Do you believe that some Catholics may be saved!

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sharpe89

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#1
#1
OK i don't know how to put this but well i grew up as a Catholic so i know insides of church doctrine pretty well but because i am now a born again Christian and believe in one God, one son, and one sacrifice and my need for the Lord Jesus and my need to live for him I do have a awkward question.... I know many catholic people, i live in a catholic town, nearly well 200,000 people, more like a really large town and i know many believe in the catholic faith, but see i think i do believe that SOME, now i mean SOME, not all as the catholic church state...will go to heaven and are saved

See I was at my brothers confirmation (yes had to attend, even to this day I feel awkward in a catholic church), and the bishop said, "if you believe in the lord our God, the creator of the heavens and earth, his son jesus, who died on the cross for the sins of the world, so that we can be forgiven through his sacrifice, please pray with me now...and everyone prayed, so i believe that those people that prayed with the bishop and really in their hearts believe what was said and believe that jesus can forgive our sins and they have done that...they are saved (even though they may still be apart of the catholic church and attend chapel, take communion, pray the hail mary prayer etc etc... )

See this is what confuses me ya know. I mean every denomination and church/chapel watever ya wan2 call it... has its ups and downs and some have different ways of teaching God's word and no church is perfect but if they have that key evangelistic message from the gospels that whosoever believes in the word of God, believes in what jesus has done, and that he can forgive their sin, then it dosent matter whether you are catholic, protestant watever..... i mean it is just a title.... God eyes dont see a title, but 2 kinds of people in the world, those that arent saved and those that are! right! God bless and try and understand my crazy mind hahaha....!

Stephen S.
 
MahogonySnail

MahogonySnail

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Jan 8, 2009
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Put it this way, if Catholics are not saved, even the majority, not just a minority as you say, then it's about a 1500 year period in which no body was saved, until protestantism came on the scene.

I just dont' get the beliefs of some christians that say, if you have faith in God alone and no works, even if you sin, you are still saved.
But if you are (like catholics) have faith in Christ, and are careful to do good works. You are somehow going to hell.

God is a God of righteousness , fairness and justice, and I don't believe He is sending a Catholic to hell, just because they don't believe a strict protestant doctrine of sola fide. Although both Luther and Calvin brought light to a dark world full of corruption, in their attempt to reform, since when did God make Martin Luther or Calvin the author and finisher of the faith by which God judges the soul?


One verse says this very nicely:
Act 10:34 Then Peter opened his mouth and said, Truly I see that God is no respecter of persons;
Act 10:35 but in every nation he who fears Him and works righteousness is accepted with Him.
 
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RobAndOrMandy

Banned
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Jun 26, 2009
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I believe like you say there are good people in every denomination. Which more or less in my mind is all catholism is, a denomination. I like you have a few problems with there worship. For one asking a man for forgiveness is no where to be found in Gods word.Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me. Catholics who are redeemed must have there own prayer life with the lord, skip the priest other than for counseling.

Problem #2 Thou shaft have no graven images" (Exodus 20:4). Wouldn't this include Mary? Also where does Mary get elevated to such extreme signifgance in the bible. Wasnt she only mentioned a few times? I think this is the most serious problem for Catholics.

Im a relative newbiehere so someone please tell me if im off base.
 
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Slepsog4

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#4
#4
Roman Catholicism is the apostasy foretold by the Apostles. They preach a different gospel. They venerate angels, saints, and Mary.

To be saved a Catholic would have to repent and come out from among them.
 
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starfield

Senior Member
#5
Jun 13, 2009
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sharpe89 said:
God eyes dont see a title, but 2 kinds of people in the world, those that arent saved and those that are!
Click to expand...
True, God examines the saved and unsaved. Putting title apart, the question is: are Catholics saved?
 
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WENSPI

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#6
#6
starfield said:
True, God examines the saved and unsaved. Putting title apart, the question is: are Catholics saved?
Click to expand...

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MaggieMye

Guest
#7
#7
Those that become born again, born of God are saved.
We need to remember that Christ paid the price for ALL our sins and Scriptures is simple: Believe and be saved.
Those, pre Luther, that had a daily relationship with Christ (the number was few because the RCC would not let the people read the word of God for themselves to be able to discern truth and so had to deal with what they are given...which was a lot of heresy, but still Holy Spirit IS Holy Spirit and the One that guides and counsels...) believed and so are saved. People perish for lack of knowledge!

