How do you answer 'Are you saved?'

  • Thread starter Thread starter yellowbicycle
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
Y

yellowbicycle

Guest
Hubby and I plan on going to a christian music concert.
It’s held at an evangelical church, with bands from protestant churches. My brother-in-law’s band is playing and I really want us to go out and support him. He and his wife go to a ‘four square’ church. I’ve not really ever talked to them about religious issues, in part because I don’t even know how to start, conduct, or finish a conversation like that.
There will be a large presence of ‘sidewalk ministry’ there to talk to people as they are coming into the concert.
I am sure they will ask me if I am saved. And actually as a Catholic, I’m not sure how to answer that.
‘I pray that I am’?
‘I hope so’?
‘I’m working on it’?
Since ‘saving’ is a process, not an event, the outcome of which I won’t know til I’m dead, it’s a difficult question to answer.
Or they’ll ask me some other Jesus-related question I’m sure.
I would LOVE to be able to engage them in some conversation about theology, but, I’ll be honest, I just don’t have the chops.
I don’t know my Bible well enough. I’m working on changing that but again, it’s a process.
I don’t want to talk to them and for them to think I’m just another Catholic who doesn’t know her Bible (even though I am).
And I don’t want to avoid them - that just seems rude.
Suggestions?
 
Dear sister.

Actually there are three options in the Bible along side each other:
“We are saved”, “we are being saved”, and “we will be saved”.

One other thing is Clear: Christ is our justification and our salvation.

Why cause scandal to Catholicism by saying you are not sure of your salvation? Why not - granted you are in a state of grace and you live a life of personal fellowship with Christ - just answer: “Yes, and I pray not to fall into temptation”.

You see, what the Evangelicals mean when they say “saved” is, “do you have a serious relationship with Christ” or in other words: “do you seek to follow the will of God and let Him redeem you from sin?” You can say yes to these questions if they are posed in this way, right?
So don’t let your self be fooled by your own pride, or Catholic apologets who want to create a discussion on every topic with our Evangelical brethren. Seek to understand their use of words rather, and then be like Paul who said: “I have become everything to everyone in order that at least I might save a few”.

Peace and shalom.

Gracie
 
Unless your Scriptural Apologetics chops are well honed, just smile and say “Yep” and walk past then.
 
A lady I worked with (pretty sure she wasn’t Catholic) once asked me “Do you know Jesus Christ?”. Without missing a beat, I beamed and replied… “YES. He is the LIGHT of my life!”. The answer came straight from my heart… and apparently, it satisfied her. She never asked again. And we were always good acquaintances, after that.

Just contemplate your own love for Jesus. And when someone asks you “are you saved”… or “do you know Jesus”… I think a satisfactory answer will flow, quite naturally, from your heart.

Hope this helps. God bless.
 
If you feel like throwing some scripture back at them you can try these passages. I’ve included both the New American (Catholic) bible and the Revised Standard Version translations. I picked them because they use the present tense word “being” in conjunction with “saved”.

(Be warned, however. The King James Version and several others translate it as “are saved”, especially in 1 Corinthians 15:2. Since I don’t speak Greek I have no idea what would be the best literal translations.)

1 Corinthians 1:18
The message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.(NAB)

For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.
(RSV)

1 Corinthians 15:1-2

Now I am reminding you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you indeed received and in which you also stand. Through it you are also being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you, unless you believed in vain.
(NAB)
Bible, Revised Standard VersionNow I would remind you, brethren, in what terms I preached to you the gospel, which you received, in which you stand, by which you are saved, if you hold it fast – unless you believed in vain.

(RSV)

For we are the aroma of Christ for God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing.
2 Cor 2:15
 
I used to put this on a business card to hand out when asked “Are you saved?”

(I got it from an apologetics source that I can no longer remember, I’m thinkin’ it might have been from a Karl Keating text) …

On the front of the card …

ARE YOU SAVED?

**“Are you saved?” The Catholic should reply: “As the Bible says, I am already saved (Rom. 8:24, Eph. 2:5–8), but I’m also being saved (1 Cor. 1:8, 2 Cor. 2:15, Phil. 2:12), and I have the hope that I will be saved (Rom. 5:9–10, 1 Cor. 3:12–15). Like the apostle Paul I am working out my salvation in fear and trembling (Phil. 2:12), with hopeful confidence in the promises of Christ (Rom. 5:2, 2 Tim. 2:11–13).” **

**On the back of the card … **

Hope for Salvation … Not Assurance of Salvation:
Mt 7:21 - not everyone saying “Lord, Lord” will inherit
Heb 10:26 - if sin after receiving truth, judgement remains
1 Cor 9:27 - buffet body, make it a slave for fear of being rejected
Rom 2:26 - will award to every man what his acts have deserved
Rom 11:22 - importance of continuing in God’s grace
Mt 24:13 - those who persevere to the end will be saved
Phil 2:12 - work to attain salvation in anxious fear
1 Cor 10:11-12 - those thinking they are secure may fall
Gal 5:4 - separated from Christ, you’ve fallen from grace
2 Tim 2:11-13 - must hold out to end to reign with Christ
Heb 6:4-6 - describes sharers in Holy Spirit who then fall away
2 Cor 5:10 - we reap what we earn according to our deeds
Rom 5:2, 8:24 - confident in the hope of attaining glory of God
 
kage_ar said:
Unless your Scriptural Apologetics chops are well honed, just smile and say “Yep” and walk past then.
Click to expand...
I agree . . . even IF “your Scriptural Apologetics chops are well honed” (isn’t that a mixed metaphor? 😃 ) it is often the best response unless you want to be drawn into a circular argument with the one asking.
 
