Catholics & Salvation; And the answer is: Maybe.

A caller to our weekly radio program asked a question that has come up before: Are Roman Catholics saved? Let me respond to this as best I can. But I need to offer a qualifier because I think this is going to be somewhat dissatisfying for some because I am not going to say a simple "aye" or "nay." My answer is: It kind of depends. The reason I'm saying that is because of certain ambiguities.

My point is this, I think that in the area of the doctrine of salvation, Roman Catholic theology, as I understand it, is unbiblical because salvation depends on faith and works, not just faith alone. This was the specific problem Paul addressed in the book of Galatians and was the subject of the Jerusalem Council in Acts 15: Is simple faith in Jesus adequate, or must gentile followers of Christ now keep the Law as a standard of acceptance before God?

I know not all Catholics would agree that this is a fair way of putting it, but I think that most Catholics would actually say the faith/works equation is accurate. Your faith and your works are what save you. I was raised Catholic and that’s what I was taught. (For my take on the biblical relationship between faith and works, see “Faith & Works: Paul vs. James.”)

Now, I need to add this too. Many Protestants feel the same way. Many Protestants are confused on this issue, so this is not a Catholic vs. Protestant concern so much. It's just that Catholicism across the board has more of an official position that amounts this, where Protestants have a more diversity of views, some that don't even seem to be consistent with Protestantism.

But the fact that one believes Jesus is the Messiah and that He is the savior, not our own efforts, is critical. If you reject this notion, like the Jews do, then as far as I can tell from the biblical revelation, there is no hope for you. That seems to be clear. But when somebody says they believe in Jesus and He is their Savior, but somehow works are mingled in with the picture, then I can't really say to you how much faith that person is putting in Jesus and how much faith that person is putting in their own efforts to satisfy God. If a person has all their faith in their own efforts, then they are going to be judged by their own efforts. It's as simple as that. If they have their faith in Jesus, they will be judged by the merits of Jesus. Anyone judged by their own merits is going to be found wanting. Anyone who is judged by the merits of Jesus is not going to be found wanting because Jesus is not wanting.

What if you are kind of a mixture? I think most Catholics are, frankly. Many Protestants are, as well.

I reflect often on a comment that was made by a friend of mine named Dennis. He was a Roman Catholic brother in Christ that I knew when I was a brand new Christian. He asked me this: "Greg, how much faith does it take to be saved?" I said, "A mustard seed." And he said, "There you go."

And so, it seems to me, there are many Christians—Protestant and Catholic—who believe in Jesus as their savior and have a mustard seed of faith, but are confused about the role of works. I think that Jesus is still Savior in those cases.

What you left unstated is that those who do not believe in Him do so of their own free will

No one disagrees with that. Those who do not believe are those whom God has left to their own fallen natures, those whose eyes and ears He has not opened to the Scriptures, those whose mind has not been renewed by the Holy Spirit, those who have not been born again by the will of God.

"He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given.
For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath.
Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand.
And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive:
For this people's heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them.
But blessed are your eyes, for they see: and your ears, for they hear." -- Matthew 13:-16

"To them it is not gven." Christ says He spoke in parables for the precise reason that only those to whom God gives new ears and new eyes will hear the truth and see the truth and believe the truth and be saved by the atonement of the "Lamb slain from the foundation of the world."

"The hearing ear, and the seeing eye, the LORD hath made even both of them." -- Proverbs 20:12

Petronski, I don’t consider P-Marlowe a spokesman for me either. I’ve kept off this thread for quite a while, but I have to say that Alamo-Girl’s endearments do not impress me at all, particularly when coupled with some of the more egregious protestant posts.

When A-G expresses agreement, affection, and gratitude to a poster who characterizes Catholic posters as “white hanky brigade” and “attack dogs” and does the same to a poster whose abuse of scripture is the validation for mocking the Catholic Church, then it becomes impossible to think that A-G’s use of “dear” in addressing any Catholic poster is sincere.

Fake affection is despicable, particularly under the guise of “Christian Love.” Fake affection IS creepy.

On the other hand, I am comfortable to be, at times, one of the “White Hanky Brigade Attack Dogs.” That, at least, was honestly felt, and not the treacly, phony, “dear.”

It is a matter of courtesy and dignity to address someone in the way requested.

Thank you so very much for sharing your concerns, dear brother in Christ!

