” Good luck with all this preposterous I am, I also am being.”
Very good. You are becoming Catholic with the sense of “being.”
I am saved, I hope to be saved, I will be saved is my faith in Christ.
Catholics do not use the termed saved because it implies a one time thing that does not require conversion away from your former way of life. We call the saving act of Jesus Christ, redemption. Conversion is a process that begins with accepting the Redemption offered by God and merited by the life and death of Jesus. The response is ongoing and you commit to living a Christian life and doing the will of God and practicing the virtues and good deed taught by Jesus.
~~~~~~~~~ I Have Been Saved (past event)
Rom. 8:24 - for in this hope we were saved (but, again, why “hope” if salvation is a certainty?)
Eph. 2:5,8 - for by grace you have been saved through faith.
2 Tim. 1:9 - He saved us and called us through grace and not by virtue of our own works outside of His grace.
Titus 3:5 - He saved us in virtue of His own mercy, and not by our deeds.
~~~~~~I Am Being Saved (present event)
1 Cor. 1:18 - for the word of the cross is folly to those perishing, but for to us who are being saved, it is the power of God. Salvation is not a one-time event. It is a process of perseverance through faith, hope and love.
2 Cor. 2:15 - for we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved. Salvation is a continual process.
Phil. 2:12 - we are working out our salvation through fear and trembling. Salvation is an ongoing process.
1 Peter 1:9 - you obtain the salvation of your souls as the outcome of your faith. Working out our salvation in fear and trembling is a lifelong process.
~~~~~~~~I Will Be Saved (future event)
Matt. 10:22, 24:13; Mark 13:13 - again, Jesus taught that we must endure to the very end to be saved. Salvation is a past, present and future event (not a one-time event at an altar call).
Mark 16:16 – Jesus says whoever believes and is baptized will be saved.
Acts 15:11 - we believe that we shall be saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus.
Rom. 5:9-10 - since we are justified by His blood, we shall be saved.
Rom. 13:11 - salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed. How can we be only nearer to something we already have?
1 Cor. 3:15 - he will be saved, but only as through fire.
1 Cor. 5:5 - Paul commands the Church to deliver a man to satan, that he will be saved in the day of the Lord.
2 Tim. 2:11-12 - if we endure, we shall also reign with Him. This requires endurance until the end of our lives.
Heb. 9:28 - Jesus will appear a second time to save those who are eagerly waiting for Him.
James 5:15 - the sacrament of the sick will save the sick man and the Lord will raise him up
I have to get so you, I’m sure, can look at your own bible and see the verses.
You are either saved or you aren't. You are either pregnant or you aren't.
It's not too hard to understand, if you don't attempt pretzel logic to twist it into a belief system. And try to make it say something it clearly does not say.
Which is why we can't deal with just plain questions. Definitions differ. And what comes across as deceit may JUST be a misunderstanding of a definition of something, like salvation, or grace, or baptism, or The Gospel of Christ, or works, or justification, or sanctification. I guess we are going to have to insist on definitions BEFORE dialogue can take place.
We use the term saved because we are saved...Right now...No one in the scriptures required someone to convert from their old ways in order to be saved...
NO ONE has the POWER to convert from their own ways until they are saved...
IF you are waiting on your conversion from bad to good, you never will be saved...