Then the Catholic argued, "Trusting God means trusting those He sends. He sent Christ so we trust Christ. Christ sent people (disciples) so we trust also the disciples (John 17:18 & John 20:21). Belief in Christ does not negate belief to the rest of the household of God. The Head is part of the Body. Therefore, belief & love for Christ is never "alone", it must extend or mirror to those whom Christ loves (primarily those who with Him in his heavenly family)."
The Protestant quoted the context of the quote, "There is nowhere else we ought to look for our salvation than in Christ. You cannot trust Christ truly unless you trust Christ alone. No matter how much you boast of Christ or talk of your love for Christ or passion for Christ, if you add anything to Christ, your boasting and love and passion are all in vain. There is no "both-and" with Jesus, only "either-or." Either Jesus is the only Savior [John 14:6], the perfect Savior, and your only comfort in life and in death, or Jesus is for you no Savior at all."
The Catholic responded, "It is not adding in the salvation or sufficiency of Christ but more on the aspect of trusting Christ so much that you must also trust those whom he sends. God is love but He does not point or exclude others to be loved that's why Christ has 2 commandments namely Love God & love others. The problem with that view is it is reductionist. It reduces the Christian idea of salvation based on love. It makes it individualistic (disregarding others). The complete picture of salvation is "communion", community, fellowship, church, FAMILY. This is an example of what I am saying.... (Matthew 10:40) "He who receives you receives me, and he who receives me receives him who sent me." Faith in Christ is not a private privilege or exclusive of others. Faith in Christ is inclusive & it logically includes to those whom he favors or sends."
The Protestant, "Your taking it out of context... I cant post the whole book here...the text is about Jesus being the Savior and salvation is found in Him alone (Acts 4:12)..."
The Catholic, "However, the Protestant approach in salvation is individualistic & most of the time simplistic to the point that it contradicts the entirety of the Scriptures... Everything is centered in Christ but those who are drawn to Christ are necessarily drawn to each other. Salvation is communion with Christ at the center."
Flawed as I am, I want to make a comment but this, "Answer not a fool, lest I become one." Therefore, I just want to make a statement here.
To take both points:
1) Trusting God means trusting those whom He sends.
First of all, people are sinners and fail. If we trust people, we are open for disappointments because people do fail. Whom God sends: family, friends, mentors, even enemies. As a reflection in the Book of Judges that God no longer removed Canaan from Israel to test them, punish them, and teach them. God sent people to test us for faithfulness, do we trust Him or people? God sent people (good or bad) to teach us a lesson, to bring about obedience to God. God sent people to mold us, to strengthen us for His purpose.
Jesus, though the Father gave him people who would believe Him, did not trust in man for He knew man's nature is sinful. (John 17; John 2:23-25)
To whom did Adam trust? He trusted himself and his wife, they fell and disobeyed God.
To whom did Abraham trust? He trusted himself and his wife, they disobeyed and manipulated God's plan.
To whom did Samson trust? He trusted himself and Delilah who took his strength and gave him to the Philistines.
To whom did Solomon trust? He trusted himself and all "good things", he was puffed up and forsook God.
By this definition that "trusting God means trusting those whom He sends", things look filthy and messy, all disappointments.
2) Trusting God alone and only Him.
We can still trust people but not so much that our trust is reliant on them than God. Trusting God is knowing who God is, His Character. When we trust a person, we usually first know the person before we begin to trust Him. But trusting man apart from trusting God alone, that's similar to point #2. But trusting man is not the same as trusting God, because man is, again, sinful and fails. God is the Creator, King, Father, Lord, and Ruler of us. He is all sufficient, complete, perfect, faithful, and everlasting.
Our Catholic friend here says that this is individualistic, simplistic, and reductionistic. I wonder why people want complicated things and make it the ultimate truth, because simple things are hard to understand in limited minds. Loving God and loving others is not like two commandments made into one. God said to love Him with all our heart, mind, soul, and strength. When we learn, with the Holy Spirit's enabling, to love God, loving others come naturally to us, which loving others comes from God too. The foundation of love, trust/faith is God who has given this enabling to us through the Holy Spirit. It is not even individualistic, because we are trusting God to do what He oughts us to do or will to do according to His 2nd commandment about others, which is stretched into the 4th to 10th commandment in the Ten Commandments.
Trusting God alone is not reductionistic, we're not reducing what the Bible says. My friend is connecting a puzzle, though it fits, does not make the picture. He is actually adding the principle of the Scriptures because the Bible doesn't say anything what my friend is saying.
To whom did Moses trust? If he trusted the people God entrusted him, he's bound for failure. If he trusted his siblings, he's also bound for failure. Therefore, a servant of the Lord, Moses trusted God alone.
To whom did David trust? If he trusted Saul, he might have not become King because Saul betrayed him and killed him. David trusted Jonathan, true, but David trusted God more. When a sleeping Saul was brought into David's hands because he's the next King, David didn't kill him because God appointed Saul, therefore David had no power to kill Saul except God. David trusted God alone, yet He became King as God promised.
To whom did Jesus trust? If Jesus trusted his disciples, could we have Jesus today? Jesus' disciples left him.
To whom did Paul trust? His friends even left him.
3) Conclusion
Therefore, to whom do we trust? But in God alone. Salvation comes in God alone. Ephesians 2:8 says, "For by grace you have been saved (salvation) through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God." (emphasis mine) Salvation comes from God. Grace comes from God. Faith/Trust comes from God. No man gives another man salvation, grace, and faith.
Though man is sent by God to bring another man to Christ, that doesn't mean the man has the power to give salvation, grace, and faith. God entrusted him, but the Holy Spirit does the work through the man.
I have spiritual parents who bore me to faith, that doesn't mean they gave me faith. Romans 10:17, "Faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ." God gave me that faith through my spiritual parents who taught His Word to me, who led me to know God. Trusting God by trusting whom He sends is not it. Trusting God because He is God who provides, who loves, who cares, who is Father, who is King, who is Savior, who is Lord, who is what we are not, is different from "Trusting God means trusting whom He sends." It may mean that my Catholic friend here doesn't know God.
Matthew 11:29-30, "Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light." Simple, God didn't say, "Take my yoke because it's complicated."
