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

[me_again]

Jesus said that ALL who believe in Him shall be saved.

I will take His Word on that.

Now, has the Roman catholic Church been a vehicle for salvation ? yes…in that it spread the gospel throughout the known world. And continues to do so.

But so has many other liturgical and non-liturgical churches.

And so has it been done by the work of indivuduals.

But no one institution, or person, can claim to be part of salvation. Only Jesus Chrsit through His suffering and shed Blood comes salvation.

It is by faith alone that you are saved.

Grace is given by God and God alone.

But the knowledge of all these things is institutionalized somewhere, right? Without a formal institution, who would teach us and who would teach families from generation-to-generation? Or would it simply “happen” without church institutions or, specifically, without the institution of the Catholic Church?

 

[Jimmy_B]

Jesus said that ALL who believe in Him shall be saved.

I will take His Word on that.

Now, has the Roman catholic Church been a vehicle for salvation ? yes…in that it spread the gospel throughout the known world. And continues to do so.

But so has many other liturgical and non-liturgical churches.

And so has it been done by the work of indivuduals.

But no one institution, or person, can claim to be part of salvation. Only Jesus Chrsit through His suffering and shed Blood comes salvation.

It is by faith alone that you are saved.

Grace is given by God and God alone.

"Jesus said that ALL who believe in Him shall be saved.'

Which Bible verse are you referring to and what is your definition of “believe”, as it applies to this discussion? Believe what?

 

[Publisher]

"Jesus said that ALL who believe in Him shall be saved.'

Which Bible verse are you referring to and what is your definition of “believe”, as it applies to this discussion? Believe what?

Just to claify…The Amplified Bible, which I sometimes use to help understand what a word implies…states in Romans 10:11
The Scripture says, No man who believes in Him** [who adheres to, relies on, and trusts in Him**] will [ever] be put to shame or be disappointed

It is not simply “mental ascent” but trusing in God to do for us what we cannot and could not do for ourselves.**

 

[Doxiemom]

Dear jimmy

I should have said that Scripture says. For starts you can try Romans 10:13 and Acts 16:30-31

But I do think that the sum of His Words say this.

By “believe” I mean faith in Christ to the fullest that a person is capable of. Faith as defined in hebrews 11:1. Christ as in the Son of God, Messiah, my Savior.

Jesus saves all by Himself. Everything we have invented, or has come by way of tradition, fails to even come close to His Perfection.

 

[Moro_Rock]

So if we are saved by Faith Alone what did James mean when he wrote " We are not saved by faith alone." "The devils believe and tremble " ?

 

[Carlan]

Hello, just now joining in with my two cents
I believe the Apostolic Catholic Church, through the gifts of Christ’s seven sacraments, make it easier and faster for Christians to reach the holiness the Father requires of us to be with Him forever.
When we are all perfectly purified(read the Beatitudes, “Only the Pure in Heart will see the Face of God”) and not until then will we all be in unity with the Trinity and all the Angels and Saints in the heavenly Kingdom. ALLELUIA! Peace, Carlan

 

[Doxiemom]

So if we are saved by Faith Alone what did James mean when he wrote " We are not saved by faith alone." "The devils believe and tremble " ?

James is talking about false faith. You can’t just jump up one day and say “I believe” and think that is it. I can go about sinning because now i am saved. In that case you are deceiving yourself.

If there are no “good works” that flow naturally from faith in Jesus Christ, or, as in the case of Abraham, being a righous man, then it is not by (that kind of) faith you are not saved.

 

[Australis]

The church is the body of Christ - all Christians in Christ. I guess we could argue about who the real Christians are until everyone agrees with our choice of church and how to worship. Some people are a little biased that way.

 

[Moro_Rock]

James is talking about false faith. You can’t just jump up one day and say “I believe” and think that is it. I can go about sinning because now i am saved. In that case you are deceiving yourself.

If there are no “good works” that flow naturally from faith in Jesus Christ, or, as in the case of Abraham, being a righous man, then it is not by (that kind of) faith you are not saved.

Or, as the Catholic Church teaches Salvation by 'faith working through grace ’
Jesus said that He would only have one Body. It would be a spiritual monstrosity for Him to have many bodies or a dozen heads. To keep it one it would have one shepherd, whom He appointed to feed His lambs and His sheep.
The nucleus of this new Mystical Body was His Apostles. They were to be the raw material into which He would send His Spirit to quicken them into His prolonged SelfThey would represent Him when He was gone. They were to evangelise the world. This new Body of which they were the embryo was to be His posthumous Self, and His continued Personality through the centuries.

 

[OldChurch40]

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

Your thoughts?

Only grace through faith in Christ saves us. It doesn’t happen via any church, even yours which claims to be the one true Church. It’s only by Jesus Christ.

 

[Izdaari]

Yes, only through the Lord Jesus Christ may a person enter His kingdom. For example, if a Buddhist from the year 3000 BC enters Jesus’ kingdom, it is through Jesus, even if the Buddhist never heard of Jesus.

