Why do non-Catholic Christians say that to be saved you must profess Jesus Christ as your Lord & Savior?

Question

I am a strong Catholic and I love my faith. I do not understand why Protestants believe that if you profess Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, no matter what you do, you can't undo your salvation if you truly believe it. Protestants accuse Catholics of "making things up," but nowhere in the bible does it say to do the above to be saved. Jesus did say "He who endures to the end will be saved," ( Matt. 24:13; cf. 25:31-46) which means that one's final salvation depends on the state of the soul at death. I do believe that Jesus Christ is my Lord and Savior, but I do not believe that is all we must do to gain eternal happiness. This is what I have heard from my non-Catholic friends. Is this what you believe?

If you answer this, please do not bash the Catholic Church, just explain what you think. I would love to hear your opinion.

Answer 1

I think you are exactly right, but as a Christian (not a Catholic) I have never personally heard such teachings. However, I do know that they exist, and I am a strong advocate against them. The verse you gave is a very good point against this false dogma. Maybe these verse will also help you explain to your friends what their Christianity is really about (there are so many verses in the Bible that make the point of the walk of salvation, so I will only give a few with short explanations. Also, please read the whole passages, as I will only give parts of them to save room, but I am not taking them out of context):

Romans 11:20-22-
"20 Well said. Because of unbelief they were broken off, and you stand by faith. Do not be haughty, but fear. 21 For if God did not spare the natural branches, He may not spare you either. 22 Therefore consider the goodness and severity of God: on those who fell, severity; but toward you, goodness,[a] if you continue in His goodness. Otherwise you also will be cut off."

-Here, Paul clearly states that those who are grafted into the new covenant can be cut off, hence, lose their salvation, if they do not continue in God's goodness.

Ephesians 2:8-10
8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, 9 not of works, lest anyone should boast. 10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.

-It is true that salvation cannot be won by anyone through their works, it is by God's grace and mercy, made complete in the sacrifice of His Son, that we are saved. However, it is only those who have faith that they are saved by God's grace that will receive salvation. But what is faith? How do we know that one has true faith in God? It will be evident in his works. Christ Jesus returned us to God's original plan for our lives- to live by His ways and walk in good works. Therefore, faith will be made known through works.

John 14:15
15 “If you love Me, keep[d] My commandments.

-That verse states it plain and simple- your love for Christ is proved by your obedience to his commands. You obey who you love.

Mark 11:26
26 But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father in heaven forgive your trespasses.”

-In this passage, Jesus is speaking to his disciples, His followers. Christians also are Jesus disciples. Thus, Jesus is saying that those who follow Him will not inherit salvation if they do not forgive.

Galatians 5:25-26
24 And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. 25 If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.

-If you are a Christian, you are Christ's, and here it states that if you are Christ's, you will no longer walk in the flesh. If you are a Christian, you will walk by the Spirit. (Galatians 5:19-23 defines what actions which demonstrate walking by the Spirit and actions which demonstrate walking in the flesh.)

These are just a few of many, many verses I could give you about how Christianity is not just accepting Christ, it is following Him. Your faith will made evident through your actions and love. Again you are exactly right. Works do not save you, God's grace saves you, and your faith brings God's grace upon you. Actions come into to play though because your faith is demonstrated by action. If you have faith that God saved you from an eternal damnation and torture, won't you do what He says?

I will end this answer by employing one of Paul's favorite literary devices: a metaphor.

If you say you are a farmer, what proves that you are a farmer? You will farm. And what will prove that you farm? You will have fruit and crops to show. If you say that you are an athlete, what proves that you are an athlete? You will train and work hard. And what will prove that you train and work hard? You will have a strong, healthy body, and maybe even some awards to show. In the same way, if you say that you are a Christian, what proves that you are a Christian? You will follow Christ. And what proves that you follow Christ? People will be able to see your good works as well as the good fruit of your works.

Christianity is more than a prayer, it is a lifestyle.

Hope this helps!

Answer 2

Have you ever read Hewbrews 6:4-6. It says

"4. It is impossible for those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit, 5. who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the coming age, 6. if they fall away, to be brought back to repentance, because[b]to their loss they are crucifying the Son of God all over again and subjecting him to public disgrace."

What this means is that, if we lose our salvation, we can never get it back, because we were already saved at one time. However, the writer does not stop there. If you go on to Hebrews 7: 23-25 it says

"23. Now there have been many of those priests, since death prevented them from continuing in office; 24. but because Jesus lives forever, he has a permanent priesthood. 25. Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them. "

In other words, when Jesus died on the cross, and rose up from the dead, he completly saved us. There was nothing else needed to save us. When we choose to repent and accept him as our savior we are saved.

