Assurance of salvation: The Roman Catholic Church teaches that salvation cannot be guaranteed or assured. 1 John 5:13 states that the letter of 1 John was written for the purpose of assuring believers of the certainty of their salvation. Salvation: The Roman Catholic Church teaches that salvation is by baptismal regeneration and is maintained through the Catholic sacraments unless a willful act of sin is committed that breaks the state of sanctifying grace. The Bible teaches that we are saved by grace which is received through simple faith (Ephesians 2:8-9), and that good works are the result of a change of the heart wrought in salvation (Ephesians 2:10; 2 Corinthians 5:17) and the fruit of that new life in Christ (John 15). Good Works: The Roman Catholic Church states that Christians are saved by meritorious works (beginning with baptism) and that salvation is maintained by good works (receiving the sacraments, confession of sin to a priest, etc.) The Bible states that Christians are saved by grace through faith, totally apart from works (Titus 3:5; Ephesians 2:8-9; Galatians 3:10-11; Romans 3:19-24).
Hi @lettersoftruth8118 and thanks for your informative response. I think there is quite a bit of misunderstanding between Catholics and Protestants. I am inclined to affirm most of what you've written. I have a few questions of clarification: First, you wrote several times that the "Roman Catholic Church teaches...", but did not give citations. So it's unclear where you're getting this information from. On Salvation and works, the church teaches the following: "Since it belongs to the supernatural order, grace escapes our experience and cannot be known except by faith. We cannot therefore rely on our feelings or our works [emphasis mine] to conclude that we are justified and saved" (Catechism of the Catholic Church, paragraph 2005). So indeed, salvation is a free and unmerited gift, which we do not earn. This is "grace." 1 John 5:13 reads, "I write these things to you who believe [emphasis mine] in the name of the Son of God, do that you may know you have eternal life." This leads to my second question: Can Christians reject Jesus and so no longer not believe? Can I reject Jesus and place my salvation in jeopardy? Third, concerning "works." When the apostle Paul refers to "works" he is referring to "works of the law" since he is writing in a Jewish context. The "law" was a major contention among Jewish converts to Christianity. For example, the circumcision of Jewish and gentile converts. If Paul was referring to works of charity, then he would be contradicting not only the apostle James (see James 2:17; 27), but also Jesus, who refers to the importance of doing works of charity. For example, in Matthew 7:20 Jesus says, "Thus you will know them by their fruits," or the corporal works of mercy (Matthew 5:35-46). Verse 45-46 reads, "Then he will answer them, “Truly I tell you, just as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.” And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.’" So, it appears that faith requires us to co-operate with God's grace. Co-operation with God's grace not only requires an intellectual assent to God, but works of charity, since works of charity are at the service of Christ Himself. When the church speaks of "works", she is simply speaking of freely responding to and co-operating with God's grace. Paragraph 2008 of the Catechism reads, "The merit of man before God in the Christian life arises from the fact that God has freely chose to associate man with work of his grace. The fatherly action of God is first on his own initiative [not man's], and then following man's free acting through his collaboration [emphasis mine], so that the merit of good works is to be attributed in the first place to the grace of God, the to the faithful." I know this was a lengthy response, I hope it brings some clarity. @antescoko6329 @TheCounselofTrent @JimmyAkin what are your thoughts?
@@ClearlyCatholic You profess faith in the Romanist ideology, and desire clarification? You should know full well where these doctrinal statements come from, else you are following not knowing where you are being led. Here, I offer you more truths, all that is given here can be verified as such. We repent, are saved, justified, and the Holy Spirit comes to live inside of us all at the exact same moment. There is no "time-lapse" or differentiation to these events, they happen simultaneously, they are symbiotic. There is no such thing as "final repentance," you will not find it anywhere in the Word of God. Those who have been crucified with Christ are already dead.
