Can I be both Catholic and be Saved?

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ATTENTION CAROL MARIE,

You say you almost 100% sure you will go to heaven when you die, yet you have saaid that you are now Roman Catholic. When a RC tells you that they hope the go to heaven, they ARE BEING TRUTHFUL.

The story about Jesus and the lady who was caught in adultry and she was about to be stoned- Jesus forgave her, then He said":Go and SIN no more": (The key words are SIN NO MORE)

Carol you did not say a word about Confession of your sins, that worries me.Sure Jesuus died for all our sins, BUT He also said in 1st John 1:9 that we must Confess our sins to be a child of God.

Carol, you didnt mention Purgatory. Do you think that just maybe you have some small sins? It is written that NOTHING UNCLEAN WILL ENTER HEAVEN, and you perfectly clean< I am not and I went to confession just 1 week ago. I think that I probably will be allowed into Purgatory to cleanse me of my propensity to sin - I dont PAY for my sins- Jesus did that.

Good lick. I think you still have your clothes aall wet with the protestant teachings. Be Catholic. This idea of Once Saved Always Saved is Protestant MakeBelieve.
 
carol marie:
Marineboy,
You don’t have to shout and I’m not your honey.

CM
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Marineboy was not SHOUTING. He is an Orthodox Traditional Roman Catholic who wanted to get your attention and set you straight. He was simply honest. ( Whats the honey mean?)

You may be unaware that the Protestant belefs of “Being Saved” is still guiding your thoughts. NO, I say NO, Roman Catholics are not Saved as you describe it. Others have told you the truth already.
Go read 1st John, Chap 1, verse 9. Does it talk about the necessity of CONFESSION?
 
I try to live a good life, and I do believe that God died for all of our sins, thus enabling us to go to heaven. However, I am always shocked when I hear some of my Protestant friends say they NEVER worry about hell because they KNOW they are going to heaven. Even with my beliefs, I NEVER know if I’ll go to heaven or hell. It is scary to me!!

Karen
 
Exporter said:
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Marineboy was not SHOUTING. He is an Orthodox Traditional Roman Catholic who wanted to get your attention and set you straight. He was simply honest. ( Whats the honey mean?)

You may be unaware that the Protestant belefs of “Being Saved” is still guiding your thoughts. NO, I say NO, Roman Catholics are not Saved as you describe it. Others have told you the truth already.
Go read 1st John, Chap 1, verse 9. Does it talk about the necessity of CONFESSION?
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Hi exporter,
There is no comparison between putting their faith in Him as opposed to putting their faith in Roman Catholic laws.
This is ludicrous, and not even worth discussing. I feel the problem here is that many Roman Catholics dont understand the real meaning of faith. To be honest many people of all religions are the same. I am not setting myself above others. Faith is a gift and is not something one should brag about. Having faith is a blessing and I try to exercise this blessing. Exercising faith takes faith.
It is far easier to hide in a bunch of laws.
One way to show you understand “faith” is to give an example.
Maybe you would like to witness about an occasion you exercised your faith. This would benefit everyone who reads it.
walk in love
edwinG
 
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Zooey:
First, I’m not Catholic, but I think I know where you are coming from. There is a tension that exists between the two polar opposites of despair & presumption.
On the one hand it is possible to be arrogant about your own self, to the point that you believe that you cannot possibly sin. At the other end of the spectrum, are those sad (& almost certainly pathological) people who think that everything they say & do must be a sin–probably mortal, or even unforgivable.
The rest of us, Catholic, &Protestant, are someplace in the middle. It is usually possible to know whethter or not you have committed a serious sin. If you have, you obviously need to make it right.(According to your own church’s teachings, not my ramblings, I would add!)
Now, it is possible to be wrong, but I think that since you have asked the question, we can assume that you have a normal, well formed Christian conscience. So you probably are;) not going to run amok & desert all that you believe in…
On the other hand, we all have to have the humility to admit that we, not being perfect, can (and do) sin.But we keep looking at Jesus Christ, & that keeps us honest.
I really think you all ready have the answer to your question. God bless.
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Right on the nose. Ever consider looking into the Catholic Faith?
 
