Is Jesus Christ and the Roman Catholic Church the only way to salvation?

[1beleevr]

But that doesn’t make it true. Truth is not determined by a majority rule.

If Christ’s Church is merely the sum of all who in in Him, to whom should I go when I need to take something to the Church? I can’t bring an issue to EVERYONE, especially since I don’t know all who are in Him.
Matthew 18:17-18 “And if he will not hear them: tell the church. And if he will not hear the church, let him be to thee as the heathen and publican.”

How so? Anyone is free to join the Catholic Church. We welcome you with open arms. Anyone can find salvation, if they become Catholic. We must be united in Faith and in Truth.

To be ‘unexclusive’ would be to allow falsity, and this is opposed to Truth. The Church must be exclusive.
2 Thess 3:6 “And we charge you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you withdraw yourselves from every brother walking disorderly, and not according to the tradition which they have received of us.”
Galatians 1:9 “As we said before, so now I say again: If any one preach to you a gospel, besides that which you have received, let him be anathema.”

It does matter what kind of faith you have:
Matthew 10:22 “… but he that persevere unto the end, he shall be saved”
Matthew 24:13 “But he that shall persevere to the end, he shall be saved”
… a weak faith will not persevere. A faith without works will not persevere (cf. James 2:24).

It does matter how much you believe:
Matthew 7:21-23 “Not every one that saith to me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven: but he that doth the will of my Father who is in heaven, he shall enter into the kingdom of heaven. Many will say to me in that day: Lord, Lord, have not we prophesied in Thy Name, and cast out devils in Thy Name, and done many miracles in Thy Name? And then I will profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, you that work iniquity.”
James 2:19 “Thou believest that there is one God. Thou dost well: the devils also believe in tremble.”

As St. Paul says,
“One body and one Spirit; as you are called in one hope… one Lord, one faith, one baptism. One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in all.” (Ephesians 4:5)

We are called to strengthen in each other… in Faith and in Truth. Not lies. Unity is not achieved by tolerance, but by conviction.

Why does John 3:16 say," ALL who believe on Him will not perish, but have everlasting life." It does not say, only catholics will have everlating life, does it?

 

[AnneElliot]

In a statement, dated December 7, 1990, pope John Paul II, said(not the complete text): The universality of salvation, means that it is granted to ALL, not only to those who explicitly believe in Christ, or have entered the church. Since salvation is offered to ALL, it must be concretely available to ALL!

The last sentence you quoted is key. It must be made concretely available to all. God, in His Divine Providence will provide all that is necessary for salvation. He has revealed that membership in the Church through baptism is necessary for salvation, thus, He will provide. We may not know or see in this life how a particular person finds salvation (this is why we pray and hope).

Catholic teaching must be understood in the light of continuity (as Pope Benedict XVI says, a “hermeneutic of continuity”). Context is always important.

From the same document,
“Salvation consists in believing and accepting the mystery of the Father and of his love, made manifest and freely given in Jesus through the Spirit.”
“The kingdom of God is meant for all mankind, and all people are called to become members of it.”
“The kingdom cannot be detached either from Christ or from the Church.”
etc.

 

[AnneElliot]

Why does John 3:16 say," ALL who believe on Him will not perish, but have everlasting life." It does not say, only catholics will have everlating life, does it?

Saving faith is more than lip-service (even the demons believe…). Jesus is the Truth, and we must believe the truth-- all truth. The Catholic Church has the fullness of Truth (because the Church is the body of Christ), thus, we must be Catholic to have everlasting life.

 

[guanophore]

It is through baptism that our salvation is sealed; we do not have to be baptized to join a church!

Baptism is how we are made members of the Body of Christ.

You are right, there are plenty of people in church buildings that are not Christian, or are not members of the Body. They have not been baptised into Him, but they are members of a Church.

Do you think the eunuch was fully immersed? Phillip was used by God to lead the eunuch to salvation.

Yes, I do think the eunuch was fully immersed.

Phillip was an Apostle who ministered salvation as a member of the Church.

 

[guanophore]

Why does John 3:16 say," ALL who believe on Him will not perish, but have everlasting life." It does not say, only catholics will have everlating life, does it?

Believing upon Him means believing in all that He said and did, not just select parts of it. It means accepting the authority of the Church He founded, and accepting the Teachings that He committed to His Apostles for our instruction.

When people such as yourself reject part of that Apostolic instruction, it places the soul in jeapardy of being lost.

 

[1beleevr]

The last sentence you quoted is key. It must be made concretely available to all. God, in His Divine Providence will provide all that is necessary for salvation. He has revealed that membership in the Church through baptism is necessary for salvation, thus, He will provide. We may not know or see in this life how a particular person finds salvation (this is why we pray and hope).

Catholic teaching must be understood in the light of continuity (as Pope Benedict XVI says, a “hermeneutic of continuity”). Context is always important.

From the same document,
“Salvation consists in believing and accepting the mystery of the Father and of his love, made manifest and freely given in Jesus through the Spirit.”
“The kingdom of God is meant for all mankind, and all people are called to become members of it.”
“The kingdom cannot be detached either from Christ or from the Church.”
etc.

