do you have to be Catholic to get into Heaven??

[Janet1983]

Amen to that mp. I am so thankful to Jesus for this. I have one question? That as some say that only CC is right and those who are Catholics are only right? Then I have a burning question, why does God answer prayers of us all? I could share 4 miracle answers from God this last week,

God answers prayer. He does not forsake His people…
I know of one myself just this last week… I felt sick, my stomach was in a bad state and I had been tired for days… I went to choir practice (even though I might have looked dreadful) and I asked the others to pray for me as much as I did pray… That was on Wednesday night… After that I went to bed still feeling exceedingly terrible.
The next morning (Thursday) I woke up at 0730 in the morning and I felt as refreshed and healthy as I hadn’t in days… I would actually say that I hadn’t woken up that refreshed in months. I got up, side-stepped the coffee and caught up on the housework I hadn’t been able to do in the days before that and I turned the house upside down without getting tired.
God answers prayers, though not always in the way we want him to… there are several answers we can get:
“Yes.”
“No.”
“Wait. / Later.”
“You’ve got to be kidding.”

 

[mpjw2]

speaking of salvation…

Let me present to you a co-worker I knew who was raised catholic and received all the sacraments.

As an adult he walked away from the church… not just the catholic church but any church.

He has not been to any mass or worship service for years.

He has not lost his belief in God or Jesus

What does the catholic church teach regarding salvation for catholics like my co-worker should they die as they presently are living?

thank you and God bless

mpjw

 

[Dettingen]

I am consoled that it is God who decides who will end up where, not any person or collection of people. I have a better chance with God, I think!

And so does everybody else. than if I were ‘the decider.’

Pax

Dettingen

 

[mpjw2]

God answers prayer. He does not forsake His people…
I know of one myself just this last week… I felt sick, my stomach was in a bad state and I had been tired for days… I went to choir practice (even though I might have looked dreadful) and I asked the others to pray for me as much as I did pray… That was on Wednesday night… After that I went to bed still feeling exceedingly terrible.
The next morning (Thursday) I woke up at 0730 in the morning and I felt as refreshed and healthy as I hadn’t in days… I would actually say that I hadn’t woken up that refreshed in months. I got up, side-stepped the coffee and caught up on the housework I hadn’t been able to do in the days before that and I turned the house upside down without getting tired.
God answers prayers, though not always in the way we want him to… there are several answers we can get:
“Yes.”
“No.”
“Wait. / Later.”
“You’ve got to be kidding.”

beautiful testimony Janet

I can relate to the…

“You’ve got to be kidding.”

ah yes, we may believe God is kidding, but we know and I am sure you do too God is no comedian.

He knows what is best for us

even though He knows we might not agree with Him.

 

[Carlan]

Amen to that mp. I am so thankful to Jesus for this. I have one question? That as some say that only CC is right and those who are Catholics are only right?

Originally Posted by mpjw2
Jesus went to hell temporarily to complete His sacrifice He made for us in our place.

This is what the Catholic Church teaches Tweety.

Christ descended into hell.
Church teaches that Jesus decended into hell and in his soul joined other in ther realm of the dead.
But he decended there as Savior, proclaiming the Good News to the spirits imprisoned there.
Such is the case for all the dead, whether evil or righteous, while they await the redeemer: which does not mean that their lot is identical, as Jesus shows through the parable of the poor man Lazarus who was rec’d into “Abraham’s bosom”.
It is precisely these holy souls, who awaited their Savior in Abraham’s bosom, whom Christ the Lord delivered when he descended into hell.
Jesus did not descend into hell to deliver the damned ,nor to destroy the hell of damnation, but to free the just who had gone before him. Carlan

 

[mpjw2]

friends…

I believe we are saved by faith alone

problem…

the bible says

faith without works is dead

so … I am wrong to believe we are saved by faith alone and not works…

**right?

or

wrong?**

hmmm…

the bible also says

It is by grace you have been saved through faith…not by works

at first sight, seems the bible contradicts itself

I believe it does not contradict itself

I also believe also in something the bible did not say and that is…

works without faith is dead

illustration…

you can come across the best person in the world, the most generous, everybody’s best friend, never in his/her life stole, killed, cursed God’s name, dishonered their parents etc…

and when they die they did having rejected the gospel of Jesus when their christian friend even reminded him/her as they were on their death bed.

where do you believe this person would spend eternity?

on the other hand had they accepted (work) the gospel of Jesus on their death bed.
They would have done so because they first had faith their friend was telling the truth. Before they died they repented and confessed of their sin of rejecting Jesus.

where do you believe this person would spend eternity?

we are saved by faith alone, the works we do is because of the faith we have in Him.

If we say we have faith and keep on doing what we have been doing before we found faith in Jesus, do we really have faith in the first place?

Another illustration…

I just hit the lottery.

If you send me your address, I will happily send you a share of the prize.

you may believe I won the lottery and possibly even believe and say you have faith that I will share my prize with you.

