Sacred Scripture and Outside the Church There is NO Salvation

Catholic Family News ^ | June 2004 | Jacob Michael

[AskStPhilomena]

Extra Ecclesiam Nulla Salus: outside the Church, there is no salvation. This “hard saying” has been consistently taught as a dogma of the Faith from the very inception of the Church — affirmed by the Gospels and epistles, insisted on by the early Church Fathers, and later solemnly defined in holy councils and papal statements.

Naturally, it is the primary dogma being attacked today, because the modern Creed of the unwashed masses (and that includes liberal Protestants and Catholics) has only one article of faith: I believe in tolerance and respect for every religion.

In an age where truth is said to be relative, where “what’s right for you is right for you, what’s right for me is right for me,” and where intolerance is the only mortal sin, the dogma that says “Outside the Church there is no salvation” sticks out like a sore thumb.

“How intolerant! How exclusivist! You mean to tell me that you think your religion has a monopoly on truth? That only Catholics have it all right?”

“No one religion has a monopoly on truth — every religion has some truth, and every religion has some error. We’re only humans, after all, and it’s unrealistic to think that any one group could be entirely free from misconceptions about Who God is and what He expects of us.”

“In the end, God is not going to give us theological entrance exams before we can get into Heaven — we’ll be judged on how we treated the sick, the hungry, the poor, and not on how correct our theology was. It doesn’t matter what you believe, just how you act.”

Do those words sound at all familiar? They certainly sound familiar to me, because those are the very words that came out of my mouth on a fairly regular basis some five-or-so years ago. Those words summarize the overwhelmingly, universally accepted understanding of religion and faith — just do whatever makes you feel good, and don’t judge anyone else.

What saith the Scriptures? Are all religions equal? Does it really matter what you believe? Is there a dichotomy between the Christ you worship and the Church to which you belong? Some say that faith in Christ is all that matters, not what denomination you belong to — as though Christ is over here in this category, and the Church is over there in that category, as sort of an irrelevant aside.

As I have written in past articles, the Gospel is more than just “Christ on the Cross.” The Gospel is the restoration of the kingdom of David — which kingdom is the Catholic Church — and the Cross is the royal enthronement of Our King.

There is no need to restate all of the proofs that I have written about before — I will simply stipulate that the Church (and a proper understanding of the Church) is absolutely central to the Gospel.

What does Scripture teach us about the necessity of belonging to the Church, or about the dogma “outside the Church there is no salvation”?

We may begin with the passage from St. Matthew’s Gospel, which every Catholic should know by heart:

“And I say to thee: That thou art Peter; and upon this rock I will build My Church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” (Matt. 16:18)

This is a singular point: there are two kingdoms, and only two. One is the kingdom of God (the Church) and the other is the kingdom of Satan. If you do not belong to one, you belong to the other, as Our Lord implied:

“He that is not with Me is against Me; and he that gathereth not with Me scattereth.” (Luke 11:23)

This verse puts the lie to the false sentiment that all denominations (Lutheran, Baptist, Catholic, Presbyterian, Methodist, Episcopalian, Anglican, Congregational, Free Methodist, etc.) are equally doing the work of Christ and furthering the spread of the kingdom. If they are not part of the one Church that Christ founded (and He did say that He would build His “Church,” singular, not “churches”), then they scatter against Him and do not gather with Him.

This understanding is so critical, yet so misunderstood and ignored by so- called “bible Christians” (and many Catholics) in our day. From the very beginning, Christ founded only one Church, and entrusted to it, in the words of St. Paul:

“... one faith, one baptism.” (Eph. 4:5)

The utter uniqueness of this Church should be beyond debate. We have thus far seen nothing but singularity: one Church, one faith, one baptism. There is no room here for multiple “churches” teaching multiple disparate doctrines.

So important is holding fast to this “one faith,” that Our Lord, St. Paul, and St. John all admonish us to steer clear of those who would tamper with the faith, and to consider them, not as Christian equals, but as pagans:

“And if he will not hear the church, let him be to thee as the heathen and publican.” (Matt. 18:17)

“A man that is a heretic, after the first and second admonition, avoid.” (Titus 3:10)

“If any man come to you and bring not this doctrine, receive him not into the house nor say to him: God speed you.” (2 John 10)

“But though we, or an Angel from Heaven, preach a gospel to you besides that which we have preached to you, let him be anathema.” (Gal. 1:8)

Is this exclusivist and intolerant? Absolutely — but why would you expect anything different? Is this not the very nature of God, and are not these sentiments — written by the Apostles — the very same as those of the God Who said:

