Beloved Judith I hope this helps with your constant heartburn.
Posted on 07/07/2008 10:39:05 PM PDT by Gamecock
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.
You should go sometime. It’s a real eye opener. The one we sang in for so many years had a mixture of sane and not too sane people in it. Bad for the normal ones. Others from the psychiatric center were brought in later and it became a very strange place. People would just not show up for work, it was a lovely house but not a place I would ever want to live in. We used to have birthday gifts and did a nice Christmas party for them with nice gifts for each one and a goody bag filled with stuff to eat. You don’t know how I miss shopping and wrapping all that. They loved it and so did we.
Noo, thanks. I am in enough deep do at times without that, LOL. After all, I AM on medication for high blood pressure.
You kneel to a wooden statue of a dead saint, in contradiction of God's word that tells us we are to pray to the Triune God alone, and yet you rationalize that's not paganism because somehow the dead saint is "alive in heaven."
That's exactly what the Greeks said about their gods and goddesses.
I pray for you the same understanding which brings the assurance of Christ's promise to lose none who are His.
Really?
...somehow the dead saint is "alive in heaven."
Somehow? You don't know how?
Just answer the question.
If Christ has paid for a sin, has that sin been forgiven?
No, their successors, the priesthood of all believers, number in the hundreds of millions.
Repentance is a non-sequitur?
That’s gold right there.
Calvinism teaches that repentance is a non-sequitur. Or is it Machenism?
However, dead saints are not recipients of our prayers. God alone hears our prayers.
If Christ has paid for a sin, has that sin been forgiven?
If you repeat your one-word answer again, please elaborate. As it is, that one word does not answer the question.
YEA!
PTL!
Do you imagine I am on your witness stand, under your cross-examination?
I do not submit myself to your interrogation.
“Repentance a non-sequitur?”
LOLOLOL
Amen. The poster doesn’t have a clue as to what AG is really all about. Her love shines for all of us, not just protestants, because she loves with the Love of the Lord! How sad that they can’t see it. Says a lot, doesn’t it?
You have been deceived.
THANKS for your affirmations of Biblical Truth and for such a vivid demonstration of God’s priorities in Biblical Truth and in life . . . even when the going get stough.
Ahhhh
more
UBTTM—
Unmitigated BALDERDASH TO THE MAX.
INDEED.
It amazes me . . . I'd guesstimate that 85% or more of AUTHENTIC Christians fail to comprehend, much less apply, the import of that Biblical Truth.
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