There is no such thing as penance. wherever the authorized version has "repent," the Douay-Rheims translation reads, "do penance. There is no excuse for such a paraphrase. It is the substituting of Romish dogma for the plain command of God. Our Lord Jesus did not say "Except ye do penance ye shall all likewise perish." No respectable Greek scholar would think of so translating the original. Even a cursory reading of the New Testament will reveal that the Catholic Church does not have its origin in the teachings of Jesus or His apostles. In the New Testament, there is no mention of the papacy, worship/adoration of Mary (or the immaculate conception of Mary, the perpetual virginity of Mary, the assumption of Mary, or Mary as co-redemptrix and mediatrix), petitioning saints in heaven for their prayers, apostolic succession, the ordinances of the church functioning as sacraments, infant baptism, confession of sin to a priest, purgatory, indulgences, or the equal authority of church tradition and Scripture. Most Roman Catholic beliefs and practices regarding Mary are completely absent from the Bible. The Lord’s Supper being a consumption of the literal body and blood of Jesus is not taught in the Bible. Roman Catholicism has “saints” one can pray to in order to gain a particular blessing. Nowhere is even a hint of this taught in Scripture. The idea that the Roman bishop is the vicar of Christ, the supreme leader of the Christian Church, is utterly foreign to the Word of God. The Catholic Church disguises its pagan beliefs under layers of complicated theology and church tradition. Recognizing that many of its beliefs and practices are utterly foreign to Scripture, the Catholic Church is forced to deny the authority and sufficiency of Scripture.
@@borrowedtruths6955 Thanks for sharing all that. If everything you said is true, what do you think are the best reasons someone would convert to Catholicism from Protestantism, other religions, or even atheism (as many prominent scholars have)?
@@ClearlyCatholic The only reason would be because they have fallen into deception, believed the lies of our adversary. Because they do not believe that the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ was sufficient in and of itself for the salvation of a man's soul, that they must perform some work before the Almighty will accept the shed blood of His Son on the altar of heaven. These supposed "prominent Scholars" you speak of are wise only in the ways of pride and the deceitfulness of their heart, and have become, as all who walk willingly into these lies, as those in Galatia did. “I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel:” (Gal. 1:6) You are well aware of all that I have offered you, that everything I gave you here can be verified as truths from the Word of God, and that every instance of what Romanism teaches can be verified as well. Like I mentioned, these two are in direct contradiction to each other, you have to be the one to decide which one is the truth, and which one is a lie. I have done what I have been commanded to do in this regard for many decades now, I have revealed truth to you. What you do with it is completely in your hands. I am free from your blood.
Love you, brother!
Assurance of salvation: The Roman Catholic Church teaches that salvation cannot be guaranteed or assured. 1 John 5:13 states that the letter of 1 John was written for the purpose of assuring believers of the certainty of their salvation.
Salvation: The Roman Catholic Church teaches that salvation is by baptismal regeneration and is maintained through the Catholic sacraments unless a willful act of sin is committed that breaks the state of sanctifying grace. The Bible teaches that we are saved by grace which is received through simple faith (Ephesians 2:8-9), and that good works are the result of a change of the heart wrought in salvation (Ephesians 2:10; 2 Corinthians 5:17) and the fruit of that new life in Christ (John 15).
Good Works: The Roman Catholic Church states that Christians are saved by meritorious works (beginning with baptism) and that salvation is maintained by good works (receiving the sacraments, confession of sin to a priest, etc.) The Bible states that Christians are saved by grace through faith, totally apart from works (Titus 3:5; Ephesians 2:8-9; Galatians 3:10-11; Romans 3:19-24).
Hi @lettersoftruth8118 and thanks for your informative response.
I think there is quite a bit of misunderstanding between Catholics and Protestants. I am inclined to affirm most of what you've written.
I have a few questions of clarification:
First, you wrote several times that the "Roman Catholic Church teaches...", but did not give citations. So it's unclear where you're getting this information from.
On Salvation and works, the church teaches the following:
"Since it belongs to the supernatural order, grace escapes our experience and cannot be known except by faith. We cannot therefore rely on our feelings or our works [emphasis mine] to conclude that we are justified and saved" (Catechism of the Catholic Church, paragraph 2005).
So indeed, salvation is a free and unmerited gift, which we do not earn. This is "grace."
1 John 5:13 reads, "I write these things to you who believe [emphasis mine] in the name of the Son of God, do that you may know you have eternal life."
This leads to my second question: Can Christians reject Jesus and so no longer not believe? Can I reject Jesus and place my salvation in jeopardy?
Third, concerning "works." When the apostle Paul refers to "works" he is referring to "works of the law" since he is writing in a Jewish context. The "law" was a major contention among Jewish converts to Christianity. For example, the circumcision of Jewish and gentile converts.