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edwinG:
Surely no one on this list would ever think that God is not able to save someone if He chose to.
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He wants to save all of us, “God is not willing that even one should perish”. However, we all know that many will. The only way we can be lost is if we fail to cooperate with His Saving Grace. We are justified by Grace alone through faith working in love. (Notice that is Grace alone, not faith alone. So many misread that and are led off into error).

God Bless.
 
posted by exporter
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You may be unaware that the Protestant belefs of “Being Saved” is still guiding your thoughts. NO, I say NO, Roman Catholics are not Saved as you describe it. Others have told you the truth already.
Go read 1st John, Chap 1, verse 9. Does it talk about the necessity of CONFESSION?
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Where does CM deny the need for confession?
 
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Ignatius:
He wants to save all of us, “God is not willing that even one should perish”. However, we all know that many will. The only way we can be lost is if we fail to cooperate with His Saving Grace. We are justified by Grace alone through faith working in love. (Notice that is Grace alone, not faith alone. So many misread that and are led off into error).

God Bless.
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Hi Ignatius,
The gift of faith is grace. Only through grace can you obtain faith.
I am going to start a thread on faith and I invite you to participate.
You are either playing with words or lack understanding.
Grace gives us faith. Use this faith in a loving manner. Exercise your faith. We can work with the faith given to us. We can not work with grace as grace is the free gift from God. Now by exercise and using this faith we are saved. This is now another thread. Please answer this post on the other thread if you feel inclined.
Hopefully you will tell me how you know. I dont know this.
walk in love
edwinG
 
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Exporter:
ATTENTION CAROL MARIE,

You say you almost 100% sure you will go to heaven when you die, yet you have saaid that you are now Roman Catholic. When a RC tells you that they hope the go to heaven, they ARE BEING TRUTHFUL.

The story about Jesus and the lady who was caught in adultry and she was about to be stoned- Jesus forgave her, then He said":Go and SIN no more": (The key words are SIN NO MORE)

Carol you did not say a word about Confession of your sins, that worries me.Sure Jesuus died for all our sins, BUT He also said in 1st John 1:9 that we must Confess our sins to be a child of God.

Carol, you didnt mention Purgatory. Do you think that just maybe you have some small sins? It is written that NOTHING UNCLEAN WILL ENTER HEAVEN, and you perfectly clean< I am not and I went to confession just 1 week ago. I think that I probably will be allowed into Purgatory to cleanse me of my propensity to sin - I dont PAY for my sins- Jesus did that.

Good lick. I think you still have your clothes aall wet with the protestant teachings. Be Catholic. This idea of Once Saved Always Saved is Protestant MakeBelieve.
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Hi Exporter,
I am so thankful that God has given us the ability to be reconciled to him through Confession. I hope to make use of this gift often. Also, I am no Saint & fully expect to be made perfect in purgatory. And, as I said, I’ve never believed in Once Saved Always Saved as it is not a Bibical teaching.

I’m not sure how exactly I “have my clothes all wet with the Proestant teaching” except maybe that I continue to be filled with joy, knowing that I will spend eternity with my Jesus. Please read my post to Maria G. I say this not because I think I’m without sin or because I think I have faith so good enough, I’m done. I say this because I can’t even imagine ever turning my back on God & sinning so gravely. I try to live my life pleasing Him, as I have for the past 13 years. I even went so far AS TO BECOME CATHOLIC - (something I didn’t want to do) becaause I knew it was what HE wanted. I am so sure of my love for God and His love for me - I just KNOW I’ll spend eternity with Him. That makes me so very very happy.

Please don’t try to take that from me.
 
Carol Marie,

I think you’ve received some good responses here, but as usual you have to wade through a certain amount of, shall we say, “overheatedness” by the usual suspects.

If we are in a state of grace, we can have a moral assurance that if we die in that state we will (eventually) get to heaven. (I say "eventually " because we may have to clean up in Purgatory first). The Church gives us so many gifts to help us stay in that state of grace, which I am so thankful for.