For NOW, however, because the Gospel IS available to everyone, IMO, I believe that Catholics can be saved, but if they are truly saved and walking with Christ...they will walk AWAY from the RCC because of its heresies. We are responsible for what we know. Any truly saved person will be reading the word of God and seeing the error of the RCC's ways and leave. If a person is 'saved' and does not read the word, their faith is dead and they will not see the kingdom of God.
Maggie
 
MahogonySnail

MahogonySnail

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Jan 8, 2009
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Any truly saved person will be reading the word of God and seeing the error of the RCC's ways and leave.
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The bible does not describe the errors of the RCC's ways. Catholic who have read the bible since it was first made , have not often reached that conclusion. The bible supports the catholic view in whichever way they wish to interpret (mis?-interpret) it. Catholics who read the bible are most often established and faith-strengthed in the fact, that they are catholic.


If a person is 'saved' and does not read the word, their faith is dead and they will not see the kingdom of God.
Click to expand...
So you are saying that to be saved a person has to read the bible?
 
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GloriousTrinity

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#9
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RobAndOrMandy said:
I believe like you say there are good people in every denomination. Which more or less in my mind is all catholism is, a denomination. I like you have a few problems with there worship. For one asking a man for forgiveness is no where to be found in Gods word.Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me. Catholics who are redeemed must have there own prayer life with the lord, skip the priest other than for counseling.
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In regards to confession, there is the misconception that a Catholic is confessing solely to a man. However Catholics believe that they are confessing to God. The priest has been given this special role by Jesus Himself as successors to the apostles through the laying on of hands. You will recall in the Bible when Jesus said to Peter "I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven." (Matthew 16:19), and then to the disciples "If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven." (John 20:23). Jesus gave to his apostles the ability to forgive sins and to do this He breathed on them. No one else was breathed on by Jesus, and the Bible shows that on accepting another to replace Judas, the other apostles laid their hands on him so that he would become one of them. To be able to forgive a sin, the priest must be aware of it, thus he has to be told it. Jesus gave this ability to His apostles to be used, and it continues to be used by the roughly 1.5 billion Catholic (Roman, Armenian, Coptic, Marian, Eastern etc), Orthodox and Anglo-Catholic Christians.

RobAndOrMandy said:
Problem #2 Thou shaft have no graven images" (Exodus 20:4). Wouldn't this include Mary? Also where does Mary get elevated to such extreme signifgance in the bible. Wasnt she only mentioned a few times? I think this is the most serious problem for Catholics.
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What is a graven image? Surely this would include any monuments, statues, photographs, paintings etc? So what you must really be alluding to is the false belief that Catholics worship statues and saints etc. This is simply not true. When you look at a war memorial it reminds you of those who died. When you look at a photo of your dead grandmother it reminds you of her. When a Catholic looks at a statue or image of a saint, or even Jesus this is used to focus the mind - as an aid to recollection, meditation and prayer, in the exact same way as the war memorial makes you recollect and meditate on war and those who died.
Catholics believe that death does not seperate those in the Body of Christ. In Romans 8:35-39, St Paul tells us that nothing – not even death can separate us for a moment from God – we can never cease to be a member of the Body of Christ (unless we ourselves decide to reject God). Again, Paul tells us in his letter to the Ephesians that ‘From him (Christ) the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.’

Accepting that those in heaven are still a part of the Church, we then read in 1 Corinthians 12:21-26 that ‘The eye cannot say to the hand, "I don't need you!" And the head cannot say to the feet, "I don't need you!" On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and the parts that we think are less honorable we treat with special honor. And the parts that are unpresentable are treated with special modesty, while our presentable parts need no special treatment. But God has combined the members of the body and has given greater honor to the parts that lacked it, so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.’

The Bible has several examples of people interceding on behalf of others.
Mary intereceded on behalf of the wedding guests at Cana by asking Jesus to do something about the lack of wine (John 2:1-11).
Parents intercede on behalf of their sick daughter and ask Jesus to heal her (Matt 15:22, Mark 5:23, 7:26, Luke 8:41-42), and the centurion intercedes on behalf of his sick servant (Matthew 8:5-6). Each time, Jesus responded to the prayer (turning water into wine, healing the sick) without insisting that the sick person or the guests come and ask him instead of those who interceded.

Intercessors still use the Mediator - Jesus - they go to Him.

Catholics never have to pray to saints - we can always go directly to God. It's not even neccessary or mandatory - but it IS possible. Just as you can ask the living on earth to pray for you, likewise you can ask those in heaven.
James 5:16 it says 'The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective' - what man more righteous exists than he who has passed through the fires of life and has won the prize of heaven? So in adding their prayers to ours, they help us - just as a friend on earth might pray for us.

