CATHOLICS ONLY: What are the requirements for eternal salvation?

Question

I'm a Protestant, and am confused by my good Catholic friends, who seem to differ in their beliefs regarding the requirement(s) for salvation. My belief is that the blood of Christ - and acknowledgement of Christ as Savior, is sufficient for salvation, but as I (at least thought I) understood it, the Catholic church preaches that several of the sacrements are prerequisites for salvation. If so, which ones?

Answer 1

I am not a Catholic, but a born again. Christ did not come to save men and women from thier sins with a few sacrements, rights, rituals etc. If so the Old Testament rituals would have been more than enough. The rituals in there are more comprehensive and thorough than any in the world. Christ said to follow him, and what you are doing is absolutely correct. There is only one way to reach God and obtain eternal life with him, ( eternal life is there for those who follow satan too, only thing in the lake of fire burning for eternity as a reward for purposely doing evil and thereby following the master of all evil and his future residence) and that is by believing on his name.

My friend you are correct and eternal life is yours because if you follow Him whole heartedly, your name is the book of life. Tell your Catholic friend to examine the scripture, and not the volumes of concocted things the catholic church has made up falsely decieving people and leading them astray.

The Church of Christ, is made up of people who follow him and worship him in spirit and truth, not daily rituals that have no meaning. The Bible is the only Word of God that God has endorsed and in that Christ has spoken with everything necessary for eternal life. Thus the the Bible has is authority and origin, which is God. In the book of revelation, it is written who so ever adds to this book, punishment will be added to him and who so ever takes away from this book, his name will be blotted out from the Book of Life.

God bless you for your conern ,and pray for your friend. Sow the seed and God will make it grow in due time.

Answer 2

MUCH LIKE THE OTHER FEW FOLKS WHO ANSWERED I am not now Catholic, I was and raised in Catholic Schools. You are 1/2 right about the blood of Christ and excepting Christ as your savior. But the BIBLE also said fAITH WITHOUT WORKS IS DEAD. So unless you share that belief that you have actively with others, then your faith is usless, because faith with out works IS dead...

That can be found in the bood of JAMES chapter 2 verse 24 through 26.
As far as Sacrements go, no, the Catholic Church has deviated from the Early Christistian church so far. That they have separated thrir clergy from the common people, used a higher language to translate the bible into so the common man coyuld NOT share bible truths, JUST catascism that the Church offered ALSO THE BIBLE ONLY PREACHES FAITH IN JESUS AND GOOD WORKS , SHARING THAT FAITH and IN THE kingdom of GOD, AS A PREREQUISISTE.

But that ALL said as a former Catholic
1. Infant Baptism.
2.First Communion.
3. Confermation
4. this is a variable:
marriage, or priesthood, or becoming a nun, all of them part of a Sacriment.
5 Recieving the last rights at your death bed confession.
I CANNOT THINK THAT FAR BACK for other ones sorry!
I converted after 20 years growingt up Catholic, 10 long years of study and question to Jehovah Witness.
BUT I can still say the sign of the cross in Latin!
Nombe de Pardre' de Filiae de, Spiritu Sanctae! Amen!
Boy, I will bet Spell check will have a field day with that one! LOL

Answer 3

Nope, you're right. Acknowledging that Jesus is the Christ and died for our sins, and is God is sufficient. I don't think that the Church even teaches that baptism is necessary for salvation, though you would think that it would be if you believe Jesus is our savior.

For me, the confusing part is "good works." It may appear that we believe that we can "earn" our way into heaven by doing good, but that sure doesn't make any sense. I think our good works just shows our belief in Jesus' teachings. Naturally, if we believed that Jesus is our savior, we would want to live a life that he would approve of.

http://www.catholic.com/library/mary_saints.asp

This site might help answer the question, but I have never heard nor did I teach when I taught in Catholic school that all or any of the sacraments were necessary for salvation. Thanks for asking with interest and respect. I appreciate that.

I find it interesting that jennskids speaks like she's an expert on Catholicism when she clearly has no clue as to what she's talking about.

Answer 4

The authority of the Church rests on three pillars:

Scripture- The Bible is the inerrant word of God and is to be read as the earliest Christians read it: in the light of Tradition and under the guidance of those ordained to teach.

Tradition-the teachings which the Church has preserved and passed down from Christ, His Apostles, and the unanimous teachings of the early Church Fathers .

Magisterium - the teaching authority of the Church under the guidance of the Holy Spirit.

The Church has 7 Sacraments -- "outward signs of invisible grace" and media of sanctifying grace. The Sacraments were given to us by Christ so that we may receive His grace and become more like Him. The Seven Sacraments are:

Baptism
Confirmation -Sacrament of the Seal
Eucharist
Penance
Holy Matrimony
Holy Orders
Extreme Unction

The Church teaches by looking not only at Sacred Scripture, but into History and by reading what the earliest Christians have written, what those who've sat on the Chair of Peter have spoken consistently with Scripture and Tradition, and what they've solemnly defined.
To believe that the Bible is our only source of Christian Truth is unbiblical and illogical

Answer 5

I'm a Baptist, and I'm answering your question because some of my best friends are Catholic. We agree on salvation by faith in Jesus Christ's Death, Burial, and Resurrection.

