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If you didn’t know as a Catholic that you were in fact a Christian, you were terribly catechized.

When I was a Catholic, I believed in what I was told about Jesus. I believed he was the Son of God. I believed he died for our sins and that he rose again from the dead. What I didn't know - because I was not taught it - was that believing IN Jesus Christ meant I believed that he died for ME and, that by believing, I had eternal life and would never perish nor be plucked from his hands. When I read John 10:27-30 for the very first time I finally understood this precious promise was mine. For the first time the Holy Spirit open my eyes and heart to receive the gospel of the grace of God. Before then, I did not imagine anyone could know they were saved. Like this thread points out, I was one of those who had a "head" knowledge about Jesus and not a heart knowledge. When the truth of the gospel sunk in, I knew that what I had been told all my life about going to heaven was not the truth.

I am a CATHOLIC and you can bet your bottom dollar that I am also a CHRISTIAN.

Well, do you also know you are saved? Do you believe that it is by faith in Christ that you are saved and not your own merit or works that save you? Do you believe Jesus died on the cross for ALL your sins and that you are going to heaven because of God's grace and not because you are good enough? If yes, then praise the Lord!

I’m just luckier than you in that I know what the Church teaches and that I know that I am a Christian.

I don't think luck has anything to do with it. Either we grasp what the gift of God is or we go through our lives in ignorance of this truth. The Catholic Church did not teach me I could have assurance of my salvation, that I could KNOW I have everlasting life. Instead, I was taught that no one could know they were saved until they died and faced judgment. And at that judgment, God would decide if I had resolved all my sins through confession and penance and I had lived a good life and did enough good works to make me worthy of getting into heaven. Though I recited the Apostles' Creed that I believe "Jesus died for our sins", I never understood that this meant he paid the penalty for my sins by his death on the cross - only that his death "open the gates of heaven".

If you didn’t believe in Jesus when you were a practicing Catholic then perhaps you should actually read the Catechism of the Catholic Church and learn a few things about what you actually gave up.

I know exactly what I "gave up". I gave up worrying that if I had died suddenly and still had sin on my soul that I would spend eternity in hell with no end, suffering forever. I gave up the idea that my efforts in any way compared to the sacrifice Christ made on my behalf or that I could ever deserve to be in heaven. I gave up the false gospel that kept me and millions of others in perpetual fear of God instead of knowing him as my Heavenly Father who desires that ALL come to repentance and the knowledge of the truth. I now know about the loving Savior who lives within me and who purifies me, sanctifies me and justifies me all through his grace and mercy. The Holy Spirit within me, who God gave as the guarantee, the down payment, of what lies ahead for me in heaven. His presence within me gives me a desire to serve him and honor him with my life not in order to BE saved but out of gratitude and love for what he has done for me.

If your church teaches you this assurance and you can rest in the Lord knowing that you have eternal life by his grace through faith, then you really ARE a Christian. You see, I know now what it means to be a real Christian - one that knows deep in her heart that she is a child of God because of Christ. One that loves and lives for him because she wants to, not because she has to. One who loves him because he first loved us. God bless you as you learn Christ.