Only Jesus Saves
Question from Steve on 11-19-2001:I was in a Catholic chatroom posting bible quotes in a debate with a "Born Again" type proponent, and several Catholics in the room told me to stop quoting the bible like a Protestant and ignore those who come into the room challenging the Catholic faith. They told me Jesus alone saves and I should leave it to him. I was very disppointed and did not have any good repsonse. They also told me when Mormans and Jehovah's witnesses come to my door, I should ignore them too because my attempts to convert them is the job of Jesus and not me.
Answer by Catholic Answers on 11-19-2001:
Keep speaking the truth in love. Christ uses us, if we are willing, to introduce others to himself. The Catechism of the Catholic Church says, "Lay people also fulfill their prophetic mission by evangelization, 'that is, the proclamation of Christ by word and the testimony of life.' For lay people, 'this evangelization . . . acquires a specific property and peculiar efficacy because it is accomplished in the ordinary circumstances of the world.'This witness of life, however, is not the sole element in the apostolate; the true apostle is on the lookout for occasions of announcing Christ by word, either to unbelievers . . . or to the faithful" (§905).
Jan Wakelin Catholic Answers