Eternal Security

[Kaily]

I was listening to a Calvinist speak last night at this Campus Crusade for Christ gathering and he was talking about Eternal Security and gave several Scripture passage to this. I’m Catholic, but not sure exactly how the Catholic Church understands eternal security. I know the Church teaches Justification is a process rather than a one time event and Faith is the initial step in this process of justification. What are your views on eternal security?

God Bless

 

[FCEGM]

I was listening to a Calvinist speak last night at this Campus Crusade for Christ gathering and he was talking about Eternal Security and gave several Scripture passage to this. I’m Catholic, but not sure exactly how the Catholic Church understands eternal security. I know the Church teaches Justification is a process rather than a one time event and Faith is the initial step in this process of justification. What are your views on eternal security?

God Bless

Kaily, these articles from This Rock magazine address the Protestant idea of “eternal security”:

catholic.com/thisrock/1998/9802chap.asp

catholic.com/thisrock/1995/9509fea2.asp

catholic.com/thisrock/2006/0610fea2.asp

 

[COPLAND_3]

I was listening to a Calvinist speak last night at this Campus Crusade for Christ gathering and he was talking about Eternal Security and gave several Scripture passage to this. I’m Catholic, but not sure exactly how the Catholic Church understands eternal security. I know the Church teaches Justification is a process rather than a one time event and Faith is the initial step in this process of justification. What are your views on eternal security?

God Bless

As a former Southern Baptist myself, and as I compare the Catholic belief with the former I find that we mean a lot of the same things but use a different vocabulary. Not to say that we don’t have a dividing line because we sure do, but sometimes I think that Catholic apologists tend to over-do it when trying to highlight the differences between the doctrines and make our salvation sound too graceless and more workish, when in fact we have a complete Biblical doctrine that gives us assurance of God’s promises about how to get to Heaven. We understand that we go to Heaven if we die in the state of grace, no if, ands or buts about it, it is a matter of fact, and that is assurrance of salvation. Now we draw the line when our Calvinist brethren claim that we can not lose our salvation no matter what, and it does not require a life change.

I guess that would be the difference between assurance of salvation vs. eternal security. God assures us that if we follow Him the best we can then we will go to Heaven, but He does not promise us that if we pray a little prayer that we will go to Heaven no matter how we live our lives after that.