I’m really sorry somebody misinformed you. I’m a Catholic and I don’t know of any reason why you would not be considered a Christian. Of course you are a Christian. People are saved through Jesus, the Word. We know that people are saved through the Church, capital C, the bride of Christ. However, we do not rule out that people could find their way to God without being Catholic, we just don’t presume to outline a way for God to do that. It would be up to his mercy, and less likely, given the number of directions in which people could stray. (Like trying to learn to cook without someone helping you or providing a cookbook). But if you think of some of the righteous men of the Bible (Jesus’ father Joseph, for example), you have to figure God took them to Himself somehow.
Saying “yes” to Jesus, is the work that saves you. The other work we do is because Jesus told us to— feed the hungry, clothe the naked, etc. Not for personal gain, but because He asked us to love God and love our neighbor. The good we do flows from us to make the Kingdom come on earth, as it is in Heaven. It’s God’s show. We participate, because it pleased Him to let us help. Like when you let a little kid help you with something you could have done faster by yourself, because it’s good for the child and it’s a heartwarming part of life.
I think the whole faith/works thing is a distracting argument that Satan really enjoys watching. Let’s drop the inter-faith antagonism and ruin his fun.
Thank you, married21. It is indeed refreshing to hear that. It would be nice to hear the other FReeper Catholics say that as well. However many will NOT, and in fact call Protestants heretics.
You said, "we just don’t presume to outline a way for God to do that. It would be up to his mercy, and less likely, given the number of directions in which people could stray. (Like trying to learn to cook without someone helping you or providing a cookbook)."
Oh but, my FRiend, we Protestants DO have God's outline and directions.... it's called the Holy Bible. Why would we be less likely to be able to understand God's word and to follow it than you are?
Do you not see that you are participating in that "inter-faith antagonism" that you spoke of? But I do understand why you said what you said about we Protestants being without proper direction, because that's what men in your church has taught for centuries. To be honest, there are people in Protestant churches teaching that Catholics are the devil incarnate. But trust me, we are not all so ignorant as to believe that.
I have expressed this before here and I'll say it again....... faith is a personal relationship between a person and God and only God can know what is really in someone's heart. We can make a good guess because we see what someone professes and we see the fruits of their labors. I see testimonies and fruits in both Catholic and Protestants. I think perhaps you do too (witness your opening sentence). So mess it up by adding something to the effect that "but you Protestants will have a really hard time finding salvation".