Sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost, Tone 7; Leave-taking of the Feast of the Nativity of the Most Holy Mother of God; Sunday before the Exaltation of the Cross; The Holy Priest-Martyr Autonomus (284-305)
Galatians 6:11-18; John 3:13-17
Read John 3:13-17
Glory to Jesus Christ! Glory forever!
If you have ever looked at a football game or a baseball game on television, you may have noticed someone holding up a sign that simply says “John 3:16”. Why would one choose this passage over all other passages in the Bible? Because for many Evangelical Protestants, that passage is crucial and summarizes in one sentence how we are to be saved. They interpret this passage to say that all you need to do to be saved is to believe in Jesus Christ. Some Evangelicals more recently have argued that even baptism is not necessary, only faith in Jesus. This misinterpretation contradicts not only the teachings of the Catholic Church for the past 2000 years, but it even contradicts all the early Protestant reformers who believed that baptism was absolutely necessary for salvation.
The Catholic Church following the Bible teaches that we are saved by faith and good works, and not by faith alone (James 2:24). We also read in the Letter of James: “That faith without works is dead” (James 2:17).