I have some confussion about christianity (Catholic & Evangelical) replies?

Question

I always believed in the bible alone. I always believed in once saved always saved. I always believed in salvation through Christ alone and how I have that now and no one can take it away.

The more I read on YA, the more I reasearch the catholic teachings, the more confused I am.

I have concerns about the bible, since it appears that it should be read in light of something else (like church history and teaching) So have I been duped.

How can mortal sin take away salvation if Jesus died to wipe out all sin, altogether. So I live a life and have faith in christ and then I lust after somone (or some other mortal sin) die and I am @#$%$#.

I like the catholic thing of history etc, I see it is richer in debth and spirituality that what I am used to. I even accept, confession, eucherist, even purgatory can make some level of sense (if it is an instantaneous purging)

But the whole salvation thing bugs me, it sort of puts too much in my court.

It even creates the situation where jesus died for my sins but because I screw up at some point I am sent to hell.

I am not saying that evangelicals are right because they have some stupid practices themselves.

So how can anyone be saved the most of the world is commiting mortal sins every day.

Answer 1

Stick to your first paragraph....

Eternal security for the true believer is the truth of Scripture. When we sin.....and we do sin......we have Christ to run to.

(1 John 1:9)
The Catholic faith relies on a system....and not a Savior. We are not saved by works....we are saved by grace

Answer 2

That's a steep question. I applaud your thoughts on it.
That being said, I think it's more of a personal feel. Church doctrines, no matter what, are always going to have some sort of teaching that it's practitioners don't exactly agree with. Regrettably, I'm not as aware of all of the factors of "salvation" but in catholicism, we were saved when jesus died for us on the cross, end of story. That doesn't mean that we do whatever the heck we want, because Catholic guilt is one of the worst things in the world to have to experience (and we're good at it, let me just tell you), and also, somewhere it states that all sins are the same in god's eyes, there isn't supposed to be a "sin ranking" system. That's one of the reasons why Catholics have reconciliation. We acknowledge that man is not perfect, and that we should feel sorry for the times when we screw up, so we repent, take our pennance from the priest, and do better next time. Salvation comes through god. humans can't really judge that.

Answer 3

This is precisely what Jesus meant about Questionning
Your on your way

A quick retort to a defender of sola Scriptura
Eric: John, stop and think for a moment, are Roman Catholics Christians? They are if they have trusted in Jesus alone for the forgiveness of their sins, and had a born again experience. However, if they believe that the are saved by God's grace and their works, then they are not saved -- even if they believe their works are done by God's grace -- since they then deny the sufficiency of Christ's sacrifice. Being a Christian does not mean being a member of the Roman Catholic Church. Roman Catholicism is not faithful to Scripture. Attached are Scripture verses and explanations that prove the Catholic Church is no longer representing Christianity, but apostasy.

J. Salza: Eric, you have no business quoting from the Bible to disprove the Catholic faith when it was the Catholic Church who gave you the Bible. This is the brash arrogance of Protestant Christians, who are ignorant of history and twist the Scriptures to their own destruction. I call it “spoiled brat Christianity.” You despise the very Mother who gave you the Scriptures. The Bible is indeed the Word of God, but you only know that because the Catholic Church told you so. How do you know what books should be in the Bible when the Bible doesn't tell you? You only know it because the Catholic Church definitively declared the Bible canon at the end of the fourth century.

If the Bible canon is necessary for our salvation, but Christ did not reveal it to His apostles, then Christ must have established an authority that would guarantee the early Christians' determination of the Bible canon after He ascended into heaven. This authority is the Holy Catholic Church.

There was no Bible as you know it for 400 years after Christ's death, and it wasn't even distributed for 1500 years after His death. If the Bible is the only way to get us to heaven, then what happened to those millions of poor souls who never had a Bible during the 1500 year period? Eric, you need to get familiar with basic history. Jesus Christ established a Church to proclaim the good news. He never intended on having the Bible be the sole infallible guide for the Christian faith. This is why the Catholic Church is one, and your Protestant denominations are 30,000.

The Catholic Church wrote, translated, copied, and preserved God's written word throughout the ages. That is the only reason you even have a Bible. Quit trying to interpret the Scriptures without the Church, because it is the Bible in the Church, the Church before the Bible, the Bible and the Church (both or neither).

Answer 4

There seen to be some things you don't yet understand. Why don't we take your question one piece at a time?


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Bible-alone is not Biblical. Once saved always saved is not Biblical. There is Salvation through through the one mediator Jesus Christ - but that does not mean there cannot be intercessors.