“I the Lord, this is My name: I will not give My glory to another ...” (Is. 42:8)

“For I am the Lord thy God, a jealous God ...” (Dt. 5:9)

“The Lord His name is jealous, He is a jealous God.” (Ex. 34:14)

From the absolute uniqueness and singularity of God, there springs forth an absolutely exclusive truth, revealed unto men by an absolutely unique and singular Divine Man, and entrusted exclusively to His singular and unique Church. Or, to trace it backwards, there is only one faith, found in one Church, with one baptism, entrusted to the Church by Her one Lord, the one and only-begotten Son of the One True God. To introduce diversity at any point in this catena is to destroy the whole.

And what of the “one baptism”? This, too, is a testament to the necessity of belonging to the one true Church. How are we incorporated into this Church?

“For in one Spirit were we all baptized into one body ...” (1 Cor. 12:13)

It is through the sacrament of that “one baptism” that we are made members of the One Church. And of this baptism, it is said:

“He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved ...” (Mark 16:16)

“Amen, amen, I say to thee, unless a man be born again of water and the Holy Ghost, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.” (John 3:5)

To say that one must be baptized for salvation is to say that one must be inside the Church to be saved, for baptism is what incorporates us into the Church. If baptism is necessary for salvation, and the Church is necessary for baptism, then the Church is necessary for salvation, and being “outside the Church” is to endanger one’s eternal soul.

We need look no further than the prophecy of Daniel to find some identifying marks of this one Church:

“... the stone that struck the statue became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth ... the God of Heaven will set up a kingdom that shall never by destroyed, and His kingdom shall not be delivered up to another people: and it shall break in pieces, and shall consume all these kingdoms: and itself shall stand for ever.” (Dan. 2:35, 44)

In these two verses, the prophet Daniel reveals to us all at once the visibility, universality, and immutability of the true Church. Visibility, because this kingdom fills “the whole earth” and is as “a great mountain” — who has ever heard of a mountain that was so great as to fill the entire earth and yet remain invisible? Universality, because this kingdom fills “the whole earth,” and conquers over “all these kingdoms” of the earth. Immutability, because this kingdom “shall stand forever.”

What more proof do we need that the Catholic Church is the one true Church of Christ? Has there ever been another Church that has filled the whole earth, that has been visible for all to see, that had its inception during the days of the Roman Empire (Daniel says this kingdom will be established “in the days of those kingdoms,” the last of which was the Roman Empire in the 1st Century), and that has remained upon the earth ever since that time?

Does anyone require still further proof that the Church which was founded in the Apostolic times was, in fact, the Catholic Church?

Then hear Pope St. Clement of Rome (d. A.D. 98/101) who says that in this Church the Apostles “knew, through our Lord Jesus Christ, that there would be strife on account of the office of the bishop,” and so they “appointed those [ministers] already mentioned, and afterwards gave instructions, that when these should fall asleep, other approved men should succeed them in their ministry.” (Letter to the Corinthians, XLIV)

Hear the account of the Martyrdom of St. Polycarp (d. A.D. 155), after which the Christians “took up his bones, as being more precious than the most exquisite jewels … and deposited them in a fitting place, whither, being gathered together … the Lord shall grant us to celebrate the anniversary of his martyrdom.” (The Martyrdom of St. Polycarp, XVIII)

Hear St. Ignatius of Antioch (d. A.D. 107), who calls the Holy Eucharist the “medicine of immortality, and the antidote which prevents us from dying, but a cleansing remedy driving away evil, [which causes] that we should live in God through Jesus Christ.” (Epistle to the Ephesians, XX)

Hear the same St. Ignatius tell us, “As therefore the Lord does nothing without the Father ... so do ye, neither presbyter, nor deacon, nor layman, do anything without the bishop,” and hear him exhort us, “Do ye all, as one man, run together into the temple of God, as unto one altar, to one Jesus Christ, the High Priest of the unbegotten God.” (Epistle to the Magnesians, VII)

Hear St. Justin Martyr explain the early rites of Baptism, in which sinners “are brought by us where there is water, and are regenerated in the same manner in which we were ourselves regenerated ... in order that we may not remain the children of necessity and of ignorance, but may become the children of choice and knowledge, and may obtain in the water the remission of sins formerly committed.” (First Apology, LXI)