Agreed! But one might also wonder how he had heard of Buddha, who wasn’t around in 3000 BC either.

 

[Liquid47]

I honestly don’t understand how people can vehemently deny a physical Church, but that Jesus only meant some invisible body of followers.

Did Jesus perform invisible miracles? Did he die an invisible death? Did he rise an invisible Resurrection?

No. He performed physical miracles. He died a physical death. And he physically rose from the dead.

These were visible signs of the love of an invisible God. The Catholic (and Orthodox?) Church holds the last remaining visible signs (and true, it is a visible sign in and of itself) until Christ comes back again at the end of time.

Do people deny that the Jews were God’s Chosen People? Why didn’t God just choose “nominal” Jews from all corners of the Earth? It shouldn’t matter that they were an ethnic group of wanderers around the Middle East. I mean, even when God favoured them, they decided to build and worship idols long after he saved them from slavery It only seems right that anyone just trying to serve the Lord should have been one of his Chosen People? Not those sinful Jews, who even today deny the Christ.

This is God’s physical plane. We are his physical people. Christ was a physical manifestation. So too, is The Church

Those who are not a part of the Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church need not be affronted. Remember, it’s not our Church, it’s His. To look at the flock with malignity or envy, pride or prejudice only causes further schism. And to those blessed to be part of the Catholic Church, we need not blow our own trumpets. Christ spoke for himself and his sheep as attested in the Bible. We just need to be good sheep and follow Him, and then maybe the others will follow

 

[Carlan]

Only grace through faith in Christ saves us. It doesn’t happen via any church, even yours which claims to be the one true Church. It’s only by Jesus Christ.

Yes you are right OldChurch, However,may I ask you to ponder that Christ now works through His Body, the Church His Bride, He is our Groom and he guides us into all Truth through him. Emanuel, God with us. Peace, Carlan

 

[Bob_Crowley]

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

I think the issue can be summed up in a few critical Scriptural quotes.

Christ made an uncompromising statement about His ultimate authority -

John 14:6 “I Am The Way, The Truth, And The Life, Nobody Comes To The Father Except Through Me”

He set up an office, beginning with Peter -

Matt 16:19 “I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven."

He gave the apostles the authority to forgive and retain sins, by the power of the Holy Spirit -

John 20:22-23. “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.”

In the end, it’s as simple as that.

 

[Pat_De]

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

Your thoughts?

Paul’s truth:
23 For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus in the night in which He was betrayed took bread; 24 and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, “This is My body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of Me.” 25 In the same way He took the cup also after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood; do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.” 26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes.

What is the “drink it” in verse 25? What does verse 25 say that they ate and drank? Choice 1) Flesh and Blood or choice B) Bread and cup (wine)? And the obviously stated winner is “B” applause applause!!

The Lord obvious used a carnal object to proclaim a spiritual “remembrance”; as He often did. This is why He did not literally take parts of His flesh and drippings of His blood and actually give it to them. The minor wounds and blood loss would have not made any difference to what was about to happen. When Jesus wanted to make a literal point; He always without exception in the NT did exactly that such as healing. But I also understand that to accept the truth as spelled out so clearly by Paul is to deny the centrality of the Mass, then the rest would just go down from there.

Even though John 6 has nothing to do with cannibalism or the Lord’s Supper; let not overlook the verses that also demonstrate that He was not talking about the literal eating or cannibalism of His flesh as many say, which would go contrary to His very nature, eating of human flesh that is.

63 "It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing; the words that I have spoken to you are spirit and are life.

Question 1: What are the preceding words Jesus spoke of prior to verse 63? Hint: Cannibalism

Question 2: Which gives life- the spirit or the flesh? Hint: Verse 63a

Question 3: What does Jesus mean when He says the "flesh profits NOTHING? Hint: verbatim

Question 4: What was the Jewish idiom of “Eating” something mean and in which passages in John 6 did He use it? Hint: Look for words like “eat”

Bonus question: Why did the crowd walk away? Choices A) They did not believe in cannibalism or B) Jesus was essentially claiming Himself to be God? Hint: Sorry no hints for bonus questions.

Anyway, there you have the truth from the word of God. Have a very nice day!

PS Just remember when they went to stone Jesus near the temple; it was because he claimed to be “God”, but they said he was merely a man. and if you look at chapter 5 of John; the last 2/3 before chapter 6 is all about His deity and the witnesses of that deity - follow?

 

[Carlan]

centrality of the Mass, then the rest would just go down from there.

Even though John 6 has nothing to do with cannibalism or the Lord’s Supper; let not overlook the verses that also demonstrate that He was not talking about the literal eating or cannibalism of His flesh as many say, which would go contrary to His very nature, eating of human flesh that is.

63 "It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing; the words that I have spoken to you are spirit and are life.