BUT

until you exercise your faith and send me your address, your faith without works is dead.

why I am not catholic?

Romans 6:23.

The Bible tells us we are all going to hell because of our sin

In the same verse it tells us God has a prize(gift) for all of us so that we do not have to go to hell because of our sin and His Gift is eternal life in heaven

I want His gift don’t you?

how do we claim it?

by faith alone

and then exercise that faith by placing our trust in Him that He is telling us the truth and believing in Jesus as our Lord and Savior

I realize catholics do not believe this verse as I do

thats one reason I am not catholic

God bless

 

[mpjw2]

This is what the Catholic Church teaches Tweety.

Christ descended into hell.
Church teaches that Jesus decended into hell and in his soul joined other in ther realm of the dead.
But he decended there as Savior, proclaiming the Good News to the spirits imprisoned there.
Such is the case for all the dead, whether evil or righteous, while they await the redeemer: which does not mean that their lot is identical, as Jesus shows through the parable of the poor man Lazarus who was rec’d into “Abraham’s bosom”.
It is precisely these holy souls, who awaited their Savior in Abraham’s bosom, whom Christ the Lord delivered when he descended into hell.
Jesus did not descend into hell to deliver the damned ,nor to destroy the hell of damnation, but to free the just who had gone before him. Carlan

Carlan, correct me if I am wrong.
from your comment, you believe when Noah died, he spent time in hell until the day Jesus died and went to hell to free him.

correct?

thank you

 

[Carlan]

friends…

I believe we are saved by faith alone

problem…

the bible says

so … I am wrong to believe we are saved by faith alone and not works…

**right?

or

wrong?**

hmmm…

the bible also says

at first sight, seems the bible contradicts itself

I believe it does not contradict itself

I also believe also in something the bible did not say and that is…

works without faith is dead

illustration…

you can come across the best person in the world, the most generous, everybody’s best friend, never in his/her life stole, killed, cursed God’s name, dishonered their parents etc…

and when they die they did having rejected the gospel of Jesus when their christian friend even reminded him/her as they were on their death bed.

where do you believe this person would spend eternity?

on the other hand had they accepted (work) the gospel of Jesus on their death bed.
They would have done so because they first had faith their friend was telling the truth. Before they died they repented and confessed of their sin of rejecting Jesus.

where do you believe this person would spend eternity?

we are saved by faith alone, the works we do is because of the faith we have in Him.

If we say we have faith and keep on doing what we have been doing before we found faith in Jesus, do we really have faith in the first place?

Another illustration…

I just hit the lottery.

If you send me your address, I will happily send you a share of the prize.

you may believe I won the lottery and possibly even believe and say you have faith that I will share my prize with you.

BUT

until you exercise your faith and send me your address, your faith without works is dead.

why I am not catholic?

Romans 6:23.

The Bible tells us we are all going to hell because of our sin

In the same verse it tells us God has a prize(gift) for all of us so that we do not have to go to hell because of our sin and His Gift is eternal life in heaven

I want His gift don’t you?

how do we claim it?

by faith alone

and then exercise that faith by placing our trust in Him that He is telling us the truth and believing in Jesus as our Lord and Savior

I realize catholics do not believe this verse as I do

thats one reason I am not catholic

God bless

Nothing complicated about it old boy, We are saved by the Grace of God, in Faith working in love. We have done the faith and works discussion over and over and over again. I suggest if you wish to do i t again go back over all the other threads dealing with it,perhaps you will be enlightened. Carlan

 

[mpjw2]

Nothing complicated about it old boy, We are saved by the Grace of God, in Faith working in love. We have done the faith and works discussion over and over and over again. I suggest if you wish to do i t again go back over all the other threads dealing with it,perhaps you will be enlightened. Carlan

old boy???

I am 52. you still consider that old?

Carlan, do you believe or not believe Paul tells us in Romans 6:23 that God has a gift (eternal life) for all of us, which all of us believers in Jesus Christ can accept by faith right now?

just this answer…nothing else

thank you

 

[Carlan]

old boy???

I am 52. you still consider that old?

Carlan, do you believe or not believe Paul tells us in Romans 6:23 that God has a gift (eternal life) for all of us, which all of us believers in Jesus Christ can accept by faith right now?

just this answer…nothing else

thank you

Yes, my middle aged friend, but I must say, the much loved Paul said a great deal more than that. Carlan

 

[smask63]

today’s readings address this (posted in Non-C reliigons & Sacred Scripture) …

5 wise virgins and 5 foolish ones…

the word Virgin would seem to indicate that all 10 were in some way Christians (?) and yet they all didn’t make it… (this is my interpretation, not necessarily the Church’s?)

anyway, why else would he use the word Virgin?

but anyway, the foolish ones didn’t have oil, which seems to represent the Holy Spirit… and i believe the RCC would agree since She uses oil in rituals to bless things & people… .

anyway, the oil (my interpretation) is complete holiness… not just the holiness of those who, like the virgins, think holiness is “good”, & once in awhile may even try to attain it… but never really do what is necessary to attain it… It is not easy for human beings to do absolutely everything Jesus wants… If you read the Scriptures every day (or have them read to you at Mass, which is WAY better)… you begin to see this…

Please everyone, go to Mass as often as possible. The Word of God is very powerful and will help you get to God (Heaven).