Hear the same St. Justin Martyr (d. A.D. 130) explain the early Eucharistic Sacrifice, “of which no one is allowed to partake but the man who believes that the things which we teach are true, and who has been washed with the washing that is for the remission of sins.” He tells us that “not as common bread and common drink do we receive these, but ... we [have] been taught that the food which is blessed by the prayer of His word … is the flesh and blood of that Jesus who was made flesh.” (First Apology, LXVI)

Hear St. Irenaeus of Lyons (d. A.D. 202), who says that heretics “object to tradition, saying that they themselves are wiser not merely than the presbyters, but even than the apostles, because they have discovered the unadulterated truth,” and that “these men do now consent neither to Scripture nor to tradition.” (Against Heresies, Book III, II, 2)

Finally, hear this same St. Irenaeus tell us that we may “put to confusion all those who ... assemble in unauthorized meetings, by indicating that tradition derived from the apostles, of the very great, the very ancient, and universally known Church founded and organized at Rome by the two most glorious apostles, Peter and Paul,” and that “it is a matter of necessity that every Church should agree with this Church, on account of its preeminent authority.” (Against Heresies, Book III, III, 2)

All of these writings date back as early as the late 1st Century, and none of them are dated later than the late 2nd Century. Who can observe these facts and deny that the Apostolic Church was anything but Catholic, both in belief and in practice? I submit to you that only the most bereft of good will and intellectual honesty can read these writings and still not conclude that the Holy Catholic Church is the one true Church.

This is the “faith once delivered to the saints” that St. Jude referred to, the detractors of which “have perished in the contradiction of Core.” (Jude 3, 11) You may remember that Core raised up a rebellion against God’s appointed vicar (Moses), reasoning that “all the multitude consisteth of holy ones, and the Lord is among them: Why lift you up yourselves above the people of the Lord?” (Num. 16:3) For this rebellion against the divinely constituted authority, the earth opened up and swallowed Core and his band, who all “went down alive into hell, the ground closing upon them.” (vs. 31-33)

Is there salvation outside the Church? Ask Core and his followers, or ask St. Jude, who compared the detractors of the Holy Faith to Core, and promised them a similar fate.

No, it is a dogma of the faith, well attested by Scripture, that there is only one Church, which is entered into by one baptism, and which professes only one faith. Those who reject this Church necessarily reject the “one faith,” and are declared by St. Paul to be “heretics” who are “anathema”.

Yes, it is an intolerant and exclusive position, but it is divinely revealed truth, which is ours to adhere to and not to alter. The Church is exclusive, and salvation is difficult to obtain, as Our Lord taught:

“And a certain man said to him: Lord, are they few that are saved? But He said to them: Strive to enter by the narrow gate: for many, I say to you, shall seek to enter and shall not be able.” (Luke 13:23-24)

We may conclude with the words of The Athanasian Creed written in the 4th Century, words that express the unchanging truth regarding the Catholic Church:

“Whosoever will be saved, before all things it is necessary that he hold the Catholic faith; Which faith except every one do keep whole and undefiled, without doubt he shall perish everlastingly.”

[conservonator]

I doubt your interpration of Peter.

[asformeandformyhouse]

The Church was growing and thriving before the New Testament was ever codified, and it was the Catholic Church that codified it.

And to think all this time I thought the Holy Spirit gave us the scriptures! The letters had already been in circulation among the churches for some time. Regardless of what some of the 'DaVinci-coder types' might want us to believe, there was little argument over what was scriptural and what was not. True, some books may have been on the border (the book of Enoch for example), but those that were don't seem to me to add too much to the mix nor do they contradict what was already certain.

The Catholic Church is the Church of the apostles.

Upon this we must respectfully disagree.

[Quester]

I doubt your interpration of Peter.

Can you present a different interpretation of this passage of Peter's ?

(Note that I presented no interpretation - only Peter's own words)

[conservonator]

Is that the only definition? Did Christ establish a visible Church, and institution to preserve truth and guide the flock? Or did he establish a loose federation of "believers" that can't agree on anything, use different names to describe themselves, reject portions of scripture that give them problems and interpret other sections to fit their notions of what salvation, church, Christ, faith, works, etc mean.

[conservonator]

I don't see how this passage bolsters your position.

[asformeandformyhouse]

Please note I said "codified." I did not save "gave". I know we can agree on the Divine Source

Duly noted.

[conservonator]

Matthew 16:18-19

18 And so I say to you, you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church, 13 and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it. 19 I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven. 14 Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven."

Christ's words.

[Quester]

I don't see how this passage bolsters your position.

What position ?