We agree that the Bible says "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved." The Bible does NOT say that as Christians we need to agree on Genesis to Revelation; and; other than salvation by faith in Jesus Christ, I think a LOT of things in scripture are negotiable.

I don't care what a woman wears to church, as long as its modest. Some churches do.

My Catholic friends would not attemot to say that they speak for the Catholic Church, only themselves. I'm certainly not trying to be sarcastic with you, but perhaps you need an audience with the Pope; because I'm aware that there are VERY different beliefs among the Catholic brethren.

I think my Baptist Minister summed it up real good one Sunday, he said "Every one of you has the right to disagree; none of you has the right to be disagreeable."

Answer 6

The sacrament of baptism, which removes original sin from our souls and allows all other sacraments and access to heaven.
Sacrament of penance, or confession, where we confess our willful sins and gain redemption in a formal manner before a priest, the representative of Christ.
Sacrament of Holy Eucharist, where we receive the body of Christ as food for our immortal souls. Sacrament of Extreme Unction or Last Rites, much like annointing the dead or dying in its ritual, more like baptism in its affect. Cleanses the soul of sin if the recipient is willing.
Of all of these the absolute necessary is Baptism, by water if at all possible, by blood (martyrdom) if necessary, and by desire if hindered. The others , confession, communion, last rites, matrimony, holy orders, confirmation are pluses and needed under various conditions, but you must start with baptism, and if that is all you get, you have the ability to succeed. The others bring you closer, heal your soul and confer special graces (help from God).
That was kinda long-winded, but prerequisite would be baptism.

Answer 7

>>CATHOLICS ONLY: What are the requirements for eternal salvation?<<

The only thing that is absolutely required for salvation is to die in a state of grace. That is why the Catholic Church acknowledges that even those who have never heard of Christ can be saved.

Answer 8

If you want the core beliefs and answers to those questions, participate in the RCIA. I have noticed that every generation of Catholics believes something just a little different. I bet you get different responses to your question too. My mom raised us Catholic. I took the RCIA course and found many things to be different than what my mom taught us. Is it worth making an issue - some think yes, and some like me think no. And right there you can see where differences are that confuse the facts of the Catholic faith.

Answer 9

The primary requirement for salvation is appearing before Jesus Christ, our just judge, with at least some charity remaining in our soul.

The sacraments are outward signs, instituted by Jesus Christ, to give grace. And since grace is the divine life of God ... and God is love ... and love is just another name for charity ... I hope you get the point.

Absent grace/charity, all bets are off.

Answer 10

Full cooperation with the full Grace of GOD. Why do we need Salvation to begin with? Disobedience over the matter of eating fruit that seemed like any other, but was exclusively forbidden. A snake was put on a pole when GOD so wished, and all that had been bitten mortally by a snake would on that occasion be saved for looking on the snake on the pole. Now GOD has commanded that we eat HIS Flesh and drink HIS Blood, partaking of the Eucharist. HE commanded that we who were excluded from Eden through original sin now enter the Kingdom through Baptisn in the water and the SPIRIT. HE commanded that all baptised into CHRIST recieve the HOLY SPIRIT and Anointing together, with the laying on of hands called Confirmation by the Catholic Church. HE commanded that if any has sinned after Baptism, that he confess aloud, trusting that the ONE WHO breathed the HOLY SPIRIT on the Apostles that they might forgive or not forgive sins, is just to make that Sacrament of Reconciliation, also called Confession and penance, work Salvation for the one who has again lost Paradise.

If disobedience in the matter of a preventive measure led abruptly to a need for Salvation, then what of disobedience toward the Cure put forward? When man first sinned, he died spiritually in that instant, and severed an intimate unity between spirit, soul and body, between material and spiritual, as relating to man's life. JESUS, through WHOM was the water made in the beginning, upon which the SPIRIT hovered in preparation of it for Baptism in the New Covenant Age that awaited, submitted HIMSELF to Baptism in it, in order to empower it, as our FOUNDATION, for our following HIM through the same course, in which Redemption of all the creation occurs, mending the rift between the spiritual and the material.

As for good works, one is either dead or alive. Dead works (evil works) are to abide in spiritual death, while good works necessarily are part and parcel to being alive in CHRIST. If it takes a fight aginst weaknesses, do it - enter into the fulness of life by any and all means. There is no amount of Good one does apart from GOD's Grace, nor apart from loving GOD is even what might seem good be perfectly so. All our good works that please GOD come from loving HIM and living from HIS SPIRIT, and are reciprocations of HIS Love, enabled from abiding now in HIM WHO loved us first. None of these reciprocations could have balanced the imbalance of our past offenses, and even the perfect Angels, who have never needed forgiveness, were freely created, not for the perfection they hadn't beforehand demonstrated, but on account of the free Grace of GOD. To allow us Penance, GOD first forgave the condemned. But once saved, one either grows secure in a State of Grace, or returns to the danger he was saved from like an ungrateful runaway traitor.