy scripture. More often than not, nowadays most Lutherans have never read the Apocrypha, but some do.
I’m an apostate but before then I was a Lutheran. Baptized, confirmed, and even educated at a Lutheran University. Applying some humor to it, there are two kinds of Christians: With and without the guilt. On a serious note, the notion that you are saved by grace alone means that the church resides within you. Understand how radical this was and what a threat it was to the Roman Catholic Church. That you don’t need the fancy temples (and all Lutherans know that fancy churches is definitely not a thing), or the clergy or a pope. The church resides within you. A clergy is however not unimportant. That’s why Lutheran priests are called pastors; to guide the followers of Christ. While I may no longer have the gift of faith, I don’t diss on my Lutheran brothers and sisters. If you’re gonna be a Christian, be a Lutheran. All the bennies of being a Christian minus the guilt.
Real question: if someone accepts the gift of faith of Jesus Christ, and continues a life of unrepentant sin, that person gets a free pass to Heaven? Can you please explain/tell me more.
Interesting, I understand some, but there was no mention of a personal relationship with Jesus/Holy Spirit, whom should guide each into repentance, works, giving up things, changing lives, doing Christ's will. It almost sounded like a free pass to do whatever one pleases according to their own will, still living for themselves as long as they say "I accept Jesus". Perhaps I heard incorrectly?
Lutherans don't normally speak of a relationship with Christ in the American evangelical way of thinking. Relationships are a two way meeting. Lutherans focus on Christ and what he did for us... the dying, the redeeming, bringing us to faith. Jesus does all the work, not us. He brings us into the right relationship with Him.
There are many other videos on this topic here on HigherThings as well as AskThePastor (ATP). There is no free pass to continue (intentionally) in sins simply because "Well, I believe, and therefore am deserving of grace." There have been numerous heresies in church history about this sort of doctrine, mentality, and lifestyle. Intentionally embracing sin (or ignoring it) is counter to the type of faith that receives grace. The other type is pie-in-the-sky wishy-washy excuse making.
nhartigan72 Good question! Another comment mentioned this, so I’ll just build on their comment. Lutherans don’t normally talk about “personal relationship” with Jesus because the Scriptures don’t speak that way. The Scriptures speak of Jesus saving us, loving us, and giving up his life for us. We receive (believe) the Gospel and are saved. There is no greater relationship than receiving Jesus. You are giving me an idea for a future video short! Can’t thank you enough for watching!
Thanks for the input all, I'll most definitely continue watching & look forward to more videos. Even if I sometimes see things a little differently, I do enjoy the videos, I enjoy hearing differing views, & I there are things I pick up that are beneficial. Personally in my relationship with Christ, he pushes me through dreams & such to use almost my whole relationship & whatever he gives me to testify of him & I can scripturally relate this to his parable of the three servants who were trusted with different talents, use them or lose them. Have a great day all.
As for the "free pass to do whatever one pleases," it has been said that if nobody raises this objection then you haven't presented the true Gospel. How to answer this objection? Here is a quote from Luther's commentary on Galatians: "The Apostle exhorts all Christians to practice good works after they have embraced the pure doctrine of faith, because even though they have been justified they still have the old flesh to refrain them from doing good. Therefore it becomes necessary that sincere preachers cultivate the doctrine of good works as diligently as the doctrine of faith, for Satan is a deadly enemy of both. Nevertheless faith must come first because without faith it is impossible to know what a God-pleasing deed is." Elsewhere in the commentary Luther states that Jesus must become our savior before he can become our example. As far as "living for themselves," I think it's fair to say that compared to Evangelicals, Lutherans put a greater emphasis on what a "good Christian" should do than shouldn't do. For examples, Lutherans are more concerned about how we should be loving our neighbors than whether it's OK to get a tattoo or go dancing on Saturday night. (I strongly recommend reading Luther's commentary on Galatians to all Christians, Lutheran or otherwise. Even though it was written nearly 500 years ago, it's still very relevant for today.)
In my experience as a catholic going to Lutheran church is like Sunday school. Very watered down and detached from actual scripture. The reason I say this is how does the Lutheran church justify having lesbian pastors? That's a direct contradiction of scripture.
The ELCA, which you probably went to, has lesbian pastors, but it is a very liberal and not truly Lutheran. It denies the inerrancy of scripture. The LCMS is a more conservative Lutheran denomination and does not ordain women or gay pastors.
Hate to tell you, but most of what Lutheranism is, comes from tradition. The whole way you celebrate your service is built on the Catholic traditions. They are much more important than you care to admit...
Augsburg Confession proclaims that worship rituals are retained. Luther translated the Mass/ Bible into German. It is the historic Christian liturgy coming from the holy Apostles.
We ARE the true western catholic church; of course we retain those practices. Those practices and the works of the church fathers are our inheritance. We just rid the church of the commercialism and politics and greed that had krept into our church.
Absolutely. St James said faith without works is dead. Jesus said that whatever we do for others we do for Him. Works aren’t done to obtain salvation. We do them because we are saved and striving to live our lives in imitation of Christ. Actions speak louder than words.