When I was in College - a long time ago - we had some of the College students who would do that kind of “sidewalk” counseling, they only ever asked me once because my response was “Every time I go to Confession!” That always flumoxed them and they would actually walk the other way when they saw me coming, I never challenged them or anything either, just answered honestly that when I have sinned I have lost the grace given to me by God and when I repent at Confession I get it back!

Simple answer, no need to get into it with anyone.

You have been given several good answers to give to the question.

Now, go and enjoy your concert, or if you have already gone, do tell how it went and how good the music was :D.

Brenda V.
 
I’d say: Duh, do you Protestants know where you got your Bible from? It came from us, yeah that’s right… :rotfl:
 
Good responses, everyone, thank you!
I’m probably worrying about something I needn’t even worry about.😃
The concert is next weekend. I’m sure everything will be fine, and if I hear any good bands, I’ll let you know who they are! Thanks again!
 
You can also just answer the question in a roundabout way:

I try to follow Jesus in all aspects of my life. Thank you for asking. 🙂

An evangelical will hear that as a yes, and will be satisfied with the answer, and you won’t be claiming to agree with a once saved, always saved philosophy. Everyone’s happy.
 
You can use a metaphor… Being “saved” is like Jesus throwing us a life preserver to pull us out of that sea of sin. We grab onto it, and we are saved. But unless we hold onto it until we are pulled up into the chopper, we aren’t saved anymore. That requires an act of the will on our part and a desire never to let go.
 
Say “Yes” and make the sigh of the cross. That sign speaks volumes.
 
yellowbicycle said:
Hubby and I plan on going to a christian music concert.
It’s held at an evangelical church, with bands from protestant churches. My brother-in-law’s band is playing and I really want us to go out and support him. He and his wife go to a ‘four square’ church. I’ve not really ever talked to them about religious issues, in part because I don’t even know how to start, conduct, or finish a conversation like that.
There will be a large presence of ‘sidewalk ministry’ there to talk to people as they are coming into the concert.
I am sure they will ask me if I am saved. And actually as a Catholic, I’m not sure how to answer that.
‘I pray that I am’?
‘I hope so’?
‘I’m working on it’?
Since ‘saving’ is a process, not an event, the outcome of which I won’t know til I’m dead, it’s a difficult question to answer.
Or they’ll ask me some other Jesus-related question I’m sure.
I would LOVE to be able to engage them in some conversation about theology, but, I’ll be honest, I just don’t have the chops.
I don’t know my Bible well enough. I’m working on changing that but again, it’s a process.
I don’t want to talk to them and for them to think I’m just another Catholic who doesn’t know her Bible (even though I am).
And I don’t want to avoid them - that just seems rude.
Suggestions?
Click to expand...
Our Priest actually did a Homily on something that will make it easy for you. It’s a Protestant phrase but TRULY fits in our Theology. If asked if you are saved, just tell them “I have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ!” As a Catholic in a state of grace you may even more than that do. In fact you have a personal relationship that hey can’t have… you experience our Lord, Body, Blood and Spirit each week at Mass in the Eucharist!

Joe
 
Everyone will have a different answer, if they do choose to answer such a question. I probably would say that no one is saved until they die and go to heaven (or, actually, purgatory).
And it is true that anyone can have a relationship with God and then lose it. What about Judas for example? It is presumptious to think that no matter what we do the rest of our lives that we will be saved when we die.
But of course other answers here are perfectly good answers too.
 
A stranger once asked me if I had found Jesus.

I replied, “Why, you poor soul. Did you lose Him?”

He walked away.
 
I would just say, “Yes, are you?”

[To the grumpy guys who ask me, “Are you liberated?” I reply sweetly, 'I was never captured."]
 
itsjustdave1988 said:
snip

ARE YOU SAVED?

"Are you saved?" The Catholic should reply: "As the Bible says, I am already saved (Rom. 8:24, Eph. 2:5–8), but I’m also being saved (1 Cor. 1:8, 2 Cor. 2:15, Phil. 2:12), and I have the hope that I will be saved (Rom. 5:9–10, 1 Cor. 3:12–15). Like the apostle Paul I am working out my salvation in fear and trembling (Phil. 2:12), with hopeful confidence in the promises of Christ (Rom. 5:2, 2 Tim. 2:11–13)."

snip
Click to expand...
This one has been my favorite answer since my conversion. However, I can also point to a time in my pre-Catholic days when I did have a genuine conversion experience that stuck.

DaveBj
 
One of the priests on EWTN said last year about this time, 'Jesus saved me 2000 years ago on the cross- I don’t have to ask him for it now."
I love using that one when asked.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top