The way I understand Christianity, faith in Jesus Christ as your lord and savior is the way eternal salvation.
I find it difficult to reconcile this with the Catholic church’s teachings that the Sacraments are necessary for salvation.
I’m afraid you misunderstand. Yes, Jesus speaks about faith being necessary. He also states, in no uncertain terms, that Baptism (a sacrament) is necessary for salvation as well. Beyond this, He granted the Apostles the ability to forgiven sins. Considering that in almost every interaction Jesus has with someone seeking physical healing, the very first thing He does is tell them that their sins are forgiven, it seems evident that that’s pretty high up there on His list as well. Sacraments have been a part of Christendom from it’s earliest times, and the writings of the earliest Church Fathers attest to this fact, not even counting all the references to them and their necessity we find in the NT.
Are we to believe that if we die unbaptized or with sins on our hearts that we haven’t confessed that we would go to hell?
As to dying unbaptized, Jesus said it was necessary, so it doesn’t look good if you’re not. With that said, God is not bound by the sacraments, and it is entirely within His prerogative to offer salvation to someone apart from Baptism. He simply hasn’t made any other method known to us, so given all that, it seems pretty important.
On the subject of sins, Mortal sins kill our love for God, cutting us off from Heaven eternally. That’s why they’re called mortal. Venial sins do not do this, and salvation is still possible with them. This is actually what purgatory is for, to cleanse us of those sins and the effects of our other sins so that we can be in God’s presence. (“Nothing unclean can stand before God.”)
That would mean very, very few people on this earth stand a chance of going to heaven since the majority of the world isn’t aware of the supposed requirements for getting in to heaven.
What you’re describing is known as invincible ignorance. Catholics do not believe that people go to Hell for something they can have no knowledge of, otherwise, anyone who lived before the time of Christ would have been damned to Hell regardless simply because baptism wasn’t available to them.
Salvation is a very deep theological issue that the Church has spent the last two-thousand years studying. The positions we hold are the result of this study, and should not be dismissed offhand simply because they don’t sound pleasant. The reality of hell isn’t pleasant, that’s why it’s important to speak about it.
And every time this comes up, the person asking is assumed to be a kid, someone immature that can’t wrap their brain around it. So before you ask, I’m an adult…
No one said you were a kid. Plenty of adults hold these misunderstandings simply because they have never studied the Church’s position, or because they have been actively misinformed by other people who lack understanding. That’s not a condemnation, just an observation.