Question 1: What are the preceding words Jesus spoke of prior to verse 63? Hint: Cannibalism

Question 2: Which gives life- the spirit or the flesh? Hint: Verse 63a

Question 3: What does Jesus mean when He says the "flesh profits NOTHING? Hint: verbatim

Question 4: What was the Jewish idiom of “Eating” something mean and in which passages in John 6 did He use it? Hint: Look for words like “eat”

Bonus question: Why did the crowd walk away? Choices A) They did not believe in cannibalism or B) Jesus was essentially claiming Himself to be God? Hint: Sorry no hints for bonus questions.

Pat your interpretation is just that!
In JN6, 63 Jesus said," it is the Spirit that gives life;the flesh is useless".
The words spoke to you are spirit and life, this is not a reference to the Eucharistic Flesh of Christ but to the super natural and the natural as in Jn3,-6
Not His flesh-but our flesh that is useless to grasp it,
John3-6… Flesh begets flesh-
Spirit begets Spirit. Truth and Peace to you,Carlan

 

[Pixie_Dust]

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

Your thoughts?

Jesus Christ is the only way to salvation. Everyone who is now and ever will be in Heaven is there because of Jesus Christ and His death and resurrection.

The Roman Catholic Church is not the only way to salvation. One can be fully Catholic and not be Roman Catholic. One can be a Christian who is following Christ to the best of their knowledge and ability and not be formally, perfectly joined to the Catholic Church of any Rite, and still go to Heaven. Anyone who has been baptized using the Triune formula is a member of the Catholic Church, albeit imperfectly.

 

[Liquid47]

Hey Pat De, just a few things:

What is the “drink it” in verse 25? What does verse 25 say that they ate and drank? Choice 1) Flesh and Blood or choice B) Bread and cup (wine)? And the obviously stated winner is “B” applause applause!!

If answer B was always obvious, why did all (or perhaps most, if there were always few heretics) Christians believe option A for 1500 years? And then there’s a whole new conundrum when Jesus states in John 6 (KJV) which you washed over:

“I am that bread of life. 49 Your fathers did eat manna in the wilderness, and are dead. 50 This is the bread which cometh down from heaven, that a man may eat thereof, and not die. 51 I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world. 52 The Jews therefore strove among themselves, saying, How can this man give us his flesh to eat? 53 Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you. 54 Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day. 55 For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. 56 He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him. 57 As the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father: so he that eateth me, even he shall live by me. 58 This is that bread which came down from heaven: not as your fathers did eat manna, and are dead: he that eateth of this bread shall live for ever.”

This teaching directly preceded the report that some of Jesus’ followers turned away from him. Unless readers want to isolate the very last bit of John 6, it could only be taken in that context.

The Lord obvious used a carnal object to proclaim a spiritual “remembrance”; as He often did. This is why He did not literally take parts of His flesh and drippings of His blood and actually give it to them. The minor wounds and blood loss would have not made any difference to what was about to happen. When Jesus wanted to make a literal point; He always without exception in the NT did exactly that such as healing. But I also understand that to accept the truth as spelled out so clearly by Paul is to deny the centrality of the Mass, then the rest would just go down from there.

I would purport a couple of things about the ongoing sacrifice of the Eucharist:

1. Not only is it central to the faith, it is the hardest to believe. How wonderful, powerful, and bold a faith in which the centre of it is a divine mystery.
2. Jesus is real. He may not be on Earth, but he is in Heaven as we speak. His participation (Body, Blood, Soul, Divinity) in the Eucharist is the tangible new covenant he promised God would send.

As for Paul, he too preached the Real Presence in the Eucharist. In his letter to the Corinthians he did compare the sacrifice of Christ at the Eucharist to the sacrifice at the altars of the Israelites and pagans. If the Israelites and pagans had given real sacrifices at altars, why, all of a sudden, is our participation in Christ’s sacrifice a mere belief in him? If the Israelites had manna, why then, can we Christians only ever get emotional highs for Jesus depending on the oratory skills of our preacher?

God is more than just a spiritual factor. When Jesus came to earth, he became a physical factor for us too. The Eucharist as instituted by Catholics is that physical factor, the promise that he’s always with us and will come back to Earth once again for all time!

 

[Pat_De]

Pat your interpretation is just that!
In JN6, 63 Jesus said," it is the Spirit that gives life;the flesh is useless".
The words spoke to you are spirit and life, this is not a reference to the Eucharistic Flesh of Christ but to the super natural and the natural as in Jn3,-6
Not His flesh-but our flesh that is useless to grasp it,
John3-6… Flesh begets flesh-
Spirit begets Spirit. Truth and Peace to you,Carlan

Nice rebuttal; please keep your day job. God bless

 

[Pat_De]

Jesus Christ is the only way to salvation. Everyone who is now and ever will be in Heaven is there because of Jesus Christ and His death and resurrection.

The Roman Catholic Church is not the only way to salvation. One can be fully Catholic and not be Roman Catholic. One can be a Christian who is following Christ to the best of their knowledge and ability and not be formally, perfectly joined to the Catholic Church of any Rite, and still go to Heaven. Anyone who has been baptized using the Triune formula is a member of the Catholic Church, albeit imperfectly.

Is that the Gospel according to Scripture? I don’t think so. Nice sentiments though.