Man’s words, not God’s! So, the answer to the thread question is: Jesus is the only way to salvation! Many Protestants were enamored with pope John Paul II, because he reached out to them with the love of God, and didn’t discard them, like so many today do! He assured them that even though they were not catholic, they could still see the Kingdom of God! Yippee!

 

[1beleevr]

Believing upon Him means believing in all that He said and did, not just select parts of it. It means accepting the authority of the Church He founded, and accepting the Teachings that He committed to His Apostles for our instruction.

When people such as yourself reject part of that Apostolic instruction, it places the soul in jeapardy of being lost.

I’m a bit disappointed, guan, you are usually not disingenuous, and condescending, but then all of us are capable of such behavior when we are in the flesh!

 

[guanophore]

I’m a bit disappointed, guan, you are usually not disingenuous, and condescending, but then all of us are capable of such behavior when we are in the flesh!

Believe me, it is not disingenous. And I thought you really were proud of being a “just me and Jesus’ bible christian” ? Why would it be condescending to you, if I tell you I believe that you are rebelling against the authority appointed by Christ, when you don’t believe that authority exists?

 

[AnneElliot]

Man’s words, not God’s! So, the answer to the thread question is: Jesus is the only way to salvation! Many Protestants were enamored with pope John Paul II, because he reached out to them with the love of God, and didn’t discard them, like so many today do! He assured them that even though they were not catholic, they could still see the Kingdom of God! Yippee!

Man’s words? I was simply pointing out to you that the document does not state what you intend for it. To strip a sentence or two out of context is meaningless.

The answer to the thread is that both Jesus Christ and His Church (the Catholic Church) are necessary for salvation. Pope John Paul II did not deny this.

 

[BTTG]

By the grace of God, is one saved through faith, by Jesus Christ, if that person does not belong to the Roman Catholic Church?

 

[guanophore]

By the grace of God, is one saved through faith, by Jesus Christ, if that person does not belong to the Roman Catholic Church?

A person who is saved by grace, thruogh faith, will become baptized as He commanded, and will thereby be joined to the ONE CHURCH founded by Him (which is not Roman) and will submit himself to the authority appointed over him by Christ. If a person does not follow the commandments of Jesus in this regard, then one has to wonder if that person has actually been saved by grace. God’s grace always leads to unity.

 

[Araninski]

To answer OP.

Is Jesus Christ and the Roman Catholic Church the only way to salvation?

Jesus Christ is the way to salvation, as the Word of God says “whosoever believes in Him shall be saved”

This means whosoever believes in Him shall be saved. This means salvation is being offered to everyone on Earth, but only those who accept(believe) it will be saved.

So what it is the Roman Catholic Church’s role?
To spread this message, the RCC is one of the many ways Jesus uses to reach out people.

God bless.

 

[guanophore]

To answer OP.

Is Jesus Christ and the Roman Catholic Church the only way to salvation?

Jesus Christ is the way to salvation, as the Word of God says “whosoever believes in Him shall be saved”

This means whosoever believes in Him shall be saved. This means salvation is being offered to everyone on Earth, but only those who accept(believe) it will be saved.

So what it is the Roman Catholic Church’s role?
To spread this message, the RCC is one of the many ways Jesus uses to reach out people.

God bless.

The things you have written here are true statements, but they represent a deficient understanding of salvation, and of the One Church founded by Christ.

 

[Moro_Rock]

Why does John 3:16 say," ALL who believe on Him will not perish, but have everlasting life." It does not say, only catholics will have everlating life, does it?

When 'people of the Word:: ’ pick and choose which passages to accept and which to ignore they are in danger of becoming ’ Favourite Word People ’ . We are called to accept the Full Gospel , not just our favourite passages.
In Peter’s Epistle he warns against the dangers of private interpretation, particularly of Paul’s writings .:

 

[KathleenGee]

The Catholic Church is the true church of Jesus Christ. It provides the fullness of Who Christ is, has all the sacraments and teachings necessary to lead one to salvation. Where people goof up is when they look at the Catholics. We are all on different levels, at different times in our lives and we can’t skip steps, we all take the same walk in knowing who we are not and Who Christ is.

The Church acknowledges those who seek Christ outside the Church through the adherence and reflection of Sacred Scripture. You have the Holy Spirit if you bear His fruits.

There are those people in the world who do not have the grace to understand Christ, but nevertheless can recognize the fruits of the Holy Spirit…may even have different names, but bear the same fruit of fulfilling God’s will to be good and treat others the same.

Confucius wrote out the 7 moral commands…honor and obey parents, do not kill, be angry, covet, etc…but he could not define the first three: Who God is, He is sacred, and to set time aside to honor Him. This was kept for the Jewish people to be fulfilled and revealed through Jesus Christ and incarnated into the world through the Catholic Church.

There are people who come on here with their own faith experience, a number of them not even Christian, but who have had some kind of faith experience that tells them that what they encountered was real. So how does that person live it out? That is the next reflection for discernment…and essentially it is of good will…

Only those who do the will of God will enter heaven. I don’t know his religious background but a native in a foreign land was laundering his employer’s clothing. He accidentally washed the man’s paper money. So the domestic worker hung the man’s money on the line to dry out along with the rest of the laundry. He could have pocketed it for himself.

You see pagans all the time in different parts of the world who do not know Jesus but shine with love and compassion…God knows these and they are waiting to hear the truth…