If Paul was referring to works of charity, then he would be contradicting not only the apostle James (see James 2:17; 27), but also Jesus, who refers to the importance of doing works of charity. For example, in Matthew 7:20 Jesus says, "Thus you will know them by their fruits," or the corporal works of mercy (Matthew 5:35-46).
Verse 45-46 reads, "Then he will answer them, “Truly I tell you, just as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.” And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.’"
So, it appears that faith requires us to co-operate with God's grace. Co-operation with God's grace not only requires an intellectual assent to God, but works of charity, since works of charity are at the service of Christ Himself.
When the church speaks of "works", she is simply speaking of freely responding to and co-operating with God's grace. Paragraph 2008 of the Catechism reads, "The merit of man before God in the Christian life arises from the fact that God has freely chose to associate man with work of his grace. The fatherly action of God is first on his own initiative [not man's], and then following man's free acting through his collaboration [emphasis mine], so that the merit of good works is to be attributed in the first place to the grace of God, the to the faithful."
I know this was a lengthy response, I hope it brings some clarity. @antescoko6329 @TheCounselofTrent @JimmyAkin what are your thoughts?
@@ClearlyCatholic You profess faith in the Romanist ideology, and desire clarification? You should know full well where these doctrinal statements come from, else you are following not knowing where you are being led. Here, I offer you more truths, all that is given here can be verified as such.
We repent, are saved, justified, and the Holy Spirit comes to live inside of us all at the exact same moment. There is no "time-lapse" or differentiation to these events, they happen simultaneously, they are symbiotic. There is no such thing as "final repentance," you will not find it anywhere in the Word of God. Those who have been crucified with Christ are already dead.
There is no such thing as penance. wherever the authorized version has "repent," the Douay-Rheims translation reads, "do penance. There is no excuse for such a paraphrase. It is the substituting of Romish dogma for the plain command of God. Our Lord Jesus did not say "Except ye do penance ye shall all likewise perish."
No respectable Greek scholar would think of so translating the original.
Even a cursory reading of the New Testament will reveal that the Catholic Church does not have its origin in the teachings of Jesus or His apostles. In the New Testament, there is no mention of the papacy, worship/adoration of Mary (or the immaculate conception of Mary, the perpetual virginity of Mary, the assumption of Mary, or Mary as co-redemptrix and mediatrix), petitioning saints in heaven for their prayers, apostolic succession, the ordinances of the church functioning as sacraments, infant baptism, confession of sin to a priest, purgatory, indulgences, or the equal authority of church tradition and Scripture.
Most Roman Catholic beliefs and practices regarding Mary are completely absent from the Bible.
The Lord’s Supper being a consumption of the literal body and blood of Jesus is not taught in the Bible.
Roman Catholicism has “saints” one can pray to in order to gain a particular blessing. Nowhere is even a hint of this taught in Scripture.
The idea that the Roman bishop is the vicar of Christ, the supreme leader of the Christian Church, is utterly foreign to the Word of God.
The Catholic Church disguises its pagan beliefs under layers of complicated theology and church tradition. Recognizing that many of its beliefs and practices are utterly foreign to Scripture, the Catholic Church is forced to deny the authority and sufficiency of Scripture.
@@borrowedtruths6955 Thanks for sharing all that. If everything you said is true, what do you think are the best reasons someone would convert to Catholicism from Protestantism, other religions, or even atheism (as many prominent scholars have)?
@@ClearlyCatholic The only reason would be because they have fallen into deception, believed the lies of our adversary. Because they do not believe that the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ was sufficient in and of itself for the salvation of a man's soul, that they must perform some work before the Almighty will accept the shed blood of His Son on the altar of heaven.
These supposed "prominent Scholars" you speak of are wise only in the ways of pride and the deceitfulness of their heart, and have become, as all who walk willingly into these lies, as those in Galatia did.
“I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel:” (Gal. 1:6)
You are well aware of all that I have offered you, that everything I gave you here can be verified as truths from the Word of God, and that every instance of what Romanism teaches can be verified as well. Like I mentioned, these two are in direct contradiction to each other, you have to be the one to decide which one is the truth, and which one is a lie.
I have done what I have been commanded to do in this regard for many decades now, I have revealed truth to you. What you do with it is completely in your hands. I am free from your blood.