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Answer 3

the way to God is - only - through his son and saviour Jesus Christ -

the concept is that Jesus died on the cross wiping out all our sins symbolically and spiritually

we were all born sinners - thats just the fact and consequence of being human - and God thoruhg Jesus presented the only way out - by having faith in him and professing it in his sons name

and being born again with this faith

I used to be catholic and appreciate the catholic church and all others who try to genuinely spread the gospel and love without trying to force others int otheir system

however, if you read the bible carefully and belive that the bible is actually God's - first, last and only - word you start to realize

- the catholic church doen't belive in Jesus as the only way to eternal life and salvation
- it s a lot of -sometimes mindless- repetitions of rituals and traditions and prayers
- the catholic church proclaims that the way to communicate with the Lord is through a priest and confession has to be to the church

and lots of other issues

for me personally it is simple,
if you have a spiritual - God - experience and realise that God is alive and well and everywhere and you can actually listen to him, understand him - sometimes - and communicate with im, faith becomes alive, its almost like a love affair,

and I started to resent the regimented catholic system because it didn't give ma nay spiritual experiences and wan't full of love and compassion as it should be ....

God Bless you

Answer 4

I use to belived that,but every time i would sin i felt so guilty and i knew that wasnt right,but eventually i found the truth! there is no such scripture thats says that ,it is dogma and unforunatelly alot of ppl will be lost because of such.John 3:5 and acts 2:38 is the only way a person can be saved according to the Bible

Answer 5

i think you have a problem with Protestants. The thing you need to learn isthat we are all children of God and saved by Christ. All we have to do is ask him to forgive our sins and accept him as our Lord. I don't need a priest to tell me i'm forgiven because he is not God. God alone forgives and I love Him. I dont have any problem with Catholics but have a problem with their "We are right you are wrong" mentality. God loves us all and if you believe that you have to do good works in order to get into heaven, then you obv. arent reading the Bible. John 3:16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only son that whosoever believeth in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. Pretty clear to me. If you think Protestants are doomed to Hell b/c they dont recognize your pope as all powerful, i'm sorry. I have great respect for the Pope but he is just as human as you and I. Wasnt the current Pope once one of the Hitler Youth? He is forgiven but should not be put on a pedastal. He should come out of his Ivory Tower and realize that we are all children of God, created in His image to serve and love Him. God Bless and i hope you see the light that is that Jesus loves you and accepts all who believe in Him and ask for His forgiveness.

Answer 6

I believe that if you have faith in your heart when you die, then you will go to heaven. There are no requirements, Christ did all the work for us.

John 3:16"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

Answer 7

well confessing Jesus before men is part of what God wants us to do. God wants everyone to hear the good news that Christ died for our sins and we can be saved. In Luke 16 it says Go into all the world and preach the gospel. That means tell the people about salvation, that isn't to explain the whole bible, just the salvation part, and that is for every christian..
Rom 10:9 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
1John 4:15 Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in God.
Phil 2:11 And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Luke 12:8 Also I say unto you, Whosoever shall confess me before men, him shall the Son of man also confess before the angels of God:
Luke 12:9 But he that denieth me before men shall be denied before the angels of God.

These things are written in the Bible and are commandments from God himself and we are instructed not to change anything that God has said, not even a little bit..

Answer 8

well first of all You really need to understand, we all have different religions. I am a christian, and study the bible. I do not agree with Catholics at all, you have to ask forgiveness for your sins by a priest? why? I go straight to Jesus my- self. It says in the bible that "Who soever calls upon my name shall me saved." You have to call upon the Lord, as him into your heart, ask him to forgive you for your sins and then you are saved. I also think that catholics think they are self righteous compared to other religions. I do not agree with your priest, where in the bible does it say you must ask forgiveness by a priest, and then he will ask Jesus to forgive you......NO WHERE!!!!!! you need to read the entire book of Mathew and with an open heart. Then you will understand.

Answer 9

Yes, I believe that the whole purpose of JESUS coming here was to die for our sins, and the second coming is for him to get all the people that confessed,repent and live by the commandments of GOD best as you could,he's also coming back to punished people who denied him

Answer 10

being Christian means knowing Jesus. Knowing him as Lord and saviour and being born again of the spirit. to be saved we must give our selfs ( lives to Jesus )