**It is NOT easy to get There… Jesus told us this… **

 

[smask63]

speaking of salvation…

Let me present to you a co-worker I knew who was raised catholic and received all the sacraments.

As an adult he walked away from the church… not just the catholic church but any church.

He has not been to any mass or worship service for years.

He has not lost his belief in God or Jesus

What does the catholic church teach regarding salvation for catholics like my co-worker should they die as they presently are living?

thank you and God bless

mpjw

In reading your previous “beliefs”, I just wanted to make sure you realize that it is not biblical to believe in assurance of salvation. Even St. Paul was in constant fear of losing him salvation, of not enduring til the end, fighting the good fight every single day. Even though we believe in JC and his promise of eternal life, every person is in danger of losing that promised salvation because Jesus told us what we must do in order to attain heaven. If we should stop striving to act out our faith in good works, then we are jeopardizing our salvation. St.Paul knew this very well and writes about it in his epistles. As for somebody who has walked away from the faith and given up on God, we as members of the Body of Christ (ALL Christians) should pray for that person. If he still believes in Jesus, he needs to understand that Jesus founded a Church (on Peter) and promised that His church would last forever. He needs to realize that sinful men will try to bring down the church, but that the teaching of Jesus through his church is infallible and “the gates of hell will never prevail against it.” It is our job to encourage one another in the faith.

 

[ron77nyc]

In reading your previous “beliefs”, I just wanted to make sure you realize that it is not biblical to believe in assurance of salvation. Even St. Paul was in constant fear of losing him salvation, of not enduring til the end, fighting the good fight every single day.

I don’t think Paul was always in constant fear of losing his salvation. He knew that he could fall but he also knew that God would be faithful when he was weak. He certainly didn’t tell anyone to live in fear of losing eternal life.

Romans 8:38 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons,m neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Romans 5:1 Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God.

1 Thessalonians 5:23 May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 24 The one who calls you is faithful and he will do it.

Phil 1:4 In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy 5 because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, 6 being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.

 

[mpjw2]

I don’t think Paul was always in constant fear of losing his salvation. He knew that he could fall but he also knew that God would be faithful when he was weak. He certainly didn’t tell anyone to live in fear of losing eternal life.

Romans 8:38 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons,m neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Romans 5:1 Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God.

1 Thessalonians 5:23 May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 24 The one who calls you is faithful and he will do it.

Phil 1:4 In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy 5 because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, 6 being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.

excellent post Ron

key word in verse 6 of Phil1 …confident

 

[ron77nyc]

excellent post Ron

key word in verse 6 of Phil1 …confident

The bible doesn’t teach eternal security or once saved always saved but it also doesn’t teach that we can accidentally lose our salvation. Forgiveness and redemption are not made of tissue paper.

 

[PRmerger]

PR, I sincerely hope you were not substituting feaking for something else. That is not cool if you were.

I apologize in advance if I am wrong.

You are indeed wrong. I did not write the majority of those quotes you attributed to me.

 

[Carlan]

Carlan, correct me if I am wrong.
from your comment, you believe when Noah died, he spent time in hell until the day Jesus died and went to hell to free him.

correct?

thank you

He waited for Jesus to redeem him some where, I suppose that is what the place was refered to . Can you enlighten me further. Thank you.Carlan

 

[PRmerger]

The bible doesn’t teach eternal security or once saved always saved but it also doesn’t teach that we can accidentally lose our salvation. Forgiveness and redemption are not made of tissue paper.

Amen, brother!

 

[PRmerger]

He waited for Jesus to redeem him some where, I suppose that is what the place was refered to . Can you enlighten me further. Thank you.Carlan

What the CC teaches is that prior to redemption all the souls went to Sheol (in Hebrew), or Hades (in Greek) or Abraham’s bosom. All are synonymous for the abode of the dead. Not hell.

When Catholics pray in the Creed “He descended into hell”, we actually mean “He descended into the abode of the dead”.

 

[Carlan]

What the CC teaches is that prior to redemption all the souls went to Sheol (in Hebrew), or Hades (in Greek) or Abraham’s bosom. All are synonymous for the abode of the dead. Not hell.

When Catholics pray in the Creed “He descended into hell”, we actually mean “He descended into the abode of the dead”.

Yes PR,understood, I’m afraid I was responding to MPJW in a rather sarcastic manner, you know concerning a couple of my earlier posts to him.Carlan