You asked for a definition of the church.

I gave you 'Peter's definition'.

[DAVEY CROCKETT]

True...
have done more to doom more people to hell than all the traditions of the pharisees of Jesus time--against which Christ railed so vehemently

traditions= works...
John 14:[5] Thomas said to him, "Lord, we do not know where you are going; how can we know the way?"
[6] Jesus said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but by me.
[7] If you had known me, you would have known my Father also; henceforth you know him and have seen him."

I believe sometimes when we try and take a verse or verses to prove a point we miss the obvious.

Religion is a man made institute. In the beginning GOD spoke directly to Adam followed along by Noah soon to be followed by Abraham on to Joseph and others till we come to Moses. Whom GOD also spoke directly to by prayer and worship. Not in a church with traditions. Now go along a little further and the Exodus and the people wanted to speak to GOD themselves and look what happened...
Exodus 20:[18] Now when all the people perceived the thunderings and the lightnings and the sound of the trumpet and the mountain smoking, the people were afraid and trembled; and they stood afar off,
[19] and said to Moses, "You speak to us, and we will hear; but let not God speak to us, lest we die."
[20] And Moses said to the people, "Do not fear; for God has come to prove you, and that the fear of him may be before your eyes, that you may not sin."
So this is the beginning of organized worship. (I wish GOD would talk to me this directly.) We get laws and offerings for sin. This worked for many many years.

Forward in time the people wanted a king for a ruler and on it goes. Which brings us to JESUS that said,[6] Jesus said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but by me. This verse says nothing about tradition or church. But all who believe this in there heart (which only GOD knows) will go to heaven.

Now as someone develops this relationship with GOD through JESUS they will want very badly to follow the New Testament as best they can. Which is a grand mixture of examples for daily life applications in a million different ways.

[Robert Drobot]

In this age of rampant ecumania (i.e. indifferentism), it's good to hear some Catholic Truth

Amen and Amen!!!

[conservonator]

Sorry, I confused you and Quix. Too many "Q"'s. So is that the one and only definition of Church then? Is that you point?

[redeemed_by_His_blood]

He didn't ordain the Roman church to be THE church, that is for sure.

[Quix]

I'm increasingly convinced God talks to all of us--at least Believers--directly.

Cultivating a capacity to discern, hear him over our own noise and satan's inpu is a process.

But HE SAID

HIS SHEEP KNEW HIS VOICE. Who am I or who are we to argue!

I agree with your statements about works and tradition etc.!

Great Doc. I hope you've posted it or will.

[William Terrell]

By elect, you mean the 12,000 from each of the tribes of Israel, which is the only Biblical definition of "elect" I know of?

[DAVEY CROCKETT]

I'm increasingly convinced God talks to all of us--at least Believers--directly.

Cultivating a capacity to discern, hear him over our own noise and satan's inpu is a process
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
TRUTH on both accounts. But wouldn't you like to see a burning bush?

[Quester]

Matthew 16:18 And so I say to you, you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it.

19 I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven."

Christ's words.

And so it is.

Did not Paul teach that the church is built upon the foundation of the apostles (including Peter) and the prophets, of which the chief corner-stone is Jesus Christ, Himself ?

Ephesians 2:19 Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God;

20 And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone;

21 In whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord:

22 In whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit.

[Quix]

Haven't spurned HIS CHURCH

AT ALL.

All who Love Him, Follow Him, Obey Him, have accepted His Blood as covering for their sins--THEY ARE PART OF HIS CHURCH including the Chinese in China with mere scraps of Scripture that they LIVE OUT as best as they can figure out how to do with Holy Spirit's help.

Since He created The Bible Code--we should have an interesting discussion about it!

In terms of man made churches, organizations, structures, doctines of man etc. I think the Roman group has gone quite beyond all the rest combined in depth, breadth, fossilization etc. of such.

BTW, the Council of Trent was, as I recall, the arrogance of the Roman Bishop deciding HE WAS IT. Sheesh.

Talk about a doctrine of man!

[Quix]

Paul seemed quite clearly to support

CHRIST'S STATEMENT:

LOVE GOD WHOLLY.
LOVE OTHERS AS YOURSELF.
DO UNTO OTHERS AS YOU'D HAVE THEM DO UNTO YOU.

Which word do you not understand?

[Quester]

Sorry, I confused you and Quix. Too many "Q"'s. So is that the one and only definition of Church then? Is that your point?

Well, it is 'Peter's definition'.

As such, I thought that it might carry some weight.