Correct me if I'm wrong, but it appears that the Protestant position is that once you are saved, nothing you do can merit the loss of salvation. By that logic, you can do anything you want and still be saved. You could walk into the strip club and solicit a lap-dance from one of the strippers.
Is someone who would do that not really saved as he thought? So, how can you know who is saved, since everybody sins to one degree or another? By that logic, no one can be absolutely sure of his own salvation while on earth. And that seems to lead back to the Catholic position on salvation.
Romans 6 doesn't suggest that a "saved" person cannot possibly sin -- it merely says God forbid that we fall into sin and admonishes us not to sin, and that being one with the will of God will lead to holiness and eternal life. Not that we will be guaranteed not to separate ourselves from God's will.
*Correct me if I’m wrong, but it appears that the Protestant position is that once you are saved, nothing you do can merit the loss of salvationmission*
You are wrong.
The point is that’s not how Christians think. Yes we sin, but we sure don’t think in terms of what we can get away with now that we are saved. Legalists often think that way. And that may be a typical Catholic mode of thought, but that’s not Christian.
What you are likely missing is that salvation isn’t a result of work or merit, it’s the supernatural work of the Holy Spirit. It is wholly a matter of grace. When a man is truly saved by the grace of God he is transformed on the inside. That sin he used to love begins to leave a bad taste in his mouth. He doesn’t want the old things any more. This old world doesn’t have the same appeal it once had. Of course a saved man can fall into horrible sin, but he won’t stay there long because his conscience just won’t allow it. Things he used to be able to do without a second thought cause him turmoil in his soul.
I could write much on this, but the bottom line is it seems you misunderstand because you don’t know how God really saves a sinner (as opposed to what Rome teaches) and you don’t know what happens to a sinner who has been regenerated by the Holy Spirit. I know I am saved because I am not the man I was once. I am a radically changed person and it certainly wasn’t on my own strength. I have that “peace that passes all understanding” as described in Scripture. I never had that before God graciously saved me.
FRiend, Rome doesn’t have a gospel capable of saving your soul. Follow these links and begin to learn the biblical gospel that can indeed save your soul. In Romans 1 Paul said, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth...” Rome has a powerless manmade gospel. The real Gospel has the power of God to transform those who believe.
The Gospel Defined and Discerned
http://www.sermonaudio.com/sermoninfo.asp?SID=81901181950
The Testimony of a Former Priest
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AvID3lRyYIc&feature=relmfu
Bereanbeacon.org