Here we go with the “context” arguments again. ROMANS 3 you noted
“Paul is trying to get across is that Jew and Gentile alike are sinners and in need of Christ.” Which is one of my points – We all fall short when we look for righteousness.

Romans 7 (not 6) Paul tells us that even thought he is saved, there remains the fact that sin is in these fleshly bodys

Ephesians 2 tells us that “it is a gift, not of ourselves lest we boast”

conclusion = you won’t ever be righteous enought to merit your salvation
that you are only acceptable by the imputed righteousness of Jesus Christ, by fauth in what He did at Calvary.

You asked me – “Do you believe that prayer is ineffectual? Or only that prayer for others is ineffectual? ” The Bible tells us that (James 5:16)
[color=darkred:2dvmqcoe][b:2dvmqcoe]Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.[/b:2dvmqcoe][/color:2dvmqcoe]
What is your point? Note – I certainly would not consider prayers to or for the dead to be very effectual but to God alone!

Also you Benedict, say:
[quote:2dvmqcoe]Catholics have a tendency to believe that God is a God of order and we interpret Scripture with an eye towards it, rather than a wooden interpretation that only comes through reading into the text and ignoring context.

Reason be damned if it contradicts your interpretation, right Ron? [/quote:2dvmqcoe]

To which I simply say “whatever you are selling, I am not buying it!” Why?
Because you also say
[quote:2dvmqcoe]”
Only that which is perfect can enter heaven. No matter how much we may be declared righteous, if we are not in truth righteous, we are not in truth perfect. Christ did not suffer on the cross to cover us. He suffered and died to cleanse us[/quote:2dvmqcoe]

Which brings us back to my original point of If Christ sufferd and died to cleanse us (He did) then how can you preach about purgatory? YOu never did tell us where you get that Purgatory is the application of His to us in that way. That certainly is not Biblical. But by His imputed righteuosness is because of faith in what He did – very Biblical {Start reading Romans 4:4-8 again}