By the way, I remember you posting ealier, before you were received into the Church: WELCOME HOME!!! I know at times some of the contradicting chatter and the unkindness of some here may have given you pause, but I am so thankful to God that you are home. God Bless.
 
carol marie:
Hi Exporter,

I’m not sure how exactly I “have my clothes all wet with the Proestant teaching” except maybe that I continue to be filled with joy, knowing that I will spend eternity with my Jesus. Please read my post to Maria G. I say this not because I think I’m without sin or because I think I have faith so good enough, I’m done. I say this because I can’t even imagine ever turning my back on God & sinning so gravely. I try to live my life pleasing Him, as I have for the past 13 years. I even went so far AS TO BECOME CATHOLIC - (something I didn’t want to do) becaause I knew it was what HE wanted. I am so sure of my love for God and His love for me - I just KNOW I’ll spend eternity with Him. That makes me so very very happy.

Please don’t try to take that from me.
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Dear Carol Marie (and others),

I think there are a few different discussions going on here, all under the name of “being saved.” One is the question of “once saved, always saved,” which as you say is non-Biblical (although as a former Southern Baptist I did once subscribe to that teaching).
Code: 
 Another question concerns assurance of going to Heaven when we die.  While we have some assurance (see I John 5:13, for example), we do not have any guarantee of eternal life in Heaven. The subject reminds me of something General Patton said at the start of the Battle of the Bulge in December 1944: "Gentlemen, we can still lose this war." Jesus has died for us, God has given us eternal life, and nobody can take it from us, but we can still lose it ourselves.  I'm really happy for you that you can't imagine sinning that badly.
A third question, which is the literal question in the title, is “can one be Catholic and still be saved?” In fact, this is what originally brought me to this thread. Again, in my Southern Baptist days (I was in college at the time), this was a serious question: were there going to be any Roman Catholics in Heaven after the end of the world? I don’t see this being discussed in this thread (I’m not complaining–it’s a pretty dumb subject). I heard once in a Roman Catholic circle that a good answer to “are you saved?” is “I have been saved from original sin, I am in the process of being saved from my own sins, and I hope to be saved from final damnation.” The question about being Catholic and saved requires clarification: saved from what?
  • Liberian
 
carol marie:
Ok, before my question…here’s my background… I was baptized as a baby (Catholic) - never taken to church again. Became a born again Christian about 13 years ago. Since that time I have been totally in love with Jesus, trying to live my life so it pleases Him and have been certain that as His child, I will go to heaven when I die. About 3 yrs. ago I started studying the Catholic Faith & became convinced that this was the True Church that Jesus established. I was happily rec’d into the Church this past Easter. My question, although I don’t (and never did) believe in OSAS, is it wrong for me to assume I’ll go to heaven when I die? I find that Catholics are always sort of “well I hope so…” when it comes to heaven but I’m 100% certain because Jesus died on the cross for my sins, I believe it, and I live my life as a Christian. Not that I’m perfect - but that I ask for forgivness when I sin. So heaven IS in my future, I remain certain. Am I deceiving myself? Can I be both Catholic & Saved??
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You were saved in the past, you are being saved now, and you will be saved in the future. The question is, can you be 100% sure you are going to heaven? You may be able to, but I think it is dangerous to assume because it leaves no room for improvement. I would suggest not to think too much about it, because by making assumptions you can easily slip into a state of satisfaction with your current state.

The idea of salvation is to continue to become more Christ-like every day of our life. We don’t want to go part way and stop and think, “I am holy and I am saved”. Salvation is a life long process that we all participate in.
 
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edwinG:
**Ignatius:
He wants to save all of us, “God is not willing that even one should perish”. However, we all know that many will. The only way we can be lost is if we fail to cooperate with His Saving Grace. We are justified by Grace alone through faith working in love. (Notice that is Grace alone, not faith alone. So many misread that and are led off into error).
Hi Ignatius,
Click to expand...
The gift of faith is grace. Only through grace can you obtain faith.
I am going to start a thread on faith and I invite you to participate.
You are either playing with words or lack understanding.
Grace gives us faith. Use this faith in a loving manner. Exercise your faith. We can work with the faith given to us. We can not work with grace as grace is the free gift from God. Now by exercise and using this faith we are saved. This is now another thread. Please answer this post on the other thread if you feel inclined.
Hopefully you will tell me how you know. I dont know this.
walk in love
edwinG

I simply meant that, as the Bible says in James we are not saved by faith alone. Faith without works is dead. We are saved bye Grace through faith working in love. I think there have been several threads on this already, but I will be happy to join another to discuss this. Please give a link.

