Most of us overlook a key point about The Crucifixion: Jesus was raised up by idol-worshipers. God is so powerful that satan and his demons must obey Him. The Crucifixion also lets us know that every non-Catholic allegiance is to earthly powers.
The miraculous mystery: Those who worshiped earthly entities were the ones who raised Jesus above themselves.
As Jesus prepared to be raised above them by those who chose to stay below, He made clear that He was not there to save such souls as bound themselves to earth. John 17:9 is clear: “I am not praying for the world but for those You have given me.”
The sanest questions that may be asked: “Am I obedient enough to be among those for whom Jesus is praying? Am I obedient enough to be one of those whom The Father has given to Jesus?”
Obedient Catholics know:
1. We are in The Only Church He Founded when He said one time to one man: “Verily, verily I say unto you thou art Peter and on this rock I build My Church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. I give you the keys to The Kingdom of Heaven.” Therefore, those ordained in living link with His Disciples have access to “the keys to The Kingdom of Heaven” that they provide to obedient Catholics.
2. Our sins have been forgiven by the only people whom Jesus empowered to do. Who told the Peter, and the Disciples on whom His Church would be built, to provide forgiveness to obedient Catholics for the generations to come: John 20:22-23, “Receive The Holy Spirit. For those whose sins you forgive, they are forgiven; for those whose sins you retain, they are retained.”
3. After our sins are forgiven (Pastor Bobs demean Absolution because Jesus didn’t give them that power) we are allowed to be on the right side of another of Jesus’ Separating Commands, this one He emphatically repeated half-a-dozen times in the verses leading up to John 6:66, “If you do not eat My Body and drink My Blood you do not have life in you.” (Pastor Bobs don’t like that, either.)
Who, but obedient Catholics, are “given” to Jesus? Many men and women of good will do love God and their neighbors but do not, through no conscious decision of their own, know enough truth about The Only Church Jesus Founded to be in it. They may be among those for whom Jesus says He is “praying“.
Still, it is safest to be an obedient Catholic.
