RCIA 4: Covenants, Jesus, Salvation, Grace 4: Covenants, Jesus, - - PDF document

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RCIA

4: Covenants, Jesus, Salvation, Grace

4: Covenants, Jesus, Salvation, Grace

The Covenants of God with Us

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Covenants Chart by Dr. Scott Hahn

4: Covenants, Jesus, Salvation, Grace

The Covenants of God with Us

The Covenant with Adam & Eve

• Be “fruitful and multiply and fill the earth

and subdue it” (Gen 1:28)

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4: Covenants, Jesus, Salvation, Grace

The Covenants of God with Us

The Covenant with Noah (Gen 9:1-13)

• Be “fruitful and multiply and fill the earth”
• “Every moving thing

that lives shall be food for you”

• “Never again shall

all flesh be cut off by the waters of a flood”

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Noah's Ark Cycle: 2. Entering the Ark (1588) by Kaspar Memberger

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The Covenants of God with Us

The Covenant with Abraham

• “I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless

you and make your name great” (Gen 12:2)

• “[N]umber the stars…so shall your

descendants be (Gen 15:5)

• “I will give to you and to your descendants after

you the land in which you are now residing as aliens, the whole land of Canaan, as a permanent possession; and I will be their God.” (Gn 17:8)

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*Rembrandt, The Sacrifice of Isaac (detail Abraham), 1635

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The Covenants of God with Us

The Covenant with Moses

• “Now, therefore, if you will
• bey my voice and keep my

covenant, you shall be my

• wn possession among all

peoples… and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.” (Ex 19:4-6)

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Moses Before A Burning Bush, Domenico Fetti (ca.1589-1623 Italian), Oil On Canvas

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4: Covenants, Jesus, Salvation, Grace

The Covenants of God with Us

The Covenant with David

• “I will make for you a great name…

the Lord will make you a house… I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come forth from your body, and I will establish his Kingdom… your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before me” (2 Sm 7:9, 11-13, 16)

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David and Goliath (1542-44) by Titian

4: Covenants, Jesus, Salvation, Grace

The Covenants of God with Us

The Final and Eternal Covenant

• This final covenant of God is

w/ anyone & everyone who…

– has faith in Jesus (see Rom 5:1) – repents of his or her sins (see Acts 3:19) – is baptized (see John 3:5) – keeps his commandments (see John 14:21)

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The Last Supper (1465) by Dirk Bouts

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The Sacramental Economy

• The “providential plan”: participation in

Trinitarian life for all eternity

– The plan from the beginning… – made effective by the Paschal mystery… – effected in our lives by the life of grace… – through the liturgy and sacraments

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The Sacramental Economy

• The four reasons for the Incarnation

– saves us from sin & reconciles us to the Father – Christ shows us God’s love for us – Christ models holiness for us – Christ makes it possible for us to be partakers of the divine life

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4: Covenants, Jesus, Salvation, Grace

Jesus, the Unexpected Messiah

• “Messiah” (Heb), “Christ” (Gk): anointed one
• Awaited for more than 1,000 years
• Promised in the Garden of Eden (Gen 3:15)
• Prophets kept the Israelites aware of a coming Messiah
• Gentiles all over the world had expectations as well
• John the Baptist announces it in the NT
• Over 450 OT passages describe the promised Messiah
• Yet varied expectations even in Jesus’ own time
• And Jesus shattered religious leaders’ expectations

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4: Covenants, Jesus, Salvation, Grace

Jesus, the Unexpected Messiah

• Jesus

– More than a prophet – the Son of God – Mission: preach the Kingdom of God He came to establish – Came to bring a new spirit to the world – Healed bodies but wanted to change hearts – drive out sin – Love God first and then neighbor (even enemies) – A new Spirit (Beatitudes) to find happiness here & hereafter – Gave suffering redemptive value

• We are called to continue His work of love

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4: Covenants, Jesus, Salvation, Grace

Did Jesus Always Know He Was God?

• Christology

– True God and true man – One divine Person with two natures (divine & human) – Like us in all things but sin

• Soul, intellect, will, body

– A human creature cannot achieve a divine purpose – Knew from conception He was united to divinity – Appeared human but came to be seen as prophet, miracle worker, authority figure, wise, powerful, a king – Claimed to be able to forgive sins and to have seen Abraham (c. 2000 BC)

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Did Jesus Always Know He Was God?

Apostles

– Saw it all, growing in knowledge and understanding – Stuck with Him through rejections of Jesus – Did not expect Jesus’ Resurrection – Jesus foresaw the betrayal and denial

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Did Jesus Always Know He Was God?

• Jesus’ consciousness was given within a true,

but limited, human knowledge

– Not meant to reveal the day of His return

• Jesus submitted His human will to His Father’s

will

• “My God, my God, why hast thou

forsaken me?” (Mk 15:34, Ps 22:1)

• But then, “Father, into thy hands

I commit my spirit!” (Luke 23:46)

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https://youtu.be/UonsJlKD1vE?t=714

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Did Jesus Always Know He Was God?

• Our hearts respond with

wonder, respect, gratitude, and love

• Faith, through grace,

increased in prayer, needed to see the Son of God

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• St. Catherine of Siena

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Miracles: Proofs of Christ’s Claims

• Conception in a virginal womb -> Resurrection
• Power over nature, human body, demons,

death

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4: Covenants, Jesus, Salvation, Grace

Miracles: Proofs of Christ’s Claims

• Miracles

– For the good of the people – To prove his power was extraordinary – Lack of faith an obstacle to His power

• Empowered disciples, saints,

Mary to work miracles, as well

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Did Jesus Have to Suffer and Die?