Yours in Christ.
 
carol marie:
Can I be both Catholic & Saved??
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Yes, but unlike beliefs by protestant sects, being a Catholic is always work in progress. You will come to know you are saved and worthy of it after you die, not while living.

Jesus has layed the building stone through Peter, and you have found the building. You have been initiated by Jesus. As you go inside you find instructions that are to be followed throughout your life, that’s where you are now.

Some are still looking for the building and found ones that did not have Jesus’s foundation stone, although they claim they have the original stone. You’ll find no instructions in those buildings, just a declaration that there is nothing more for you to do. For most, that is comforting and is persuading and it sways many in it’s promise of comforts. By contrast, the instructions in that “other” building implies a person really has to make an effort to be saved.
Andy
 
carol marie:
is it wrong for me to assume I’ll go to heaven when I die? I find that Catholics are always sort of “well I hope so…” when it comes to heaven but I’m 100% certain because Jesus died on the cross for my sins, I believe it, and I live my life as a Christian. Not that I’m perfect - but that I ask for forgivness when I sin. So heaven IS in my future, I remain certain. Am I deceiving myself? Can I be both Catholic & Saved??
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Of course you can be Catholic and be saved. The big difference is this. Protestants view “being saved” an event that happens during this lifetime. Like, “I was saved on November 8, 2004 when I asked Jesus into my life to be my Lord and Savior.”

Catholics view being saved in the true sense of the phrase - when we die where are we going? Well, since we are talking about our own deaths which will (hopefully) be some time in the future, we say “we hope to be saved,” meaning I hope that between now and my death, I don’t fall into unrepented mortal sin and die in that state.

Christ’s death on the Cross opened the doors for us to be saved, but we still have to DO the will of the Father every day! Yes, we will fail, but we must repent when we do. But to think that you are guaranteed salvation is a sin of presumption. If you fall into unrepented mortal sin and die in that state, you will not go to heaven.

The bottom line is this - to be saved you have to die in the state of grace.
 
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imroc:
Being a person who attended several churches (various baptist, catholic, methodist, pentacostal, etc) growing up, (sometimes even several churches in a week!) I was exposed to a lot of beliefs. Finally when I got old enough to create my own spiritual problems (19) and was on my own, I fell deeply into secularist ideas, but acknowledged God when convenient. Now, several years later and having my children go through catechism, I found myself more and more devoted to the Catholic Church. I attended the Catholic Church throughout my 20’s and attended no others. I reflect on alot of the “anti-catholic” speeches sometimes and find them useful to this day. I’m now a confirmed Catholic, but still have questions based on some of the protestant claims and remarks of the Catholic Church. Now, instead of just following the claims…I do research. I find it amazing how history has been shadowed by ignorant and unresearched claims. I also find it amazing that the Church has been wrongfully accused of several idealogies, traditions, paganism, etc. Why am I going on and on? Here’s a link:

geocities.com/1christlover/OSAS-.html

I hope you find this information helpful.

PS, I do find my attendance in protestant churches helpful in a serious matter. My knowledge of scripture through constant recitals and reference seems to be a bit more honed than the average catholic. I hope that someday this will all change though. For I pray that all my Catholic brothers and sisters take up their bibles, catechism books and all other material and read and understand who and what they are. God bless all of you!

Let me clear up that, while growing up, attendance to the Catholic church was rather rare and I’m not quite sure if the methodist churches were infact methodist. I do not recall actually paying much attention to the “title” of churches when I was a kid. 🙂
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Carol I think God is tlaking to you and he wants you to come home—dont delay because you never know ehen you might leave this earth and you certainly dont want to end up in HELL because you waited–and yes that is a definte possibilty—God bless and come home already!!!
 
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marineboy:
Carol I think God is tlaking to you and he wants you to come home—dont delay because you never know ehen you might leave this earth and you certainly dont want to end up in HELL because you waited–and yes that is a definte possibilty—God bless and come home already!!!
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Hi Marineboy,
If you mean “come home” as in become Catholic I did that ! 🙂 I was received into the church this past Easter. I LOVE LOVE LOVE being Catholic and I am so thankful that God has brought me to this place. I am now just trying to sort out which of my previous beliefs as a Protestant Christian I can hold on to…

Thanks for your concern. God Bless you, CM
 
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