Can someone help me understand this?

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anendlesswaltz

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I’m trying to learn about the catholic faith and its stance on things.

To my understanding, if i died tomorrow just having been saved, no (actual, understood) baptism, not having joined the Catholic church, i’m still saved. I’m still right with God.

The Sacraments, like receiving communion, are the process by which we are changed, by which we are being made holy, right? Sorry that’s the only sacrament i understand, cause we did communion once a month at the southern baptist church my mom would take us to.

Purgatory is where you go after death to be made perfect so you may stand before God, right? Also, i remember when i looked that up in the bible way back when it mentioned praying for those in purgatory…what’s that about?
 
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From the Chatecism of the Catholic Church
1259 For catechumens who die before their Baptism, their explicit desire to receive it, together with repentance for their sins, and charity, assures them the salvation that they were not able to receive through the sacrament.

1260"Since Christ died for all, and since all men are in fact called to one and the same destiny, which is divine, we must hold that the Holy Spirit offers to all the possibility of being made partakers, in a way known to God, of the Paschal mystery." Every man who is ignorant of the Gospel of Christ and of his Church, but seeks the truth and does the will of God in accordance with his understanding of it, can be saved. It may be supposed that such persons would have desired Baptism explicitly if they had known its necessity.
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1129… “Sacramental grace” is the grace of the Holy Spirit, given by Christ and proper to each sacrament. The Spirit heals and transforms those who receive him by conforming them to the Son of God. The fruit of the sacramental life is that the Spirit of adoption makes the faithful partakers in the divine nature by uniting them in a living union with the only Son, the Savior.
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  1. All who die in God’s grace and friendship, but still imperfectly purified, are indeed assured of their eternal salvation; but after death they undergo purification, so as to achieve the holiness necessary to enter the joy of heaven.
1031 The Church gives the name Purgatory to this final purification of the elect, which is entirely different from the punishment of the damned.
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1032 This teaching is also based on the practice of prayer for the dead, already mentioned in Sacred Scripture: “Therefore [Judas Maccabeus] made atonement for the dead, that they might be delivered from their sin.” From the beginning the Church has honored the memory of the dead and offered prayers in suffrage for them, above all the Eucharistic sacrifice, so that, thus purified, they may attain the beatific vision of God. The Church also commends almsgiving, indulgences, and works of penance undertaken on behalf of the dead:

Let us help and commemorate them. If Job’s sons were purified by their father’s sacrifice, why would we doubt that our offerings for the dead bring them some consolation? Let us not hesitate to help those who have died and to offer our prayers for them.
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Oh. Really? Its normal where i grew up. I attended a southern baptist church growing up. It refers to when you accepted Jesus into your heart as your lord and savior. What do you call it…? Or is it not doctrine in the catholic faith? I’m so confused. I thought it was scriptural, biblical.
 
In many if not most protestant churches they believe a doctrine called ‘once saved, always saved’. This is one of the areas which the protestant churches changed when they rebelled against the Catholic Church about 500 years ago.

The Catholic Church has never taught anything close to that. We believe through the sacraments we are given the graces we need to work on salvation, our eternal life, but it always a choice we must make, every day we must make the choice to live in God’s grace and mercy or live outside of it.

For most of us, because we are sinners, we can waver in & out of God’s grace & mercy. We, as sinners, can remove ourselves completely from the grace of God by our sins. However we have the most wonderful, merciful God who let us confess our sins, make amendments to our lives and be absolved of our sins, therefore be back in God’s grace.

Some protestant churches changed this to a one & done type of salvation, just give your life to Jesus and you are saved no matter what you do, you cannot lose your salvation. The concept of accepting Jesus is in the bible, but what the protestants do is skip over all the rest that backs up Catholic doctrine of salvation.

Again this is a quick explanation, there is more to it. When you decide to join RCIA hopefully you will learn much more.
 
The Catechism of the Catholic Church is online, or you may purchase it at any venue like amazon. Your questions will be answered there.
 
