Is Jesus the one and only Mediator? One Mediator....of What? 1 Timothy 2:5: For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus Hebrews 9: 15: Therefore he is the mediator of a new covenant, so that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance, since a death has occurred which redeems them from the transgressions under the first covenant. Hebrews 12:24: and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks more graciously than the blood of Abel (**NOTE - Jesus is the one mediator of the new covenant, the mediator between God the Father and man, which did away with all of the Old Testament ritualistic works and animal sacrifices. Many Protestants confuse this phrase one mediator with intercessory prayer, which Paul says is a very good thing in 1 Timothy 1:2-3. Asking a very much alive Saint (Luke 20:38) to pray for you has absolutely NOTHING to do with the one mediator of the New Covenant scripture. Saints, as well as people on earth, can lead us to Jesus Christ, who then leads us to God our Father. Romans 8:38-39 says that not even death can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus, and that would include the prayers of saints in heaven.) “It is forbidden to pray to the saints. You can only pray to God. The saints are dead, and it is forbidden to contact the dead. Besides that, in 1 Timothy 2:5, the Word of God says that there is ONE Mediator between God and man, Jesus Christ.” Then you say… In Genesis 30:14, it says, “Then Rachel said to Leah, Give me, Ipray, some of your sons mandrakes. In Genesis 40:8, the bible says that Joseph prayed to his fellow captives as follows: “They said to him, We have had dreams, and there is no one to interpret them. And Joseph said to them, Do not interpretations belong to God? Tell them to me, I pray you. To pray means merely to ask; it does not mean to talk to God only. Look it up in the dictionary. In 2 Maccabees 15:13-14, the dead Jeremiah appears to Judas Maccabees and it says that he prays much for the people of Israel. The saints are not dead, they are alive. Jesus says that God is not the God of the dead, but of the living (Matthew 22:32). Paul says that we are surrounded by a cloud of witnesses, in Hebrews 12:1. Witnesses have to be alive in order to testify on our behalf to the supreme judge. In Revelation 6:10, we learn that the saints in heaven know what is going on down here on earth. In Luke 16:24, we learn that dead people in hell can communicate with the very dead Abraham. In Mark 9:4, the dead Moses and Elijah appear to Jesus and communicate with Him regarding his exodus from earth. People who believe that being dead in the body is also dead in the soul are called atheists, not Christians. It would be sinful to conjure up a dead person, like Saul did with Samuel (1 Samuel 28:14), in order to gain hidden knowledge (Deuteronomy 18:10-12). But asking for intercession (1 Timothy 2:1) from live, holy people is very biblical, due to the power they have (James 5:16, 2 Peter 1:4). Revelation 5:8 and 8:3 plainly state that the saints and angels present our prayers to God in the form of incense. Saints pray alongside of us to Jesus as our intercessors. They do not stand between us and God. And they can pray for us when we are asleep, 24/7. There is indeed one mediator between God and man, and that is Jesus Christ. And what is He the mediator of? Paul says in Hebrews 9:15 and Hebrews 12:24 that Jesus is the mediator of THE NEW COVENANT, not prayer. Intercession in prayer does not equate to being the mediator of the New Covenant; they are 2 entirely different things. The saints are equal to the angels, and are His sons, according to Luke 20:35-36. John 17:20-23 says that the saints are one with God, and that He has given them HIS glory. Heretics take out of context the following Bible verse to try to prove that between men and Jesus there are no mediators, such as the Blessed Virgin Mary, good angels, the Catholic Church, saints, and other Catholics: “There is one God: and one mediator of God and men, the man Christ Jesus.” (1 Timothy 2:5) Jesus is the one mediator between men and God the Father. However, Jesus never said that there would be no mediators between men and Him, God the Son. Many Bible verses prove that the Catholic Church and Catholics mediate between men and Jesus. Jesus tells men to hear His Church, the Catholic Church: “If he will not hear the church, let him be to thee as the heathen and publican.” (Mt. 18:17) If Jesus were the only mediator, then He would be contradicting Himself by telling men that they must hear and obey His Catholic Church. If men must hear and obey the Catholic Church to be saved, it follows that men must hear and obey the rulers of the Catholic Church. Indeed, Jesus tells men that they cannot come directly to Him but must go to the apostles and their successors as mediators to learn about Him and what they must believe and do to be saved. Before Jesus ascended into heaven, He commissioned His apostles to teach, rule, sanctify, and heal in His name. Jesus said to the apostles, “Go ye into the whole world and preach the gospel to every creature… and these signs shall follow them that believe: In my name they shall cast out devils… They shall lay their hands upon the sick: and they shall recover.” (Mk. 16:15-18) “Going therefore, teach ye all nations… Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and behold I am with you all days, even to the consummation of the world.” (Mt. 28:19-20) Notice that Jesus is not just giving this authority and power to the original apostles but also to their faithful successors (Catholic bishops) until the consummation of the world. Christ is so intimately united to the apostles and their faithful successors that Jesus says to them, “He that heareth you, heareth me; and he that despiseth you, despiseth me; and he that despiseth me, despiseth him that sent me.” (Lk. 10:16) If Jesus is the only mediator, He should have told men to come directly to Him only and thus to hear, obey, be sanctified, and be healed only by Him directly. Nicky Gregorius Josef Laubach
Posted on: Wed, 17 Sep 2014 18:58:50 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015