Catechism & Sacraments necessary for Salvation

[ZEEBEE]

How would I explain to an Evangelical what is meant by The Catholic Catechism Paragraph 1129 “The Church affirms that for believers the sacraments of the Covenant are necessary for salvation” & Par. 1257 regarding Baptism is necessary for salvation. Thank you for your help.

 

[Genesis315]

God freely bestows His saving grace through the sacraments

 

[JaneFrances]

The easy answer is grace. Grace is absolutely necessary for Salvation–no Christian should argue that.

The Sacraments are special ways in which Christ bestows his free gift of grace upon us.

Essentially, in receiving the Sacraments, we are opening ourselves to the movements of grace in our lives. We are not working for grace, but rather we are asking for it and seeking it where we know it can be found.

This is in coordination with the Scripture: “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.” Matthew 7:7. When we receive the Sacraments instituted by our Lord, we are asking, seeking, and knocking for his grace to be opened to us.

It is also like a child asking for a gesture of love from a parent. A child needn’t always request the free gifts of love and loving gestures, but surely when a child asks, it is given. Sacraments are our way of asking for grace and we are confident in our Savior’s power to answer us.

 

[dylanschrader]

This is from Dominus Iesus (22).

Indeed, the Church, guided by charity and respect for freedom, must be primarily committed to proclaiming to all people the truth definitively revealed by the Lord, and to announcing the necessity of conversion to Jesus Christ and of adherence to the Church through Baptism and the other sacraments, in order to participate fully in communion with God, the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

Lumen Gentium also expounds on the sacraments as “bonds of communion” among other things.

Baptism incorporates one into the Body of Christ. A relationship to the Body of Christ is necessary for salvation–indeed, the concept of salvation includes this as necessary. Even those who are not explicitly baptized may have some implicit relationship with the Body of Christ, even in a way unknown to us. Why? Because God desires that all men be saved and wherever grace is at work, that grace is always given through the Church by the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit cannot lead people anywhere but to Christ.

Even though Baptism incorporates one into the Body of Christ, it is oriented toward something more: full Eucharistic Communion. This expresses and brings about the unity of the Church, that is, the unity of the Body of Christ.

For those who are not invincibly ignorant of the Gospel, the sacraments are necessary for salvation because Christ is necessary for salvation, and the sacraments are the way he has given us to be incorporated into his Body.

 

[ZEEBEE]

Thanks for your replies and more are definitely welcomed.
I am in email correspondence with this guy and I know he’s baiting me by asking me what Rom 10:9-10 & Eph 1:13-14 means to me. Knowing well and good that I’m going to reply that Jesus Christ is my Savior. And then he’s going to reply, well if he’s your Savior why do you rely on a religion that has sacraments that are necessary, etc.
Besides his Sola Scripture agruments that I’m sure he’ll have, I think the “necessary” part he’ll get me on. How do I explain necessary?
Don’t know why I’m bothering anyways, it’s going on deaf ears. But I feel like if I don’t reply that he’ll think I’m stumped on those verses.

 

[happygal]

ok gd topic, i am a protestant practising christianity for a while. but i have not go for my water baptism yet, due to the pressure from my parent. so do what i can see from the answer is i have no salvation lor. So every sin i committed will not take into account rite??

 

[rwoehmke]

Being a Catholic is like belonging to a great Country Club, as a member one gets to benefit from many of the perks provided by the Club. Of course a club member takes on certain obligations such as paying dues and working on committees etc. Now then there are employees of the Club, the Non-Catholics, they work they don’t pay dues, they don’t get all the benes, but maybe in off hours they can get away with playing a round, if they work on an event they can overhear some of the talk or teaching, say on how to improve one’s game, maybe even be able to eat some of the food or left overs from meals. So one could say they are not excluded from the Club, think Church and Heaven, but they sure don’t get what membership would give them.

 

[Gamera]

Thanks for your replies and more are definitely welcomed.
I am in email correspondence with this guy and I know he’s baiting me by asking me what Rom 10:9-10 & Eph 1:13-14 means to me. Knowing well and good that I’m going to reply that Jesus Christ is my Savior. And then he’s going to reply, well if he’s your Savior why do you rely on a religion that has sacraments that are necessary, etc…

This is a false dichotomy. “Why do you rely on sacraments instead of Jesus?” is a meaningless question because all sacraments derive their power from Jesus. We don’t rely on sacraments "instead of " Jesus; rather, we rely on Jesus, Who acts THROUGH the sacraments which He instituted.

Fundamentalists often use false dichotomies when discussing Catholicism. A few examples: “Why do you pray to Mary instead of praying to Jesus?” “Why do you confess your sins to a priest instead of confessing to God?” “Why recite the rosary instead of just praying from your heart?” All of these are false “either / or” propositions. Almost always when a Fundamentalist poses an “either / or” question in reference to Catholicism, the answer is “both / and.”

 

[MariaG]

ok gd topic, i am a protestant practising christianity for a while. but i have not go for my water baptism yet, due to the pressure from my parent. so do what i can see from the answer is i have no salvation lor. So every sin i committed will not take into account rite??

Only you and God can know. Do you not seek baptism because of the desire to honor your parents or have you placed family harmony above the desires of Our Lord that all should be baptized?

:bible1: Matthew 19:29 And every one that hath left house, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands for my name’s sake, shall receive an hundredfold, and shall possess life everlasting.

 

[thomasf]

This is a false dichotomy. “Why do you rely on sacraments instead of Jesus?” is a meaningless question because all sacraments derive their power from Jesus. We don’t rely on sacraments "instead of " Jesus; rather, we rely on Jesus, Who acts THROUGH the sacraments which He instituted.

Fundamentalists often use false dichotomies when discussing Catholicism. A few examples: “Why do you pray to Mary instead of praying to Jesus?” “Why do you confess your sins to a priest instead of confessing to God?” “Why recite the rosary instead of just praying from your heart?” All of these are false “either / or” propositions. Almost always when a Fundamentalist poses an “either / or” question in reference to Catholicism, the answer is “both / and.”

Great answer! Thanks!

 

[Atemi]

How would I explain to an Evangelical what is meant by The Catholic Catechism Paragraph 1129 “The Church affirms that for believers the sacraments of the Covenant are necessary for salvation” & Par. 1257 regarding Baptism is necessary for salvation. Thank you for your help.

Being a non-Catholic Christian, you cannot explain it.

The only way to explain these paragraphs is to ultimately deny what they plainly say, IMO.

When “necessary” necessarily does not mean “necessary,” there is necessarily a problem.

When someone says something is “necessary, but…,” it loses all credibility, IMV, and the view of most non-Catholics.

 

[MariaG]

Being a non-Catholic Christian, you cannot explain it.

The only way to explain these paragraphs is to ultimately deny what they plainly say, IMO.

When “necessary” necessarily does not mean “necessary,” there is necessarily a problem.

When someone says something is “necessary, but…,” it loses all credibility, IMV, and the view of most non-Catholics.

While the Catholic Church can look at the teachings of the apostles and say this is how we know people to be saved, we also know that nothing is impossible with God.

Unlike many non-Catholic Christians who believe that it is impossible for God to save a person who has never heard of Christ, we acknowledge the supremacy of God and truth of Scripture by our “necessary, but…” because nothing is impossible for God.

It does not state the*** likelyhood ***of such people being saved, it just never shuts the door on it for to do so denys the truth of scritpure that tells us nothing is impossible with God.

IMHO it is another case of where Catholic Christians ***literally ***believing scripture, all of it.

Respectfully,
Maria