You raise some interesting concepts. I'll do my best to address them, since I disagree with what you wrote.
--> I think what Luther did backfired. You all lost the fundamentals of the True Church of our Lord.
Christians lost nothing that is fundamental to salvation, nor to Christian maturity. All of this is contained in inspired Scripture.
--> How many thousands and thousands of souls were misled?
Zero. But billions have been lied to by Rome.
--> Thank goodness for Purgatory.
Never in Scripture.
--> Words. The Protestants use Words. In the True Church we have the Real presence of Chris.
Saved Christians are indwelt by the the Holy Spirit, sealed by Him, raised, have assurance of salvation, and eagerly await our reunion. The Lord's Supper, which I assume you refer to by using the phrase, "Real Presence", is to be done in remembrance until He returns. Until then, His real presence is with us and He says He will never desert us nor forsake us.
I would add that there are three Christian views about this outside of Romanism:
1. It is a "bare memorial", meaning just an ordered rememberance.
2. The Lord is present in the sacrament.
3. The Lord is more physically present.
Belief in any of these is not required for salvation. And you will find saved Christians who believe each of these. That's perfectly fine.
"In Essentials Unity, In Non-Essentials Liberty, In All Things Charity."
--> Sad for yous, all you have are words.
Oh, no. Not just words.
Christ Himself, co-heirs with Christ, seated in the heavenlies with Christ. sealed until we are redeemed by the Holy Spirit, forgiven of all sins - past, present, future, we have the imputed righteousness of Christ, we have assurance of salvation, we have the life of the Holy Spirit, we have His guidance, comfort, relationship. We know Him. We have an actual relationship.
As a former Catholic, altar boy, confirmed, etc., I came to saving faith in Christ in college. I know Him.
There is nothing I would give up in Him to go back to a system of paganism mixed with Christianity, of useless works and rituals that cannot save, nor to the Roman Hamster Wheel of Guilt.
Salvation comes not through any church, but through entrusting yourself to Him alone, by faith, apart from ritual, church, works, etc.
Never regretted coming to Him for a millisecond
Would never go back to pagan Rome and give up Christ and salvation.
Do you know you have salvation, now? If not, it is sad for you. I do. Hundreds of millions of believers do.
We are saved by God’s grace alone (through faith). Abandon any reliance upon yourself. Self-righteousness won’t do any good.
“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith-and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God- not by works, so that no one can boast.” (Ephesians 2:8-9)
“And if by grace, then it is no longer by works; if it were, grace would no longer be grace.” (Romans 11:6)
At least four reasons why this is true:
1) If it were by works and we could boast about having something to do with our own salvation, that means God would be sharing his glory with the creation. That’s not a God I would want.
2) If it were by works and we could boast about having something to do with our own salvation, that introduces pride. And God resists the proud.
3) If it were by works and we could boast about having something to do with our own salvation, it would mean that Christ’s sacrifice on the cross, was insufficient. It wasn’t enough. This is called heresy (departure from the truth). The Bible says He died once, for all. And his last words on the cross were, “It is finished”.
4) If it were by works and we could boast about having something to do with our own salvation, it means we could never have assurance of our salvation. Because no one can say how much works is enough. Don’t trust in your own self-righteousness. You can NEVER be righteous enough. It requires perfection. Therefore, it is futile and impossible. However, the Bible states multiple places that you CAN have assurance. But that assurance is based on God’s promise through Christ’s atoning blood sacrifice on the cross.