Those who love me do not applaud lies about my faith.

What a revealing statement!

The love of God, which we Christians flow into the world, is not earned. Nor does it fade or halt because the object of the love does not agree with us. It does not fade or halt even if the object of our love is our declared enemy.

Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy.

But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.

For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same?

And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more [than others]? do not even the publicans so?

Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect. – Matthew 5:43-48

And again (emphasis mine):

ENCYCLICAL LETTER DEUS CARITAS EST OF THE SUPREME PONTIFF BENEDICT XVI TO THE BISHOPS PRIESTS AND DEACONS MEN AND WOMEN RELIGIOUS AND ALL THE LAY FAITHFUL ON CHRISTIAN LOVE

1. “God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him” (1 Jn 4:16). These words from the First Letter of John express with remarkable clarity the heart of the Christian faith: the Christian image of God and the resulting image of mankind and its destiny. In the same verse, Saint John also offers a kind of summary of the Christian life: “We have come to know and to believe in the love God has for us”.

We have come to believe in God's love: in these words the Christian can express the fundamental decision of his life. Being Christian is not the result of an ethical choice or a lofty idea, but the encounter with an event, a person, which gives life a new horizon and a decisive direction. Saint John's Gospel describes that event in these words: “God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should ... have eternal life” (3:16). In acknowledging the centrality of love, Christian faith has retained the core of Israel's faith, while at the same time giving it new depth and breadth. The pious Jew prayed daily the words of the Book of Deuteronomy which expressed the heart of his existence: “Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God is one Lord, and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul and with all your might” (6:4-5). Jesus united into a single precept this commandment of love for God and the commandment of love for neighbour found in the Book of Leviticus: “You shall love your neighbour as yourself” (19:18; cf. Mk 12:29-31). Since God has first loved us (cf. 1 Jn 4:10), love is now no longer a mere “command”; it is the response to the gift of love with which God draws near to us.

In a world where the name of God is sometimes associated with vengeance or even a duty of hatred and violence, this message is both timely and significant. For this reason, I wish in my first Encyclical to speak of the love which God lavishes upon us and which we in turn must share with others. That, in essence, is what the two main parts of this Letter are about, and they are profoundly interconnected. The first part is more speculative, since I wanted here—at the beginning of my Pontificate—to clarify some essential facts concerning the love which God mysteriously and gratuitously offers to man, together with the intrinsic link between that Love and the reality of human love. The second part is more concrete, since it treats the ecclesial exercise of the commandment of love of neighbour. The argument has vast implications, but a lengthy treatment would go beyond the scope of the present Encyclical. I wish to emphasize some basic elements, so as to call forth in the world renewed energy and commitment in the human response to God's love.

To God be the glory!

There is no Scriptural evidence that the gifts given to the apostles continued after their deaths. The apostles performed miracles NOT because they were supernatural beings, or "another Christ," but because it was God's will that Christianity be spread through the word of God, and the visible miracles of God helped to convince unbelievers in these early days.

But those days ended with the apostles' deaths and we know this because there is nothing written in Scripture about some unbroken line of priestly offices.

In fact, those lies are refuted in Scripture which tells us that now all believers make up the "royal priesthood," the priesthood of all believers.

The only sign Christians need now is the resurrection.

"Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ...
But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light" -- 1 Peter 2:5,9

The first thing a conquering army does is install local chieftons who control the provinces. That's what the church in Rome has done by telling its people the office of this "royal priesthood" has been taken from them and divided among those who call themselves "another Christ."

In it's simplest terms, I understand salvation as "Believe in Christ, and do the work of repentance, and you will be saved."

LOL. Do you really think Christ's words need to be augmented? That is not what Christ said.

"He that heareth my word and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life" -- John 5:24

He that believeth on me hath everylasting life." -- John 6:47

Be not afraid; only believe." -- Mark 5:36

You make the grace of God of no effect because you seek it by the law and not by grace alone through faith alone.

Today's calvinist mantra of 'sins washed away with the blood of Christ' is justification for a slacker's faith.

Where does any Calvinist around here give any indication of being a "slacker?" The grace of God brings with it the good fruits of the Holy Spirit. Good works are the evidence of our salvation, not a requirement for it. Grace saves, and grace alone.

Have your sins been washed away by the blood of Christ?

Or have your sins been merely pre-washed, leaving you to work on the final wash and rinse?

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