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There is no such thing as Bible alone. We need the Bible, yes. But there is something else every bit as Sacred as the Bible - Sacred Tradition. We need both the Sacred Scriptures and Sacred Tradition, not just one or the other.


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What you have to understand is Salvation is a gift, and that sin is a choice. As with any gift, even a gift from God, we are not obligated to accept the gift of Salvation. God does not force Salvation upon. He lets us choose whether or not we want it.

One of the ways in which we can choose for/against salvation is choosing to commit a mortal sin. We need to be in a state of Sanctifying Grace in order to enter Heaven. Committing a mortal sin takes Sanctifying Grace away. A soul not in a state of Sanctifying Grace cannot enter Heaven.

Temptations to sin are everywhere. However, whether or not a given temptation gets the best of us is a choice. And we reap what we sow in the choices that we make. So make them wisely.

If you were to commit a mortal sin, it can always be restored via the Sacrament of Reconciliation - a Sacrament made possible via Jesus' Death and Resurrection. However, you have to be a Catholic in order to receive this Sacrament.


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Try not to think of Purgatory in the context of time. Purgatory exists in the spiritual eternal realm; where the measurement of time is irrelevant. We do not know whether Purgatory takes "time", or if it is instantanious. It's enough for us to know that all souls that go to Purgatory do go to Heaven.


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Again, we reap what we sow.


<< It even creates the situation where jesus died for my sins but because I screw up at some point I am sent to hell.>>

Only mortal sins deprive one of Sanctifying Grace. But again - Sanctifying Grace can be restored via the Sacrament of Reconciliation.


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Don't worry so much about what everyone else is doing. Do that and you will wind up justifying your own misguided deeds by pointing to the fact "everyone else is doing it". You cannot justify sinful behavior by pointing to another's bad behavior.

There is a road to Salvation for everyone, no matter how misguided they may be at the moment. Whether or not one chooses to follow that road is their choice. Whether or not one chooses to pick themselves up and dust themselves off when they stumble in sin is their choice as well.

Jesus endured the Passion, Death, and the Resurrected so that God would be reconciled to man; making forgiveness of sins possible. God has made good on His part. We must do ours. No one said is was going to be easy living a pius life in Christ.

Answer 5

Your first paragraph is proper Biblical doctrine. Don't come here to get your theology if you are not grounded in the truth, it will confuse you. You don't need a church or church authority to interpret Scripture for you, it is written straight forward enough for even the simplest human to understand, as long as God has given you the faith to believe, the eyes to see and the indwelling of the Spirit to teach you. Commentaries help with some of the more difficult passages as well as kicking around these passages with more mature believers. There is no such thing as a "mortal" sin, that is unbiblical. Sin is sin. For the believer, all their sins, past, present and future, were forgiven on the cross. There is no longer forgiveness for salvation for the believer, the work is completely done. If you want some rich Christian history, look into the reformers who stood against the heresies of the catholic church. Confession to a priest is unnecessary, you have one mediator between men and God, Christ alone. There is no need for purgatory, since the believers sins have been completely forgiven, no need to purge anything. The mass is unbiblical and simply a bloodless sacrifice of Christ all over again, hence the alter.
Stick with the Scriptures, you won't go wrong. Salvation is by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone.

Answer 6

I don't know where you got the idea that salvation is like a ping pong ball. You do not get saved and then lose your salvation if you sin, and then repent and get saved, and lose it again if you sin. There is nowhere in the bible that it says when you are saved you will then never sin again. On the contrary, scripture teaches although God would have us not sin, if we do, we have an advocate, Jesus Christ. We are forgiven all our sins, past present and future. We of course should strive to follow after Jesus, and emulate His living, but we are human and we fail. "God knows our frame, He knows we are dust". Please do not be despairing or hopeless or confused. Get into a good bible study, particularly the book of Romans. You will be transformed. You will see that you have been saved by what Jesus did on the cross, and that nothing can snatch you out of the Father's hand.

Answer 7

Started with a great question, what about sin and how does it affect our salvation. Yes Jesus Christ died for our sins, but does that mean that we have to live a sinful life and think that we are saved, just because.
It is said, yes even by Jesus, that He will come again to judge the living and the dead. Therefore not all will just get a free ride into the Holy Kingdom, meaning those who are sinful will be judged along with those who are not, we dont know whaat the outcome is to be though. He also said, that which is bound by you on this earth, shall remain bound in heaven and likewise that which is unbound. Said to those first apostles, giving them authority to govern his earthly Church, notice not preside over, but govern. The presider is always Christ himself, judge. Therefore it has been handed down, yes in tradition, that forgiveness of sins can be achieved on earth and heaven by confessing them and acting out ones penance.
Sin is that temptation which is acted upon, knowingly, freely and without remorse. We are all tempted, we all sin, but the beauty is that we have been given the means to rid ourselves of this so that we may enter into the kingdom of God.
God bless you and continue to seek the truth.

