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.
Petronski was wronged? By a loving Christian who cares deeply about him and all the rest of us? Whew. Are you guys all cut from the same cloth or what?
You were very wise, my dear. M
I remember a story about a man who visited his wife in the nursing home every day and one day someone asked him why he bothered. “She doesn’t remember you,” she said. “Oh, but I remember HER,” was his reply. Faithfulness is a wonderful trait in a marriage.
Sola scripture is the work of satan? Add another one to the deception list. I don’t know where you guys come up with all this heresy.
Alamo-girl never mocks anyone.. However Santeria(mostly latin) followers that take idols(statues) of BA-BA-Lu (santeria[african] god) and mold OVER them(in clay) idols(statues) of Mary then fire them, THAN sell them to Roman Catholics.. So that (those)Roman Catholics are in reality worshipping(honoring) BA-Ba-Lu... NOW thats MOCKING.. They do the same with statues of "saints" also paintings.. first of Ba-Ba-lu and then painted over of some roman catholic psuedo deity(according to the Ba-ba-lu-I-ae).. even the so-called picture of "Jesus"..
I learned this in Miami.. when I used to live there.. i.e. a hot bed of Santeria.. This has been going on in latin America for a couple hundred years.. Since I would NOT be caught dead with an idol it didnt bother me much.. On many mantels in Miami and other places are statues of Ba-ba-lu masked as Mary.. Quite devious I think.. but extremely creative..
It is what it is, and sola scriptura is most definitely one of the greatest heresies of all time if not the greatest. It has dragged many wonderful Christians into opposing Christ and rejecting the 2000+ years of true Christian belief shared by Catholics and Orthodox.
When I see my fellow Christians mired in this most sinister heresy, many with sick hateful hearts, I can be nothing else but sad... but forever prayerful and hopeful for them.
You’re right.
SHE is one of many who are deceived.
I’ve never heard that in any other church but Catholic. We baptized infants in the Methodist church as well but it wasn’t attached to their salvation.
Catholics are the deceived ones. I hope it won’t cause you to miss heaven.
You deny yourself the Seven Blessed Sacraments. Do not dare to lecture me about missing Heaven by my Catholic faith.
There is no more ridiculous hypocrisy on earth.
Thanks for your very kind remarks...that was very poetic, very sad, and yet so very beautiful, how you described your dad’s slow mental decline..you have faithfully described the course that Alzheimers takes....
We gad two gentlemen on the Alzheimers wing, who had been engineers during their working years...men with busy minds, that needed stimulation....we find a great solution...
We found a working engineer, a friend of some staff member, and he designed and constructed a number of what I can describe as ‘workboards’, for these two gentlemen....they were made out of thick wood, and had screws, and bolts and nuts, and wrenches, and all sorts of tools on it, and there seemed to be some inherent problem in the way he set it up, for an engineer to figure out...it was fun to watch these two gentlemen, sitting at a table pouring over the problem, trying this, trying that, discussing the problem with each other, as best as they could...they would spend hours pouring over those workboards, and felt as if they had really accomplished something for the day...when they felt they had solved the problem, and were bored with the current workboard, the engineer working on the outside would bring in a new one...
Trying to custom fit activities for each Alzheimers patient, which arouses their interest, and keeps them busy and happy, can be a difficult chore, but when you hit upon the right thing for them, it is a true blessing...some Alzheimers wings I have visited, in trying to gain more knowledge into this area, have proved worthwhile endeavors...one nursing home, had a whole kitchen right on the Alzheimers wing, so that the ladies could cook, under close supervision...they loved it...and they also had a sewing circle, where they were under close supervision...so that even many of these Alzheimers, patients were in a nursing home, depending on the nursing home, they could continue those activities in the nursing home, which gave them pleasure in better times...
We had one gentleman, who showed little interest in anything much....he just seemed to like to walk around....ah, but then we realized what gave him great pleasure....he was walking around but he was listening carefully to what other people were saying....and then he would come up to them, and critique their grammar...for you see, he had been an English Professor, at a large university....so each time I would care for him, I would make sure to make some grammatical blunder, sometimes obvious, sometimes not so obvious, to see if he caught it....most of the time he did, and he quite delighted in correcting my grammar...sometimes, I would try not to make any grammatical blunders and he would compliment me...that is what seemed to give him the greatest pleasure, listening, to someone else’s grammar, and then critiquing it or praising it...
Does this apply to the EO. They are in schism with them and do not recognize the Pope as supreme authority.
It seems to me if Jesus wanted to create a hierarchy here on earth He would have gone into the Temple and installed himself as it's head and placed the Apostles in leadership positions. Who would have stopped him?
Instead he took the outcasts of society and transformed the world spiritually. It was the element of his followers who wanted a physical transformation of the world that left him in John chapter 6.
I envy my hubby’s uncle and his new bride as well....I have never seen an old couple do as much as they do...they are like a whirlwind, that never stops...
Last year, right around this time, the uncle took my hubby to China and Tibet with him....my hubby was shocked at how spry his uncle is...the hubby came home, literallly worn out, and yet, his uncle was already planning their next cruise together....
Of course now that uncle has remarried, those cruises will be reserved for his new wife...good, says the hubby, he can hardly keep up with his uncle, more than 20 years older than him...
Still, the hubby loved his several weeks in China and Tibet...
If the magisterium claims the sole ability to infallibly understand God's revelation to humanity aren't they making the same claims as the gnostics? They are claiming a secret knowledge and that only through that secret knowledge can salvation be found.
May The Lord God Almighty
rebuke emphatically
such pit inspired insult against His Word, His Living Word and the Paragon Priority of His Living Word.
INDEED.
Heaven and earth shall pass away
AND EVERY UNIQUE VESTIGE OF THE RC EDIFICE shall be utterly erased
But His Word shall never pass away.
I’d say betting on Sola Scriptura is an exceedingly safe bet.
Missing Heaven by the
unvirtues of
unforgiveness, bitterness, resentment, unhealed anger, carnal critical judgment and stubbornness
is more likely.
AMEN! AMEN! AMEN!
What a silly thing to say.
Christ did exactly what He wanted to do. He started His Church just as He wanted it, and 1970+ years later, His Church is doing just fine.
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