Mary is held in special regard by Catholics as she of her own free will said yes where Eve said no. The Word became flesh in her. She wasn't just a mere tool - she was the mother of Christ. She raised him and loved him, and he loved her and obeyed her according to the Law. If we are to imitate Christ in all things, must we not also imitate his love for his mother?
All of her life she directed us towards God - when Elizabeth said 'blessed art thou among women' Mary did not accept the glory but directed it to the Lord - 'my soul glorifies the Lord, my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour'. At the birth of Christ she directs the shepherds and wise men to her son; at Cana she instructs us to 'do whatever he tells you'. At the foot of the cross, she stands silent witness, silently directing our attention to her son.
Now that she is in heaven, she continues to direct us gently to her Son, our Lord and Saviour.


On the topic of are some Catholics saved - I wouldn't be a Catholic if I didn't believe it led to my salvation. I believe there are Catholics who will not be saved, but likewise, there will be Catholics who will be saved.

I'm sorry that this is such a long response, but it is quite a complex issue with lots of room for misunderstanding.

Peace in Christ,

GloriousTrinity
 
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MaggieMye

Guest
#10
#10
The bible does not describe the errors of the RCC's ways. Catholic who have read the bible since it was first made , have not often reached that conclusion. The bible supports the catholic view in whichever way they wish to interpret (mis?-interpret) it. Catholics who read the bible are most often established and faith-strengthed in the fact, that they are catholic.

If a person is 'saved' and does not read the word, their faith is dead and they will not see the kingdom of God.
If a person is 'saved' and does not read the word, their faith is dead and they will not see the kingdom of God.
So you are saying that to be saved a person has to read the bible?
DId you READ what I wrote? FAITH WITHOUT WORKS/OBEDIENCE is DEAD!
James 2:17
Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself.
Dead 'faith' is NO FAITH. Without faith, one cannot obtain Heaven.
Maggie
 
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carpetmanswife

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#11
#11
ok ok i gotta ask..just how often do we need to be readin our bibles to make it in eh?? juuuuust curious
 
MahogonySnail

MahogonySnail

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Jan 8, 2009
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If a person is 'saved' and does not read the word, their faith is dead and they will not see the kingdom of God.
If a person is 'saved' and does not read the word, their faith is dead and they will not see the kingdom of God.
So you are saying that to be saved a person has to read the bible?
DId you READ what I wrote? FAITH WITHOUT WORKS/OBEDIENCE is DEAD!
James 2:17
Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself.
Dead 'faith' is NO FAITH. Without faith, one cannot obtain Heaven.
Click to expand...
Let's see what works James describes:

Jas 2:14 What dothit profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? can faith save him?
Jas 2:15 If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food,
Is reading the bible one of them? Nope.

Perhaps there are catholics going to heaven who dont read the bible but do feed the poor. No matter.
 
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nanabean

Guest
#13
#13
Do you believe that some Catholics may be saved!

Yes..........I do.
 
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BLC

Banned
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Feb 28, 2009
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If they have trusted in the sacrifice of Christ for salvation and believe that God raised Him from the dead, they are just as saved as you or me. They can't trust in Mary to save them, or in infant baptism or in catechism or in their confession of sin for salvation. If they believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, they will be saved by grace and through faith. God will get them through the works phase of their life and if they have good teaching they will grow in grace and get to know the One who saved them.
 
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MaggieMye

Guest
#15
#15
Reading the word daily:
Acts 17:11
Now these were more noble-minded than those in Thessalonica, for they received the word with great eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see whether these things were so.
2 Timothy 2:15 KJV
Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.
2 Timothy 2:15 (New American Standard Bible)

15Be diligent to (A)present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling (B)the word of truth.
 
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NoahsMom

Guest
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#16
Who so ever calls upon the name of the Lord ( meaning, if you call on him, repent, mean it, live it, believe he died on the cross for your sins and rose on the third day), I dont care what denomination you call yourself, if your sincere and you decide to put God first, love him with all your heart , mind and soul...your gonna see a change that comes only with you asking God into your life and really meaning it.
 
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carpetmanswife

Guest
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i believe there are ppl in every denomination saved..and i believe there are those in every denomination that arent that think they are.
 
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sharpe89

Guest
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well thanks guys and girls so much, good to hear others opinions and arguments to a certain, mature and less violent (lol) way compared to some other threads hehe.... :D well God Bless guys and hopefully talk to you all soon. thanks! OHH... pray for me...going to a youth camp for 2 weeks with a group of young people, 100 of them altogether, both from different backgrounds, both catholic and protestant, and i'll be telling my testimony.... so hopefully God will speak to me and speak to them... love ya's!

Stephen (sharpe89)
 
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dustin

Guest
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#19
yes they cna be saved anyone who belives in god c an be saved
 
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sharpe89

Guest
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well dustin not just believe in God, i know what your sayin but just to make it clear believe in God isnt enough, even the devil and his wicked angels believe in God, but you mean believe that God is real and his words are true and that his son jesus came to this earth to die and save us.... yes! God bless!

Stephen
 
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