Replies

Let me add one more thing. Then I'm off to bed, but will be happy to discuss further tomorrow if you like.

There's a little word in Romans 10:9 that prevents people from seeing disharmony between being saved by confession and being saved by belief. That little word is "and".

"that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead"

There's nothing in that verse about repentance, is there? But of course it's found elsewhere in the Bible, so people understand that there's an implied "and" with reference to repentance.

Yet they steadfastly and stubbornly refuse to admit an implied "and" with reference to baptism, though it's as much a condition of forgiveness as repentance.

“...and...”

This is a key point. In defending the the Catholic Churchs correct interpretations of the bible vs. the protestant erroneous interpretations of sacred scripture, again and again it becomes apparent that protestants pick and isolate a verse and then never mention the verses that “appear” to say the opposite. Of course the bible never contradicts itself, so both/and interpretations of the Scriptures are always correct, not whatever (doctrine under discussion) alone and by itself. This is the Catholic Church’s approach.

The Catholic Church’s position ALWAYS incorporates all the scriptures using the both/and applications.

We are entirely scriptural - we just use all scripture, not taking a verse, saying it is scripture alone, interpreting the isolated verse on our own opinion, then conveniently ignoring any verse that appears to say the opposite. This effectively leaves out the scriptures supporting the correct, literal and Catholic meaning of the bible, and then feeling smug, superior and saved regarding the false opinion arrived at!

There is a book out there that addresses the issue; 95 verses that protestants ignore.

At any rate, just posting to let you know that you are on to the root problem here; not just the surface endless posting of scripture.

As you point out, there is always an implied “and”.

1 Corinthians 10
1 For I do not want you to be unaware, brethren, that our fathers were all under the cloud and all passed through the sea;
2 and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea;
3 and all ate the same spiritual food;…

I believe that being baptized is much more than merely immersion in water or sprinkled by it. Yet, I have been baptized in the Name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit in a cold mountain river on a November Sunday and am glad for it.

"that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead"

There's nothing in that verse about repentance, is there? But of course it's found elsewhere in the Bible, so people understand that there's an implied "and" with reference to repentance.

If you have confessed Jesus with your mouth, you have repented...