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We need to look elsewhere for the answer, and we find it:

But he that shall persevere to the end, he shall be saved. (Matthew 24:13)

Likewise, Matthew 10:22, Mark 13:13, and dozens others where "save" is also in the future tense or conditional mood, point to salvation being a lifelong process.

I do see your point in these verses. They are perfect examples of why "Perseverance of the Saints" is so superior to OSAS. We might disagree on the beginning part, but I think we see eye to eye at the end. :)

It is less true of the Baptists than of doctrinaire Protestants, I admit. This is why I like them; after all my own wife is a Baptist.

Please tell her a fellow Baptist tips his hat and says "Hello". :)

Of course most Protestants of every description today simply go to church they know and love in a positive experience of Christian faith, and could care less about protesting anything or developing their own doctrine.

Yes, I agree completely.

Also, when one discovers religion as an adult and seeks to join a church, the Protestant denominations would all, typically, try to convince him by describing their doctrine, when the Orthodox or the Catholic would say simply, this is the Church Christ founded, come and we'll tell you what you need to know in the fullness of time. No marketplace of ideas where I come from.

I don't understand the difference. Even in a cynical sense, aren't we all "selling something" from our POV? :) You would also try to convince a seeker of your doctrine, just as we would, right? Are we not all in a marketplace of ideas? :)

"I don't understand the difference. Even in a cynical sense, aren't we all "selling something" from our POV? :) You would also try to convince a seeker of your doctrine, just as we would, right? Are we not all in a marketplace of ideas? :)"

I can't speak from a Latin Church perspective, but froma Greek Orthodox one, well it really isn't a selling job. People come to our parish all the time, especially fundamentalist Protestants interestingly enough. Most of them have read themselves into a place where they feel the need to check out Orthodoxy. I think many of them are a bit disappointed that we don't give them any pitch. We are happy to have them attend the Divine Liturgy and we will answer their questions, but beyond that, it has to be between them and God. Most of them don't stay, but a good number have. If they disagree with us, that's just fine. We offer them anoter cup of coffee and a piece of baklava. For those who stay, it usually takes about five years for them to really come to understand the metanoia which Orthodox Christianity effects in people. Orthodoxy, FK, is the most counter-cultural sort of Christianity. Those conservative Protestants come into The Church sincerely believing that they have found what they were always looking for, the True Church. And they have, but five years later they have discovered that the True Church they found is really quite a different True Church than they had originally believed.

There's no way to "sell" or even evangelize that, FK. One has to live it...for years.

You would also try to convince a seeker of your doctrine, just as we would, right?

Not really. I would, of course, answer questions and defend the Church against calumny, like I do here, but the Church does not expect the converts to come because they made up their mind that they like the teaching; they come because it is where Christ is, like it or not.

I am a convert myself, from Orthodoxy. I observed many prospective converts in the Christian Initiation of Adults class. Typically, those who have endless doctrinal questions fall off. They are "seekers" who will get shorter, simpler answers in an evangelical setting and that is where they will end up. This is America, people are not disposed to listen to carefully nuanced, laced with medieval history and latinisms doctrine, and they are not attracted to the idea of spiritual authority. Those who complete the class and convert can't wait to get in, they are hungry on a visceral level. The instructors tend to try and slow them down, so that they don't rush into the church headlong on sheer enthusiasm, and they try to get some doctrine into them even though they are too impatient to ask. Questions come later; the first year or two, anyway, the converts just live it.

Let me ping Jo Kus who, I heard, teaches RCIA.