Answer 8

Catholics do not believe in "once saved, always saved." We believe that a person can freely reject his or her salvation by completely and totally turning away from God. This is called mortal sin.

1 John 5:16-17 - If anyone sees his brother sinning, if the sin is not deadly, he should pray to God and he will give him life. This is only for those whose sin is not deadly. There is such a thing as deadly sin, about which I do not say that you should pray. All wrongdoing is sin, but there is sin that is not deadly.

Catholics believe:

Mortal sin is a grave infraction of the law of God that destroys the divine life in the soul of the sinner (sanctifying grace), constituting a turn away from God. For a sin to be mortal, three conditions must be present: grave matter, full knowledge of the evil of the act, and full consent of the will.

Venial sin is a sin which does not destroy the divine life in the soul, as does mortal sin, though it diminishes and wounds it. Venial sin is the failure to observe necessary moderation, in lesser matters of the moral law, or in grave matters acting without full knowledge or complete consent.

But continual venial sin can slowly but surely totally separate you from God, placing you into the state of mortal sin.

For more information, see the Catechism of the Catholic Church, sections 1854 and following: http://www.usccb.org/catechism/text/pt3sect1chpt1art8.htm#1854

With love in Christ.

Answer 9

Both Catholics and Protestant Evangelicals are deluded. The whole notion of being "saved" is absurd. Life is not what the religions have made it to be. Life is without dilemma. Research the history of the bible and you'll find it's not so sacred. It's just an ordinary text. Much of it is plagarized from previous religions, especially those of Egypt. Basically, western religions are fanatical. They preach things that are founded on fear and paranoia. Existence is beautiful. Love exists as a natural feature of life. Belief systems like those of the Catholics are heinous. Just read about the Inquistion, the witch burnings, and today's Nazi bred Pope. Look at how he attacks gays. You would think he would talk about the millions of innocent Arabs Bush has killed and criticize the tyrant in the White House. Instead, he attacks innocent populations. When you grow up religion is seen for what it is: a childish preoccupation. Furthermore, book-based religions are threatening the very existence of our planet with their mis-reading of Revelations and delusion that Jesus is coming back again. He's not coming back because he's already here. He exists as the Life all around us. "I am here to give Life and give it more abundently."

Answer 10

The focus of the Church is not on sin, but rather, on hope.

A popular devotion in the Catholic Church, spread by John Paul II, is that of the "Divine Mercy". It consists of messages of Jesus Christ to the Church and to the whole world, through an uneducated Polish Nunn in the beginning of the 20th century. The message is not new, everything is found in the Bible, just re-affirmed:

"My mercy is greater than your sins and those of the whole world.... Every creation in relation to me will contemplate my Mercy throughout all eternity.... My mercy is so great that no mind, be it of man or angel will ever be able to fanthom it throughout all eternity... the greater the sinner the more right he has to my Mercy."

Now we see how full of turmoil that 20th Century was with wars, dictators, refugees, concentration camps... but still, God chose to re-affirm this message right then, "especially for poor sinners".

Catholics pray for the whole world: "Just one of your words could save a thousand worlds."

Answer 11

The doctrine of sola scriptura "the Bible alone" was created by man. A specific man actually (Martin Luther). He was in rebellion against the Church of that time. There is actually nothing in the Bible itself that supports this doctrine. Yes, in one of the epistles of Paul to Timothy it mentions that Scripture is good for learning, preaching, etc. but doesn't claim that it should be the only source. The Bible in it's present form did not appear until the 300's to 400's AD. Before that there was Church teaching and tradition handed down from the Apostles, and still is today.

Also, the Bible is not subject to private and personal individual interpretation. Read 2 Peter 1:20-21. It says that Scripture is not to be a matter of private interpretation, but rather by those given of the Holy Spirit, the Apostles, and their successors. Because no prophecy ever originated from the will of man, but by those borne of the Holy Spirit. The result of Luther's doctrine of sola scriptura, and of private and personal interpretation, is the 30,000+ Protestant denominations we see today, all with their own interpretation of the Bible.