Erasmus: works do not make you pious

Wednesday, July 25, 2018
    Feast of James the Apostle
Meditation:
    Therefore let us stop passing judgment on one another. Instead, make up your mind not to put any stumbling block or obstacle in your brother’s way. As one who is in the Lord Jesus, I am fully convinced that no food is unclean in itself. But if anyone regards something as unclean, then for him it is unclean. If your brother is distressed because of what you eat, you are no longer acting in love. Do not by your eating destroy your brother for whom Christ died.
    —Romans 14:13-15
Quotation:
    Paul does not forbid you to use rites and ceremonies, but it is not his wish that he who is free in Christ should be bound by them. He does not condemn the law of works if only one use it lawfully. Without these things perhaps you will not be pious; but they do not make you pious.
    ... Desiderius Erasmus (1466?-1536), in A History of Christian Thought, v. II [1932], A. C. McGiffert, New York, London: C. Scribner’s sons, 1960, p. 387 (see the book)
    See also Rom. 14:13-15,21; 1 Cor. 8:7-13; Eph. 2:8,9
Quiet time reflection:
    Am I honoring some religious practices above love and consideration for the brethren? CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
    search    script    mobile
sub    fb    twt    Jonah    Ruth