In a shameless attempt to bid up my stock, I yanked Pejman's chain last night, and he yanked back.
I've never been referred to as a "wild boar loose in the Lord's vineyard." This alone justifies linkage love.It is well with your soul, Pejman. As for me ... weeeeell, I just may be in need of a good "ego absolvo te," both for my sycophancy and trolling for linkage as well as my shameless abuse of Martin Luther, both last night, and here in the title of this post. I'll have to check with Daniel Baker, my consultant in all matters Roman Catholic, in order to determine the appropriate penance. Daniel, I presume this is a run of the mill venial sin (or is it vain-ial?) and that I've done no lasting damage to my immortal soul?Reverend, wilt thou forgive a nice Jewish boy? I certainly hope so.
For those who are interested, I did look up the Luther quote for a little perspective. Check out Uncle Marty Answers for the text of a letter of Luther's to Philip Melanchthon on August 1, 1521:
If you are a preacher of grace, then preach a true and not a fictitious grace; if grace is true, you must bear a true and not a fictitious sin. God does not save people who are only fictitious sinners. Be a sinner and sin boldly, but believe and rejoice in Christ even more boldly, for he is victorious over sin, death, and the world. As long as we are here [in this world] we have to sin. This life is not the dwelling place of righteousness, but, as Peter says, we look for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells. It is enough that by the riches of God's glory we have come to know the Lamb that takes away the sin of the world. No sin will separate us from the Lamb, even though we commit fornication and murder a thousand times a day. Do you think that the purchase price that was paid for the redemption of our sins by so great a Lamb is too small? Pray boldly--you too are a mighty sinner.Posted by Mike at July 15, 2003 09:08 AM | TrackBack
I am trying to find focus in my life as a reborn Christian. I have recently involved myself in bible study and am trying to eliminate most of the sins in my daily life. I have chosen cursing to be one of my worse and have, for the most part, eliminated it from my vocabulary. I am a student at a technical institute and am fortunate to have an instructor that I believe to be a Catholic deacon. The instructor curses daily and even curses using the Lord's name in vain. When I confront him on that, his response is "The bible sais we are all sinners, so sin boldly". Am I to believe he is correct in this matter? Am I being too judgemental 'cause I know the only judge in life is God. Thank you for listening.
Roy
Posted by: Roy at October 3, 2003 08:51 PMNo Roy you are not being judgmental! I find it hard to believe a Catholic deacon would quote Martin Luther like that! Seems like stretching pretty hard for excuse of his sins. The Bible says we have all sinned, and while we were *yet* sinners, Christ died for us. I bet you can't find a place in the N.T. where a Christian actually says the words "we are sinners." Don't Catholics believe that taking the Lord's name in vain, especially since it's one of the 10 commandments, is a "mortal sin"? Tell him he should recognize Luther's advice as being ill-conceived and misleading, and read Romans chapter 6!
Of course, it's 5 months later so you probably aren't in his class anymore =0
James
Posted by: James at January 21, 2004 02:20 AM