Thank you so much for explaining this to me. It actually scared me a bit to learn there is such a profound difference in church teachings to something so basic. But it makes the verse that comes to mind make more sense. To work out your salvation with fear and trembling. I would love to read more in this. I am quite concerned of this is something the Bible backs up despite us having the same New Testament but Protestants are ignoring it.
 
Thank you so much. I will do that tomorrow, I am at work all day today.
 
Can someone help me understand the biblical support for this? I have not the time right now I work all day but I have decided this will be my primary concern over my weekend starting tomorrow. Am I not truly saved merely by belief and Protestant baptism? Is my mom and siblings saved?
 
Hello anendlesswaltz,

I actually live in South Carolina, where the primary religion is Southern Baptist, so I understand where you are coming from.

The concept of salvation through accepting Jesus as Lord and Savior is derived from loose translations of the original Greek text of the New Testament. Many protestant churches point to 2 Corinthians 5:15, 1 Timothy 2:4, and Romans 6:10 as evidence that acknowledgement of Jesus sacrifice and divinity results in salvation.

In 2 Cor 5:15, the mood of the verb ζωσιν (Zōsin) is subjunctive, denoting possibility. This contradicts the concept of “once saved, always saved”. The salvific act of Christ is not automatically applied to the living. Instead, it is more correctly translated in the sense that Christ’s salvific act allows mankind the possibility of being saved.

In 1 Tim 2:4, Paul speaks of God “who wills everyone to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.” The problem here in the translation and interpretation comes from the two different tenses in Greek of “to be saved” and “to come” as well as the context in which this passage is taken. “To be saved” is σωθηναι (sōthēnai) is something called a 1st aorist active infinitive. It describes a single action which happens in the past and is centered around God’s simple act of desiring all men to be saved. “To come” is ελθειν (elthein) is a 2nd aorist active infinitive. This means tense describes an act which was ongoing in the past. Both σωθηναι and ελθειν refer to God’s act of desiring but are not actually linked. God’s desire of salvation in this verse is separate from God’s desire that all peoples come to know the truth. This interpretation is emphasized by the fact that, in the Greek, 1 Tim 2:1-7 is actually one long run-on sentence. It is all modifying St. Paul’s initial exhortation to pray for all civil leaders, who at this time would have been pagans, so that all might have peace and prosperity. 1 Tim 2:4 is simply describing why praying for pagan leaders is acceptable and good.

Many protestants also point to Romans 6:10 in support of the concept of once saved, always saved. This interpretation seems to ignore Romans 6:3 which directly states : “Or are you unaware that we who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?” If you take the verse within the context of both the chapter and the Epistle to the Romans, you can only come to the conclusion that we only come to share in the merits of Christ’s salvific death and resurrection through Baptism. Christ’s sacrificed offered the opportunity for man to be saved. In Baptism, we accept that offer and are directly baptized into that sacrifice and salvation.
 
If you want a further look into the Catholic doctrine regarding salvation, a pretty in-depth summary of our doctrine can be found in the Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification. This document was jointly created between the Lutheran and Catholic Churches, outlining the points on which we agree and those on which we differ.

God Bless! You will be in my prayers.
Ben
 
The baptism of desire. Dismas hanging on the cross. He could not be baptized, but his desire for Christ saved him. But - and this is crucial - that was an extraordinary example, which is intended to build our hope.

Purgatory? 1 Corinthians 3:10-14 gives an indication. 1) After death. 2) At our judgment. 3) Our WORKS are tested to see if they will stand. 4) If they survive the test, we receive a reward. 5) If they are burned up, 6) we are still saved, but only as if 7) passing through fire. The purging fire. Think: Purge.

Purgatory is not a second chance… It is not a place. It is a temporary state of existence. Time spent in the spiritual shower.

Revelation 21:27 Nothing impure enters the Kingdom of heaven. Are you 100% pure with no sin or even thought of sin?

Yeah, me neither. Therefore, we need cleaning up in God’s mud room before we enter the banquet.

Prayer for the dead? Check 2 Maccabees 12:45 and thereabouts. Judas Maccabeus took up a collection to send to Jerusalem so that a sacrifice might be made for the dead - that they be loosed from their sins. It was a “holy and pious thing to offer prayers for the dead.”

It’s all in there.
 
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