• Finite creatures cannot make adequate

atonement to an infinite God

– In God’s plan that was God Himself – Jesus

• The Second Person of the Trinity freely chose this
• He took upon Himself all sins from the first to the last

– God wanted to clearly demonstrate…

• the horror of sin
• His love for us

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4: Covenants, Jesus, Salvation, Grace

Did Jesus Have to Suffer and Die?

• Jesus suffering and death was the reason for His

incarnation

• Jesus, the new Adam

– Obedience to the Father’s will reversed Adam’s disobedience – Resistance to temptation reversed Adam’s faithlessness – Humiliating death reversed Adam’s pride – Victory over death brought on by Adam’s sin

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Did Jesus Have to Suffer and Die?

Now, opportunity to unite our sufferings with Christ’s

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Justification

• The purpose of human existence is to share in

the very life of God by becoming members of His divine family

• The promised Redeemer would restore us to

the full measure of divine friendship

• The grace of the Holy Spirit, flowing from the

power of the Redemption, justifies us

• Read Romans 6:3-4

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Justification

• Justification: restoration of sinners to friendship

with God so that He may adopt them into His divine life

– A new creation, fully released from the bondage of sin and death – To be justified, a sinner must undergo a free conversion

• f heart which turns him or her away from sin and

toward God – We are not justified against our will – we can turn against God after Baptism – We are admonished to “work out [our] own salvation with fear and trembling” (Phil 2:12)

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Once Saved, Always Saved?

• God’s grace is never in opposition to human

freedom

• “Once saved, always saved?”

– Not according to Scripture (see handout)

• God has a way for us

to receive forgiveness for serious sins

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Good Works

Justification is Not the Result of Our Own Efforts

• Romans 11:6; 4:4-8

– God’s favor and forgiveness are the result of God’s grace not our own efforts – God initiates the process

• f conversion

Paul writing his epistles by Valentin de Boulogne (1591-1632)

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Good Works

We Cannot “Earn” God’s Favor

• We must have faith and trust in God
• No right to merit – God gives us everything

– Rom 3:20-28

• Justification by grace thru our redemption by

Jesus

– Begins at Baptism

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Good Works

Good Works are Essential Part of the Christian Life

• “For he will render to every man according to his

works” (Romans 2:6)

• A requirement of the Christian life

– Witness, manifest the truth of our faith – “So faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead” (Jas 2:17) – Faith, hope, and love are all needed (CCC 1815)

• Good done by a believer is

thru God’s, not our, initiative

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Good Works

We’re Rewarded as God’s Children, Not as Servants

• Purely God’s grace, thru Baptism, that brings

us into God’s family

• We are expected to obey the commandments

– Love God and neighbor – We don’t earn our place but can lose it thru sin – Merits of our good works are gifts of divine goodness (CCC 2009)

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Good Works

Our Merit Comes Through Christ’s Salvific Action

• “By Jesus’ redemptive suffering and death on

the cross, all our good actions take on the merit he earned for us.”

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4: Covenants, Jesus, Salvation, Grace

Good Works

We are Rewarded on the Basis of Our Good Works, Not Our Faith Alone

• Thru God’s gift of free will we can cooperate

with His initiative

• “God has freely chosen to associate man with

the work of his grace” (CCC 2008)

• Heaven is a reward from God to His children

for their response to His love

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Grace

• Grace: the gift of God Himself

– Undeserved – Allows us to respond to his call to become children

• f God
• Free to accept or reject but grace helps us to accept

– A real sharing in and communion with the Trinity

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Grace

• Sanctifying grace

– Primarily God’s work – Received at Baptism – Soul changed – Enables believer to live according to the Gospel

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4: Covenants, Jesus, Salvation, Grace

Grace

• Sacramental graces

– All the sacraments have particular effects according to their individual purpose

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Grace

• Actual grace

– Help for particular circumstances

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4: Covenants, Jesus, Salvation, Grace

Grace and Conversion

• Errors

– Pelagius (5th c.): salvation can be achieved by man’s efforts alone – Luther (16th c.): entirely corrupt human nature

• Mind incapable of knowing truth
• Will no longer free but only capable of sin

– Jansenism (17th c.): promoted moral rigorism

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4: Covenants, Jesus, Salvation, Grace

Grace and Conversion

Conversion

– The first work of grace – Turning away from sin – Turning toward God – Brings about forgiveness – Brings about sanctification – An ongoing process

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Bernardo Strozzi 1581 – 1644, The Conversion of Zacchaeus,

• il on canvas (Museum Musée des beaux-arts, Nantes)

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Conversion to Jesus Christ

• Examples from Scripture

– The paralytic lowered through the roof (Mk 2:1-12) – The woman at the well (John 4:25-30) – The woman caught in adultery (John 8:10-11) – The man blind from birth (John 9:1-15) – The convict crucified with Christ (Lk 23:39-45)

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Woman Caught in Adultery, John Martin Borg, 2002

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Conversion to Jesus Christ

Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, [then] I will enter his house and dine with him, and he with me. (Rev 3:20)

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